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Finally, this turns out to be the most successful American film of the year (image: Sony)
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the highest-grossing American film of 2020 is Bad Boys For Life by Sony, leading in both domestic (206 million USD) and international (426 million USD) box offices among Hollywood films released this year. A B-grade film like this topping the Hollywood box office indicates the state of the North American film market over the past year. Moreover, the hierarchy of the Big 5 has also shifted.
The film studio with the highest domestic box office revenue in 2020 is Sony, with 485.5 million USD. Of course, the credit goes to Bad Boy For Life mentioned above. Additionally, some other films also generated significant revenue during the period from 1/1-29/12, such as Jumanji: The Next Level (124.7 million USD), Little Women (70.5 million USD). The remaining contribution of 21.5 million USD comes from recent releases like Bloodshot, The Broken Hearts Gallery and the recently added Monster Hunter. This is indeed a case of the underdog ruling the blind kingdom! Time Travelers of 1917Dr. Dolittle's AdventuresThe Vanishing PhantomThe Chronicles: An Innovative Era
Sony experiences the slightest revenue decrease and leads the North American box office, while Disney is the company facing the most significant decline among the Big 5 (image: Deadline)
Securing the third spot is Disney, despite absorbing both 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures, they have faced unfortunate circumstances in this year 2020. Revenue plummeted to only $413.6 million, marking the steepest decline among the Big 5. Prior to the outbreak, they only had one release, Onward, which also failed, earning a mere $61.5 million and becoming Pixar's worst-performing film in history.Disney's saving grace this year comes from a film released in 2019, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which garnered $124.4 million domestically in the year 2020. The project The Call of the Wild inherited from 20th Century Studios earned $62.3 million from North American domestic sales, predicted to incur a loss of $50-100 million. New Mutants from this studio also fell short, earning $23.8 million and undoubtedly resulting in a loss. Films like Mulan and Souls were released online and therefore did not report revenue.
Warner Bros. lands at 4th place after taking risks with two $200 million projects (photo: Warner Bros.)
Warner Bros. secures 4th place on the race track this year with domestic earnings of $235.5 million. Amidst the outbreak starting from March, they emerged as the highest-earning film studio thanks to two $200 million blockbusters - Tenet and Wonder Woman 1984. The two films grossed $95.5 million domestically. The studio's highest-grossing film this year is Birds of Prey, with $84 million domestically.Paramount secures the 5th spot in the Big 5 this year, raking in $180.9 million. A lone Sonic the Hedgehog shoulders 81% of that, contributing a whopping $146 million. Key blockbusters like Top Gun: Maverick and A Quiet Place Part II have been pushed to 2021, significantly impacting the company's results.Domestic box office revenue in North America plummeted by 80%, dropping from $11.4 billion in 2019 to a mere $2.3 billion last year. For the first time, North America has been surpassed by China to become the world's largest film market. Despite a 70% revenue decrease, Chinese cinemas still managed to rake in $2.7 billion.
