What films dominated box offices in 2023?
2023 had its fill of popular action movies (“John Wick: Chapter 4”), kid movies (“Elemental”) and science fiction (“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”). While releasing less movies compared to 2019, per CNN, the movies that did come out helped break box-office records.
What were the highest grossing films and studios in 2023?
The end of 2023 at the domestic box office saw a much-needed boost in sales not seen since the pandemic shutdown — a stunning $9 billion, per CNN.
Disney ranked second in box-office sales, even with the release of anticipated films like “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” while Universal Studios came out on top (for the first time since 2015) due to the raging popularity of its releases, such as “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” “Oppenheimer” and “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” according to Deadline.
Warner Bros. ranked third at the box office, but half of its sales came from one movie only — “Barbie,” bringing in almost $636 million domestically, according to Deadline.
Sony Pictures Animation released “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” which brought in over $381 million in the summer of 2023 alone, per Box Office Mojo.
What caused this surprising money surge?
According to Business Insider, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and “Barbie” were the highest-grossing movies in 2023, both making over $1 billion, but their popularity had the help of different factors aside from their plots.
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” made so much because there weren’t any major children films in theaters before it dropped, per Business Insider. Meanwhile, “Barbie” had help from the famous “Barbenheimer” phenomenon occurring nationwide, according to CNN.
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” from Sony Pictures Animation was also a top performer, having earned much praise from audience members and critics alike for its well-developed plot and character development, along with also being considered one of the best movies of 2023, per Business Insider
But there was one more movie that hit theaters before 2023 ended that helped the box office reach its $9 billion mark.
“Wonka,” released on Dec. 15, proved to be a strong contender for one of the best movies of 2023. Depicting Willy Wonka’s backstory as a musical, it was the No. 1 movie in theaters during the New Year’s box office weekend, bringing in $30 million, according to Deadline.
By mid-January, the film brought in over $505 million in total sales (both domestic and international), proving to be well-received by international audiences, per Deadline.
