2022 overseas film profit and loss list： ＂Top Gun 2＂ is the most profitable, and ＂355＂ is a huge loss in Moonfall.

Sohu Entertainment feature (HAMA/Wen) In 2022, the North American film market recovered rapidly, far away from China, and regained the first place in the world. On the one hand, due to the turn of epidemic prevention and control, people’s lives have returned to normal, on the other hand, thanks to the release of some large films, the audience has been pulled back to the cinema.

Looking back on this year, it is still those sequels and restart blockbusters that have performed well and played a role in saving the market. Most of them have been original movies that have performed poorly and dragged their feet. Among these failed movies, cartoons, co-productions and feature films have occupied many seats. Become a dark horse, with a high return ratio, mostly small-budget horror films and comedies.

To compare the profitability of movies, there are two dimensions. One is the absolute value of profitability. The more you earn, the higher the box office will naturally be under the premise of determining the cost. There is another dimension, that is, the rate of return. For example, some horror movies have a small box office volume, but because of the very low cost, the global box office/production cost is high.

Tom cruise’s Top Gun 2 is the most profitable movie.

If you look at how much money you make, the first one in 2022 is Tom’s Top Gun 2.

The sequel to the movie production cost of this Paramount film, which was launched after many years, was 140-170 million US dollars, and the global box office was 1.489 billion US dollars. It was the global box office champion in 2022 and ranked 11th in the box office list of film history.

Avatar 2, the second box office of the year, grossed 1.1 billion dollars in the world that year, and the final box office may hit 2 billion dollars. However, the production cost of this special-effects film, which took many years to unlock many new technologies, is very high, about 350-400 million dollars, so the final income may not exceed Top Gun 2.

Among the top 11 movies at the global box office this year, Top Gun 2, Avatar 2, Jurassic World 3, Doctor Strange 2, Little Yellow Man with Big Eyes 2, Panther 2, Thor 4, Fantastic Animals 3 and Sonik the Hedgehog 2 are all sequels, New Batman is a classic IP restart, and Mysterious Sea is an IP adaptation of the game.

Theoretically, if the global box office of Hollywood blockbusters can reach more than three times the production cost, it is considered to be profitable. Among the eleven films, except Fantastic Animals 3, the global box office is twice as high as the production cost, and the other ten films have reached more than three times the production cost, that is to say, the box office revenue alone is all profitable.

Jurassic World 3’s global box office is 6.07 times the production cost, Doctor Strange 2 is 4.78 times the production cost, New Batman is 3.86 times the production cost, Little Yellow Man with Big Eyes is 11.74 times the production cost, and Sonik Hedgehog is 4.48 times the production cost.

The word-of-mouth of most of these films is not as good as expected, and it is not as good as the previous ones, but it does not affect the money, which is why Hollywood has always been keen on making sequels. Not only the box office revenue, Hollywood blockbusters also have a lot of follow-up income such as copyright, DVD, peripheral products, theme parks, etc., which can bring very considerable net profit.

The horror film "Dangerous Laughter" has the highest return rate.

From the perspective of rate of return, some small and medium-cost horror films, comedies and dramas are often more prominent, especially small-cost horror films, which have always been the best type of dark horse and can sell in the global market.

Among the top 20 films with the highest returns in 2022, there are 6 horror films, 3 cartoons, 2 comedies and 2 drama films.

The production cost of the horror film "Dangerous Laughter" was 17 million US dollars, and the global box office was 216 million US dollars, ranking seventeenth in the annual box office list. The global box office was 12.7 times the production cost, making it the highest-paid American film in 2022.

The production cost of the horror film Black Phone is 16 million US dollars, and the global box office is 161 million US dollars, with the return ratio exceeding 10 times.

The production cost of the horror film Barbarian is only $4.5 million, which is super low cost in the American film production system. It sold $45 million worldwide, with a return of 10 times.

The horror film Scream 5 cost $24 million, and the global box office cost $140 million, with a return ratio of 5.83 times. The horror film "Moonlight Panic: The End" cost 20 million US dollars, and the global box office was 104 million US dollars, with a return ratio of 5.2 times. These two movies are regarded as super IP in horror movies, and they have been made into a series, and each department has made a steady profit.

The horror film Orphan: The First Kill cost $10 million, and the global box office cost $37 million, with a return ratio of 3.7 times.

The production cost of the comedy "Idiot is funny forever" is 10 million US dollars, and the global box office is 80 million US dollars, with a return ratio of 8 times.

The production cost of the fantasy comedy "Instant Universe" starring Yang Ziqiong is $25 million, and the global box office is $104 million, with a return ratio of four times. Because it was created by a Chinese team and has a Chinese theme, it has made Instant Universe an annual film that has attracted much attention. The Saturn Award held by the American Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Film gave this film the best fantasy film award, and Yang Ziqiong won the best actress award. She may even hit the Oscar winner in 2023 with this film.

The drama The Girl in the Deep Swamp, which contains elements of love, youth and suspense, cost $24 million to make and earned $140 million at the global box office, with a return ratio of 5.83 times. This film is adapted from the best-selling novel "Where the Wrecks Sing" and can also be regarded as an IP work.

The production cost of channing tatum’s road film "Loyal Dog" was $15 million, and the global box office was $85 million, with a return ratio of 5.67 times. When the star is the director, there is another success story in Hollywood.

Co-production of "355" Moonfall suffered huge losses.

It can be seen that the movies that make money are IP sequels produced by several major studios and low-cost dark horse movies. Most of the losses this year are concentrated on high-cost original movies, co-productions and cartoons with superstars.

In fact, the films produced by the six major Hollywood studios will not lose too much even if some box offices are less than expected.

Like the high-investment blockbuster Fantastic Animals 3 and Black Adam, the worst box office in the world can be about twice the production cost.

Medium-and high-investment films with an investment of 50-90 million US dollars, such as Tickets to Paradise, Bullet Train, Lost City, No, Dr. Night: Morbius, DC Meng Chong Task Force, Dahomey Woman Warrior, Crocodile Lai Lai and Tragedy on the Nile, all have a return ratio of 1.5-2.8 times, and rarely lose everything.

Only a few people can make huge losses, especially animated films this year.

Disney’s animated film Strange World, which cost $135-180 million, earned only $67 million at the global box office, Pixar’s $200 million at the global box office, and Universal Pictures’ $130 million at the global box office.

The overall performance of animated films is weak this year. Except for Little Yellow Man with Big Eyes 2, the box office of Sonik the Hedgehog 2 and League of Bad Guys are also average, and the profit ratio of global box office/production cost is 4.48 times and 3.57 times respectively. It’s been a long time since we saw an explosion like Frozen Zootopia.

There is also a huge loss of high-investment co-productions and feature films.

Directed by roland emmerich (The Day After Tomorrow), the production cost of the Moonfall, which China Company participated in, was $138-150 million, and the global box office was $67 million, which was a great tragedy in the film circle in 2022.

Five international superstars including Fan Bingbing, Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz Sánchez , lupita nyongo and diane kruger were assembled. The production cost of the action film "355" directed by simon kinberg, the director of "X-Men: Dark Phoenix", was 75 million US dollars, and the global box office was only 28 million US dollars.

The epic film "Nordic", which was released by Focus Pictures in the United States and assembled Alexander Skarsgard, Nicole Kidman and other luxury lineups, cost $60-90 million to make and earned $70 million at the global box office.

The feature film Amsterdam directed by David O. Russell and starring Christian Bale, Margot Elise Robbie and John David Washington cost US$ 80 million to produce and earned US$ 31 million at the global box office.

The action movie Black Gold Rescue starring veteran movie star liam neeson, the crime comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent starring Nicolas Cage, the musical Cyrano starring "Little Devil" Peter Dinklage, and the romantic movie Superstar Marry, starring jennifer lopez, all failed to meet expectations at the box office, and some are facing losses.

As can be seen from this year’s profit and loss list, the probability of loss of super blockbusters and low-cost movies is relatively small, and the losers are often medium-and high-cost movies that don’t rely on both sides. This is also the reason for the gradual imbalance within Hollywood over the years. It should have been two small ends and a big middle, but the reality is that the middle is gradually shrinking.