Best of 2017: Part 1: Boxoffice

As 2018 ends, most look back at the films that made that year great. But the truth of the matter we won't know the details till well into 2019. For instance, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a 2017 film but only left theatres in April 2018. Now enough time has now passed to take a good look at 2017 to see what made that year impactful.

As usual, the first thing looked at is what rocked it in the box office. I look at Boxoffice Mojo and I look at worldwide all-time gross and see what entered the top 250 films from that year. 2016 had 22 new films, 20 in 2015 and 22 in 2014. 2017 is about as typical as the last few with 21 new films breaking box office numbers. Every year the pattern has also been that one extra film enters the top 250 US box office all-time gross that isn't otherwise mentioned. This year that film is The LEGO Batman movie that just about made it past the 250 mark. 

Looking at the studio breakdown this year it's clear to see who is making the most successful films.
Disney: 6 films - Nearly $6 billion
Warner Bros: 6 films - $3.5billion
Fox: 4 films - $2.7 billion
Universal: 2 films - $2.3billion
Sony: 2 film -  $1.8 billion
Unknown Chinese studio: 1 film $0.9 billion
Paramount: 1 film - $0.6 billion

By type of film, this year we have four outliers, rather than the general three, that go beyond the general trend of Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Kids. This year we have two action films, one musical and one horror. The Fate of the Furious continues in the success that Furious 7 achieved a few years back by highly appealing to the international market (80% of all $ earned) in ways that North American's still don't understand. Our second action film is the unknown sequel to the unknown 2015 film that clearly made it very big in China, Wolf Warrior 2. Last year started the trend with two Chinese films (The Mermaid, Monster Hunt) making so much money domestically that it actually made it to the top charts with little success outside of China. Next, we have a rare addition of a successful horror film which comes about once a decade, IT. Lastly, we have the charming Hugh Jackman singing and dancing which was clearly going to make money in The Greatest Showman.

FILM	IMDB	WORLD TOTAL
Star Wars: The Last Jedi	7.2	$1332.5m
Beauty and the Beast (2017)	7.2	$1263.5m
The Fate of the Furious	6.7	$1230.6m
Despicable Me 3	6.3	$1034.8m
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle	7.0	$962.1m
Spider-Man: Homecoming	7.5	$880.2m
Wolf Warrior 2	6.2	$870.3m
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2	7.7	$863.8m
Thor: Ragnarok	7.9	$854.0m
Wonder Woman	7.5	$821.8m
Coco	8.4	$807.1m
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales	6.6	$794.9m
It	7.4	$700.4m
Justice League	6.5	$657.9m
Logan (2017)	8.1	$619.0m
Transformers: The Last Knight	5.2	$605.4m
Kong: Skull Island	6.7	$566.7m
The Boss Baby	6.3	$528.0m
Dunkirk	7.9	$527.3m
War for the Planet of the Apes	7.5	$490.7m
The Greatest Showman	7.7	$435.0m
The LEGO Batman Movie	7.3	$175.7m

So how many of these have your seen and which of these would you spend money on?