We’re just about getting to the end of the year and throughout the year I have been posting blogs about what to expect, what has been successful and what my thoughts were on the state of cinema. I should state that these blogs have been my personal opinions and today we have reached my final blog before next month’s “Top 10 Films of 2022”. So let’s take a look at what I believe has been a very different year for cinema when compared to recent years.
2022 is the first year in three years where cinemas have been open for all twelve months. As a result, we finally had a steady stream of big and small releases which have contributed to a very healthy box office. For a “normal” year we’ve had plenty of successful films, despite shortened theatrical release windows from cinemas to digital and the continued rise of streaming releases. There’s been a couple of films breaking the billion-dollar mark, but not as many as we had when compared to 2019, but those films that did reach this big figure were surprises too.
The two biggest films that made over $1 billion at the worldwide box office are Top Gun: Maverick and Jurassic World: Dominion. The first of which was expected considering how cinematic the film was and how word of mouth propelled it into the stratosphere (pun intended!), and Jurassic World: Dominion was billed as the final film in the series with all returning cast members giving this swan-song a nostalgic feel that gained a lot of interest from the public. We’ve had sequels to Doctor Strange and Thor which did raise a lot of money too but they didn’t reach the $1 billion mark Black Panther: Wakanda Forever could always change that. Long story short, the franchise films dominated the rest of the box office throughout the year leaving little room for the original stories.
Speaking of which we’ve had a lot of well-received films from the likes of The Northman to Nope, all of which will go down in history as films that will define the year in times of original storytelling at the very least. Then there’s the forgotten films that didn’t do so well such as The Bad Guys, Cyrano, Moonfall, Morbius and so on. There’s a balanced number of hits compared to flops but the quality of films seem to have taken a hit this year. Due to the pandemic there’s been a big pressure on visual effects companies to finish films quicker in order to meet release dates. Unfortunately due to this we’ve seen a small dip in quality which is slightly noticeable. Films with longer production time such as Top Gun: Maverick and Jurassic World: Dominion did benefit from their extended delays though with their visual effects standing out above the rest.
We’re living in a world dominated by CGI and I believe going forward we need to give these companies more time to work on the films that they’re in production on. Next year sees a similarly big amount visual effects heavy films from superheroes to sequels. One can only wonder if delaying films will become the new normal especially with blockbuster films such as Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Borderlands and The Marvels all being moved from release this year into the next. These moves were to allow more time for post-production, so one can hope the effects will be top-tier to recent hits and will prove to audiences that it’s not just these are not just generic action films but pieces of cinema that deserve to be seen.
Streaming has seen a lower influx of releases compared to the past few years due to the pandemic but there have been many hybrid releases of films such as Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and The Gray Man releasing in cinema’s as well as services such as Netflix. It is nice to see the streaming services continue to support cinemas and this only proves that cinemas are not going anywhere. 2022 has proven that cinema is alive and the power of cinema is still unrivalled when watching a film. With Avatar: The Way of Water still yet to release, we can be sure that the effects, storytelling and visuals will be worth the wait too. Patience always has its rewards and let us remember that when we enter 2023 as well.
Thanks for reading today’s blog!
Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions
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