I've been blogging these results here in one of my efforts to make it not just a chronicle of my writing but as a suggestion of my other interests (although I have a blog I've maintained since 2002 it used to be featured in, and a whole blog about movies, but here's to recent consistency!), and it seems movies released in 2023 have reasonably slowed enough to provide an accurate look at the top hits, both nationally and globally...As always, numbers are from Box Office Mojo, are good as of the date this post is published, and are registered either in millions or billions of US dollars...
Top Ten U.S. Box Office
- Barbie ($636 million) The biggest surprise hit in years, probably, as well as a clear indication that audiences are interested both in something new and familiar, plus enduring interest in Margot Robbie, one of the clear defining actors of this generation at this point, and finally a lead role that proves it.
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($574 million) The fall of Disney as the blockbuster machine across multiple studios led to another nostalgic hit at the box office. My nephew was certainly among its biggest fans. Can we finally move past that earlier version that most people still can't admit was just a knockoff of Beetlejuice?
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ($381 million) My favorite Spider-Man movies remain the least popular ones, the Andrew Garfield/Marc Webb duology. These animated ones are a little too akin to the spastic entertainment I wish weren't so prevalent these days. Also, get off my lawn!
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($358 million) This belated conclusion to the trilogy is once again proof that the MCU never met a story it didn't really want to end. As standalone stories not really a lot of complete storytelling going on in these films.
- Oppenheimer ($329 million) Standing close to toe-to-toe with Barbie over the summer, this was the film that finally allowed critics to appreciate Christopher Nolan as much as the rest of us.
- The Little Mermaid ($298 million) Disney's biggest claim, besides the MCU entry above, was this latest live action remake.
- Wonka ($218 million) Timothy Chalamet is one of this generation's leading talents, so it's nice to see him score in something other than Dune.
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ($214 million) I loved the first two in the series, but am ambivalent about this one, which seems less interested in the title characters than setting up a villain whose actor ended up canceled. But even that was botched, giving Kang way too much attention and allowing him to be...defeated, in a much more decisive fashion than Loki prior to Avengers...Confounding, as the MCU frequently is for me...
- John Wick: Chapter 4 ($187 million) This is one of those movies whose value only seems to increase the more I think about it, and I'm also glad it performed well.
- Sound of Freedom ($184 million) Here's the other original piece of filmmaking to crack the chart, a word-of-mouth success story that suggests we're not as lost in modern blockbusters as we sometimes seem.
Global Top Ten
- Barbie ($1,445 billion) It tends to be a consensus at top, but it's doubly rewarding for a surprise like this to mark the achievement.
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($1,356 billion) International audiences ate up the same animated hijinks, too.
- Oppenheimer ($965 million) The first significant difference in the charts is greater appreciation for Nolan's masterpiece.
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($845 million) Online we don't often think of how our opinions are being swayed by other countries. When it's a hit elsewhere, too, that's often how you'll see the truly positive reception.
- Fast X ($704 million) The biggest difference is this one, where it was much more popular elsewhere. I'm glad the series continues to be enjoyed somewhere.
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ($690 million) At some point someone'll care how terribly all these modern Spider-Man movies have been titled. There're future generations that'll have no real way to tell 'em apart.
- Wonka ($632 million) It's nice that we're in an era where at least we aren't complaining there's another movie with this guy...
- The Little Mermaid ($569 million) The elephant in the room is that this is the one everyone complained online played the diversity card too hard. At work I had colleagues who were genuinely happy to see themselves represented. It's mermaids, people.
- Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One ($567 million) After the huge success of Top Gun: Maverick, I think a lot of people expected this to be a much bigger success. Internationally it was.
- Elemental ($496 million) Pixar still has clout in other countries! For me, this just seemed like another of the studio's rehashes. They've got a lot of those.
