2016 – Disney/Pixar(NEW YORK) — 2016 had its share of box office blockbusters, but only three — Captain America: Civil War, Zootopia and Finding Dory — passed the billion-dollar box office mark.
Overall, it was a big year for Disney, the parent company of ABC News, which became the first studio ever to reach the $7 billion threshold at the global box office, setting a new industry record. Disney claimed five of the year’s top 10 titles, helping the studio haul in over $1 billion in just 128 days – a 37 day improvement over Universal’s 2015 mark.
That number will only grow by the end of the year thanks to the December release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which debuted at number one its opening weekend, hauling in $155 million.
In general, comic book characters ruled the box office this past year, accounting for four of the top ten titles. While Civil War reigned supreme, Disney and Marvel’s Doctor Strange also posted big numbers. DC Comics’ Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad weren’t a hit with critics, despite each opening at number one. Deadpool shattered records for an R-rated movie.
It wasn’t a good year for sequels – and there were plenty of them. Independence Day: Resurgence, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, Zoolander 2, Bridget Jones’s Baby and Divergent: Allegiant all flopped at the box office.
Even though it came out in 2015, Star Wars: The Force Awakens ended up as one of the highest-grossing movies of 2016, earning over $343 million worldwide. Honorable mention also goes to Matt Damon, whose return to the Bourne franchise in the movie Jason Bourne delivered the franchise’s second largest domestic opening with $60 million, grabbing $162 million for the year.
Here are the top 10 movies at the U.S. box office for 2016, along with their gross earnings, according to Box Office Mojo
1. Finding Dory — $486,295,561
2. Captain America: Civil War — $408,084,349
3. The Secret Life of Pets — $368,166,780
4. The Jungle Book — $364,001,123
5. Deadpool — $363,070,709
6. Zootopia — $341,268,248
7. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice — $330,360,194
8. Suicide Squad — $325,100,054
9. Doctor Strange — $224,620,027
10. Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them — $204,026,095
1. Finding Dory – The sequel to 2003’s Finding Nemo reunited the forgetful blue tang Dory – played once again by Ellen DeGeneres — with her underwater friends, and led the way what was a banner year for Disney, the parent company of ABC News. The film hauled in over $135 million here in the States during its opening weekend, tops out of all the 2016 movies. It also netted more than $541 million worldwide, bringing its total earnings to over $1 billion.
2. Captain America: Civil War – Of the five comic book titles in the top 10, this film divided the Avengers into two teams, led by Chris Evans’ Captain America and Robert Downey, Jr.’s Iron Man. It earned over a billion dollars, and gave us our first look at the newest Spider-Man, Tom Holland, who’ll star in a stand-alone film in 2017 called Spider-Man: Homecoming.
3. The Secret Life of Pets – The animated comedy about the lives our pets lead when we’re not around, featuring the voices of Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet and Kevin Hart, had the largest opening weekend for an original animated film. It raked in upwards of $103 million, on its way to earning more than $368 million stateside and more than $875 million worldwide.
4. The Jungle Book – Disney’s live-action take on its 1967 animated classic more than lived up to its hype, exceeding expectations with the second largest April opening weekend of all time: a massive $103 million. It went on to top $364 million domestically and over $966 million globally. Variety reported that Disney already announced it was planning a sequel four days before the movie opened.
5. Deadpool – Ryan Reynolds played a former Special Forces operative-turned-mercenary with a twisted sense of humor in this raunchy, self-aware superhero film. It scored the biggest opening weekend for an R-rated movie and the largest opening for 20th Century Fox, with $135 million here in the U.S. and $100 million overseas. It was also the biggest debut for an X-Men movie. All told, it earned over $363 million domestically and $782 million worldwide.
6. Zootopia – Disney dared to tackle racism in this 3-D animated kids feature about Judy Hopps – voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin – who becomes the first rabbit to join the Zootopia police force. Audiences flocked to theaters and it ended up hauling in over a billion dollars worldwide.
7. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – Despite less-than-stellar reviews, DC Comics’ teaming of Ben Affleck as the Dark Knight and Henry Cavill as the Man of Steel dominated the box office, raking in $420 million worldwide in its opening weekend. However, the film sank like a stone in its second week. It did, however, introduce us to Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman.
8. Suicide Squad – The critics weren’t kind to this Warner Bros. and DC Comics offering, but it still managed a first place finish in its opening weekend, with an estimated $135 million, topping 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy‘s $94.3 million for the largest August opening weekend. The movie, starring Will Smith, Margot Robbie and Jared Leto, brought in over $745 million worldwide, and the soundtrack, featuring the smash “Heathens,” was a monster hit.
9. Doctor Strange – The latest Disney Marvel film, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, did deliver on its hype, earning nearly $85 million in its first weekend and topping its predecessors, Captain America: The First Avenger and Thor. This was in spite of anger over the casting of Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One, who is depicted in the comics as an Asian man. Still, the film earned over $226 million in the U. S. and $652 million worldwide.
10. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter spinoff starring Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander appealed less to younger fans and more to older groups of moviegoers. Still, it managed to bring in $75 million in its opening weekend, bolstering what was otherwise a lackluster fall season at the box office. The film went on to haul in over $652 million worldwide; a sequel, featuring Johnny Depp, is planned for 2018.
The Biggest Bombs of 2016
While each movie’s budget and overseas earning power determined how painful a swing and a miss each was, these are the movies that failed to connect with audiences in 2016:
Ben Hur – The reboot of the beloved 1959 Oscar-winning film starring Charlton Heston was trashed by critics and opened to a meager $11 million. It sits at just over $26 million for the year, earning it the distinction of being one of the year’s biggest flops.
The BFG – The Disney fantasy about a girl named Sophie who encounters a big friendly giant was one of the only blemishes on the studio’s otherwise stellar year. It had a reported production budget of $140 million, but only managed to bring in a little over $55 million domestically and $178 million worldwide.
Independence Day: Resurgence – The first Independence Day, released in 1996, went on to gross nearly $820 million worldwide, but its sequel, starring Liam Hemsworth, Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman, took in less than $389 million globally.
Alice Through the Looking Glass – 2010’s Alice in Wonderland raked in over a billion dollars worldwide, leading to high expectations for the sequel starring Johnny Depp. However, it suffered one of the biggest drop-offs between series entries ever, earning an anemic $260 million. It proved to be one of Disney’s few miscues in 2016.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows – The sequel to 2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtlesreboot, featuring Megan Fox, Will Arnett and Tyler Perry, earned less than half of the first film’s $424 million.
Gods of Egypt – This action/adventure/fantasy film starring Gerard Butler as a merciless god who seizes Egypt’s throne was made on a production budget of $140 million, but only managed to scratch out a little over $31 million in worldwide box office receipts.
Popstar: Never Stop Stopping – This $10 million Justin Bieber spoof starring Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone featured cameos from some of the biggest names in comedy, but still couldn’t muster more than $4 million at the box office.
Free State of Jones – The civil war drama, written and directed by The Hunger Games’ Gary Ross and starring Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey, certainly had the star power to produce a blockbuster hit, but only managed a $23 million return on its $50 million budget.
Max Steel – A live-action film based on a popular Mattel action figure, The Hollywood Reporter called this sci-fi thriller “as lifeless as the action figure its based on.” Audiences agreed and the film only generated $4 million at the box office.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot — Not even Tina Fey as a cable news producer who takes on a daring new assignment in Kabul, Afghanistan could rescue this film, one of her lowest grossing to date. It pulled $7 its opening weekend, on its way to earning about 25 million — $10 million less than it cost to make.
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