On Screen: Film Success

By Kirk Lowe
(originally published online; CMA, September 2009)

The following is an informal study of motion picture success over time comparing the Top 25 All-Time U.S. Box Office Figures. It might surprise you to know that the most successful genres on this list are Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Superhero.
Of the top 25 grossing U.S. movies of all time, 18 fall into these genres. The Fantasy genre garnered the most films in the inventory with seven, followed by Sci-Fi with six, and finally, Superhero with five.
The Fantasy genre is headlined by Shrek 2 (#4 all-time) and includes all three of the Lord of the Rings (#11, 15 and 25 all-time respectively) movies. The films in this genre contain fantastic creatures like dragons, ogres, and orcs. They transport viewers to other worlds full of intrigue, relatable yet uncommon conflict, and out-of-the-ordinary situations. They’re visually appealing and display high levels of artistic beauty in costume and setting.
The Sci-Fi genre is headlined by, of course, the original Star Wars (ranked #3) and contains the Transformers movies as well as Star Wars Episodes I and III. This genre has some of the same qualities as the Fantasy genre, but with a somewhat more technological bent. They are highlighted by contemporary or futuristic elements as opposed to the Fantasy genre films, which are typically historical, gothic, or classic in nature and setting.
The Superhero genre is headlined by The Dark Knight (#2 all-time), and includes all three recent Spider-Man movies, as well as Iron Man (2008). This genre is classic good v/s evil, hero v/s villain, crime and vice v/s justice. The Superhero movies delve into personal morality and psychological analysis. They make audiences consider, “What would I do in this situation?” They may stir the questions, “Can I be a hero?” or, “Am I a villain?”
These top-three genres also outperform the others in total combined-gross box office by three-to-one. The total combined box office for the Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Superhero genres comes to nearly 7 billion dollars, while the sum of all the rest is around 2.6 billion. Think about that difference for a minute.
In sum, the sometimes-maligned genres of Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Superhero are reported to be the most financially successful. I’m not saying that if you feel a slump in your writing you should jump genres … just consider whether you can maintain the integrity of your story after adding a few elves. Hey, it worked for Narnia.