Although cinema is an art form, first and foremost, it is also a business that requires financial support to be sustained. A healthy box office is necessary for the medium to remain a cornerstone of popular culture, as studios will only be willing to invest in future projects if it is proven that there is an audience that is willing to go out and see them. 2024 was a year in which there were tremendous box office highs, but the delays due to the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes did lead to some crushing lows.
Box office performances are a compelling way to examine where the industry is headed, but it is not necessarily an indication of quality. Although films like “Deadpool & Wolverine,” “Inside Out 2,” “Kung Fu Panda 4,” “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” and “Wicked: Part One” performed extraordinarily well this year, few publications that take themselves seriously have cited any of them as being among the year’s best. Likewise, many of the greatest films of all time were initially box office bombs, such as “Citizen Kane,” “Blade Runner,” “The Big Lebowski,” and “The Shawshank Redemption.” Here are ten financially unsuccessful films from 2024 that simply deserved better.
10. The Fall Guy
Although “The Fall Guy” is technically based on the classic television series of the same name, it certainly feels like a conscious throwback to the gleefully goofy nature of iconic action films from the 1990s, such as “Face/Off,” “Speed,” or “Goldeneye.” Director David Leitch has proven to be one of the best filmmakers capable of pulling off practical action sequences, which is in no small part due to his background as a stunt artist. That being said, there’s a cheeky sense of humor that permeates “The Fall Guy” which indicates that the film isn’t taking itself too seriously.
The underperformance of “The Fall Guy” is very disappointing, as it is one of the rare summer tentpoles that had a self-contained story, and was not interested in tying itself into a pending cinematic universe. Although it contains some of the year’s best brawls and chases, there’s also a strong sense of heart, which comes from the terrific romantic chemistry between Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. “The Fall Guy” is a love letter to the movies, and anyone who skipped it is missing a seriously good time.
9. Here
Robert Zemeckis has transformed from one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation to one of the most controversial. Although the success of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” “Forrest Gump,” and the “Back to the Future” trilogy led him down an unprecedented run of success, Zemeckis was sharply criticized for the overuse of immersive visual storytelling in more recent films, such as “Welcome to Marwen,” “A Christmas Carol,” and “The Polar Express.” Although “Here” is augmented by groundbreaking digital de-aging effects, the film is hardly the soapy melodrama that some critics have criticized it as being.
Set within a single room over the course of hundreds of years, “Here” is an analysis of the death of the American dream, and how a generation of Baby Boomers were sold the false notion that they would live a life better than that of their parents. Zemeckis succeeds in capturing the intimate, personal moments that are often ditched in “slice-of-life” dramas and utilizes the inherent charisma of Tom Hanks and Robin Wright to access some surprisingly dark themes. It’s a bold experiment that deserves more affection.
8. Megalopolis
“Megalopolis” became such a significant subject of media scrutiny that it is challenging to find any objective coverage of the film’s quality. Francis Ford Coppola’s self-financed science fiction epic has been his passion project for years and was forced to stitch together a tumultuous marketing campaign after major studios turned down the opportunity to purchase it after a screening at the Cannes Film Festival. “Megalopolis” is a visually dazzling examination of the future that draws on both the mythology of Ancient Rome and the hyper-fixation of today’s media, creating a vision that is both highly imaginative and startlingly familiar.
Although there are broad strokes in which Coppola paints his characters, the ideas he is working with are far more ambiguous than one may imagine, specifically when it comes to the preservation of art. There’s no need to judge an artist purely based on their past work, but it did seem strange that so many were willing to dismiss a new spectacle from the creator of “The Godfather” trilogy and “Apocalypse Now” without judging it on its own terms.
7. Horizon: An American Saga- Chapter 1
Similar to “Megalopolis,” “Horizon: An American Saga- Chapter 1” was an ambitious, self-financed epic from an uncompromising auteur interested in preserving a more classical form of storytelling. Kevin Costner has been notoriously devoted to mapping America’s western history ever since his work on “Dances With Wolves” won him the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director. “Horizon: An American Saga- Chapter 1” is the first entry in what Costner hopes to be a four-part epic that chronicles the history of westward expansion; although the second part was originally slated to debut late in the summer, it was removed from its expected release date by Warner Brothers after the first entry underperformed.
The “Horizon” project shows what a surprisingly brave filmmaker Costner is. Although it does feel bifurcated as part of a larger narrative, Costner seems far more interested in the evolution of civilization than he is in any one character. Three hours fly by due to the compelling cast of characters that Costner assembles, and the impressive cinematography, costuming, production design, and blaring musical score are certainly among the year’s best.
6. Fly Me To The Moon
Despite the surprising overperformance of “Anyone But You” at the end of 2023, there has been a steady decline in the number of romantic comedies released every year, as many simply debut on streaming services and forgo a theatrical rollout entirely. “Fly Me To The Moon” may have been produced by Apple, but it did appear in theaters nationwide before being soundly rejected by audiences. It’s a shame that something as classical as “Fly Me To The Moon” didn’t find an audience, because it makes the argument for the value of charming, populist entertainment.
Essentially taking place in an alternate version of the events leading up to the “Apollo 11” moon landing, “Fly Me To The Moon” centers on the romance between a NASA employee (Channing Tatum) and a marketing executive (Scarlett Johansson) that have to sell the nation on the prospect of space travel. The chemistry between the two stars is simply terrific, and “Fly Me To The Moon” manages to sneak in a very relevant message about the importance of truthfulness, and the power that it has to inspire.
5. The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare
Guy Ritchie may be the hardest-working man in Hollywood. Although he had a few rough years making studio blockbusters, Ritchie has been shockingly active as of late, with “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” being his fifth movie so far this decade. Although Ritchie also developed a television show based on “The Gentlemen” and has two new releases slated to debut in 2025, “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” is a great throwback to classic World War II adventure films like “The Dirty Dozen” and “The Eagle Has Landed.”
In a story not similar to that of Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece “Inglourious Basterds,” the film centers on a group of idiosyncratic British commandos that are sent into the heart of Europe in the middle of the Second World War to take down as many Nazis as they can. Ritchie’s snappy, clever way of shooting action allows the film to be surprisingly violent, yet cheeky at the same time. Those looking for real depth to the characterization may have to look elsewhere, but the charisma of stars like Henry Cavill and Alan Ritchson is more than enough.
4. Trap
Night Shyamalan has had one of the most tumultuous career trajectories of any filmmaker working today. Praised as “the next Spielberg,” rejected as being a hack, and then accepted for his surprising comeback, Shyamalan is fascinating because it’s very hard to recognize how self-aware he actually is. That being said, “Trap” is easily Shyamalan’s best in years, as this playful story about a serial killer trying to protect his young daughter is playful, intense, and surprisingly emotional.
Shyamalan, who cast his own daughter in a major role in the film, may have related to this story about a workaholic parent trying to protect his child from his strange lifestyle. Josh Hartnett has been having a major comeback thanks to “Oppenheimer,” “Black Mirror,” and a few collaborations with Guy Ritchie, but “Trap” provides him with the single best role of his entire career. Hartnett is just charismatic enough to take the viewer off guard but is able to make the snap needed to indicate that he is still playing a villain. It’s one of the best performances of the year.
3. The Bikeriders
Jeff Nichols was once considered to be the arbiter of slice-of-life indie filmmaking about “Middle America” with films like “Mud” and “Take Shelter,” which in many ways made him the perfect choice to helm a nuanced historical drama like “The Bikeriders.” The film offers a more authentic depiction of the rise of motorcycling clubs in the post-World War II era, which was covered relentlessly in classics like “The Wild One” and “Easy Rider.” Although Nichols indulges in the inherent nostalgia involved in this idealistic version of masculinity, he often reveals the dark side of history, as many of these groups became involved in organized crime.
The brilliance of “The Bikeriders” is in its construction, as the film is told via flashback as a journalist (Mike Faist) interviews a woman (Jodie Comer) about what happened to her husband (Austin Butler) as his group rose to prominence. The recreation of mid-century Chicago is simply extraordinary, and Butler proves once again that he is a generational talent with a performance that warrants comparisons to James Dean and Marlon Brando.
2. Challengers
Luca Guadagnino delivered two bonafide masterpieces this year, and while “Queer” was an arthouse film that was never expected to bring in significant box office, “Challengers” was a much more commercial enterprise that should have performed better with a non-cinephile audience. Although it would be easy to initially dismiss “Challengers” as a raunchy sports melodrama, Gudagnino captures the dynamics of a complex trio of characters whose motivation for success is only enhanced by their burgeoning affection for each other.
“Challengers” is one of the most technically proficient films of the year, as the inventive cinematography makes each tennis match feel more immersive than the last. It’s also bolstered by an incredible score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who add a component of electronic music that underscores the adrenaline felt by each of the characters. It’s actually pretty difficult to determine who gives the best performance in “Challengers.” While the soft-hearted sincerity of Mike Faist and the ruthlessness of Zendaya are both compelling, it is the overpowering charisma of Josh O’Connor that steals the film.
1. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
The “Mad Max” franchise is arguably the most important action saga in cinema history, as George Miller’s innovations with stunt choreography and worldbuilding set the stage for an entirely new generation of spectacle. “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” shares the technical mastery that made “Mad Max: Fury Road” such a phenomenon back in 2015, but its narrative approach is very different.
If “Fury Road” was a relentless chase, “Furiosa” is a decades-spanning epic about breaking the cycle of revenge. Charlize Theron’s performance as Imperator Furiosa was an instant icon, but Anya Taylor-Joy succeeds at showing a more vulnerable side to this future legend. Furiosa is a scared child deprived of a home and is forced to purge herself of emotion in order to survive amidst a ruthless wasteland of blood and oil. Equally compelling is Chris Hemsworth in the best performance of his career as Dementus, a despicable populist whose oversized ego is only outmatched by his cruelty. The action that Miller perfected in “Furiosa” is pure art, and makes it worthy of its place within one of the greatest film franchises of all time.
