Winners: Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson
The veteran actors promoted their “Naked Gun” reboot like crazy, even dating for a short time during the global publicity campaign. It worked. The Paramount release pulled in over $100 million worldwide off a $42 million budget, giving the studio a nice summer win. Word of mouth helped, but Neeson and Anderson deserve a ton of credit, too.
Loser: Ella MacCay
Listen, the poster was great. The memes about the poster were great. But the movie was terrible, and we need a full docuseries on how and why anyone thought a December release date was where to dump this. $4.3 million at the global box office off a $35 million budget? Yikes. It should have just gone to Hulu. It could have gotten a TV Movie Emmy nomination!
Winner: ‘Downton Abbey‘
While you weren’t paying attention, “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale” earned $102 million worldwide. That surpassed the second installment’s $92 million take. It might have cost $50 million, but this franchise plays on VOD and home entertainment. A nice September moneymaker for Focus.
Winner: Celine Song
Despite a cast of Pedro Pascal, Chris Evans, and Dakota Johnson, A24’s romantic comedy misdirect (surprise, it wasn’t one) was one of the success stories of the summer. It earned a fine $36 million in the U.S. but killed overseas, where Sony Pictures pulled in $71 million in their territories. The result? Writer and director Celine Song now has a $100+ million grosser on her resume. And her second profitable release after her debut, “Past Lives.” Give this filmmaker her flowers, please.
Loser: Tron: Aries (and maybe Sean Bailey)
Disney marketing tried, but there was very little inherently cool to sell about the third “Tron” movie. Former Walt Disney Studios president Sean Bailey’s baby was miscast, empowered a director with almost zero vision, and couldn’t even inspire Nine Inch Nails. And now, any fan of the original movie or the actually profitable “Tron: Legacy” may have to wait decades, if ever, for another go around. Perhaps its time for Jared Leto to consider a streaming career.
Winner: Walt Disney Animation
After “Strange World” and “Wish” bombed, they are back on a winning streak with “Moana 2” ($1 billion) and “Zootopia 2” ($1.4 billion and counting). Yes, both films are sequels, but whatever keeps the lights on these days. Jobs people. Jobs.
We’re just gonna call it Bad Luck: Ayo Edibri
Ayo Edibri has “The Bear.” She had a great cameo character on “I Love LA.” Sadly, this was not her year at the box office. A24’s “Opus”? Need a signed affidavit proving pre-sales can spin that dreadful box office. Luca Guadagnino’s “After the Hunt”? I mean, no one thought it would earn just $7 million worldwide. That was a disaster. And, oh, yes. “Ella McCay.” I mean, oof.
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Editor-at-Large Gregory Ellwood is one of the entertainment industry's most respected journalists and critics. Based in Los Angeles, he's the only current awards expert who previously worked on Oscar campaigns at a major movie studio. Over the years, he has written for the LA Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Vox, among others. He also co-founded the entertainment news site HitFix, which spawned a legion of influential Emmy and WGA Award-winning alumni.
