Who can believe that we’re halfway through the year already!? Time always appears to fly by and this is especially true since this is the first year without any pandemic-related lockdowns - so far! This sense of normality has broadened to nearly every sector and includes the entertainment industry. Cinemas have been busy with a plethora of blockbusters adorning the big screen, with plenty more to come too, and the international box office is going back to the way it used to be pre-pandemic with one film already breaking the billion dollar threshold this year. That billion-dollar film? Top Gun: Maverick!
If there’s one film that will define this year above the others then it's Top Gun: Maverick. Tom Cruise proved that the big screen experience is still important and impactful for telling stories that can’t be told elsewhere. You can’t read about flying a jet and feel it, and you can’t see a play about dog-fighting planes that feels immersive enough, but you can watch real people fly real jets on a big screen and make you feel like you’re there with them! Top Gun: Maverick, therefore, is not just a film, but an event and an experience. One that countless people across the world have had the fortune of experiencing.
Commercially speaking we’ve had a few other successes this year with Jurassic World: Dominion nearing the billion-dollar mark at the global box office, and Marvel Studio’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness very nearly reaching the same milestone as it reached just over $900 million at the global box office. These films were expected to make big numbers anyway thanks to brand recognition and the amount of nostalgia and hype that those films brought with them. There have been very few surprises this year so far but that is to be expected as audiences are becoming pickier with what they want to watch at cinemas and what they want to wait and watch at home when these films inevitably hit streaming services.
In terms of streaming services there’s been a handful of films that have made an impact on the small screen. Disney has had a limited selection of small films being made exclusively for Disney+ but that is mainly due to their attention to long-form series such as Ms. Marvel and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Netflix has however stepped up and is bringing more original blockbusters to the small screen than other film studios with the likes of The Adam Project, The Bubble, The Man from Toronto and the upcoming The Gray Man all being highlights from the service so far this year with plenty more to come. In comparison, Netflix has become the dominant resource for new films when compared to Amazon, Apple TV+, and Sky Cinema. This is to be expected from a company that redefined the way we watch movies and television.
Lastly, looking at the quality of films that are being released this year we are seeing a lot more films that take risks when pushing the boundaries of storytelling. Some examples include Good Luck to You Leo Grande, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, The Northman, and Everything Everywhere All at Once all being highlights of films that push and break the conventions of filmmaking. I hope that more of these types of films continue to dominate the marketplace in the latter half of the year as it is these hidden gems that have made more of an impact than some of the bigger films.
Looking ahead there will be other films such as Avatar: The Way of Water and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever which will make just as much money as their fore-bearers, and films such as Don’t Worry Darling and See How They Run which will continue to experiment with audiences tastes and push the boundary of filmmaking and storytelling even further by telling more original and unique stories. So far 2022 has been a great year for the little films, but at least have films such as Top Gun: Maverick which prove that cinema’s are still going strong and will continue to be a big part of the entertainment industry.
Thanks for reading today’s blog!
Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions
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