With just one week left before Labor Day, Summer is coming to an unofficial close. It has been quite the season at the box office with records broken and a lot of films that performed unexpectedly. Whether it be Disney's historic reign or the shocking failure of some big name sequels, Summer 2019 is going to go down as another game-changer for Hollywood. Here is our ranking of the Top 10 winners and losers of Summer 2019. Keep in mind this list is not meant to call out every film that was a hit or a bomb but rather looking at the most significant successes and failures of the season.
If you disagree with our picks or think we missed something, let us know in the comments below.
The clout and power of Disney knows no bounds. Setting an all-time record by being the first movie studio with 5 billion dollar grossing movies (with STAR WARS: THE RISE OF THE SKYWALKER assured to make that 6), Disney shows no signs of slowing down. Owning 3 of the top five grossing summer movies in ALADDIN, TOY STORY 4, and THE LION KING, Disney also cast a huge shadow over the entire month of May with their pre-summer release of AVENGERS: ENDGAME. There is no doubt that Disney has perfected the summer blockbuster but it remains to be seen if anyone else will rival them in the summers to come.
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There were a lot of failed sequels this year and we always talk about franchise fatigue, but there were a significant numbr of bombs in 2019. While the Anne Hathaway/Rebel Wilson remake of DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS was dead on arrival, it was the sequels to SHAFT, MEN IN BLACK, and ANGRY BIRDS that performed the worst. While SHAFT and ANGRY BIRDS 2 at least garnered some critical buzz, MEN IN BLACK INTERNATIONAL remains one of the biggest flops in franchise history especially since it should have clicked thanks to the reunion of THOR RAGNAROK co-stars Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson.
While it seems like Hollywood has been scared to release anything more adult than a PG-13 film during the summer months, the successes this year prove that R-ratings can still be viable money-makers. THE CONJURING universe continues to churn out profits with ANNABELLE COMES HOME earning a nice $72 million while the Elton John biopic ROCKETMAN came very close to triple digits with $96 million. But, the biggest hit was JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 – PARABELLUM with $170 million. JOHN WICK continues to improve upon it's predecessors and shows that DEADPOOL is not the only R-Rated action franchise worth a damn these days.
It is no wonder that Disney cancelled virtually every in development film at 20th Century Fox once their merger was complete. The abysmal performance of anything from Fox this summer is shocking. The former studio's highest grossing film this season was DARK PHOENIX which sent their X-Men franchise out with a whimper in the form of only $65 million domestically. Their next best movie was STUBER with only $22 million. It goes without saying that Disney acquired Fox more for their library than what they had on their slate, but it is a sad end to one of the oldest studios in Hollywood.
While the news cycle is dominated by the rift with Disney that could end their working relationship, Sony is riding high on the success of SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME which is now their highest grossing movie of all time. They also hit paydirt with their first collaboration with Quentin Tarantino as ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD is a surefire Oscar contender. While MEN IN BLACK INTERNATIONAL is a bitter pill to swallow, Sony has a lot to mine with their Marvel properties and having a billion dollar movie is more than enough to give them a win.
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Maybe it is just me, but I am getting a little sick of the loving pet whose thoughts are narrated by a famous actor cliche. In 2019, we have gotten three movies using this technique with two of them coming during the summer season. THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN and A DOG'S JOURNEY are both sentimental programming that can play counter to studio tentpoles, but neither film has crossed $25 million at the box office making this a sub-genre that needs to be put to sleep.
Without any DC movies coming to screens until next year, Warner Bros had to rely on one sequel and a potential franchise starter. POKEMON: DETECTIVE PIKACHU helped kick off the summer and grossed a solid $144 domestically which made the almost $300 million internationally pure profit. Sequel GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS broke the $100 million bar in North America and another $275 around the world which is pretty good to lead into next year's crossover with King Kong. While WB will have a massive hit just after summer ends with IT: CHAPTER TWO, they managed to do pretty well for themselves during the hottest part of the year.
While every studio doesn't have the balls to release smaller films opposite the massive blockbusters of the summer, some take the chance. You will often see indie hits or sleeper successes, but this year was lacking in many memorable ones. TOLKIEN looked to cash in on fans of LORD OF THE RINGS but grossed a paltry $4.5 million while THE KITCHEN was critically maligned and made about the same. UGLYDOLLS barely scratched the surface and acclaimed films like THE FAREWELL and BLINDED BY THE LIGHT should have done so much better. WHERE'D YOU GO BERNADETTE was a disaster. Overall, not a great run for smaller films.
HOBBS AND SHAW and THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS 2 were the biggest films released by Universal Studios this summer and both performed well enough to represent themselves in the Top 10 grossing films of the season. While both films crossed the $100 million mark, the studio also had success with MA ($45 million) and Danny Boyle's YESTERDAY ($76 million) and GOOD BOYS ($26 million) looks to be a nice closer for them. Expectations will be high for Universal to exceed these profits next year but they have a lot to be happy about right now.
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Of the top 25 films at the box office this summer, only 9 were not sequels or remakes of other movies. Within the Top 10, the only original story was Quentin Tarantino's ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD. While we are always going to get franchises the majority of the time, films like LONG SHOT and MIDSOMMAR get lost in the mix. Sure, we are going to see more original movies during the fall and winter, but it feels like we have not seen a truly great original summer blockbuster in a long, long time.