2015: A Hollywood Year in Review

And so comes to an end one of the most anticipated years in film in recent movie history. It was the year of BIG summer blockbusters with tent pole popcorn flicks reverberating from IMAX speakers, and, a year for lesser-known gems that will have the awards circuit buzzing in early 2016.

The Record Breakers

We had not one, not two, not three but FOUR record breakers this year. Two were expected, while the other two surprised many including myself. For me, 2015 was the year of Ultron. For three years since the first “Avengers” film dazzled us all with a then-record-breaking weekend of $207 million back in 2012, I waited with breathless anticipation for the sequel. I watched every single trailer (I now regret this and will whine about this later), memorized the lines, and drowned my twitter feed in one “Age of Ultron” tidbit after another. Based on the number of pre-orders on the movie ticket website Fandango, many expected “Age of Ultron” to match or exceed the weekend box office haul of the first film. It’s didn’t quite make it, thanks to a number of sporting events that took place the weekend it was released, one of which was the highly anticipated Mayweather vs Pacquiao Boxing match which drained a sizeable number of the 18-35 male demographic that normally makes up a large chunk of viewership for comic book film adaptations. “Age of Ultron” had to settle for an opening weekend haul of $191 million, which at the time, was good for the second biggest opening weekend in domestic box office history. Domestically it grossed over $459 million + an overseas cume of $946 million for a total intake of $1.4 billion. Good for 3^rd place on the biggest movies of 2015 list

Next came the surprise that many didn’t see coming; “Jurassic World.” I was excited for the film and penciled it in on my “must see” list, but didn’t expect the reaction it got. It was HUGE. The movie blazed past not only “Age of Ultron,” but also squeaked by the original “Avengers” and set a new opening weekend record of $208 million. Many attributed the success of the film to not only big-screen Dinosaur nostalgia, but also the rising star power of Chris Pratt (of “Guardians of the Galaxy” which was my favorite movie of 2014), and of course good execution of the film itself. The film has grossed $652 million in the U.S + $1 billion overseas for a total haul of $1.6 billion. It is the top grossing movie so far for 2015, but that isn’t going to last for much longer. Why?

Because (I think I broke a rule by starting a new paragraph with “Because” but whatever. Haha) of the last cinematic juggernaut of 2015; “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” There was no surprise here as to the reaction this film would get. The only question was whether or not the actual movie would be good enough to justify all the hype. Thankfully, it delivered. Believe it or not, this was my first ever Stars Wars film which puts my nerd card in danger of being revoked. I do plan to make amends and watch all the prior films in the franchise dating back to 1977. I think the only other movie franchise that can match it for longevity is James Bond, which began in the 1960s.

Star Wars powerbombed its way past “Jurassic World” to the tune of $248 million during its opening weekend to set the new domestic box office debut record. As I write this blog post, the film has grossed $554 million domestically and should be over a $1 billion globally by the time you’re done reading this sentence. The movie is yet to open in China and there is speculation that it could go on to challenge “Avatar” ($2.7 billion) and “Titanic” ($2.1 billion) for biggest box office draw in cinematic history. We’ll find out soon enough. Not done with box office records though, more below.

Saying goodbye (again, and officially) to Paul Walker

Another huge billion-dollar-grossing film which actually kicked off the 2015 summer season was “Furious 7.” Released on April 3^rd, the film set the record for the fastest time to reach $1 billion, doing so in 17 days. This was the other surprise many didn't see coming. “Jurassic World” later broke this record in 13 days, and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" just broke the record again, doing so in 12 days. What's most impressive about the performance of "Star Wars" in grossing $1 billion so quickly is doing so *without* opening in the big market that is China, which is really impressive. For many that saw “Furious 7,” the late actor Paul Walker, who had been part of the franchise since inception (along with Vin Diesel) in 2001, was a huge draw. He passed away in a car accident (tragic case of life imitating art) in 2013 and didn’t finish shooting all his scenes. His brother was brought in to complete them aided by Computer generated imaging. The final scene in the movie that paid tribute to him was so heartbreaking, I almost shed a tear in the theater. “Furious 7” went on to make $1.5 billion. One more member of the $1-billion-box-office club in 2015 is the animated movie "Minions" which took in $1.1 billion during its theatrical run. Altogether, these five films have grossed over $6 billion globally. The total box office haul for 2015 is expected to be north of $10 billion and five movies will account for 60% of that total. What a year! Below are two top 10 lists with the first being the domestic figures from the North American box office and second being the global figures. Both via BoxOfficeMojo.Com

A year to remember for Oscar Isaac

Mr Isaac has been on a roll since 2014’s critically acclaimed “A Most Violent Year” and he stayed in the limelight in 2015. In April he starred in the Artificial Intelligence movie “Ex Machina” which was raved about by critics everywhere. Unfortunately, it wasn’t released here in Nigeria and I didn’t get to see it. On a budget of just $15 million, the film grossed $25 million in the U.S and another $11 million overseas for a total of $36 million. Even assuming an additional 50% of the production budget in marketing costs, the small film still turned a profit. Oscar Isaac followed that up with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and his purple patch continues in 2016 when he will play the role of Apocalypse in the highly anticipated forthcoming X-Men movie.

The Rock bounces back from "Hercules"

I’m a huge fan of the Rock but can readily admit that 2014’s “Hercules” was only worth seeing because he was in it. It got blown out of the water by Scarlett Johansson’s “Lucy” during the same opening weekend and overall, was an average movie. Film careers are like business cycles with peaks and troughs so we knew Dwayne Johnson would return to Box office supremacy soon. 2015 was a great year for him as he reprised his role as DSS (Diplomatic Security Service) agent Hobbs in “Furious 7” which is the most commercially successful film in the franchise. He wasn’t done there. On May 29^th, he returned to the big screen as a Los Angeles Fire Dept Air Rescue Helicopter pilot in the disaster movie “San Andreas.” On a $110 million budget, the movie grossed $473 million globally. Consider “Hercules” forgotten. The Rock will be back in 2016 with Kevin Hart in “Central Intelligence.” Speaking of Kevin Hart, I saw his movie “The Wedding Ringer” in January of this year. Not good enough to make my top 10 list but a decent comedy still. He will also have a busy 2016. In addition to co-starring with the Rock, he will also be seen in “Ride Along 2” with Ice Cube, the sequel to the 2014 film.

The consistent Mr Gyllenhaal

I am such a big fan of this actor. Since 2012, he has delivered one solid performance after another. “End of watch” in 2012, “Prisoners” in 2013, “Nightcrawler” in 2014 (in a performance so good many felt he deserved a “Best actor” Academy Award nomination) and this year in “Southpaw” (July) and “Everest” (September). It’s been rumored that Eminem was supposed to play the lead role in the former but backed out for one reason or another. He still appeared on the soundtrack. 50 Cent co-starred with Jake as his Boxing promoter. "Southpaw" cost $30 million and made all its money back domestically plus extra; $52 million. It took in an additional $39 million overseas for a total of $91 million. "Everest" cost $55 million and grossed $43 million in the U.S and $158 million overseas for a total of $201 million. Cheers to Jake's casting agent. They're still going strong on the script-picking game. There was another film released in 2015 that starred Gyllenhaal called “Accidental Love,” a romantic comedy. It actually isn’t a 2015 movie. It was filmed waaaaay back in 2008 but financing issues delayed its release. Critics destroyed it so we’ll just pretend it never happened. Haha. Gyllenhaal will be back next year in the drama “Demolition.” 

Everybody hates Chris (when he's not Thor)?

Chris Hemsworth suited up again in 2015 as the Norse God of Thunder for “Age of Ultron” but also headlined two more films this year. He played a hacker in “Blackhat” (January) and a shipwrecked sailor in “In the heart of the sea”(December). Last year, when I saw the 2015 film schedule, I thought Hemsworth was going to have a massive year and was looking forward to writing about it on my blog in my year-end review. Sadly, things didn’t turn out that way. The only success he saw at the box office was in “Age of Ultron” which sets him up nicely for his third movie as Thor due in 2017. “Blackhat” was an abysmal flop. The film cost $70 million (not including the cost of marketing) but made only $8 million domestically and $11 million overseas. OUCH! “In the heart of the sea” also bombed. On a reported budget of $100 million, it has made just $22 million so far domestically and a further $53 million overseas. It might make back its production budget but there’s also the cost of marketing to recoup which seems unlikely. Both movies were trashed by critics so I avoided them. I was really looking forward to “In the heart of the sea” and was disappointed it didn’t deliver.

One has to wonder if Chris Hemsworth can still headline a film outside the Marvel franchise. His last non-Marvel outing at the box office that yielded dividends was 2013’s “Rush” (also directed by Ron Howard who helmed “In the heart of the sea”). On a $38 million budget, the film pulled in $90 million globally. A year before that in 2012, he also had success with “Snow White and the Huntsman” which cost $170 million but pulled in $396 million globally.  Chris Hemsworth will return to the big screen in the 2016 remake of “Ghostbusters” which stars an all-female cast and gender flips the franchise. He will be playing the eye-candy receptionist in the movie (which makes sense since the stars of the film are all women). Looking forward to seeing how that turns out.

American film goers let me down with "Tomorrowland"

I was REALLY looking forward to this film! It was fresh. It was ORIGINAL. Think about it; the five biggest movies of 2015 are all parts of franchises. Hollywood has been playing it safe. So along comes Disney (it was distributed by Buena Vista) and director Brad Bird (“The Incredibles,” (2004) “Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol” (2011)) with something new and what does the audience do? Turn their backs on it! What a travesty! This film easily made my top 10 list for the year and would have made my top 5 if it wasn’t for the brilliant “Inside Out” (which came from Pixar, the same studio for whom Brad Bird made “The Incredibles” and “Ratatouille” [2007]). “Tomorrowland” was about the power of inspirational dreams, of innovation, and it closed with a strong message. While these aren’t new topics covered by Hollywood, I appreciate the way the movie approached them. The film cost a whopping $190 million to make (the special effects explain why) but fell short domestically with a $93 million haul. It made a further $119 million overseas for a total of $208 million, but when you include marketing costs (which could have been up to half of the $190 million production budget), the film fell short of expectations. Had it been successful, we could have seen a new franchise. Sadly, the risk didn’t pay off so it’s back to more sequels. *Sigh*

A rant on movie trailers

Earlier, I mentioned how I later came to regret watching so many trailers for “Age of Ultron.” At the time, I was soooo hyped up for the film that I didn’t care. My extreme anticipation for the movie gobbled up every trailer in sight. When I finally did see the film, it felt like the trailers had given most of it away. I’ve seen a lot of complaints on twitter about this tendency to give too much in trailers and the latest culprit is the highly anticipated “Batman vs Superman” film due next year. The early trailers led us all to believe it was a conflict between the two heroes but the latest trailer gave away a plot twist which many felt it didn’t have to. I won’t reveal it here in case you haven’t seen it, but somehow I doubt that’s possible if you’re geeked about the film. Anyway, I’ve resolved not to watch any more trailers for the film. Easier said than done, but I’ll try to be strong.

The Worst films I saw in 2015

Three movies I saw this year made the list:

Seventh Son

Mortdecai

Fifty Shades of Grey

Production on “Seventh Son” began in 2011 and it should have been released in 2013 but there were a number of delays, one of which I’m sure is the studio realized they had a big turd on their hands and were it not for costs already incurred, would have dropped the movie altogether. I saw this film back in January on a date. A first date for that matter. It was so bad, I was convinced the date was ruined. In my defense, my date picked this crap, and I’ve never let her hear the end of it. Haha. On a budget of $95 million, the film grossed a deplorable $17 million in the U.S. The overseas market came to its rescue with a $96 million gross for a total haul of $114 million but once you factor in marketing costs of anywhere from 30% to 50% of the production budget, the movie was a commercial bust. 

“Mortdecai” stars Johnny Depp and is another bomb to add to his resume. He was recently listed as the top overpaid actor in Hollywood by Forbes, taking over from Adam Sandler. A consistent fat paycheck despite a string of stinkers earned him the dubious honor. I still regard him as one of the most versatile actors in Hollywood though. Anyway, where is my excuse for seeing this film? Oh, yea, I saw it on cable, not in a movie theater. On a production budget of $60 million, the film grossed a your-studio-exec-could-get-fired-over-this $7 million in the U.S. It took in a further $39 million overseas for a total draw of $47 million. To put that in perspective, "Southpaw" cost half of "Mortdecai" ($30M) but made almost twice as much money at the box office ($91M). Johnny Depp did achieve some success at the box office in 2015 in the form of the Crime drama “Black Mass.” On a budget of $53 million, the movie grossed $94 million globally.

I watched “Fifty Shades of Grey” partly for the hype and out of curiosity to see bondage on screen (Yea, I know, there are other options, but we're talking Hollywood here). The script and dialogue were godawful but the movie was still an astronomical commercial success thanks to material that sold itself without much help (the books did it all). With a price tag of just $40 million, the movie grossed $166 million in the United States and a further $404 million overseas for an orgasmic total of $570 million. Even if the film didn't make an additional dime overseas, it already made more than 4x its production budget in the U.S alone. Heck, let's assume an additional $40 million was spent on marketing the movie bringing its total cost to $80 million. It was STILL a success in America alone. But HALF A BILLION DOLLARS?!? No one should be surprised that a sequel is in the works. If the scenes get more freaky, I just might see it. Haha.

Without further ado, here are my top 10 movies for 2015:

10) Jurassic World

9) Mad Max: Fury Road

8) Ant-Man

7) Star Wars: The Force Awakens

6) Tomorrowland

5) Inside Out

4) Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

3) The Martian

2) Kingsman: The Secret Service

1) Avengers: Age of Ultron

There were a number of good films I didn’t get to see this year. In no particular order:

Ex Machina

Infinitely Polar Bear (Starring Mark Ruffalo aka The Hulk from “Avengers”)

Trainwreck

The Diary of a Teenage Girl

Straight Outta Compton

Everest

Sicario

The Walk
Spotlight (Mark Ruffalo again, this time playing a Boston Globe journalist)

Creed

The Big Short

The Hateful Eight

The Revenant

Some of these are limited releases and should hopefully get wider releases next year.

2016 looks like another promising year in film. See ya then!