$1 Billion Ain't What It Used To Be

Before this millennium, there was only one film in history (not counting adjustment for inflation) that ever crossed the $1 billion mark. It's name was Titanic. 

Titanic was a movie so massive that Hollywood couldn't find enough things to do with it. For 20th Century Fox, when the $200 million historical-romantic epic opened to a paltry $28.6 million in December of 1997, they were instantly ready to write the film off as a disaster. However, due to epic word-of-mouth and the help of pre-teens drooling over the fantasy of Leonardo Dicaprio, business continued week after week. Titanic stayed at number one for fifteen straight weeks, something you rarely see in this day-and-age. In fact, it's been so rare that the closest film to match that is another James Cameron epic called Avatar, which stayed on top for seven consecutive weeks. Even with the adjustment for inflation and the added fees for 3D & IMAX, nothing could match the staying power of Titanic, which eventually grossed a whopping $1.8 billion worldwide.

Now, we all know that Avatar hit an astonishing $2.7 billion worldwide. But the focus in this column is not about films like Titanic & Avatar, because regardless of how you feel towards these blockbusters, these were still huge movie events. They earned their money respectively, not relying on opening weekend profits but on tremendous buzz and the urge to see it the right way, in theaters. I stand by The Dark Knight because even with the second highest opening weekend of all time at $158 million, it continued steady business to eventually hit the $1 billion mark worldwide.

There have only been ten films in the history of cinema to reach that mark. Three of them were released this year. 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (which is also the highest opening weekend of all time at $169 million) deservedly crossed the $1 billion mark because it was a great end to an already phenomenally successful (and respectable) franchise. It's still in theaters and crushing records, lifting its worldwide total to $1.3 billion and counting. 

Now, here's where the dilemma lies. This year, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Transformers: Dark of the Moon, two horrible movies, both surpassed $1 billion. After this occurrence, I realized that $1 billion ain't what it used to be. 

On Stranger Tides is an unnecessary fourth installment in a franchise that is only surviving because of the unprecedented reliability from Johnny Depp. The studio wanted a moneymaker and it got one. But at what cost? The movie bombed domestically, grossing only $240 million (the movie's budget is approximately $250 million), but made massive amounts overseas, pushing its total to $1.039 billion in revenue. Because of its poor domestic numbers, it's a tainted record, one that lets Jerry Bruckheimer sleep easy, but makes fans crash with fatigue.

Same goes for Dark of the Moon, the incredibly painful experience created by the Steven Spielberg of bad movies, Michael Bay (is it a cruel irony that the film was produced by Spielberg?) It shoved 3D in our faces and the franchise once again used its Fourth of July release date to manipulate Americans into believing that it demands viewing on the anniversary of our country's independence. The film is about robots mercilessly destroying each other over-and-over again with an occasional shot of excessive skin from a hot "actress". What's sad is that many people do find this fitting, because it's now the fifth highest grossing film of all time with a disgusting worldwide total of $1.114 billion.

Considering these movies did make a chunk of change, of course there must be people out there who like these movies. But what ever happened to the truly huge movie events? Avatar was one of those films. Same goes for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($1.1 Billion), The Dark Knight ($1.001 billion) and Toy Story 3 (1.1 billion). But now, after seeing mediocre films cross that milestone, I'm beginning to worry that the novelty of box-office records is starting to wear off. Even though Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest wasn't the greatest film in the world, it still felt like an event. It was the return of Jack Sparrow, a beloved movie character. Four films and a character hangover later, if (or should I say when) Jack Sparrow gets a fifth chance to be on the billboards again, it will become another parody within itself and explode into emptiness. Basically, the same fate as another Johnny Depp vessel, Alice in Wonderland (for the record, this column is not intended to insult Johnny Depp, for that would be an act of near treason). What I'm saying is that you got lucky this time around Hollywood, so enjoy the money while you can and run for the hills before you screw everything up again next year.

On the other hand, there is a delightful collection of worthy and potential $1 billion hits in 2012. The Dark Knight Rises, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the 23rd James Bond entry (which would be a first for the historic franchise) and The Avengers. While there are bad apples to avoid (Breaking Dawn: Part II, Men in Black III, and Battleship), stay focused on the films that are the true events. In other words, to Christopher Nolan and Peter Jackson, we rely on you once again.

So my unbiased question to leave with you is this: Do you think a film's billion dollar box-office success translates into the quality of the film? Before the debate begins, I will say my piece. I think it depends on the film. For example, The Dark Knight became a huge box-office phenomenon because it was simply one of the best films to ever be released on the big screen. Sure, it's a sequel based off popular source material, but because of the hype around Heath Ledger's last performance and the breathtaking direction by Christopher Nolan, it became more than a Batman movie. It became a once-in-a-generation movie event, which is something we movie buffs tend to live off of. Clearly, this is a matter of taste, but what do you think? Let the debate begin.