Posts Tagged ‘Movies’
Question Asked: Why Does Hollywood Keep Remaking Old Movies?
Great question. Since I’m not “Hollywood”, it’s tough to answer correctly.
However, if you ask me (and you did!), I’d say there’s a lack of creativity in Hollywood these days. It seems like almost everything that comes out fits into one of the following categories:
- Based on a true story/book
- Remake of an old movie/Japanese horror movie
- Sequel (or threequel, or fourquel [I know I made those words up, it's okay])
- Crap
- Superhero movie based on a comic book
There’s very few new original movies that have been great lately, in all areas.
Remaking an old movie that was fairly successful, is almost a guarantee of money to be made. Or revamping an old movie, and adding another to the series (ie; Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc).
Hollywood just seems to be stock out of ideas.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s been some great movies lately. It just seems like everything that the masses love is a remake. You hear us Hollywood?! We want more original movies that don’t suck!
Question Asked: What is the Most Successful Superhero Movie of all Time?
How does one define a superhero? Super powers? Flying? A magic costume that transforms them from one identity to another?
I’m assuming that folks such as Spider-man, Batman, and Superman are. But what about other people who “do good”? Harry Potter, Captain Jack Sparrow, Frodo Baggins, Luke Skywalker, Tony Stark, Neo, Optimus Prime, etc., etc., etc.
And how does one judge the “success” of the movie? By ticket revenue? By viewer enjoyment? Let’s examine both, shall we?
Based solely on ticket sales, the Spider-man series is the most successful, bring in about $2.5 billion (Spider-man - $821 million, Spider-man 2 - $783 million, Spider-man 3 - $890 million). Side note: the only two trilogies that have made more money that Spider-man were Star Wars and Harry Potter .
If we were to scour the internet, and try to find out what superhero movie people liked the most (after seeing it), what would we find?
The editors of IGN say the original Superman, followed closely by Batman Begins.
The folks at AOL Movies say Spider-man 2, followed closely by Batman Begins. Side note: Spider-man 2 is not as good as the original, in my opinion. People apparently disagree.
WIW seems to have copied the AOL list, almost exactly, with Spider-man 2 and Batman Begins taking the top two spots.
A poll conducted on ComicBookMovie is the first place that agrees with me, and users voted Batman Begins as the best movie, by a landslide.
MSN seems to think X-men is the greatest superhero movie. I don’t consider X-men to be a superhero movie, but you may.
RightWingNews says The Crow. I don’t think that qualifies as a superhero movie, even if it is one of my favorite movies of all time.
And lastly on my search, I’m led to the forums at GameSpot, where most people are saying Batman Begins, and assuming that The Dark Knight will blow it away when it comes out in two months.
So there you have it. People voted a lot for Spider-man 2, Superman, and Batman Begins. Money-wise, Spider-man 2 made the most money.
Question Asked: What’s The Highest Grossing Movie of all Time?
This answer should actually get broken up into two subquestions; what’s the highest grossing movie of all time & what’s the most profitable movie of all time. Two very different questions.
By the way the question was formed, I’m assuming that we’re talking box office numbers only, not DVD and Blu-Ray (and HD-DVD, if applicable) sales, as well.
According to a number of different sources, 1997’s Titanic grossed 1.845 billion US dollars worldwide. That’s billion, with a b, as in boy. If I remember correctly, back 11 years ago, it was re-released a year later. Presumably to get everyone to see it again, or pay to see it a first time after it left theaters.
Strictly from a money-made perspective, here’s the top ten movies (as of this writing):
- Titanic - $1, 845, 000, 000
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - $1, 119, 000, 000
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest - $1, 066, 000, 000
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone - $976, 000, 000
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End - $961, 000, 000
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - $938, 500, 000
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - $ 926, 300, 000
- Star Wars: Episode I - the Phantom Menace - $924, 300, 000
- Shrek 2 - $919, 800, 000
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - $896, 000, 000
Looks like the Harry Potter franchise has done quite well over the years.
As for most profitable movie ever made, this isn’t quite as clear cut. Some movies’ budgets aren’t made publicly available, so this may not be entirely accurate.
Profit, in the movie industry, needs to factor in the cost of a movie. Keeping that in mind, none of the top ten grossing (tickets sold) movies, are the most profitable. Based on information I found available on a number of different sites, the top three most profitable movies of all time are as follows:
- The Blair Witch Project- Budget: $60,000, Revenue: $248, 600, 000
- ET - Budget: $10, 000, 000, Revenue: $792, 000, 000
- Star Wars: Episide IV - A New Hope: Budget: $11, 000, 000, Revenue: $775, 000, 000
So while a movie may have made a lot of money, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s all profit. Something to keep in mind. Some movies just cost more to make. For example, Titanic cost roughly $200, 000, 000 to make. Ten times what ET cost, and only made two and a half times as much at the box office.
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