2024 Yearender: Hollywood tries a new turn, and makes some safe bets

Hollywood films have been around a little over a hundred years. In that time, the industry has seen a lot – from the introduction and discarding of the Hays Code (a self-censorship guideline) to the most recent shakeup with the #MeToo movement which saw prolific producer Harvey Weinstein , and many others, get their just deserts.

Needless to say, movies too have changed in this while – but maybe not all that much. Here’s what happened in Hollywood cinema in 2024.

. The biggest box office winners this year were Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine .

Some of the other highest-grossing films of 2024 are Wicked , Moana 2 (both are still running in theatres), Despicable Me 4 , Beetlejuice Beetlejuice , Dune: Part Two , Twisters , Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire , and Kung Fu Panda 4 .

What I see from this list is one adaptation and seven sequels. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, of course, is the sequel to Tim Burton’s 1988 original and Twisters being a standalone sequel to the 1996 movie Twister .

Cumulatively these movies have raked in around $3.66 billion at the time of writing (this is just US box office estimates, and two of the movies are still running in theatres).

When one sees the top ten highest-grossing movies in the world, nine are Hollywood films, and apart from Wicked (which isn’t exactly original content itself) all are sequels or remakes.

Even Barry Jenkins, director of Moonlight , has stepped into the world of computer-generated graphics with Mufasa: The Lion King , a prequel to the classic.

Does this strike despair in the heart of the moviegoer craving for something new? Well, there’s cause to be happy and sad.

One of the year’s most anticipated movies – the mega budget Megapolis from directorial maestro Francis Ford Coppola fell flat on its face. The film, which cost around $136 million to make, only brought in $4 million in the opening weekend.

However, it wasn’t all bad for a cinephile, with absolutely refreshing releases like The Substance – the Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley starrer which managed to critically comment on societal expectations from women’s bodies through a stylishly filmed body horror.

Dev Patel’s directorial debut Monkey Man was another such revelation. The gritty action film packs a punch and makes some pretty powerful commentary against fascism. The Indian censor board has sought edits and the release of the movie – set in a fictional Indian city – has been delayed.

Sequels and prequels have become an increasing mainstay with audience interest in cinematic universes, something Marvel reaped enormous gains out of in recent times, and is looking to tap into that again by bringing back Chris Evans into the MCU fold with Avengers: Doomsday .

And with more demand for such movies, directors like Luca Guadagnino are jumping onto the bandwagon too. The Call me by your name director is working with Austin Butler, in the role of Patrick Bateman, on a remake of American Psycho – where Christian Bale played this role in the original.

. Wondering why sequels, prequels, and not something new? Because, in most cases, these are safer bets. And Hollywood, under the glitz and the glamour, is an industry still recovering from when Covid shut things down and pushed back productions. Last year also saw massive disruptions as unions called strikes over AI use in Hollywood, another change the industry will have to weather in the coming years.

Some are already coming around to the inevitability, like veteran actor Tom Hanks, who had words of praise for the AI de-aeging technology used in Here .

Even with things back to ‘normal’ in Hollywood, the numbers tell a different story. In the third quarter of 2024, film production levels declined 5 per cent from the same stretch in 2023, based on a report from FilmLA, the official film office of the City and County of Los Angeles. Since May 2023, when the Writers Guild of America strike began, motion picture and sound recording jobs in the Los Angeles area have declined 15 per cent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

. Studios, meanwhile, are working to try and appeal to different audiences. Donald Trump’s second term in office sent a clear signal that programming must cater to the entire country, not just the cities on the US coast. And true to form, Hollywood is ready to embrace God, and the American West and outdoor enthusiasts, to reach out to a wider audience.

Studio executives, talent agents and television showrunners told Reuters the industry has recognised it is missing broad swaths of the United States. Money is coming in for faith-based movies, rodeos and outdoor lifestyle programming as an alternative to superhero sagas or sex and violence-laden dramas.

Yellowstone – the Kevin Costner show – is a clear example of mass appeal. The finale of season five has almost four times as many viewers as the 2023 finale of Emmy-winner Succession .

Amid this resurgent demand for faith-based content comes Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints – a series that explores the lives of four historical saints, and is narrated by the acclaimed director who appears to be making a more overt return to his Christian roots.

. Hollywood, in many aspects, is now looking to the past which is perhaps why for the first time in a long time, the industry is seeing a crop of male actors who could well go on to be stars. The likes of Glen Powell, Timothée Chalamet, Paul Mescal and Dev Patel seem very promising, though of course not yet at the level of say Tom Cruise, George Clooney, or Brad Pitt.

Chalamet, for example, has taken up various roles – from the fantastical Dune to the biographical Bob Dylan film A Complete Unknown . Devin Gordon, a cultural critic, opined for the New York Times that the sheer depth of talent the current crop has might translate to a positive spell for Hollywood with audiences flocking to the theatres to see these ‘stars’ on screen.

. Speaking of star power, acclaimed director Christopher Nolan was knighted this year, and has already announced that his next movie will be on Homer’s epic— The Odyssey— and will include a star-studded cast of Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, and Tom Holland, among others.

. Nomination lists are out for both the Golden Globes and the Oscars, and while there is no Barbenheimer this time, there’s still Glicked - Gladiator 2 and Wicked , which might keep things interesting, apart from many other notable submissions.

While the Golden Globes is on Jan 5, 2025, the Oscars is on March 2 and will be hosted by Conan O’Brien.

. Love bloomed for some celebrities this year, and walked out of the door for others.

Among notable celebs who got engaged or tied the knot in 2024 are Only Murders in the Building star Selena Gomez, who got engaged to Benny Blanco.

Kaley Cuoco of the Big Bang Theory fame also said “yes” to Tom Pelphrey. The two already have a one-year daughter. Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown tied the knot with Jake Bongiovi, son of musician Jon Bon Jovi.

Not everyone had love on the cards in 2024, and many celebrity couples split up as well. Among them are Megan Fox Machine Gun Kelly, a duo that had always been vocal about the passion in their relationship, parted ways.

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez also split up, as did Zoe Kravitz and Channing Tatum. Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet filed for divorce, as did Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher. Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied as well as Britney Spears and Sam Asghari also ended things as couples in 20

. Despite many strides, the film industry continues to grapple with instances of alleged sexual harassment.

Hollywood saw Blake Lively, who’s married to Deadpool actor, Ryan Reynolds, raise sexual harassment allegations against Jane The Virgin star Justin Baldoni. She also claimed there were efforts to ‘destroy’ her reputation. Baldoni has refuted these allegations.

Meanwhile, in France, the first big #MeToo case went on trial on December 9. Portrait of a Lady on Fire actor Adèle Haenel accused director Christophe Ruggia of sexually touching her starting from when she was 12 and he was 36. Ruggia is now 59. The director has called these accusations “pure lies”.

. The manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin, over the accidental firing on the Rust set, which led to the death of the cinematographer, has been dropped by the prosecutor. This incident was reportedly the first time since the silent movie era that a fatal on-set shooting occurred because a live round was mistaken for a dummy or blank round.

. This year we said goodbye to several acting greats including Maggie Smith, best known for her role as Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter series, and Alain Delon, whose works like Le Samouraï still remain an absolute cinematic treat.

Veteran actors like James Earl Jones – known for voicing Darth Vader in Star Wars and Mufasa in Lion King , and Donald Sutherland known for M*A*S*H and the Hunger Games series, among many others, also breathed their last.

This year also saw Carl Weathers, who played Apollo Creed, in Rocky pass away.

. While 2024 saw Hollywood veer more towards sequels, prequels, and remakes, and even consider different content to increase audience viewership, there have also been promising offerings which spell out hope for 2025.