Currently, the top 10 films of 2018 are…
- Avengers: Infinity War (dir. Anthony Russo)
- Black Panther (dir. Ryan Coogler)
- Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (dir. J.A Bayona)
- Incredibles 2 (dir. Brad Bird)
- Deadpool 2 (dir. David Leitch)
- Mission: Impossible – Fallout (dir. Christopher McQuarrie)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp (dir. Peyton Reed)
- Ready Player One (dir. Steven Spielberg)
- Hong Hai Xing Dong (dir. Dante Lam)
- Tang Ren Jie Tan An 2 (dir. Siecheng Chen)
These films have made a lot of money at the box office so far – Avengers: Infinity War is currently number 1 and has made over $2 billion. This is an incredible amount of money, and shows how the film industry is quickly becoming one of the most expensive in the world.
Eight out of these ten films are part of a series or franchise, the only two exceptions being Ready Player One and Hong Hai Xing Dong. This shows that most successful films are already known to audiences, or are just another instalment in a famous franchise. Some directors may find it easier to add to a franchise than to come up with a whole new idea. This is because not too much time has to be spent advertising it, as there will already be fans from previous films, who want to see the next instalment. Film companies will happily support films like these, as they can be a guaranteed way of making lots of money – if the film is good. For example, Mission: Impossible has made many films in the past, and dedicated fans will always go to see the next one, which in this case is Mission: Impossible – Fallout.
Many of the top 10 films also have famous actors in, who are easy ways of making money. Audiences would be more likely to go and see a film if they know their favourite actor will be in it, rather than a film that doesn’t feature anyone they know. These top actors will be paid huge amounts of money, for example Chris Pratt was paid around $10 million for his lead role in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. The Mission: Impossible franchise’s main selling point is Tom Cruise, and many fans agree that the films just wouldn’t work without him.
The last two films on the list are the only two Chinese films – the rest were made in Hollywood. This shows how the Chinese film industry is expanding, and how popular it is over there.