As we enter June, it is a good time to reflect on the year in cinema so far. Read on for this year’s ten biggest films around the world, and a few of the year’s biggest flops.
Last year, two of the year’s biggest overall hits were Barbie and Oppenheimer, films that were joined at the hip in the Barbenheimer phenomenon. Completing the top five were The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Fast X.
These are the biggest movies of the year so far
The top film at the global box office in 2024 so far is Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two. The sci-fi epic was the follow-up to the first instalment in 2021, and starred Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh and Josh Brolin.
Given the film’s huge success, it has recently been announced by Legendary Pictures that a third film in the series, Dune: Messiah, is officially going ahead, with Villeneuve returning as director, although no timeline has been set.
In a four-star review of Dune: Part Two, NME wrote: “Epic in scope and astonishing in its world building, Dune: Part Two combines jaw-dropping visuals with imaginative action and morally complex plotting to thrilling effect.”
Second on the box office list is Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, the fifth entry in the Monsterverse franchise. NME described the film as “like watching the most expensive silent movie ever made”.
Kung Fu Panda 4 takes third place, while Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is at number four, despite only being released on May 10. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire rounds out the top five, just passing the $200million mark around the world.
The rest of the top ten includes the biopic Bob Marley: One Love, the Jason Statham action movie The Beekeeper, the Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt comedy The Fall Guy, the satirical thriller Civil War and family fantasy IF.
Here are some of the year’s biggest flops
The top ten is notable for its total absence of any superhero films. The only high-profile release in the genre this year so far was Madame Web, which bombed on its opening weekend in February. It sits at a lowly number 13 on the box office list, bringing in slightly over $100million.
It was described as “an embarrassing mess” by reviews on its release, and lead star Dakota Johnson has said she will “never” do a film like it again.
Another big film that struggled in its opening weekend this year was Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. It only premiered in late May so was not likely to chart highly, but its opening of $25.6million in the US was a disappointment.
That is despite the film receiving rave reviews, including from NME, who described it as “brilliant and unmissable” and said the film was “another extraordinary blockbuster juggernaut that in some sequences somehow excels even its predecessor, arresting viewers with its booming, utterly immersive world of grease, dust, motorbikes and carnage.”
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