Okay…I’ve held off on this for a long time, but I have to get something off my chest – I have a significant bone to pick with movie lovers.
Alright, maybe that sounds kind of bad, especially coming from someone who is a self-proclaimed movie lover and works for an online publication about the entertainment industry. But, I promise you that the chip on my shoulder comes from actual data, and it’s something I really wanted to talk about.
And it all boils down to numbers – specifically, from the 2024 box office.
Many People Want To See New Franchises And Ideas, But The 2024 Top 10 Are Almost All Sequels Or Adaptations
This is a constant thing I see online.
In my personal opinion, some of the best original films that I have seen tend to be the best rom-coms or the best horror films ever, but there are plenty of other movies out there that I’ve watched in different genres that have great original ideas. We all have our own opinions on what genre makes the best new films, but that’s just mine.
When those movies become successful, it’s amazing to see, and when I think of people saying they want original movies and original franchises to come to the box office, that’s what I think of.
But then you take a look at the 2024 box office, and the idea that people want original projects slowly starts to deflate.
According to BoxOfficeMojo, nine of the top-grossing movies of the year internationally were sequels. You know, the things that people say are “needless cash grabs” or whatever. Yet, those were what made the most money last year.
Granted, some of these were highly anticipated movies. Inside Out 2 was a huge draw and has become one of the best Pixar films. So was Deadpool & Wolverine, as well as Dune: Part 2.
Wicked was the only new film on this list that wasn’t from a sequel, but even that isn’t technially original, as it’s based on an existing I.P.. And of course, there’s going to be a new sequel — titled Wicked: For Good — coming out in 2025.
What happened to the days of having super successful movies that weren’t just a sequel to something?
Meanwhile, New Original Films Flop Terribly Or Have Bad Box Office Gross
My biggest issue is that nowadays, there are original movies, but some of the good ones are overlooked. A couple from 2024 really deserved a lot more hype than they got.
Lisa Frankenstein is a great example. Hailing from some of the same people behind Jennifer’s Body, the movie has a great cast—including a fantastic Carla Gugino addition—but, according to BoxOfficeMojo, it only made $9.8 million against a $13 million budget.
A huge one that I think so many people missed in 2024 was Drive-Away Dolls. An original road film from one of the Coen brothers, the movie had a great cast, and a fun story, but, according to TheMovieDB, the budget was $8 million, and the film, according to BoxOfficeMojo, didn’t even make back its budget, with only a $7.9 million box office gross.
Another great example would be IF. An original film from director John Krasinski, the movie was made for families and told the story of a young girl trying to help imaginary friends (IFs) who have been left behind by their grown-up children. The film is adorable and lovely for kids, but it didn’t even make a profit, earning only $190 million, according to BoxOfficeMojo, on a $110 million budget, according to Deadline.
These movies are out there—and they are in theaters—but not nearly as many people are seeing them. I’m not saying that they need to be ridiculously huge blockbusters, but at least making back their budget or making a profit would be nice!
Movie Studios Will Sometimes Not Let The Film Shine In The Theater For Long
And then there are the original movies that do well once they’re released on streaming. A great example of that is Red One. While some critics called Red One a “lump of coal” when it was released, there was still plenty to enjoy about the film as a Christmas action movie. But, it ultimately bombed at the box office.
However, Red One was released on Amazon Prime a few weeks later – like, I was legit watching it on my couch on Christmas Eve – and then it did stellar. I can only imagine what would happen if the film had stayed in theaters longer, up until the actual holiday. Maybe it would have made more.
In my personal opinion, I think a big reason some of these original films are doing so poorly isn’t just that people are not going as much—it’s also that some films are not in theaters long enough for word of mouth to spread. From what I can remember when I was younger, movies would stay in theaters for months on end, but nowadays, they will sometimes take the film out of theaters a few weeks later, and that surely hurts the chances of an original movie having time to find its theatrical audience.
While Going To The Movies Has Gotten Expensive, Movie Marketing Has Also Become An Issue
I’ve seen a lot of people blame movie theaters in general because they’ve gotten so expensive lately, and that’s why people say they don’t go as often. Going to the movies, in itself, is a considerable expense, especially if it’s a whole family. According to the EntTelligence (via The New York Times), the average movie ticket is about $11.75, and while at first that might not seem like a big deal, multiply that for a family of four, and then add some very expensive food in there, and somehow, you’re spending eighty dollars at a the movie theater.
I realize that’s an issue, but I feel like a big reason why most of these original films don’t do well is also to do with marketing.
There are so many movies that are marketed up the wazoo – I mean, we saw green and pink EVERYWHERE for Wicked, and while I was a massive fan of the film – especially one Glinda and Elphaba scene that I could go on for hours about – the marketing budget for that was through the roof. In fact, according to Variety, it’s reported that the global marketing budget is estimated to cost $150 million for this film.
While I don’t expect that level of marketing all the time, many of these original films aren’t talked about as much or are not given a substantial enough budget to market themselves properly to the world. This leads to them not getting enough promotion on social media, and because oftentimes, movie studios take them out of the theaters (like Red One), no one sees them.
I’m Not Sure What Needs To Change, But Something’s Gotta Give
I love movies—all kinds of movies. I’m a big fan of independent studios that make original ideas, like the best A24 movies or some of the wacky pictures from Focus Features.
But something has to give with this. There has to be more of a push to see these original films.
I get it—we like the continuation of a story. However, most of these sequels are unnecessary, and it’s a shame when there are so many other great ideas out there and people don’t get to see them.
From what I have seen and in my opinion, it’s because people keep going to these huge blockbusters and are not giving more original movies a chance that movie studios keep making sequels rather than films that focus on original characters and stories. And it’s on us.
I’m really not sure what needs to change. Maybe there has to be a whole industry-wide shift. Maybe marketing needs to be taken more seriously for smaller original films that don’t have substantial hype, or we have to keep movies in theaters longer or take the time to see them. But something’s gotta give – or else, for the rest of our lives, we are going to be stuck in sequel-geddon.
There’s a healthy amount of sequels, and then there’s last year, where almost every top movie is a sequel. That’s not alright – and I really hope it changes, at least for the future filmmakers whose original ideas will be what defines the next generation of movies.