Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

It’s hard to imagine now, but the first entry wasn’t a guaranteed smash hit. Theme park rides don’t have a great reputation for successful films. At one point considered as a direct-to-video release, with everyone from Cary Elwes to Christopher Walken considered for the now iconic role of Captain Jack Sparrow. Originally written for Hugh Jackman, the role went to Johnny Depp, who has become synonymous with the role and a household name. Although critics expected it to be a flop, it went on to become the fourth highest-grossing film of the year, launching countless impressions and parodies and four sequels. Also, it gave us this iconic theme.

X2: X-Men United

Put into production a few months after the success of the first film, the second film is more ambitious in every way. Introducing new characters, like Nightcrawler, who features in the action-packed opening, and featuring a much more ambitious story, it had the top spot at the box office for two weeks. Coming before the superhero domination of the box office, X2 went a long way to ensuring the genre’s success, as well as renewing interest in the comics.

The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

Concluding the trilogy that first hit theatres in 2001, the final entry in the series had immense hype surrounding it, leading it to become the second film ever to reach $1 billion at the box office (behind Titanic). It won a whopping eleven Oscars (the highest total, an honour it shares with Titanic and Ben-Hur), for every category it was nominated for, including Best Picture. To this day, it is held up as one of the best films ever, and the trilogy itself is often spoken about with the same reverence as Star Wars. It spawned a prequel trilogy a decade later, adapting The Hobbit, putting the Wētā Workshop on the industry map, and has had a massive effect on the New Zealand tourism industry.

Memories of Murder

The second film from now Oscar-winning Korean director Bong-Joon Ho is based on several real murders that occurred during the late 1980s. Its limited release meant it was a cult film outside of Korea for a long time, but in its home country was so successful it saved its production company from bankruptcy. Amongst its many fans are Quentin Tarantino who declared it, along with Bong’s next film The Host, one of his favourites since 1992. At the time of release, the murders the film was based on remained unsolved, meaning it is entirely possible that the real-life murderer has seen it…

Elf

Despite the script being written in 1993, it took another ten years before the film would hit cinemas. Eventually landing Will Ferrell, fresh off Saturday Night Live, to star and Jon Favreau, probably best known for Swingers and a few episodes of Friends, to direct. Against a measly $33 million budget, it earned $220 million at the box office. Ferrell’s film career was off to a great start and the film regularly tops or places highly in “Best Christmas Movies” lists. Favreau is doing pretty well for himself too, having directed Iron Man (giving himself a recurring role in the MCU in the process), adaptations of The Jungle Book and The Lion King as well as show running The Mandalorian.

2 Fast 2 Furious

The early entries in the franchise are a strange time capsule, compared to the monstrous hits they’d become. The sequel’s move to Miami and buddy cop story was a departure from the original, but in retrospect, is the beginning of what it would become. Introducing Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris to the franchise, as well as showing how malleable the series could be. It laid the groundwork for a long-running franchise, even if reviews were disappointing.

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Fast & Furious – Martin Scorsese

The bizarrely successful Fast & Furious franchise has been around for 20 years and there are nine or ten (depending on how you count them) films already made. Scorsese could easily whittle that down to three long ones, with a de-aged Robert De Niro having a career as a street racer/criminal over decades. A de-aged Joe Pesci could play his wild friend/rival who takes too many risks when driving and Leonardo Di Caprio entering late in the trilogy as the undercover cop and/or Howards Hughes-style billionaire inventor wanting to make the fastest car in the world out of wood. The physics-defying antics of the films are replaced with short but extremely violent outbursts of criminal behaviour and the soundtrack is overwhelmingly The Rolling Stones.

Twilight – David Cronenberg

A story with as many different monsters and peculiar goings-on as the Twilight series could be brought to cinema in many different ways. The story already contains so much potential for body horror: people transform into monsters, vampires drink blood, there are unusual pregnancies and unusual childhoods, and who better than David Cronenberg to capture the horrific madness of it all? Obviously, throw in Viggo Mortensen somewhere but it would be fine keeping Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, who have both shown a willingness to take on very interesting roles, with both appearing in Cronenberg films. Twilight received some criticism from monster fans in that vampires didn’t seem much like vampires, werewolves could change form at will in quite an unspectacular way, but Cronenberg would certainly provide more visceral creatures. The Fly is famous for the transformation of its scientist protagonist, Shivers a controversial and early foray into body-horror and with Rabid touching upon themes of vampires and zombies but in an utterly terrifying and horrific to watch way.

American Pie – Greta Gerwig

The awful American Pie franchise has dated about as bad as it is possible to date, with so many of the “jokes” just being truly awful things happening. A coming-of-age comedy franchise that follows the cast into adulthood has a lot of potential and Greta Gerwig can do this brilliantly. Lady Bird was set in the early 2000s, not long after American Pie was released, and Little Women – admittedly set in the 1860s but does prove she’s not limited to one setting. Instead of being a gross-out sex comedy based on the horrid treatment of women it could be something more intelligent, funnier and in every way just better.

Judging on Gerwig’s other films it’s fair to imagine that these films would focus more on young women than young men, but something like Timothy Chalamet’s pretentious but awful teenager from Lady Bird could be added very easily.

Mad Max – Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

An observant reader might have noticed some shade being gently tossed towards some of the previous franchises but there shall be none for Mad Max. But to take something already good and do something interesting you have to really change things up. So Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s brand of anarchic inventive joy could transform the brutal post-apocalypse into a far more bizarre and “fun” place. The question of whether the film should be animated or not (and if so, based on Lego) is an interesting one but it would be great to see the aesthetic of something like Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs brought to a non-animated Mad Max.

Also Read: The Unique Style of Wes Anderson

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10. Chinese Doctors ($197,143,218/£142,009,160)

Despite only seeing a major release in China, Australia, and New Zealand this tale of a group of doctors working together in Wuhan to combat Covid-19 has become an unlikely hit at the box office.

9. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It ($201,965,074/£145,472,413)

The latest instalment in the popular Conjuring franchise, based on the real-life trial of Arne Cheyenne Johnson, was the first main series entry not directed by James Wan. Instead, it was directed by The Curse of La Llorona’s Michael Chaves. And although not as highly regarded as the other main Conjuring movies it definitely encouraged horror fans to return to the cinema.

8. Cruella ($222,184,131/£160,035,897)

Released simultaneously on Disney+ and in theatres this origin story for everyone’s favourite dog skinning maniac managed to outperform Disney’s previous live-action reinterpretation of an animated classic, Mulan (2020). But it remains one of Disney’s lowest-performing live-action adaptations of an animated movie.

7. Free Guy ($242,943,984/£175,030,208)

Free Guy follows a videogame NPC (Non-Playable Character) called Guy as he slowly becomes self-aware and breaks out of his predetermined path. Currently, Free Guy is one of the highest-grossing original IPs of the year.

6. A Quiet Place Part II ($297,372,261/£214,243,332)

While not quite as successful as the original, A Quiet Place 2, which takes the Abbot’s into the wider world outside their home, still performed admirably after a long release delay. And is currently the year’s highest-grossing horror film.

5. Black Widow ($372,376,568/£268,328,969)

Marvel’s highest-grossing film this year follows Black Widow as she goes off-grid and confronts her dark past. But its release has been mired in controversy. The film’s star Scarlett Johansson announced she would be suing Disney (Marvel’s owners) over Black Widow’s simultaneous streaming release. This is because it allegedly breached Johansson’s contract, which said the film would be released theatrically with her salary being tied to its box office earnings.

4. Godzilla vs. Kong ($467,863,133/£337,135,156)

The fourth entry in Legendary Pictures’ MonsterVerse managed a higher income than its prior entry, Godzilla: King of the Monsters. And it also marked the second time the classic movie monsters have fought. The first being in 1963’s King Kong Vs Godzilla.

3. Detective Chinatown 3 ($686,257,563/£494,506,906)

Chinese cinema continues its presence in the top 10 with the Detective Chinatown series’ highest-grossing entry so far. This time detectives Tang and Qin are involved in a battle with the strongest detectives across all of Asia to solve a case in Tokyo.

2. F9: The Fast Saga ($710,873,160/£512,244,536)

F9 follows Dom and his crew as they battle against a new threat. Dom’s estranged brother. F9 is the highest-grossing Hollywood movie so far this year and the highest-grossing Hollywood film since the Pandemic started.

1. Hi, Mom ($822,009,764/£592,327,906)

So far the highest-grossing movie of 2021 is not a huge blockbuster, instead, it’s a small movie about a young woman travelling through time, who befriends her own mother and tries to give her a better life. It’s exceptional taking also makes Hi, Mom the highest-grossing film ever made by a solo female director.

This concludes our look at the highest-grossing films at the 2021 box office so far. And while the receipts for the high scorers are not as high as those of 2019 they are still higher than those of 2020 and the films are an interesting mix. With 3 foreign language films (all produced in China), 3 films not based on pre-existing material, 2 horror films and only 3 Disney/Disney affiliated movies being included. It shows that cinemagoers are looking for different film experiences to sit alongside big blockbuster releases. Let’s hope for even more diversity when the year-end list comes.

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The franchise now sits as the 10th highest-franchise of all time. With 9 films released, and several others in development. While the main story is set to end with part 11, it’s unlikely “la familia” will be driving off into the sunset for good. It’s fair to say that the series has lasted longer than anyone anticipated.

“A Quarter-Mile at a Time”

Inspired by an article about street racing, the original film “The Fast and The Furious” wasn’t trying to be the next billion-dollar franchise. On a modest budget of around $38 million and relative unknowns starring (Diesel’s biggest credit was Pitch Black). The film did much better than the studio expected, opening at number one and quickly earning over $200 million. A sequel was quickly greenlit.

While Paul Walker returned, Diesel decided to work Chronicles of Riddick instead. This led to Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris being cast as Roman and Tej, who would later rejoin the series in bigger roles. While 2 Fast, 2 Furious wasn’t reviewed as highly as the original, it managed to knock Finding Nemo off the number one spot at the box office, and greenlight another sequel.

The third film The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, has no actors from the previous films returning, despite a brief cameo from Vin Diesel at the end. The original script actually followed Toretto learning to drift while solving a murder but was rewritten to focus on new characters. Introducing us to Sung Kang’s Han, an instant fan-favourite, as well as Justin Lin, who will direct several other entries. The film did well at the box office, but was the least successful of the trilogy, leaving the series future uncertain…

“From Misson: Impossible to Mission: In- freaking-sanity!”

Vin Diesel’s cameo at the end of Tokyo Drift renewed his interest in the series and managed to reunite the main cast of the original film for the first “true” sequel. Lin directed again, and Kang reprised his role as Han, shifting the timeline to resurrect him. The car culture elements were toned down, giving the series more general appeal. It was a huge commercial success and renewed interest in the series.

The real change came with Fast Five. Featuring only one actual race, focusing on action and heists, as well as introducing Dwayne Johnson to the series. This is where the series becomes how we recognise it today. Considered by many to be the best in the series, it was a huge critical and commercial success, and perhaps the first instance of a trailer being revealed on a star’s Facebook Page. The films continued to be massive hits onwards, during press for Furious 7 Diesel announced spin-offs were being discussed, the first of these, Hobbs & Shaw was released in 2019.

“Let’s make some money”

After the release of Tokyo Drift, theme park attractions based on the franchise started. While starting as just vehicle stunt shows, they have gradually expanded into full experiences and rides, with characters from the films “appearing”.

Several videogames based on the franchise have also been released, mostly mobile games but several console games. The highest-profile games are arguably the expansion for Forza Horizon 2 and the Dodge Charger in Rocket League. Several replicas of the cars used in the films have been produced by Hot Wheels and in 2020, a LEGO model of the Dom’s Dodge Charger was announced. In 2019 Fast and Furious Spy Racers, an animated series focusing on Toretto’s cousin aired on Netflix.

Against all odds, The Fast Saga has not only survived but it has gotten stronger than ever. Even the tragic death of co-lead Paul Walker hasn’t been able to stop it, with Furious 7 going on to gross $1.5 Billion (£1.1 Billion) worldwide alone and the entire film franchise grossing more than $5.8 Billion (£4.4 Billion) in cinemas worldwide. With the main series set to end with number 11, it seems like there is nothing that can stop it.

Also Read: How To Revive A Franchise After Many Years

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What’s it about?

Fast & Furious franchise’s Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Shaw (Jason Statham) must put their differences aside and join forces on a mission to save the world!

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