With all the highest-grossing films of the year either remakes, spinoffs, or sequels, the franchise model dominated Hollywood in 2024.
A glance at the top ten highest-grossing Hollywood films of 2024 immediately reveals a telling pattern. All ten titles are sequels, remakes, or part of some franchise or cinematic universe. This is, perhaps, the first time in the history of Western cinema when not a single ‘original’ story has managed to be among the year’s biggest films. The failure of much-hyped films like Megalopolis ensured that. But while in some cases, originality failing was a case of bad quality, the sheer overwhelming domination of franchises shows that, at some level, Hollywood has stopped pushing original content. Years from now, when there is an obvious backlash to this trend, 2024 will be seen as the year when it all comes to a head.

Sequels, remakes, and spinoffs galore

Hollywood’s obsession with recognisable IPs is not new. For over three decades, studios have pushed sequels, franchises, and any way to make money based on the audience’s familiarity with characters and worlds. The birth of cinematic universes in 2008 sent that into top gear. This year, the world’s top 10 grossing films include nine Hollywood films – all remakes or sequels -Inside Out 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, Despicable Me 4, Moana 2, Dune Part Two, Wicked, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Kung Fu Panda 4, and Venom: The Last Dance 4. Incidentally, the only non-American film on the list – the Chinese film YOLO – is also a remake, an adaptation of the Japanese film 100 Yen Love.Sequels, remakes, and spinoffs galore

Hollywood’s obsession with recognisable IPs is not new. For over three decades, studios have pushed sequels, franchises, and any way to make money based on the audience’s familiarity with characters and worlds. The birth of cinematic universes in 2008 sent that into top gear. This year, the world’s top 10 grossing films include nine Hollywood films – all remakes or sequels -Inside Out 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, Despicable Me 4, Moana 2, Dune Part Two, Wicked, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Kung Fu Panda 4, and Venom: The Last Dance 4. Incidentally, the only non-American film on the list – the Chinese film YOLO – is also a remake, an adaptation of the Japanese film 100 Yen Love.

Independent cinema falls prey to franchise culture too

For decades, Independent cinema had existed as the bastion of originality and ‘different’ content. Unhindered by the studios’ demands and rules, indie filmmakers experimented with concepts and genres more freely. But this decade has shown that the last bastion is falling, too. The highest-grossing indie film of the year is not just a sequel but a threequel. Terrifer 3, a horror film, made just $2 million, grossed $90 million worldwide, and even beat Joker 2 at the box office. It is now the highest-grossing unrated film in cinema history, and trade insiders feel that may encourage independent cinema to look at repeatable IPs.

Where did the originality go?

Original cinema has existed. Megalopolis, Francis Ford Coppla’s ambitious project, is the biggest example of it. That a filmmaker of his calibre had to invest $120 million of his own money to distribute and release it speaks volumes of the ‘acceptance’ of original ideas in Hollywood. The eventual box office debacle of the film means that studios will be even harder on original ideas that do not check all the boxes for a summer blockbuster.

The road ahead

The clouds do not seem to be dissipating. The first big release of 2025 is Wolf Man, a reboot of a franchise that began eight decades ago. There are spinoffs from the worlds of Star Trek, Bridget Jones, reboots of Snow White, and a fourth Captain America lined up too. And all this is just in the first three months of 2025. Even beyond that, the hope for originality is bleak. Even Christopher Nolan’s next is an adaptation of one of the oldest epics in history – The Odyssey. One can now wait for the next Jordan Peele film or a breakaway sleeper hit to correct the course somewhat. However, given the lack of support from the studios, it remains a tall order.

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