The top ten films mainly include action/adventure, which suggests that this is rapidly becoming a popular genre. This can be due to popular actors being cast, CGI and special effects. But a popular idea is the reducing cost to produce these films, most notably; due to special effects. For example, nowadays you can use special effects to show a building explosion rather than explode an actual building which costed films an exceptional amount of their budget in the early 1900’s. This leads to more budget available for more popular and well-known actors to draw the audience in. Actions films are also popular because of their interesting plots and wide range of stunts.

There are also two Chinese films in the top ten, which suggests that foreign films are becoming more popular inside the USA. This can be because more people are speaking Chinese, or even as people are beginning to experiment with new film types and try something new. Although these films are unknown to some Americans, they are famous within the Chinese community which is so large within America; that it contributes to their immense success.

 

Another observation I noticed, is that many of the films were in a franchise.  These include ‘The Avengers: Infinity War’, ‘Deadpool’, ‘The Incredibles’ and some others. These concepts are so popular because they entice audience into watching them with the promise of finding out what will happen from a previously well-known and loved film. This idea is appealing because it answers any questions that the audience had about the film and offers another opportunity to engage in the series. Viewers will also engage more in the plot because they have chosen to watch it continued so must hold some form of interest in the key ideas.

Another point worth mentioning is the hiring of famous, Hollywood stars which appeal to the audiences. Examples include Chris Pratt who stars in ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’, Dwayne Johnson who stars in ‘Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle’ and Chris Hemsworth who stars in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’. These stars are well-known and extremely popular in Hollywood which attracts some audience members to their films.

Some films are adaptations of popular novels; an example of this is ‘Ready Player One’. The novel was published in 2011, and was quite popular with the YA and Sci-fi community. The film adaptation did not disappoint, and steered far from ‘copying’ its inspiration and rather opted for making several significant changes from the novel.

Film adaptations of popular fiction are received so greatly because they can serve as an interesting visual for popular novels. They gain large audiences, mainly of those who read the book because they want to see how it will be presented and also adapted/changed. If a particular novel was popular, it can draw in large audiences from those who might not always go to the cinema but want to see how their beloved book will be presented. This is an interested concept because it varies the audience form those who have come from the novel and want to see how it will be and those who are interested in the plot or actors, and have not necessarily read the book.

In conclusion, the top ten 2018 films show that the ‘formula’ for a successful film can vary due to multiple factors. Some are successful because they draw in a large audience in the promise of following up a popular series or film adaptation. Whereas others rely on popular talent to secure their audience.  Finally, some bank on a certain genre because of the many benefits of using it