2024 has been a big year for movies, starring sequels such as “Dune Part Two” and “Inside Out 2” and movie musicals like “Mean Girls” and “Wicked.” However, domestic ticket sales have decreased since 2023 for the first time since the pandemic, despite many movies desperate attempts at marketing. Much of this is due to the Hollywood strikes in 2023 (labor disputes involving the Screen Actors Guild and the Writers Guild of America for better working conditions). Due to these strikes, the production of many movies this year had to be either halted or postponed.
Despite these challenges, 2024 has still gifted us with a great number of movies. To start off the year, Paramount Pictures released “Mean Girls”, an adaptation of the stage musical based on the popular 2004 movie of the same name. While this was not the massive hit it was hyped up to be, many reviewers have said as long as it is not compared to the original, it’s a fun watch.
In March, the much anticipated sequel of “Dune” was released after a three year wait. “Dune Part Two” earned $714.4 million globally at the box office and received thousands of glowing reviews. This movie is based on the bestselling book by Frank Herbert and is generally considered to be a great adaptation.
The summer started off with yet another sequel, 2024’s top grossing movie with $1.6 billion worldwide– the continuation of the popular Disney Pixar film “Inside Out.” This sequel was more focused on the main character, Riley, and her sense of self. This film included a plethora of new characters, or emotions, to aid in Riley’s journey to find herself. Later in June, a polar opposite movie was released, a prequel rather than a sequel: “A Quiet Place: Day One”. This particular movie was not a hit, with many people lamenting that it didn’t make sense and failed to meet their expectations.
July brought a box office sensation, grossing more than $1.3 billion worldwide—“Deadpool and Wolverine.” This movie, just like its title suggests, combines the two popular characters Deadpool and Wolverine. It was a perfect blend of action and violence and well timed humor. People on social media could not stop raving about this movie, earning a 94% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” yet another sequel, was the perfect movie to start off the fall, although it was met with mixed reviews. It’s hard not to compare a sequel to an original, especially one as iconic as “Beetlejuice.” However, this movie did include much of the original cast, making it closer to the original film than other remakes which don’t include original cast members.
Arguably one of the most anticipated movies of this year was the movie musical “Wicked: Part One”, although it did not top the box office charts. One of the reasons this movie was so popular was not only because of the inherent popularity of the broadway musical but also because of the themes of the story that are relevant to today’s world. Many people have experience with being a social outcast, just like one of the film’s main protagonists, Elphaba. Additionally, the overall story resonates with those who have felt betrayed by a leader who seems charming at first and later shows their ugly truth. The final thing that makes this movie so popular is its music. People are already familiar with the soundtrack, and having two amazing vocalists perform these beloved songs gives the audience goosebumps.
All in all, 2024 brought us so many amazing movies as well as some misses, just like every year has before. As time progresses, it gets harder and harder to write original movies, so as we’ve seen sequels and prequels and adaptations are becoming increasingly popular in the film industry. We hope to see more in 2025.
