The top 10 highest-grossing movies of 2024 were all sequels

The only threat to the sequel domination is Wicked, which is a Wizard of Oz prequel and a remake of a musical anyway.

Are original ideas dead? Well, that depends on your perspective, as it seems cinemagoers just don't care for original ideas anymore. They want the cushy comfort of characters they know, and stories they remember.

And the figures support this idea. In a report from GamesRadar, we see that all 10 of the highest-grossing movies of 2024 so far have been sequels. From Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire to Deadpool & Wolverine. According to analyst Gabriel Rossman, this might come due to theatres needing revenue wherever they can get it.

"Theaters need box office wherever they can get it," he said. "Whether that's originals, sequels/franchises, or more niche/emerging genres like streaming live events."

There have of course been original ideas in the box office this year, and some of them have been widely successful, like The Substance, for instance. But, when it comes to the big, blow-out successes, don't expect a non-franchise, non-sequel feature to make it big anymore.