There is a notable formula to the box office numbers in 2018. for instance, almost all of them are action movies, as action movies are usually fairly easy to follow and understand. Action movies are also trying to compete with video games to try and keep the audience engaged in the film.
Many of the films also star A-list actors that lots of people know about. films with well known actors in them are more likely to be successful as people can go to the cinema to see someone specifically in a film.
Seven of the highest grossing films are either sequels or part of an established franchise – this means that many people will be drawn in to see a film because it is part of a franchise they already like, or because they enjoyed the first movie and want to see more in the sequel.
Half of the top ten highest grossing films are either adaptations from books or comics; this is because,of the people that read the book/comic, many of them will want to see how faithful of an adaptation the director has created, while others go because they want to see the pages that they’ve read turn into a movie on the big screen.