From F9 to Spider-Man: How 2021 led the resurgence of Hollywood blockbusters

After the tough times the global cinema fraternity went through due to the pandemic, 2021, thankfully, managed to revive the industry, even if partially. As cinemas around the world reopened and Covid restrictions loosened, Hollywood films opened in theatres to much anticipation and success.

The year began with somewhat limited earnings for films like "F9: The Fast Saga" and "Godzilla vs Kong". As Marvel Studios released their big films in the second half of the year, things took a solid turn.

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Franchise films brought audiences back to theatres

Studios championed the familiarity of franchise films over solo or new titles, with the objective to get people back to the theatres. A look at the list of highest grossing Hollywood films of the year makes it clear. Out of the seven films that earned more than $400 million at the box office in 2021, three are from Marvel Studios with another, "Venom: Let There Be Carnage", also based on Marvel comics. One of the biggest successes of the year was Daniel Craig's final outing as Bond, "No Time to Die", which earned $774 million at the box office, the highest for any Bond film, despite battling the pandemic.

Daniel Craig in "No Time to Die".

Superhero films- mainly from Marvel and Sony- were instrumental in getting people back to the theatres. "Shang Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings" was the first real success among the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films of the year, as it became the top grossing movie in the US within two weeks.

It ended up earning more than $400 million globally, which led Disney to announce that all subsequent Marvel films in the slate would get exclusive theatrical releases, something that "Black Widow" before it did not. As a result, Marvel Sudios'  "Eternals" also touched that mark.

Simu Liu in "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings".

'Spider-Man: No Way Home' surpasses $1 billion globally

Not only did "Spider-Man: No Way Home" shatter North American box office records, it set new benchmarks for films in the pandemic era by becoming the first pandemic-era film to gross $1 billion globally. Its debut box office sales trailed only 2019's "Avengers: Endgame" ($357 million) and the previous year's "Avengers: Infinity War" ($258 million), according to reports.  

No other Hollywood production has come near to reaching the $ 1 billion milestone since the pandemic hit two years ago.

A Hollywood film as the year's top grosser

In 2020, the top three movies in terms of box office earnings were not Hollywood films for the first time in decades. Japanese fantasy film "Demon Slayer: Mugen Train" took the top spot with $504 million in the kitty, followed by two Chinese films.

This year seemed to be following the same trend, with Chinese films "The Battle at Lake Changjin" and "Hi, Mom" in the top two spots. It was only in the Christmas weekend that "Spider-Man: No Way Home" shot past the two.

Vin Diesel in a promotional image for "F9: The Fast Saga".

A massive year ahead for superhero films

Hollywood has an impressive slate of films lined up for 2022 starting with Robert Pattinson's "The Batman"  to "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness", "Thor: Love and Thunder", and "Mission Impossible 7" in the later part of the year. Superhero films, led by the MCU, are likely to rake in the big numbers once again. That being said, franchise films like "Mission Impossible 7" and "Avatar 2" are expected to perform well, too.