Movies

Introduction

Movies have become an immensely popular form of art in contemporary times and can generate significant profits for those involved in their production. The film industry is a massive business that generates revenue from various sources such as box office earnings, home video sales, and streaming services. Movies have a broad global appeal, which enables filmmakers to explore diverse markets and demographics, creating potential for even greater profits. Additionally, the industry has evolved to focus on creating franchises, allowing filmmakers to build a loyal following and capitalize on their popularity through sequels, prequels, and spin-offs.

The beauty of movies is that they are art forms produced worldwide. Many international films have also caught the attention of movie-lovers all over the world including The Intouchables, Pan's Labyrinth, and in recent years, Parasite, to name a few recognitions. Looking at a map of the world, we get an idea of how many foreign movies have been produced and distributed  to audiences globally. Our focus will be domestically on the United States, as over 200+ films have been produced and distributed between the years 1980-2020.

Based on the graph, it is evident that the movie industry is a lucrative one as studios are able to generate profits that are almost four to six times higher than their initial investments. By clicking on the chart above, you can view the expenses and earnings of the highest-grossing movies produced by leading studios. 

When people think about successful movies, they typically consider movies that are part of a larger franchise. For example, one may think about movies in Marvel, Star Wars, Harry Potter, or Pixar just to name a few. To summarize a few top-tier movies, we categorized the Top 5 grossing movies distributed by successful production companies. With just the Top 5 movies accounting for over $9 billion in gross revenue by itself, Marvel Studios sits atop all production companies. Marvel Studios has been quite successful over the years, especially with more than one film ranking in the Top 10 highest grossing films of all time. 

An important factor that helps people decide whether or not to sit through and watch a movie is knowing what kind of movie it is. Specifically, the genre of a movie can help viewers categorize the type of movie and what plot setting they can expect to follow.

"Action speaks louder than words" - The live chart shows the comedy and action genres consistently generated the highest revenue compared to other genres from 1980 to 2020. Movies in these genres were particularly popular among audiences and generated significant profits for the movie industry.

Breaking down movies based on different studios, we can visualize the number of movies produced versus where they stand in terms of various ratings. Looking at the data, it is evident that Marvel Studios, although has comparatively lower number of movies released compared to other studios, is consistently well-received by the audience with leading average scores. Regarding genres, Marvel has seemed to figure out a successful formula to contain a mixture of popular genres including action, comedy, and adventure.

Furthermore, an alternative visualization displays where Marvel Studios stands in terms of average scores versus revenue while also accounting for how many films have been produced. The various sizes of the bubbles indicate how many films have produced by each respective production company. With Marvel Studios located in the upper right hand corner, the data indicates that the studio produced more than $7.5 billion in revenue, while also maintaining an average score of just over 8. We can see that Marvel Studios is in fact the leading production studio in cinema.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has been one of the most successful movie franchises of all time. Focusing on just the MCU films, the highest grossing titles were arranged in ascending order. Unsurprisingly, the titles that included the "Avengers," the name of a superhero team up, were the highest grossing films for Marvel Studios. Each Avengers film has surpassed a gross revenue of at least $1.4 billion, with Avengers: Endgame collecting about $2.8 billion, which makes it one of the highest grossing films in history. Although Marvel does have some rare "flops," or movies that do not perform to expectations in the U.S. box office, there is no doubt that Marvel will continue building a strong movie franchise for years to come.

Award ceremonies and various award functions such as the Oscars, Golden Globes, and other similar events serve as important platforms to acknowledge the exceptional work of artists and filmmakers in the entertainment industry. The primary purpose of these ceremonies is to honor the achievements of artists, directors, writers, and other professionals who have contributed to the success of a particular production or performance. 

In 2019, the film A Star is Born received widespread recognition and critical acclaim, having received numerous nominations at the Oscars ceremony. This movie, directed by Bradley Cooper and starring Lady Gaga, has captured the hearts of audiences around the world with its compelling storyline, breathtaking performances, and exceptional production values.

On the other end of movie recognition, besides academy nominations, we have appreciation from the popular fan votes. Films can receive praise from its fans through different scoring  systems and can be found across different sites (i.e., IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, etc.).

We can observe a list of movies that have received the highest ratings from audiences over the years. We see that  in 2020 the movie Onward, an animated film, was the most appreciated while the movie Tenet, a movie produced by a renowned director, Christopher Nolan, tied in 1st place.