Diversity on screen, original ideas and serious superheroes fueled a record year at the domestic box office and made ripples in the film industry<\/b>
\nFilms like \u201cBlack Panther,\u201d \u201cRoma,\u201d \u201cA Star is Born\u201d and \u201cA Quiet Place\u201d didn\u2019t just shape the cultural conversation in 2018; they changed the industry.
From racial diversity to a historic year at the box office and to blockbusters that have found their way into the awards season buzz, the movies still mattered this year in ways that stand to have an impact on the choices Hollywood makes moving into 2019 and beyond.
Here are seven trends in the film industry that stood out in 2018:
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1. Disney dominated at the box office \u2014 and it\u2019s only getting bigger
However you want to slice it, the Mouse House dominated this year. Disney released the top three films of the year in \u201cBlack Panther,\u201d \u201cAvengers: Infinity War\u201d and \u201cIncredibles 2,\u201d which buoyed the Burbank-based studio to $7 billion at the worldwide box office this year, including $3 billion-plus domestically.
Disney is making so much money it could afford to take losses on misfires like \u201cSolo: A Star Wars Story,\u201d \u201cA Wrinkle in Time\u201d and \u201cThe Nutcracker and the Four Realms\u201d \u2014 and the first two even managed to crossed the $100 million mark domestically.
The big question though is how much its dominance might grow with the about-to-close $71.3 billion acquisition of key 21st Century Fox film and TV assets. That move is rattling the industry on several fronts, including how the studio will incorporate Fox\u2019s IP into the existing Marvel Cinematic Universe, what they plan to do with the more niche Fox Searchlight team and the rollout of its Netflix-challenging streaming service, Disney+.
But with a 2019 slate that includes a live-action version of \u201cThe Lion King,\u201d \u201cAvengers: Endgame,\u201d \u201cFrozen 2\u201d and \u201cToy Story 4,\u201d Disney\u2019s dominance doesn\u2019t show any signs of ending soon.
2. The box office exploded this year
Despite what might seem like Netflix and other streaming giants\u2019 best efforts to keep people at home, moviegoers are still going to the theater \u2014 and in droves. The domestic box office topped $1.8 billion this year, surpassing the $11.38 billion record set in 2016.
And it reached that total on the back of a year in which not all of the highest grossing films were billion-dollar franchises. Warner Bros.\u2019 \u201cCrazy Rich Asians\u201d and \u201cA Star Is Born,\u201d Fox\u2019s \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d and Universal\u2019s \u201cHalloween\u201d reboot finished just outside the top 10 highest earners of the year. And in October, Sony\u2019s surprise superhero hit \u201cVenom\u201d pushed that month\u2019s total to an industry record high of $821 million.
A new study this year even suggested that those who stream movies and shows regularly also are regular ticket-buyers in bricks-and-mortar theaters: 31 percent of those who went to the theaters nine times or more in a year also reported at least 15 hours of streaming per week, compared to just 15 percent of responders who streamed as much but only went to the theaters once or twice a year.
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3. Netflix continues to flex its muscles
It wasn\u2019t long ago that critics and audiences at the Cannes Film Festival were booing when the Netflix logo ba-dum\u2019d on the screens off the Croisette. A 2018 festival rule change banned any film that would not receive a French theatrical release from screening at the festival. And Netflix didn\u2019t budge, withholding potential competition titles like Alfonso Cuar\u00f3n\u2019s \u201cRoma,\u201d Paul Greengrass\u2019 \u201c22 July\u201d and the final Orson Welles film, \u201cThe Other Side of the Wind.\u201d
But the streaming giant has bent a little toward defenders of theatrical releases. This year Netflix unveiled a brief theatrical release model for \u201cRoma,\u201d \u201cThe Ballad of Buster Scruggs\u201d and \u201cBird Box,\u201d screening the titles for just one to three weeks ahead of its streaming launch date to secure awards eligibility. In doing so, the streamer has appeased some Oscar voters and may have a real shot at securing at least a Best Picture nomination for \u201cRoma.\u201d
But that\u2019s just the tip of the iceberg. Netflix film head Scott Stuber said in an interview with The New York Times that his company is providing viewers with a \u201cchoice,\u201d to either watch a film theatrically or at home in a way that hasn\u2019t previously been available.
And many filmmakers are buying into that argument, responding to the fact that the company is willing to finance projects from a wide array of directors with budgets that range anywhere from $20 million to $200 million. Netflix picked up Cuaron\u2019s \u201cRoma\u201d from Participant Media after other distributors balked at the financial viability of a black-and-white, foreign language film. And Netflix has lined up projects from Martin Scorsese, Michael Bay and Noah Baumbach amid more streaming-friendly genre fare.
This year\u2019s \u201cThe Kissing Booth\u201d and \u201cTo All The Boys I\u2019ve Loved Before\u201d were not just big hits with teens: Netflix reported that more than half the viewers who watched either film actually rewatched them, exactly the sort of engagement Netflix wants if they want to continue to encroach on the film industry.
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4. Original ideas still have a place at the box office
Part of the year\u2019s success at the box office was because the film slate of 2018 made efforts to cater to diverse subsections of the audience \u2014 and moviegoers rewarded Hollywood for doing so.
\u201cA Quiet Place,\u201d John Krasinski\u2019s high-concept horror movie that featured little dialogue and a disabled, teenage lead, earned a whopping $188 million at the domestic box office. It proved that along with films like \u201cThe Nun\u201d and \u201cHalloween\u201d that the horror genre can make waves at any time in the year.
Even modestly budgeted studio comedies like \u201cGame Night,\u201d \u201cInstant Family,\u201d \u201cBlockers\u201d and the hybrid thriller \u201cA Simple Favor\u201d similarly proved there\u2019s still an appetite for R-rated or family-friendly humor.
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5. Superhero movies got taken seriously
It should be no surprise that superhero films continue to stand atop the box office, accounting for 25 percent of all domestic box office revenue.
But what is different is how superhero movies are being welcomed into critic and awards circles. \u201cLogan,\u201d the swan-song film for Hugh Jackman\u2019s X-Man Wolverine that played like a modernized, bittersweet take on the Western \u201cShane,\u201d won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, the first such superhero film to do so.
Sony\u2019s animated \u201cSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse\u201d scored a rare 100 percent from critics on Rotten Tomatoes upon its opening (it currently sits at 97 percent) for its whip-smart dialogue and ambitiously artistic animated style. And Ryan Coogler\u2019s \u201cBlack Panther\u201d became a cultural touchstone, a watershed moment for black cinema and representation on screen and all because it was packaged within a superhero genre framework.
That film\u2019s awards dividends are paying off, already scoring Golden Globe and SAG nominations on its way to a potential Oscar nomination for Best Picture. And superhero juggernauts have also given a boosted to talented directors. Patty Jenkins is returning to direct DC\u2019s \u201cWonder Woman 1984,\u201d Coogler has already been rehired for the \u201cBlack Panther\u201d sequel, and Marvel hired indie auteur Chloe Zhao to direct \u201cThe Eternals\u201d after her film \u201cThe Rider\u201d wowed festival audiences.
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6. Movies were as diverse as they\u2019ve been in years
Just years removed from #OscarsSoWhite, Hollywood projected an unprecedented amount of diversity on screen in 2018, and it\u2019s not a stretch to presume those films could be recognized at this year\u2019s Oscars as well. Ryan Coogler\u2019s \u201cBlack Panther,\u201d Spike Lee\u2019s \u201cBlacKkKlansman\u201d and Steven Caple\u2019s \u201cCreed II\u201d were box office hits that likewise were assertive in their racial themes, staking a claim for black filmmakers and audiences that diversity matters at the box office.
Then there was \u201cCrazy Rich Asians,\u201d which headlined what some critics dubbed \u201cAsian August.\u201d Three films released that month boasted Asian American leads, including the Netflix hit \u201cTo All The Boys I\u2019ve Loved Before\u201d and the indie \u201cSearching.\u201d The box office success of these films helped to buck a stigma about what a leading man or woman looks like while also showing cultures not generally represented on screen.
\u201cI just hope that this is not a trend. I hope this is steady, that it\u2019s not just like a blip where everything came together and then nothing happens after this,\u201d Lee said in TheWrap\u2019s Oscar magazine. \u201cWe have to keep up the momentum.\u201d
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7. #MeToo Has a Reckoning
The Weinstein Company\u2019s former dominance over the awards season has long since diminished, but the fall of one of Hollywood\u2019s most powerful producers and the bankruptcy and sale of his studio was felt in a much different way this year.
The indie mogul Harvey Weinstein\u2019s downfall after dozens of women accused of him sexual misconduct emboldened the Time\u2019s Up and the #MeToo movement, triggering a wave of accusations that swept through studios, agencies and movie sets throughout Hollywood.
\u201cBillionaire Boys Club,\u201d which co-starred the now-disgraced Kevin Spacey, bombed big time on its theatrical release in August, earning just $618 on its opening weekend in 11 theaters.
And Weinstein\u2019s absence was felt at the Cannes Film Festival, where dozens of actresses and directors stood on the Croisette for an impassioned speech demanding gender equality. Cannes was the place where many of Weinstein\u2019s alleged acts of abuse occurred, as noted by actress and accuser Asia Argento, who called the festival \u201chis hunting ground.\u201d
And though Argento herself was accused of misconduct (a charge she denied), her speech at Cannes still stood as a reminder that there are many like Weinstein that have still not been accounted for. \u201cEven tonight, sitting among you, there are those who still have to be held accountable for their conduct against women, for behavior that does not belong in this industry, does not belong in any industry or work place,\u201d she said.
Jeremy Fuster contributed to this report.<\/p>\n