THE MOVIE THEATER Just three days before the end of the year, we did an article about the highest-grossing domestic films of the year.
Even before the year could end, Star Wars: The Last Jedi powered through second place, overtaking Beauty and the Beast to claim the No. 1 spot for the highest-grossing film of the year in the U.S. in 2017. A pretty remarkable feat for a movie that is barely two weeks old, but it's also not entirely surprising.
This little power move by "Star Wars" got me thinking about 2018 and what movies we can expect to rake in the most money by year's end. After some digging on the internet and some back-of-a-napkin calculations, I came up with a few titles I think will take the financial cake this year, and a few more titles I people are looking forward to in 2018.
1. Solo: A Star Wars Movie (March 25)
Im just going to place bets on this as the favorite right now. With the success of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Disney is going to ride this Fathier all the way through the 2018 finish line. With an early spring release, it will give this film plenty of time to build its wealth throughout the year, making it one of, if not the most, lucrative movie of the year. I do find the release date a bit interesting, however, in that they are not planning on releasing it closer to summer. I'm not sure what that means, but I have faith it will do just fine regardless.
Solo: A Star Wars Movie is a prequel and side story to the Star Wars universe introducing us to a young Han Solo played by Alden Ehrenreich. This film also has Donald Glover playing Lando Calrissian and Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca. It should be pretty cool, if not very informative, but most certainly a huge moneymaker.
2. Avengers: Infinity War (May 4)
I think this goes without saying that Avengers with all of its Avengerness is going to be a big deal and the staple movie of the summer. But, to be honest, I remain skeptical about how good the film will actually be. At this point, the Avengers franchise feels tired and looks like a lot more of the same.
Thats not to say I cant be surprised Thor: Ragnarok surprised the heck out of me with how much I enjoyed it, but Im not getting my hopes up. You may disagree with me on this, but I think it is safe to say Avengers: Infinity War is going to do pretty well at the box office.
3. The Incredibles 2 (June 15)
With two Oscars under its belt, the success of The Incredibles released in 2004 created a lot of fans who have been waiting more than patiently for this sequel. With the Academy Award-winning Brad Bird returning as writer and director, I think fans are going to get what they hoped for in this film.
I think the moneymaking sweet spot for this film will be with general audiences and families with younger kids since a lot of the big films of the year are geared toward older kids and young adults.
4. Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 (Nov. 21)
I think this film will probably run neck and neck with The Incredibles 2 in terms of financial success, much for the same reasons. When the original Wreck-It Ralph came out in 2014, it captured audiences with an original storyline, introduced us to great new characters and won an Oscar for best animated feature. I think with the fan base that Wreck-It-Ralph has created it will get a lot of sweet financial attention this year.
5. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Nov. 16)
You have probably noticed a pattern by now in that the five movies topping my predictions list of 2018 are all sequels or prequels to other films. "Fantastic Beasts" is no exception and is likely to be a huge moneymaker for the producers who live in the Potterverse. With many of its original stars returning, we get a deeper, richer look into the Harry Potter universe, albeit from a different perspective.
The original Fantastic Beasts was visually rich, full of interesting characters and told a great story, a formula the second installment will likely build upon. With a massive built-in audience of devoted Harry Potter fans, I predict this film will do very well and find itself in at least the top 10 highest-grossing films of the year if not the top five.
Honorable mentions
There are so many exciting movies coming out that probably wont break the top 10 highest-grossing films of the year but will likely do extremely well financially.
Here is a list of a few that have a really good shot, and I think a lot of people are really looking forward to watching them, even if they don't make a ton of money:
Even before the year could end, Star Wars: The Last Jedi powered through second place, overtaking Beauty and the Beast to claim the No. 1 spot for the highest-grossing film of the year in the U.S. in 2017. A pretty remarkable feat for a movie that is barely two weeks old, but it's also not entirely surprising.
This little power move by "Star Wars" got me thinking about 2018 and what movies we can expect to rake in the most money by year's end. After some digging on the internet and some back-of-a-napkin calculations, I came up with a few titles I think will take the financial cake this year, and a few more titles I people are looking forward to in 2018.
1. Solo: A Star Wars Movie (March 25)
Im just going to place bets on this as the favorite right now. With the success of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Disney is going to ride this Fathier all the way through the 2018 finish line. With an early spring release, it will give this film plenty of time to build its wealth throughout the year, making it one of, if not the most, lucrative movie of the year. I do find the release date a bit interesting, however, in that they are not planning on releasing it closer to summer. I'm not sure what that means, but I have faith it will do just fine regardless.
Solo: A Star Wars Movie is a prequel and side story to the Star Wars universe introducing us to a young Han Solo played by Alden Ehrenreich. This film also has Donald Glover playing Lando Calrissian and Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca. It should be pretty cool, if not very informative, but most certainly a huge moneymaker.
2. Avengers: Infinity War (May 4)
I think this goes without saying that Avengers with all of its Avengerness is going to be a big deal and the staple movie of the summer. But, to be honest, I remain skeptical about how good the film will actually be. At this point, the Avengers franchise feels tired and looks like a lot more of the same.
Thats not to say I cant be surprised Thor: Ragnarok surprised the heck out of me with how much I enjoyed it, but Im not getting my hopes up. You may disagree with me on this, but I think it is safe to say Avengers: Infinity War is going to do pretty well at the box office.
3. The Incredibles 2 (June 15)
With two Oscars under its belt, the success of The Incredibles released in 2004 created a lot of fans who have been waiting more than patiently for this sequel. With the Academy Award-winning Brad Bird returning as writer and director, I think fans are going to get what they hoped for in this film.
I think the moneymaking sweet spot for this film will be with general audiences and families with younger kids since a lot of the big films of the year are geared toward older kids and young adults.
4. Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 (Nov. 21)
I think this film will probably run neck and neck with The Incredibles 2 in terms of financial success, much for the same reasons. When the original Wreck-It Ralph came out in 2014, it captured audiences with an original storyline, introduced us to great new characters and won an Oscar for best animated feature. I think with the fan base that Wreck-It-Ralph has created it will get a lot of sweet financial attention this year.
5. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Nov. 16)
You have probably noticed a pattern by now in that the five movies topping my predictions list of 2018 are all sequels or prequels to other films. "Fantastic Beasts" is no exception and is likely to be a huge moneymaker for the producers who live in the Potterverse. With many of its original stars returning, we get a deeper, richer look into the Harry Potter universe, albeit from a different perspective.
The original Fantastic Beasts was visually rich, full of interesting characters and told a great story, a formula the second installment will likely build upon. With a massive built-in audience of devoted Harry Potter fans, I predict this film will do very well and find itself in at least the top 10 highest-grossing films of the year if not the top five.
Honorable mentions
There are so many exciting movies coming out that probably wont break the top 10 highest-grossing films of the year but will likely do extremely well financially.
Here is a list of a few that have a really good shot, and I think a lot of people are really looking forward to watching them, even if they don't make a ton of money:
- A Wrinkle in Time (March 9)
- Isle of Dogs (March 23)
- Ready Player One (March 30)
- Deadpool 2 (June 1)
- Oceans 8 (June 8)
- Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (June 22)
- Ant-Man and Wasp (July 6)
- Mission Impossible 6 (July 27)
- The Predator (Aug. 3)
- Venom (Oct. 5)
- Aquaman (Dec. 21)