top-grossing 'original' (non-sequel/remake/adaptation) movies of the 21st century

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http://www.gq.com/entertainment/movies-and-tv/201102/the-day-the-movies-died-mark-harris

^^^ this whole THE END OF ORIGINAL MOVIES piece made me want to look up what kind of original flicks actually have made money since 2000, and these are the top 50. i excluded any sequels or remakes or adaptations, but generally left in 'based on a true story'/historical stuff unless the screenplay was based on a book or something, and satires/parodies i generally left in as well.

this lineup has a lot on common w/ the digital animation poll i just did but eh what can you do

Poll Results

OptionVotes
Wall-E 16
Knocked Up 9
Up 8
The Incredibles 6
Elf, National Treasure 5
Ratatouille 4
Monsters, Inc. 4
Juno 4
Finding Nemo 4
Cast Away 3
The Hangover 3
Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby 3
Lilo & Stitch 2
Slumdog Millionaire 2
The Fast & The Furious 2
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2
XXX 1
Taken 1
Meet The Parents 1
Wild Hogs 1
The Sixth Sense 1
Avatar 1
How To Train Your Dragon 1
Pearl Harbor 0
Signs 0
Over The Hedge 0
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 0
Megamind 0
Bruce Almighty 0
Cars 0
What Lies Beneath 0
Night At The Museum 0
Despicable Me 0
Shrek 0
Scary Movie 0
Grown Ups 0
The Proposal 0
Monsters Vs. Aliens 0
Happy Feet 0
Madagascar 0
Gladiator 0
Wedding Crashers 0
Mr. & Mrs. Smith 0
What Women Want 0
Hitch 0
Ice Age 0
The Day After Tomorrow 0
Hancock 0
2012 0
Rio 0


some dude, Friday, 1 July 2011 19:03 (thirteen years ago)

I'd love to see an Elf/National Treasure crossover.

Went with Ratatouille.

EZ Snappin, Friday, 1 July 2011 19:05 (thirteen years ago)

xp: Voting for "Elf, National Treasure"

it's a meme i made and i like (Steve Shasta), Friday, 1 July 2011 19:05 (thirteen years ago)

hahaha oops

some dude, Friday, 1 July 2011 19:06 (thirteen years ago)

made the list w/ commas and then put in line breaks when i did the poll obviously

some dude, Friday, 1 July 2011 19:06 (thirteen years ago)

LOL, soooooo many 'toons.

ephendophile (Eric H.), Friday, 1 July 2011 19:07 (thirteen years ago)

What Lies Beneath is also Harrison Ford and Michele Pfeiffer's last hit, right?

The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 1 July 2011 19:07 (thirteen years ago)

i suppose the joke option will easily win the poll now huh

but i guess it won't skew things too much if the Elf fans AND the National Treasure fans share an option

some dude, Friday, 1 July 2011 19:07 (thirteen years ago)

xspost That said, Wall-E, easily. I contest Scary Movie's originality.

ephendophile (Eric H.), Friday, 1 July 2011 19:08 (thirteen years ago)

Indiana Jones 4 and Hairspray, respectively

some dude, Friday, 1 July 2011 19:09 (thirteen years ago)

Wall-E, easily

polyphonic, Friday, 1 July 2011 19:10 (thirteen years ago)

Scary Movie falls under the satire/parody caveat i made in the OP -- i mean it's not like Shrek is totally 'original' either

some dude, Friday, 1 July 2011 19:10 (thirteen years ago)

wait, Scary Movie made more than Scream???

DJP, Friday, 1 July 2011 19:11 (thirteen years ago)

oh wau, shine on you crazy Wayans'

DJP, Friday, 1 July 2011 19:12 (thirteen years ago)

34% cartoons btw!

some dude, Friday, 1 July 2011 19:12 (thirteen years ago)

Scary Movie DID make about 50% more money than Scream, but Scream isn't on this list because it came out in the '90s

some dude, Friday, 1 July 2011 19:13 (thirteen years ago)

there's like a 10-year period of my life that all feels like it was the same year, lol

DJP, Friday, 1 July 2011 19:14 (thirteen years ago)

Surprised Collateral didn't make the list ($215M worldwide).

you've got great robot conflict (Eazy), Friday, 1 July 2011 19:20 (thirteen years ago)

i was going off of the domestic gross list (lowest movie here, Rio, is at $139 vs. Collateral's $101)

some dude, Friday, 1 July 2011 19:30 (thirteen years ago)

mr. and mrs. smith is a remake

Lamp, Friday, 1 July 2011 19:52 (thirteen years ago)

pretty sure it doesn't actually have anything to do w/ the 1941 film of the same name

some dude, Friday, 1 July 2011 19:57 (thirteen years ago)

pretty sure its a remake of a crappy 90s tv show of the same name tho

Lamp, Friday, 1 July 2011 19:58 (thirteen years ago)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._%26_Mrs._Smith_(1996_TV_series)

Lamp, Friday, 1 July 2011 19:58 (thirteen years ago)

nope, although it is funny how they have the same name and similar premises but no formal link

some dude, Friday, 1 July 2011 20:01 (thirteen years ago)

Cowboys vs. Aliens is "original"

a man is only a guy (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 1 July 2011 20:02 (thirteen years ago)

voted Knocked Up

Grown Ups made a bunch of money? that's weird

a man is only a guy (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 1 July 2011 20:03 (thirteen years ago)

haha id always thought it must be 'based on' the tv series. *shrug*

Lamp, Friday, 1 July 2011 20:04 (thirteen years ago)

Cowboys Vs. Aliens is a comic.

Ktulu says, I've come to hate my body (wk), Friday, 1 July 2011 20:05 (thirteen years ago)

anyways voted for the fast & furious cuz its o.g.

Lamp, Friday, 1 July 2011 20:05 (thirteen years ago)

huh - had no idea

it's so stupid I figured it had to be original
xp

a man is only a guy (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 1 July 2011 20:07 (thirteen years ago)

wtf is Paul Blart: Mall Cop. never heard of the film, or Kevin James for that matter.

Ludo, Friday, 1 July 2011 20:08 (thirteen years ago)

do you live in america?

some dude, Friday, 1 July 2011 20:09 (thirteen years ago)

Cowboys & Aliens is adapted from a graphic novel btw

some dude, Friday, 1 July 2011 20:09 (thirteen years ago)

do you live in america?

no, that's it probably, but someone give me a 1 sentence description. i mean it has a 5 on IMDB yet apparently it's hugely succesful. Is it like Eddie Murphy talking with animals-style comedy, or something?

Ludo, Friday, 1 July 2011 20:10 (thirteen years ago)

It's funny because I just read that article and did the same thing. But I looked at the inflation adjusted list which I think is a lot more illuminating. In the top 20, 8 of them are based on popular novels (GWTW, 10 Commandments, Zhivago, Exorcist, Snow White, Ben-Hur, Jurassic, Graduate), one musical (S.O.M), then of the 11 original stories, 7 are Lucas/Spielberg related, 2 Cameron, 1 Disney. So the only original story left over is The Sting!

Ktulu says, I've come to hate my body (wk), Friday, 1 July 2011 20:10 (thirteen years ago)

no, Kevin James's new movie Zookeeper is his talking with animals one. Paul Blart is just a garden variety goofy family comedy.

some dude, Friday, 1 July 2011 20:11 (thirteen years ago)

ah. these comedians, always talkin' with animals.

Ludo, Friday, 1 July 2011 20:12 (thirteen years ago)

shrek and how to train yr dragon are based on pretty prominent kids books, i think over the hedge is from a comic strip, and avatar is a remake of dances with wolves

balls, Friday, 1 July 2011 20:12 (thirteen years ago)

well, i didn't use box office mojo's inflation adjusted list because it'd be a lot harder to sift through and find the most recent movies (although there's probably not THAT much difference inflation would make between 2000 releases and 2010 releases, i'm assuming)

some dude, Friday, 1 July 2011 20:13 (thirteen years ago)

my bad on the cartoons, i always forget that some of them are adaptions

some dude, Friday, 1 July 2011 20:14 (thirteen years ago)

kevin james was the star of the solid sitcom king of queens, he is in two other movies on the list also

balls, Friday, 1 July 2011 20:14 (thirteen years ago)

btw if i'd done this poll correctly (made Elf and National Treasure separate options, took out Shrek and Dragon and Over The Hedge), the last 2 options would be The King's Speech and Dinosaur

some dude, Friday, 1 July 2011 20:17 (thirteen years ago)

And while it was a great article and I really enjoyed it there were some other odd things he glossed over. Creating a movie from the poster first has a long history, at least going back to Sam Arkoff, whose approach was of course made mainstream by Spielberg with Jaws. It's not an inherently bad idea.

Another interesting related topic is the idea of brands that aren't existing products or stories. Like "Bridesmaids" is a brand in a sense. Or "Mall Cop". or Easter. There's a good column about this by Terry Rossio where he calls the concept "mental real estate" http://www.wordplayer.com/columns/wp42.Mental.Real.Estate.html

I also thought his question of "who would you rather see running Hollywood, people who think Jaws is a classic or people who think Top Gun is a classic" would make an interesting poll. I'm not sure the answer is as clear cut as he seems to think.

Ktulu says, I've come to hate my body (wk), Friday, 1 July 2011 20:18 (thirteen years ago)

well, i didn't use box office mojo's inflation adjusted list because it'd be a lot harder to sift through and find the most recent movies (although there's probably not THAT much difference inflation would make between 2000 releases and 2010 releases, i'm assuming)

But the interesting larger point I think is that this isn't anything new. It's always been the case that top grossing movies were based on popular novels or some other piece of existing headspace. At least now we get comic book movies instead of biblical epics.

The Spielberg/Lucas/Cameron era was the real anomaly.

Ktulu says, I've come to hate my body (wk), Friday, 1 July 2011 20:19 (thirteen years ago)

And in the next 20 of the inflation adjusted list, the only originals are Forrest Gump, Lion King, Ghostbusters, Independence Day, Home Alone, and Beverly Hills Cop. Maybe you could consider Butch Cassidy an original idea, but I don't think so. To me, the original ideas really stand out as some of the worst movies on the list!

Ktulu says, I've come to hate my body (wk), Friday, 1 July 2011 20:24 (thirteen years ago)

No masterpieces here, although the first half of Wall-E comes closest. If Superbad had made the list I would have voted for it.

little mushroom person (abanana), Friday, 1 July 2011 20:40 (thirteen years ago)

Superbad placing at #25 on the ilx films of the decade poll is still so o_O to me, that movie really ain't all that

some dude, Friday, 1 July 2011 20:46 (thirteen years ago)

thought Slumdog was based on a novel?

voted Paul Blart, obv, the movie that Superbad wished it could be

SB OK (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 2 July 2011 11:50 (thirteen years ago)

yeah slumdog was totes an adaptation

i voted for fast & fury but after recently seeing 2012 i wish i went with that

Ayatollah Colm Meaney (Princess TamTam), Saturday, 2 July 2011 11:51 (thirteen years ago)

my bad, i had a feeling in the back of my head that Slumdog was an adaptation but i forgot to look it up

some dude, Saturday, 2 July 2011 11:55 (thirteen years ago)

seriously i'm still tempted to lock this thread and do it over w/ the Inception option before the results come

some dude, Thursday, 7 July 2011 01:09 (thirteen years ago)

the poll is happening inside inception #duh

ice cr?m, Thursday, 7 July 2011 01:10 (thirteen years ago)

wraaAAAAAAAAAw
wraaAAAAAAAAAw
wraaAAAAAAAAAw

see you on the next level guyz

VIRGIN ROO (darraghmac), Thursday, 7 July 2011 01:15 (thirteen years ago)

sd is juno btw

death to ilx, long live the frogbs (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Thursday, 7 July 2011 01:19 (thirteen years ago)

i don't even know what that means -- is that revenge for me outing you as jesse camp?

some dude, Thursday, 7 July 2011 01:21 (thirteen years ago)

yes u_u

death to ilx, long live the frogbs (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Thursday, 7 July 2011 01:26 (thirteen years ago)

i think he's saying you're ellen page in inception and i haven't even seen that movie. you've been sort of tuomas lately, some dude.

horseshoe, Thursday, 7 July 2011 01:29 (thirteen years ago)

lol sorry -- juno IS on this list and i forgot she was in inception

some dude, Thursday, 7 July 2011 01:32 (thirteen years ago)

honestly i'd like Inception a lot more if most of the cast wasn't dour former child stars

some dude, Thursday, 7 July 2011 01:33 (thirteen years ago)

quick recast inception with the principal cast of boy meets world!

σ( ~̀..́~)σ -*TOT MOM*- (Lamp), Thursday, 7 July 2011 01:34 (thirteen years ago)

nah that wouldn't work -- shawn hunter was pretty dour in cabin fever

some dude, Thursday, 7 July 2011 01:35 (thirteen years ago)

i am deeply embarrassed for you atm

σ( ~̀..́~)σ -*TOT MOM*- (Lamp), Thursday, 7 July 2011 01:36 (thirteen years ago)

i am deeply embarrassed for you aam

some dude, Thursday, 7 July 2011 01:37 (thirteen years ago)

haha i want to hear your boy meets world insights, al

horseshoe, Thursday, 7 July 2011 01:38 (thirteen years ago)

i'll let you know when the book and companion academic course are ready

http://img.poptower.com/pic-50705/stephen-tobolowsky.jpg?d=600

some dude, Thursday, 7 July 2011 01:40 (thirteen years ago)

i am deeply embarrassed for you aam

its hard to believe this could be true and still leave you enough time for your extensive work on your boy meets world fansite/oral history (haha xp!)

σ( ~̀..́~)σ -*TOT MOM*- (Lamp), Thursday, 7 July 2011 01:41 (thirteen years ago)

lamp is so relentlessly dour i wonder if he used to be on 3rd rock from the sun

some dude, Thursday, 7 July 2011 01:43 (thirteen years ago)

http://www.nndb.com/people/815/000108491/french-stewart-1-sized.jpg
lamp, ca. 1998

remy bean, Thursday, 7 July 2011 01:47 (thirteen years ago)

i am actually zach from the suite life of zach & cody, i just wanted to be left alone to post my thoughts on pavement rarities and underrated romantic comedy 'the proposal'. thanx for making life so hard for me asshole

σ( ~̀..́~)σ -*TOT MOM*- (Lamp), Thursday, 7 July 2011 01:47 (thirteen years ago)

damn figured you for a cody type

some dude, Thursday, 7 July 2011 01:48 (thirteen years ago)

haha FX's lastest 'FX has the movies' montage ad prominently features the "a very particular set of skills" speech from Taken

some dude, Thursday, 7 July 2011 02:16 (thirteen years ago)

really wanna drop a modified version of that on my next job interview

death to ilx, long live the frogbs (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Thursday, 7 July 2011 02:18 (thirteen years ago)

"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."

modified? how about verbatim

some dude, Thursday, 7 July 2011 02:19 (thirteen years ago)

writing/editing job market is getting pretty fierce after all

death to ilx, long live the frogbs (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Thursday, 7 July 2011 02:20 (thirteen years ago)

underrated romantic comedies i have condoned

VIRGIN ROO (darraghmac), Thursday, 7 July 2011 02:22 (thirteen years ago)

that'll be the end of it

telltale brogue here iirc

VIRGIN ROO (darraghmac), Thursday, 7 July 2011 02:22 (thirteen years ago)

i'm torn between this and the robert shaw monologue from jaws

death to ilx, long live the frogbs (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Thursday, 7 July 2011 02:23 (thirteen years ago)

i guess i could drop that when they ask why so long between jobs

death to ilx, long live the frogbs (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Thursday, 7 July 2011 02:23 (thirteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdgEq9b-Iog

Number None, Thursday, 7 July 2011 02:23 (thirteen years ago)

"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you. Also proficient in powerpoint"

ice cr?m, Thursday, 7 July 2011 02:50 (thirteen years ago)

"I have a full, clean driver's licence"

http://www.popcritics.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/liam_neeson.jpg

VIRGIN ROO (darraghmac), Thursday, 7 July 2011 02:53 (thirteen years ago)

"I have had many years experience in frontline customer service, as well as experience in supervisory roles"

http://imstars.aufeminin.com/stars/fan/liam-neeson/liam-neeson-20090202-489548.jpg

VIRGIN ROO (darraghmac), Thursday, 7 July 2011 02:53 (thirteen years ago)

"I am a motivated self-starter"

http://www.thisblogrules.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/RobRoyLiamNeeson.jpg

VIRGIN ROO (darraghmac), Thursday, 7 July 2011 02:54 (thirteen years ago)

"If I am not successful in this application I will find you, and I will kill you"

http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2011/04/liam-neeson-taken.jpg

VIRGIN ROO (darraghmac), Thursday, 7 July 2011 02:55 (thirteen years ago)

"I have a very particular set of skills"

http://www.beersteak.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/liam-neeson-piss-pants.jpg

caek, Thursday, 7 July 2011 07:26 (thirteen years ago)

Lilo & Stitch, it's one of the best Disney movies of all time. Also, while I think Pixar especially has made great use of computer animation, I'm still sad that traditional animation is slowly becoming an obsolete medium (in the West at least), and Lilo & Stitch felt like a swan song to that. (Until Princess & the Frog, obviously, which was good, but not as good as L&S.)

Tuomas, Thursday, 7 July 2011 07:40 (thirteen years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Thursday, 7 July 2011 23:01 (thirteen years ago)

y'all like some forlorn robots.

death to ilx, long live the frogbs (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Thursday, 7 July 2011 23:04 (thirteen years ago)

Well done to the solitary "Wild Hogs" voter

Number None, Thursday, 7 July 2011 23:06 (thirteen years ago)

y'all are like some forlorn robots.

ledge, Thursday, 7 July 2011 23:06 (thirteen years ago)

y'all like some forlorn robots.

^^^

ILX's love affair with Wall-E perplexes me

a man is only a guy (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 7 July 2011 23:09 (thirteen years ago)

Half of Wall-E is great. Up is total shit though.

Ktulu says, I've come to hate my body (wk), Thursday, 7 July 2011 23:10 (thirteen years ago)

ILX's love affair with Wall-E perplexes me

Yeah but everyone loves Wall-E

Number None, Thursday, 7 July 2011 23:15 (thirteen years ago)

I guess people liked Knocked Up. Pretty mediocre IMO.

Inevitable stupid samba mix (chap), Thursday, 7 July 2011 23:22 (thirteen years ago)

Glad to see somebody else voted for Paul Blart

SB OK (Noodle Vague), Friday, 8 July 2011 06:40 (thirteen years ago)

Support Wall-E, but think Ratatouille is better.

abcfsk, Friday, 8 July 2011 08:01 (thirteen years ago)

Also Wall-E was just as good in its second half.

abcfsk, Friday, 8 July 2011 08:03 (thirteen years ago)

no

VIRGIN ROO (darraghmac), Friday, 8 July 2011 08:29 (thirteen years ago)

Ratatouille = smdh
The Incredibles = rmde

SB OK (Noodle Vague), Friday, 8 July 2011 08:32 (thirteen years ago)

and yeah ratatouille and monsters inc both work better over the full story

VIRGIN ROO (darraghmac), Friday, 8 July 2011 08:34 (thirteen years ago)


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