Worst: Even bad superhero movies rule
Critics and some fans may cringe, but audiences wanted escapism and both “Aquaman” and “Venom” gave it to them. The latter became Sony Pictures biggest hit of the year earning $213 million domestic and $854 million global. Warner Bros.’ “Aquaman” has already earned $122 million in just six days of U.S. release and $596 million global. It looks like it will easily outpace “Wonder Woman” overseas and it’s a welcome sigh of relief for DC who needed another hit after the disastrous performance of “Justice League” last year.
Worst: “Solo: A Star Wars Story” is a money loser but…
Someday there will be college thesis papers written about the mess that was “Solo: A Star Wars Story.” The ridiculous departure of Phil Lord and Chris Miller from the prequel project added a tremendous amount to the bottom line of the picture as a significant portion was reshot under new director Ron Howard’s eye. The film actually was the no. 9 grosser (at press time) in the U.S., with $213 million in ticket sales. The problem is that even with a slew of lesser-known talent the price-tag reportedly grew to $250 million (or more). That led to an epic fail after it ended its global run with just $392 million. There were a lot of problems with “Solo’s” release, however. The retro ’70s marketing simply wasn’t as cool as Lucasfilm or Disney believed it was, a polarizing “Star Wars” film, “The Last Jedi,” was released just five months before, reviews were less enthusiastic than the studio expected and Memorial Day weekend is simply not the major box office player it was years ago (a huge warning in the case of Disney’s “Aladdin” in 2019.)
Best: “Crazy Rich Asians” brings back the romantic comedy
As noted in our biggest entertainment news stories of 2018, rom-coms made something of a comeback this year. Netflix had a ton of success in that department, but it was Jon M. Chu’s adaption of Kevin Kwan’s popular novel that really dominated the pop culture consciousness. The first all-Asian cast film in over 25 years, “Crazy Rich” took in $174 million in the U.S. and $238 million worldwide. There was a lot more involved than its genre, but it goes without saying that Hollywood has taken notice.
Best and Worst: Music matters more than history for blockbuster “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Despite the fact the Freddie Mercury and Queen story features an embarrassing number of historical mistakes, inaccuracies and, frankly, falsehoods even for a studio biopic, audiences simply didn’t care. Admiration for Rami Malek’s performance and a love for the band’s music led to $186 million domestic and a stunning $668 million worldwide (not to mention a resurgence in Queen album and song sales). We will rock you, indeed.
Best: Paramount gets a much-needed surprise hit with “A Quiet Place”
New Paramount topper Jim Gianapolous found the cupboards pretty bare when he took over the studio in February, but one gift he’d been left was an already shot horror thriller from John Krasinski that really wasn’t on the media’s radar. Krasinski had already helmed the bland “The Hollars” two years earlier and the insipid “Brief Interviews With Hideous Men” in 2009. “A Quiet Place” cost just $17 million, starred Krasinski’s popular partner Emily Blunt and had a “don’t speak” gimmick that let to a very loud $188 million in the U.S. and $340 million worldwide.
Best and Worst: “A Wrinkle In Time” makes $100 million in the U.S. but…
Ava Duvernay made many parents and kids happy with a more inclusive version of the classic Sci-Fi fantasy novel “A Wrinkle in Time.” And, notably, the Disney release took in $100 million in the U.S. Unfortunately, it only earned $132 million globally and has a reported production cost of $103 million. That means it won’t come anywhere close to a profit for years (if ever). Why no one is discussing that when looking at Disney’s 2018 slate is beyond me.
Worst: Mark Wahlberg has another really bad year
Longevity in the movie business is almost as difficult as becoming a star in the first place. And that’s becoming very apparent to Mark Wahlberg. Without the success of “Daddy’s Home 2” last year Wahlberg would now be on a streak of now six box office money losers. 2018 saw STX’s “Mile 22,” which was supposed to start a new franchise, earn just $66 million global off a $50 million production budget. That was Wahlberg’s third bomb with director Peter Berg in a row. Paramount’s “Instant Family” has taken in $71 million global and “looks” like a solid single because of its $63 million in the U.S., but the family dramedy somehow cost $48 million which means it really isn’t. Wahlberg won’t have to worry about the box office for his next picture, however. “Wonderland,” yet another Peter Berg production, will debut on Netflix sometime next year.
Best: Some franchises are reborn
Everything old is sometimes new again and 2018 had three stellar examples of giving audiences what they wanted in that regard. The “Tomb Raider” reboot may not have come anywhere near the first two Angelina Jolie installments from the early ’00s (just $58 million domestic), but globally it was a moneymaker with $274 million off a reported $92 million production cost. “Ocean’s 8” might have disappointed some fans based on the stellar cast, but it was still a big hit earning almost $300 million worldwide. The biggest surprise was the new “Halloween.” The David Gordon Green and Danny McBride written “sequel” took in a massive $159 million in the U.S. and $253 million global. And yet, somehow it’s the only franchise of the three that is guaranteed to continue.