Hollywood History in 2024

In 2023, Hollywood sprang into action after the pandemic lull and provided solid proof that the big screen experience is still very much in vogue.

The hysteria surrounding Barbenheimer swept the world while other headlines like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part 1, X fast and some surprise entries such as Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour has reinvigorated the company and laid the right foundations to take over in 2024.

However, the highly publicized strikes by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA caused a significant change in the plan and studios were quickly forced to change their release schedules for the year. As a result, the first half of 2024 is taking a hit and the industry as a whole is now eagerly awaiting the remaining six months to get it out of the mess.

One of the biggest impacts of the double strikes, rightly organized between May and November 2023 by the writers' and actors' unions against the studios, is the rethinking of the release strategy.

Hollywood's summer typically lasts about 125 days between May and September and is when the industry schedules its blockbuster films of the year. Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman Deadpool and Wolverine was originally scheduled to kick off the summer, but the work stoppage caused by the strikes forced the Walt Disney Company to postpone the release from May 3 to July 26, 2024.

Deadpool 3 now claims the location that previously belonged to Captain America: Brave New Worldwhich will be released in theaters next February.

All of this upheaval ultimately led to the less formidable The Fall Guy taking Deadpool 3's place. The former film, despite starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt and garnering positive reviews, buckled under the pressure and came out as a box office disappointment.

Similarly, Paramount Pictures has pushed back the release of the second part of the film. Mission: Impossible 8 from June 28 of this year to the end of May of next year. Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe has delayed the release of all films scheduled for this year to next year, and a film like IF (directed by John Krasinski and starring Ryan Reynolds), which was originally scheduled to arrive on Thanksgiving 2023 as a family entertainment, has been tasked with headlining the 2024 summer season instead.

The six-month gap caused by the strikes has also led to a drop in release volume, with the Associated Press reporting that only 32 films will be in contention this summer, compared with the usual average of 40 releases.

That said, it's not common for Hollywood to be on a roll every calendar year. A quick study of the trend suggests that January is mostly about recalibrating after the holiday rush with films like Bad Girls (restart) and The beekeeper keep the ship steady in 2024, while things really get going by February or early March with the help of a major franchise vehicle.

If 2018 and 2019 had Black Panther And How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World working their charm, the film directed by Robert Pattinson The Batman The series made its first big bang in 2022 as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania exploded as expected the following year.

This year, however, the model didn't work with Sony's latest Spider-Man outing. Madame Web The failure was colossal and the film sent a shiver of worry down the industry's spine. The film once again ended in failure, as the biographical drama Bob Marley: One Love (released the same Valentine's Day weekend) exceeded expectations and somewhat eased the pain.

Denis Villeneuve Dune: Part 2, Kung Fu Panda 4, Ghostbusters: Empire of Ice And Godzilla x Kong: The New Empirereleased in March 2024, then helped bring back the dollars. What these films also confirmed is that the franchise model still has the upper hand while competing with original works.

Alex Garlands very imaginative Civil war and Luca Guadagninos The challengers were successful releases in their own right, but their box office exploits cannot be compared to those of the studios' requels and revivals – The Garfield movie, for example, triumphed despite negative reviews. Perhaps that's why two of Hollywood's best voices, Doug Liman (Roadhouse) and Richard Linklater (Hitman) collaborated with streaming giants earlier this year. In a similar vein, stars Anne Hathaway (The idea of ​​you), Nicole Kidman (A family matter), Eddie Murphy (Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F) and many others find solace in the OTT space.

Inside Out 2 and Bad Boys 4 to the Rescue

But just as things were starting to wind down, June turned into a month of filming with not one, but several blockbuster movies. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence hit it big with Bad Boys: Ride or Die with the animated family entertainer Inside Out 2 will win the first billion of the year.

A quiet place: first day Michael Sarnoski took the reins from John Krasinski and got a hit to close out the first half of 2024 on a high note, with expectations now high for what lies ahead.

A24s Horror Movie Maxxinethe epic of disaster Tornadoesand M. Knight Shyamalan's serial killer movie Trap should captivate audiences in the coming months. The cream of the crop, however, will arrive a little later, as Transformers 1 (with Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson and others), Todd Phillips Joker: Madness for Two (with Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga), Robert Zemeckis Here, Ridley Scotts Gladiator 2, The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim And Mufasa: The Lion King A mouth-watering lineup to close out the year. So get ready!