With the fall season slowly rearing its head, the annual summer blockbuster season comes to a close. A season that is often characterized by high budget films with explosive action, star-studded casts, recognizable characters and the potential for lots of money.
However, with many expected hits underperforming at the box office, and the unprecedented success of less likely movies, there seems to be a possible shift in the casual moviegoing culture. This is a look back at the financial and critical flops and successes of the 2023 summer blockbuster movie season.
Kicking off the season was Marvel Studios’ “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” which was the conclusion to James Gunn’s critically acclaimed trilogy. The movie was praised for its emotional story beats, explosive action, fun soundtrack, strong performances and sense of melancholic finality.
This critical reception was echoed in its box office performance, as the movie made an incredible $118 million dollars in its opening weekend domestically, ending its theater run with $844 million dollars worldwide.
Continuing Walt Disney Studios’ quest for box office dominance was a live action remake of the 1989 classic, “The Little Mermaid.” The remake drew many eyes as the latest in a long line of remakes aimed to revive the classics to a new generation, with varying results.
Critically, “The Little Mermaid” was precisely what many expected: a safe, yet competent film for younger audiences. While not beating the original animated classic in critical reception, it certainly did in revenue, as the remake boasted a domestic run of $296 million dollars, resulting in $561 million dollars in total revenue at the end of its run.
While “The Little Mermaid” remake was live action, that does not mean that animation lacks a place within the blockbuster season. Pixar’s “Elemental” and Dreamworks’ “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” were both the big fun family animated movies of the summer, however both released in the month of June to disappointing box office opening weekends. “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” raked in only $5 million dollars in its opening, often attributed to its weak marketing, as “Elemental” gained just $29 million dollars.
Each film had a budget of $70 million and $200 million respectively. “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” ended its box office run at $38 million, not making back its budget, while “Elemental” proved itself to have overtime success, crossing $395 million worldwide so far as its box office run continues to flourish.
The crowning jewel of the animated blockbuster season however, goes to none other than Sony Animation’s “Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse.”
The long awaited sequel to the critically acclaimed “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse” released on June 2 to thunderous applause. Receiving critical acclaim across the board, the film was praised for its innovative use of animation, its intense and emotionally resonant script, its fun and engaging action, memorable characters, a bombastic soundtrack and an ending to keep viewers at the end of their seat wanting more.
While the first movie was rather unspectacular in its box office run, opening small but expanding into a respectable $384 million dollar worldwide total gross, the sequel blew it out of the water, opening at $120 million dollars and currently sits at $682 million dollars and counting. The immense success of “Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse” may be partially responsible for the surprise failures of the next two films.
“The Flash” may be the most publicized box office flop in recent history. A film embroiled in controversy from the beginning, it was always going to be an uphill battle. The movie featured a controversial lead actor in Ezra Miller, who was responsible for many headlines for their erratic, sometimes violent behavior. To strengthen the movie’s public perception, Miller was barred out of the marketing campaign. However that did not stop Warner Brother’s Discovery from spending $65 million dollars in marketing, on top of the films already ballooning $200 million dollar budget.
The film would have to make above $400 million to be considered a success, however the film opened to a measly $55 million dollars, ending its run at $268 million dollars and quickly rushing to streaming and NFT to try and recoup financial losses. Critically, the film was divisive. Some praised its emotional subplots and fun set pieces, while others lambasted its lazy and disrespectful reliance on cameo appearances, weak special effects and the lack of a coherent vision.
A movie that suffered a similar fate was “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”. Opening to a middling $60 million dollars and more or less stagnating at $355 million dollars, the film could not properly recoup its $294 million dollar budget, not including marketing expenses.
The standout action movie of the summer came in the form of the prestige action and espionage franchise in “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One.” A franchise best known for their incredible stunt work, clever writing, nail biting action and iconic music, “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One” did not disappoint fans or critics expectations. The film welcomed nearly unanimous praise for all the aforementioned qualities, along with taking new strides for the franchise going forward.
The box office return however, was not as promising, debuting at $54 million dollars domestically on a $300 million dollar budget. The film has continued to succeed worldwide however, and will likely continue to do so. Ultimately, not even one of the biggest action franchises could escape the looming shadow of the summer’s biggest cinematic event.
“Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” both released on July 21, 2023, spawning an intense and palpable excitement. “Barbie,” a bright lighthearted film about Barbie and Ken discovering themselves and their placement in the world, and “Oppenheimer,” the grim tale of the man riddled with guilt after creating the world’s first atomic weapon. Both films, while contrasting each other, became known as “Barbenheimer,” almost as an unofficial double feature event.
This benefitted both films, as “Oppenheimer,” a grim R-rated biopic, opened to $82 million dollars domestically while on a $100 million dollar budget, and continues to blaze past those numbers. “Barbie,” has enjoyed possibly the biggest success of the summer, debuting at $162 million dollars domestically, and continues to approach $1 billion dollars worldwide, sitting currently at $800 million dollars. Both films garnering massive critical and commercial success, they are enjoying a slick payout as fans enjoy two incredibly unique and masterfully crafted movies.
There are still a few films left to emerge from the shadows. Notably “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” and “Blue Beetle.” While the turtles are expected to have a decent payout with lots of positive critical buzz from early viewings, “Blue Beetle” is not expected to open to as much box office generosity.
Their fates are solely up to fans and general audiences, as while the summer is coming to an end, there is no shortage of enjoyable films in the theaters for all to enjoy.