Rueben's Ramblings

This year not only saw superhero movies begin to fizzle, despite the success of the new iteration of Superman and the first GOOD movie based on The Fantastic Four, at your local cineplex but also the resurgence of more family-friendly movies such as A Minecraft Movie and the live-action versions of Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon.

The long-in-the-tooth Mission Impossible franchise, which has starred Tom Cruise in the lead role of Ethan Hunt since 1996 – yep, 29 years ago, finally (seemingly) tapped out with $576 million globally, but given that the movie cost $300 million to make, well, not such a great return, right?

Then you have the R-rated Southern Gothic, Ryan Coogler-directed Sinners that starred Michael B. Jordan as identical twins in this horror flick set in 1932 Mississippi that was filled with vampires and the remnants of the Klu Klux Klan. The budget for the movie was $90 million, but its global box office earned 363.8 million; in fact, the flick earned nearly as much in its second weekend as it did in this first weekend at the box office, an unprecedented result for a film that did not open over the holiday season.

Sadly, the same cannot be said for the much-maligned, revival treatment of Snow White that starred West Side Story star Rachel Zegler in the title role and Wonder Woman herself Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. The film was subjected to too many controversies, creative struggles and what is being called a “dated premise,” making for a disappointing outcome for the popular Disney character.

Then there was the extremely poor performance by The Alto Knights from Warner Bros. that not even two Robert De Niros in the film could help. This gangster flick just couldn’t catch a break, earning only 9.5 million in its global box office but costing the studio $45 million to make. The movie received scathing reviews and was one of this year’s biggest flops.

My favorite movies this year have been Wicked: For Good and Superman, but I also didn’t have the opportunity (or the money) to see very many movies this year.

Now let’s take a look at the top 30 box office winners from this year (up through Saturday, December 13 that is):

1. A Minecraft Movie – 423.9 million
2. Lilo & Stitch – 423.8 million
3. Superman – 354 million
4. Jurassic World: Rebirth – 339 million
5. Wicked: For Good – 314 million
6. Sinners – 279 million
7. The Fantastic Four: First Steps – 274 million
8. Zootopia 2 – 263 million
9. How to Train Your Dragon – 262 million
10. Captain America: Brave New World – 200 million
11. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning – 197 million
12. Thunderbolts* – 190 million
13. F1: The Movie – 189 million
14. The Conjuring: Last Rites – 177 million
15. Weapons – 151 million
16. Final Destination: Bloodlines – 138 million
17. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle – 134 million
18. Mufasa: The Lion King – 126 million
19. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 – 98 million
20. Dog Man – 97 million
21. Freakier Friday – 94 million
22. Predator: Badlands – 90 million
23. Snow White – 87 million
24. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 – 84 million
25. The Bad Guys 2 – 82 million
26. Black Phone 2 – 77 million
27. Tron: Ares – 73 million
28. Elio – 72 million
29. One Battle After Another – 71 million
30. 28 Years Later – 70 million

On the other spectrum are the movies that were either a disappointment in the box office due to poor ticket sales or, more importantly, had a horrible trailer that made me completely uninterested in seeing them. While several of the below were in the top 30 for ticket sales, they still weren’t very good (at least to me).

They appear in alphabetical order below:

28 Years Later
Alma & the Wolf
Alto Knights
Americana
Anaconda (which will come out in theatres today)
Black Phone 2
Bride Hard
Bring Her Back
Bugonia
Clown in a Cornfield
Die My Love
Drop
Final Destination: Bloodlines
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2
Heart Eyes
Hell Motel
Him
Hurry Up Tomorrow
I Know What You Did Last Summer (reboot)
Ick
Keeper
M3GAN 2.0
Mickey 17
One Battle After Another
Opus
Presence
Rabbit Trap
Shell
Sinners
The Conjuring: Last Rites
The Monkey
The Parenting
The Woman in the Yard
Together
Until Dawn
Weapons
Wolf Man

What movies did you enjoy seeing at the movie theatre this year?

TOMORROW: Awards of 2025

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!