Fourteenth domestic and tenth worldwide was Big Willie’s final time as an agent with Men in Black 3. An alien criminal and old enemy of Agent K has escaped from prison and traveled back in time to kill the younger K so that his species could take over the Earth. And so, Agent J must go back in time and meet up with K’s younger self, played by Josh Brolin, to help save his partner and the world itself.
This premise found its origins back when Will Smith and Barry Sonnenfeld were filming Men in Black II. With the idea of using time travel to go further into K’s backstory, the premise went through years and years of development and changes because of the complicated subject matter of time travel. But after Sonnenfeld cracked the code, the next issue came from Smith and Sony executives. The conflicts that emerged during the production of Men in Black II made these parties leery over doing another film with Sonnefeld, but after several negotiations and the director’s passion towards the material, MIB3 became a Sonnenfeld production and was announced in 2009 at a ShoWest presentation. Etan Cohen was hired as screenwriter in October 2009, and both Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones announced to reprise their roles. David Koepp and Jeff Nathanson took charge in rewrites.
When filming started in November 2010, Sonnenfeld had one issue: the script wasn’t ready. He still didn’t have a complete second and third act, and the deadline was looming faster and faster. So in a brilliant move...I guess, Sonnenfeld went through and went along with the movie despite being incomplete, as he felt he had enough ideas and passion to see the project through. Said Sonnenfeld, “"Was it responsible? The answer is, if this movie does as well as I think it will, it was genius. If it's a total failure, then it was a really stupid idea." And boy was Sonnenfeld’s production a big one. With the hefty paychecks he, Smith, and Jones commanded to return to this project, as well as all the aliens and setpieces, Men in Black 3 cost a fortune. A production budget of $215 million to be exact, making it the most expensive comedy film in history. So this had to really deliver to make Sony execs happy to work with Sonnenfeld’s crazy idea.
Opening on May 25, Men in Black 3 was set to be the big Memorial Day title for the year. And sure enough, it opened to $69.3 million over the long weekend, unseating The Avengers from its 3-week domination. The last two films opened midweek, so comparisons weren’t completely perfect. However, MIB3's 3-Day of $54.6 million was only barely above the last two movies. And the other movies came out over 10 years ago when ticket prices were lower and 3D and IMAX surcharges weren’t a thing. Hell, 3’s four-day didn’t even rank in the top 10 Memorial Day openings. But at the same time, Men in Black 3 still did okay considering it was a decade-old franchise. It still managed to earn $179 million domestically, albeit a series low, and $624 million worldwide, a series high.
And reportedly, Sony was still interested in continuing the franchise. But that would lead to a long and winding road of failed projects. A Men in Black 4 that directly followed the events of the movie was announced and all parties were on board, with 22 Jump Street/Cloverfield Paradox writer Oren Uziel attached in 2013. But nothing ever came from that. Next in the docket was a planned crossover with the 21 Jump Street movies titled MIB 23. It was announced in 2016 and James Bobin of The Muppets fame was attached to direct, but that too never went anywhere. And finally, in 2019, a spin-off called Men in Black International was released in 2019 without Smith or Jones, and instead starring Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson. It was panned by critics and hit a franchise low of $253.9 million. And so ended the reign of the MIB.
Despite only earning sixteenth place in the United States and Canada, this film actually managed to earn fifth worldwide thanks to some of that good overseas money. I’m of course talking about IceAge: Continental Drift. In Scrat’s acorn conquest, he manages to inadvertently cause a sudden continental break-up that splits Manny, Sid, and Diego from their loved ones. And as they try to get back home, they find themselves facing off against a band of pirates. You know, like you do.
The first details for this fourth entry arrived in a New York Times article. In January 2010, a few months after the record-breaking success of Dawn of the Dinosaurs, reports came out that Blue Sky was already beginning work on a new installment and was beginning negotiations with the voice cast. Sure enough, in May 2010, Fox revealed Continental Drift to the world, announcing a release date of July 2012. In April 2011, both old and new cast members were announced, with newbies including Peter Dinklage, Wanda Sykes, Jennifer Lopez, and many more.
The immense popularity of the series meant that Fox was going to push the hell out of it when it was set for release, and this resulted in a pretty lengthy ad campaign. The first teaser trailer, showing Scrat breaking up the Earth’s continents, aired in theaters in December 2010 in front of Gulliver’s Travels, while a second teaser, where Scrat discovers a pirate ship, was put online in November 2011. It was a clear sign that Fox wanted to make sure Ice Age stayed in the conversation and that they wanted this to be a hit.
And when you just look at its domestic numbers, unaware at what the international haul is, it seems like the movie just did okay. Opening on July 13, Continental Drift’s domestic opening weekend amounted to $46.6 million. The second-best opening for the series, even if only barely ahead of the first movie back in 2002, and a grand finish of $161.3 million, the lowest for the series. Nothing horrible, but still a distant third place in the summer animated box office, and even below titles like Wreck-It Ralph or The Lorax. But when you look at the rest of the world, it’s a different story. In late June, the film premiered in 34 markets and opened number one in all of them, with a grand opening of $80.3 million, with opening day records in Russia and Sweden, as well as the second-biggest opening day for an animated movie in France. With huge numbers just about everywhere in the world, becoming the second-biggest movie of the year in Latin America, only behind The Avengers, Continental Drift earned $715.9 million overseas, resulting in $877.2 million worldwide, almost 82% coming from overseas. This made Continental Drift the sixth-biggest animated film of all time worldwide.
Animated movies have been cash cow behemoths for almost all film studios, especially in the 21st century. But one issue that makes it difficult for an animated film to soar in every single territory comes down to comedy. Not to say that animated movies don’t play well worldwide. However, comedy movies are a hard worldwide sell, as what countries find funny vary from nation to nation and language barriers do make certain bits and timing hard to catch on to other people. But slapstick is always something that sells, because there’s no language barrier over people getting hit in the head. So when a character like Scrat, a mute, occasionally screaming animal with one set, understandable goal, headlines a feature, it can be an easy sell to all audiences and just about everyone can have a good time with it. It’s a big reason why Despicable Me and the Minion characters are a huge hit across the globe. And for a while, Ice Age was the one franchise everybody could enjoy.
However, this wouldn’t last for long. In 2016, Ice Age: Collision Course released to awful results. Critics panned it as the worst the series had to offer, and Continental Drift was far from a critical darling, and even overseas audiences were getting tired of the series, with only $408.6 million globally. And while a few ideas are reportedly out there for a sixth film, there’s no indication from Blue Sky they will make a new movie anytime soon. However, rumors are out there Disney is planning to bring back the series with a Disney+ show.
In nineteenth place, Sony Pictures Animation saw the humble beginnings of their biggest franchise ever. In Hotel Transylvania, Adam Sandler plays the infamous Count Dracula. Frustrated over humans, Drac has created a hotel for monsters where they can go and take a rest when they want to get away from human civilization. Some of the most famous monsters have been invited for a visit to celebrate Dracula’s daughter Mavis’ 118th birthday. But when a human named Johnny stumbles on the hotel, Dracula does everything in his power to keep his human identity a secret from his guests, as well as make sure Johnny doesn’t fall in love with his daughter.
The idea was conceived by comedy writer Todd Durham, who first originated the idea as a children’s book. He would then go to Sony Pictures and create a bible for a potential franchise based on the idea of a hotel for monsters. Movies, TV shows, video games, books, toys, theme park rides, you name it. Durham would become one of the first of many creatives to work on this movie, with the project going through years and years of development hell before it got to the silver screen.
In 2006, Open Season co-director Anthony Stacchi and Cartoon Network’s Cow and Chicken creator David Feiss were the first directors tasked to helm the film. But in 2008, those two were dropped, with fellow Open Season director Jill Culton in charge of the project. Culton then left the film and Disney effects animator and Surf’s Up producer Chris Jenkins became the director. After that, Jenkins also resigned from the film with Gary Wilderman, a man who doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page, becoming the new director in 2010. Wilderman also abandoned the idea. It was clear at this point that Sony didn’t know what to do with Durham’s odd idea. It certainly had potential, but there needed to be a distinct and creative voice that would carry the project through.
Sure enough, in February 2011, Sony finally got the man they were looking for with Genndy Tartakovsky. Sixth times the charm I suppose. If that name sounds familiar, you may know him from his work on some of the most famous and iconic Cartoon Network shows, including Dexter’s Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, and Samurai Jack. And Tartakovsky figured out how to make this idea fun and interesting to audiences. As a huge fan of Tex Avery, he decided to take this goofy idea and play it to the utmost extreme, with broad physical comedy, fast-paced character animation, and crazy facial expressions, all of which made it play out like a CGI Looney Tunes. CG animated movies were mainly focusing on realism and veered far away from the cartooniness of 2D animation, mainly because it was difficult to push computers into creating something unreal and cartoonish. However, Genndy believed there was value in trying to use CGI as a way to create zany antics, and in many ways evolved CGI animation, allowing studios a shot to make more animated CG films that involve zippy movements and hilarious expressions.
With Adam Sandler on board, many of his usual co-stars voiced the other monsters. Kevin James is Frankenstein, Steve Buscemi’s The Wolfman, David Spade’s The Invisible Man. And for Mavis, Disney Channel alumni Selena Gomez voiced her. However, the original voice for Mavis was fellow Disney Channel alum Miley Cyrus. Yet in March 2012, just months before the film’s release, she was replaced by Gomez. Cyrus explained she wanted to focus on other projects, but in 2019, she revealed she was actually fired from Sony. Cyrus was already trying to move away from her Hannah Montana image with more suggestive music and appearances on shows like Saturday Night Live and Two and a Half Men. But when TMZ leaked footage of her giving her then-fiancé Liam Hemsworth a penis-shaped birthday cake and then later licking said cake, Sony felt Cyrus had too much baggage. She was too adult and parent groups were complaining that this grown celebrity was a terrible role model for their children. So she was dumped in favor of the more conventionally safe Gomez. If only soccer moms minded their own business and didn’t force teenage celebrities to babysit their kids for them.
Releasing on September 28, Hotel Transylvania was one of those sleeper hits that kind of came out of nowhere. With little animated competition and a fun premise, Hotel Transylvania overcame its mixed reviews and earned $42.5 million. Not only was this a high for Sony Animation, but it also beat Sweet Home Alabama’s 10-year record and earned the biggest September opening weekend of all time. And thanks to its spooky themes, Hotel Transylvania continued to play well into Halloween and beyond, with $148.3 million domestically and $358.4 million worldwide.
This was a huge win for all parties. Genndy Tartakovsky had a new franchise that featured his distinct touch, while Sony finally had another hit animated film to call their own. With this and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, the fledgling studio earned their own distinct brand: wacky comedy with innovative animation techniques. And while the studio’s repertoire has been hit-and-miss in the years to come, they are still a solid presence in the animation scene, with Hotel Transylvania being their biggest cash cow. Alongside a television series in 2017, Hotel Transylvania 2 released in September 2015. With the popularity of the first movie and a similar release date strategy, the sequel managed to increase from its predecessor, earning the biggest September opening weekend and jumping to $474.8 million worldwide. And in 2018, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation earned even better box office, $528.6 million, becoming Sony’s highest-grossing animated film of all time. A fourth film is currently set for release in August 2021.
Moving down to twenty-eighth place, we see the sick dance moves of Magic Mike. A young man named Adam is out looking for a job, and stumbles upon the world of male strippers. Becoming “The Kid”, Adam befriends “Magic Mike”, played by Channing Tatum, who he keeps under Adam’s wing. And through meeting other strippers and taking part in several night events, Adam, and by extension the audience, discover the confusing, troubling, and exciting world of adult male entertainment.
This film’s existence owes a lot to the backstory of Channing Tatum himself. Long before he became a movie star, his first job at the age of 18 was a stripper in Tampa, Florida. Tatum saw potential in a movie about those experiences, trying to recapture the atmosphere and energy of the clubs he worked at, though he also made sure the story and characters were completely fictional, so as there were more creative opportunities. Tatum planned to get Nicholas Refn of Drive fame to direct, seeing as how both planned to work together on a movie before. But due to both men’s increasingly busy schedules, Tatum brought the idea over to Steven Soderbergh during production of Haywire. Sure enough, Soderbergh joined the project, Reid Carolin wrote the screenplay, and production went underway, with both Soderbergh and Tatum financing the project.
Along with Tatum and Alex Pettyfer, one of the first actors cast for the project was Matthew McConaughey. Soderbergh pitched him the movie over the phone, and 10 minutes later, the actor accepted the role of Dallas, the club owner. The rest of the cast members, including Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer, and Adam Rodriguez, all visited different strip clubs to understand the atmosphere, the music, and the backstage drama that happens every day. All the while, McConaughey took part in regular waxing, Bomer gained 15 pounds, and Rodriguez went through intense cardio and weights training to get in shape. Stand-up comedian Gabriel Iglesias was also a cast member and revealed in a stand-up special that Manganiello needed...rubber parts for his character of Big Dick Richie. I’ll actually link Iglesias’ whole segment because it’s pretty funny stuff, with moments I don’t think WB wants out in the open.
While a stripper movie didn’t seem like it had tons of potential, Warner Bros. felt they had something with this movie, marketing the film as an event for women with several trailers and TV spots, as well as the cast appearing at the MTV Movie Awards. But one thing that surprised Warner Bros. was that the film had interest in not just adult women, but gay men. This resulted in a last-minute pivot in the campaign. While the first trailer made it seem like a romantic comedy with an emphasis on Mike and his relationship with Cody Horn’s character Brooke, the following trailers focused on the action and dance moves, focusing on the male sex appeal. The film was also promoted as a float during the West Hollywood gay pride parade and at several other pride events a few weeks before its release. This ensured to WB the film served several demographics and that interest was growing stronger and stronger.
Sure enough, Magic Mike released on June 29 to very positive reviews and was an immediate success. Its opening day, including $2 million in midnight screenings, amounted to $19.4 million. Of course, all the beefcake and WB’s insistence on making sure their target audiences see the film did leave the film’s weekend to be frontloaded, amounting to its opening Friday being about half of the whole weekend. Still, a $39.1 million weekend was very much worth celebrating, especially with the film’s $7 million production budget, and the film opened well ahead of expectations. It would continue to play on through the rest of the summer, earning $113.7 million domestically and $167.7 million worldwide.
This and Ted, which opened on the exact same day, show the value in the kinds of movies that Hollywood frankly doesn’t make anymore. By combining a strong premise with a likable star in the center, you can get audiences intrigued and invested in your project, especially if you deliver the goods like these movies do. And speaking of its star, this was yet another notch in Channing Tatum’s impressive 2012 belt. This was a banner year for the man, with three movies all releasing in the span of a few months. And in a Jim Carrey-esque manner, all three of those movies were hits. The Vow zoomed past expectations with a $41.2 million opening, earning the sixth-best February debut ever. 21 Jump Street saw the second-biggest opening for a non-summer R-rated comedy and managed to hold its own despite the juggernaut that was The Hunger Games. And Magic Mike earned solid returns solely on the back of Tatum and his sick dance moves. In a way, it’s more impressive than the run Jim Carrey had back in 1994, since all three movies were completely different from one another in terms of style, tone, and genre. This would make Channing Tatum one of the biggest movie stars for a while, until he kind of just disappeared after an unfortunate divorce.
In 2015, a sequel titled Magic Mike XXL was released, earning $122.5 million worldwide. A Broadway show is reportedly in development, and Magic Mike Live events, all presented by Channing Tatum, are set to debut in Las Vegas, London, Australia, and Berlin.
