Okay, I think we’ve all been feeling entirely too happy around here, so time to bum you out with this: “Here’s Proof Originality Doesn’t Pay in Hollywood”:
Some enterprising Wikipedia contributor decided to pull together a list of the 50 films with the highest worldwide gross of this decade so far.
Here’s the thing: One has to go all the way down to No. 15 on the list, Disney/Pixar’s “Finding Nemo,” before finding one created from original material — in other words, not a sequel, remake or adaptation of existing material or characters (such as Batman or Harry Potter).
Hey, don’t blame me, blame the anonymous Wikipedia dude or dudette who figured it out. Here’s the list with the original movies in bold letters:
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (New Line; 2003) $1,119,110,941
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (Disney; 2006) $1,066,179,725
3. The Dark Knight (Warner Bros.; 2008) $1,001,921,825
4. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Warner Bros.; 2001) $974,733,550
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (Disney; 2007) $960,996,492
6. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Warner Bros.; 2007) $938,212,738
7. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Warner Bros.; 2009) $929,022,922
8. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (New Line; 2002) $925,282,504
9. Shrek 2 (DreamWorks; 2004) $919,838,758
10. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Warner Bros.; 2005) $895,921,036
11. Spider-Man 3 (Columbia; 2007) $890,871,626
12. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Warner Bros.; 2002) $878,643,482
13. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (20th Century Fox; 2009) $878,615,229
14. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (New Line; 2001) $870,761,744
15. Finding Nemo (Disney/Pixar; 2003) $864,625,978
16. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (20th Century Fox; 2005) $848,754,768
17. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Paramount; 2009) $833,229,011
18. Spider-Man (Columbia; 2002) $821,708,551
19. Shrek the Third (DreamWorks; 2007) $798,958,162
20. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Warner Bros.; 2004) $795,634,069
21. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Paramount; 2008) $786,636,033
22. Spider-Man 2 (Columbia; 2004) $783,766,341
23. The Da Vinci Code (Sony/Columbia; 2006) $758,239,851
24. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Disney; 2005) $745,011,272
25. The Matrix Reloaded (Warner Bros.; 2003) $742,128,461
26. Transformers *DreamWorks/Paramount; 2007) $709,709,780
27. Ice Age: The Meltdown (20th Century Fox; 2006) $655,388,158
28. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (Disney; 2003) $654,264,015
29. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (20th Century Fox; 2002) $649,398,328
30. Kung Fu Panda (DreamWorks; 2008) $631,736,484
31. The Incredibles (Disney/Pixar; 2004) $631,442,092
32. Hancock (Columbia; 2008) $624,386,746
33. Ratatouille (Disney/Pixar; 2007) $623,707,397
34. The Passion of the Christ (Newmarket; 2004) $611,899,420
35. Mamma Mia! (Universal; 2008) $609,841,637
36. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (DreamWorks; 2008) $603,900,344
37. Casino Royale (MGM/Columbia; 2006) $594,239,066
38. War of the Worlds (DreamWorks/Paramount; 2005) $591,745,540
39. Quantum of Solace (MGM/Columbia; 2008) $586,090,727
40. I Am Legend (Warner Bros.; 2007) $585,349,010
41. Iron Man (Paramount; 2008) $585,133,287
42. Night at the Museum (20th Century Fox; 2006) $574,480,450
43. King Kong (Universal; 2005) $550,517,357
44. Mission: Impossible II (Paramount; 2000) $546,388,105
45. The Day After Tomorrow (20th Century Fox; 2004) $544,272,402
46. Madagascar (DreamWorks; 2005) $532,680,671
47. The Simpsons Movie (20th Century Fox; 2007) $527,071,022
48. Monsters, Inc. (Disney/Pixar; 2001) $525,366,597
49. WALL-E (Disney/Pixar; 2008) $521,268,237
50. Meet the Fockers (Universal; 2004) $516,642,939
Wow, a lot of non-bold letters! So what are you waiting for? Go write that killer original spec script that will get a big fat green light.
UPDATE: Okay, enough with the depression! Here is list: “10 Movies You Should Have Invested In”, basically the lowest budget to highest profit movies of all time. They are:
10. Rocky (1976)
Production Budget: $1,000,000
Box Office Revenue: $225,000,000
Budget/Revenue Ratio: 1:225
9. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Budget: $114,000
Box Office Revenue: $30,000,000
Budget/Revenue Ratio: 1:263
8. El mariachi (1992)
Budget: $7,000
Box Office Revenue: £2,040,920
Budget/Revenue Ratio: 1:292
7. The Brothers MacMullen (1995)
Budget: $25,000
Box Office Revenue: $10,426,506 (US domestic gross only)
Budget/Revenue Ratio: 1:417
6. Super Size Me (2004)
Budget: $65,000
Box Office Revenue: $29,529,368
Budget/Revenue Ratio: 1:454
5. Mad Max (1980)
Budget: $200,000
Box Office Revenue: $99,750,000
Budget/Revenue Ratio: 1:499
4. The Road to Ruin (1928)
Budget: $2,500
Box Office Revenue: $2,500,000
Budget/Revenue Ratio: 1:1000
3. Deep Throat (1972)
Budget: $22,500
Box Office Revenue: $45,000,000 (US domestic gross only)
Budget/Revenue Ratio: 1:2000
2. Tarnation (2004)
Budget: $218.32
Box Office Revenue: $1,162,014
Budget/Revenue Ratio: 1:5323
1.The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Budget: $35,000
Box Office Revenue: $248,300,000
Budget/Revenue Ratio: 1:7094
Have to add to that Paranormal Experience, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Sex, Lies & Videotape, Clerks. So most of the most profitable movies (ratio of budget to revenue) are original stories.
That depresses the f–k outta me. Goddamn.
Isn't Hancock based on a graphic novel?
To depress you even further, the only original LIVE ACTION film on that list is Hancock.
I can't really count The Day After Tomorrow as "live action" since the star of that film is all the excessive CG destruction. Besides, after suffering through 2012, I refuse to give Emmerich any credit for anything whatsoever.
Just make sure your original script can be animated by Pixar!
Are you sure that War of the Worlds made 591,745,540 in pesos and not dollars?
HANCOCK was a spec, the original title was TONIGHT, HE COMES … very different from how the final film came out, though to tell you, I'd have to give a lot away.
But it was an original.
Funny you should say that…I am working on an outline for a killer original script now!
I don't know how you post so frequently and still find time to work, but this blog is the best blog EVER.
This is nothing to be depressed over. This is just what international tentpole movies are. Does it really matter if Indiana Jones is an original and Pirates is not? Both are impersonal, corporate, action movies made for mass consumption.
The majority of comedies and thrillers and horror are made from original scripts. They're not doing Harry Potter business, but not every movie has to to be a success.
I agree with Jon/Kate. I've seen all of that list but enjoyed less than 20%. The genres I enjoy the most will make much less money but they will make money if they are good enough.
It's really not so deppressing if you keep in mind that every single one of these adaptations, sequels & remakes had to have a writer (often more than 1) to write the screenplay.
Writers got work and were paid b/c of these pojects.
Even tho these movies weren't original, the writers who wrote them probably wrote specs (original SPs) at the beg of their careers in order to get the job.
Writing specs is still the way you prove you can write movies.
There are still specs that get produced, but most won't end up on the 50 most success movies of all time, or whatever, list.
One thing that stands out to me is that because these were all well known intellectual properties, the studios invested a tremendous amount of money in the production and marketing in a way they never do for spec scripts.
I have to think a great script with the same type of financial outlay would create a tremendous amount of profit as well.
Do people really care if they are watching a preview for Pirates of the Carribean or an amazing-looking original priate movie?
I doubt it. The studio just has to have the guts to let it all hang out in a way the general public will appreciate