Summary
After 2023’s strong calendar of movies, 2024 has continued this positive momentum, buttwo of the year’s biggest disappointments share a common trend that Hollywood must abandon.Inside Out 2’s box office recordssaw it become the highest-grossing animated film of all time, whileDeadpool & Wolverinemade $550 millionin less than a week, proving 2024 has had some massive hits. With plenty of huge titles still to come, Hollywood may have another great year of theatrical releases on its hands, but there have still been some big disappointments that the movie industry must learn from.
While the year’s major successes have been nothing short of remarkable, other films massively underperformed, especially compared to their big expectations.Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1received plenty of hype thanks to Kevin Costner’s strong reputation with Westerns; however, the movie bombed at the box office and left a lot to be desired in terms of reviews. In addition, plentywent wrong with Zack Snyder’sRebel Moonmovies, as the sequel failed to improve on part one and once again divided viewers. Given how much potential these movies had, Hollywood must learn a key lesson from their underwhelming reception.
2024 Now Has A Box Office Battle To Rival Barbenheimer
Universal Pictures announced that Wicked, an adaptation of the Broadway musical, will be released a week earlier, setting up 2024’s Barbenheimer.
Horizon & Rebel Moon’s Disappointments Make A Case Against Two-Part Movies
Two-Part Movies Have Been Divisive In 2024 So Far
With bothHorizonandRebel Moonfailing to deliver the success expected of them, Hollywood may be facing a two-part movie problem. Naturally, splitting stories into two parts isn’t a guaranteed failure asDune: Part Twohas been one of2024’s best moviesand broke plenty of box office records, but this method of storytelling is still incredibly risky. Debuting a new IP likeRebel MoonandHorizonas the first part of a wider narrative banks heavily on audiences connecting with the franchise right away, meaning these movies have a lot of pressure to instantly deliver.
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1made just $33 million from its $100 million budget.
ConsideringRebel Moon: Part Onehad an incredibly complex universe to set up with equally complicated world-building, it was always going to be difficult to tell a strong story while introducing a brand-new Sci-fi setting. People are willing to accept cliffhangers if the franchise is already well-established, butRebel MoonandHorizonwere completely new, making audiences skeptical about investing in half a story. While these IPs have plenty of positives, gambling on people being hooked right away was always risky, and it provesHollywood has to be careful about how it uses two-part movies going forward.
Why Two-Part Movies Have Become Relatively Common In Hollywood
Long Stories Are Easier & More Profitable To Tell Over Two Parts
Despite how risky two-part movies are, they have become more and more common for several obvious reasons. Telling a story in a two or three-hour period can be difficult when directors and writers have numerous ambitious ideas, meaning multiple parts can help split the story over two films. Additionally,breaking a single story into two movies can be a lot more profitable, especially as the budget from the first film could bleed over into the second, and shooting back-to-back helps reduce certain costs, making this kind of approach a huge selling point for many studios.
Two-part movies can also be a great way to close out long-running franchises, as they require a huge send-off that can’t be condensed into a shorter run time. Most viewers are unlikely to sit for five hours straight to watch a single film; therefore, two regular-lengthed movies being released around a year apart are far easier to sell.Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning’s endingperfectly showcases this, as the franchise’s nearly 30-year-old saga couldn’t be concluded in just one movie, meaning Paramount had no choice but to split the finale into two parts.
Although there are obvious drawbacks to two-part movies, the rewards when done well are often too big to pass up on, hence why this trend is becoming increasingly common in the film industry.
Two-Part Movies Only Work In Very Specific Circumstances
Big Franchises With Positive Momentum Can Get Away With Two-Part Movies
Plenty of franchises have tried to make two-part movies work, but they can only flourish under certain circumstances. AlthoughAvengers: Infinity WarandAvengers: Endgameweren’t advertised as parts one and two,Endgameisn’t a conventional sequel and goes hand in hand withInfinity War. The reason this worked so well as two parts is the tones were completely different and felt like opposite arcs that were still part of the one story. It also tied together over a decade of movies, making it a proper cinematic spectacle that audiences were happy to wait a year to experience in full.
Harry Potteralso adopted a similar approach, ending the franchise with a two-part narrative. Given how big the franchise became and how frequent each new installment was, a two-part ending worked, yetMission: ImpossibleandFast & Furioushave both struggled to pull off the same technique, showing it only certain series can utilize this format.Kill Billwas another successful two-part movie, mainly because Tarantino was such a big name and had originally written it all as one script, meaning it felt like a single story being given the right amount of time to breathe.
Two-part movies can be fantastic when done correctly, but this is extremely difficult to pull off, meaning studios and filmmakers have to be more strategic in the future.
Unfortunately, there isn’t an exact method to make these films work; instead, it depends on the specific franchise and story.BothDuneand theSpider-Versemovies look like they will nail multipart filmsdespite being relatively new franchises, but their source material goes back years. In comparison,Rebel MoonandHorzionhave struggled to make this work despite their unique ideas, mainly because they didn’t have a pre-established relationship with their audience. Two-part movies can be fantastic when done correctly, but this is extremely difficult to pull off, meaning studios and filmmakers have to be more strategic in the future.
