The 15 Highest-Grossing Movies of 2024 Share a Depressing Similarity

The highest-grossing films of 2024 box office they all share a sad similarity. The year had an unusual structure in terms of theatrical distribution, as the planned releases of many big-budget blockbusters were pushed back to 2025 amid the two Hollywood strikes of 2023, during which writers and then actors picketed to fight for fair wages. of the Film and Television Producers Alliance, pausing productions around the world. However, despite the dearth of major tentpoles at the start of the year, many record-breaking films have been released throughout 2024, including two billion-dollar titles so far.

The year broke several records thanks to films of different genres. This includes the 2024 Thanksgiving weekend box office, earning a collective total of $414 million thanks to a slate that featured the Disney animated film Moana 2Jon. Broadway musical adaptation by M Chu Eviland Ridley Scott's historical epic Gladiator IIdoing this the best 5-day Thanksgiving weekend ever in North America. Another big record achieved this year was Pixar's animated film Inside Out 2 becoming the highest-grossing animated film of all time, grossing $1.69 billion.

The 15 highest-grossing films of 2024 worldwide are part of intellectual property

They range from Inside Out 2 to Alien: Romulus

At the time of writing, all 15 best films of 2024 are IP adaptationswhich is a list that includes sequels, prequels and interquels. This was not the case at the beginning of the year. In July, the 15 highest-grossing films of 2024 included original titles like Alex Garland's Civil War (now 31st with $126.2 million), John Krasinski's IF (No. 22 with $190.3 million), the biopic Bob Marley: One Love (No. 24 with $180.8 million) and actor Jason Statham The beekeeper (No. 27 with $152.7 million). Below, see the full chart of the year's top 15 so far:

This IP dominance at the year's global box office seems unlikely to change during the final weeks of 2024. While there are several original films premiering before New Year's Eve – including Nicole Kidman's erotic drama Little baby and the Bob Dylan biopic A complete stranger – none seem prepared to overcome Alien: Romulusalthough they could become huge hits on their own terms. The only films that appear potentially capable of grossing $350.9 million are also IP spinoff projects like the musical prequel Mufasa: The Lion King and the video game adaptation Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

IP dominating the box office is nothing new – but the 2024 results are extreme

The original hits of 2024 are left behind

Modern Hollywood has long been dominated by intellectual property projects in a variety of modes. This includes sequels, spinoffs, and prequels such as Top Gun: Maverick, Black Widow, There's no time to dieand Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shawas well as reboots, including Disney's live-action films The Lion King, Beauty and the beastand Aladdin. Additionally, original stories have been adapted from multimedia franchises, including Greta Gerwig's Barbie, Sonic the Hedgehogand Unknown.

Somehow, this was despite the fact that the 2023 strikes caused many of the year's most prominent IP films to be postponed until 2025. This rescheduling allowed some original films to thrive earlier in the yearincluding the independent serial killer thriller Long legswhich grossed $126.9 million against a budget of less than $10 million, and the romantic drama End with uswhich was based on a novel but is not part of a pre-established film franchise and became the 16th film of the year worldwide at the time of writing.

The 2024 box office is the first time in X years. The 15 best films are all IP

There is usually at least one groundbreaking original

However, 2024 marks the first time the entire Top 15 has been dominated by IP since at least 1977after which world box office records become more obscure. However, it seems unlikely that total IP dominance of the Top 15 happened before 1977, as the modern preponderance of sequels did not begin to accelerate until the 1980s. In fact, of the 15 best films of 1977, only two (the James Bond movie The spy who loved me and the horror sequence Exorcist II: The Heretic) were based on pre-existing film IP.

Until now, there was at least one original Top 15 hit every yearincluding Christopher Nolan Oppenheimer in 2023 (#3 of the year), 2013 Frozen (No. 1), 2010s Start (No. 4), 2007 Ratatouille (No. 6), 2003 Finding Nemo (No. 2) and 1999 The Sixth Sense (No. 2). In fact, there are usually even more, including in 2016 when the Top 15 featured five original films, namely Zootopia, The secret life of pets, Moana, Singand The mermaid even if sequences like Captain America: Civil War and Finding Dory still prospered.

2025 could repeat the IP's level of success at the box office of 2024

A large number of sequels are already scheduled

Because so many IP films planned for 2024 were pushed back to 2025 during the strikes, there is an even wider range of 2025 film sequels scheduled for next year. Below, see a breakdown of some of the most prominent sequels set to premiere this year, which doesn't even include imminent reboots like Wolf Man, Snow Whiteand Lilo and Stitch. Also does not include the spinoff From the world of John Wick: ballerinathe video game adaptation A Minecraft movie., or the films from the comic book universe Superman, Rays*and The Fantastic Four: Getting Started.

However, it is possible that IP will not continue its box office domination in 2025. It seems unlikely that several of these sequels will make the Top 15, including Downton Abbey 3which is a sequel to a $92.6 million film, and Bridget Jones: Boy Crazywhich is being released by Peacock in the United States, despite an international theatrical run. Given historical precedent, it's also entirely possible that a surprise original film (especially a Disney or Pixar title) could become a hit at the level needed to surpass even this broad cast.