The Megahit Movies

by Richard Stefanik

  Movies selected for screening at the Sundance Film Festival are considered to be popular by the Independent Features audience, but as the numbers show, once they are distributed, they are not popular with the mass market audience, and do not generate much box office receipts.

  The Independent Features Project (IFP.org) Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature and Best Screenplay of 2003 went to Sophia Coppola “Lost in Translation”

  The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences nominated the following five films for “Best Picture of the Year for 2003”: “The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” : $376,958,965

  “Seabiscuit” : $120,197,488

  “Master and Commander” : $ 93,926,386

  “Mystic River” : $ 90,135,191

  “Lost in Translation” : $ 44,566,004

  Sometimes the Oscar will go to the Top Box-Office Grossing film.

  The Academy Award for Best Picture of the year in 2003 was “The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King”

  The Top Box-Office Grossing film of 2003 was “The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” Winning an Academy Award for Best Picture usually adds at least $25 million or more to the box-office grosses of a movie. They become the movies that audiences believe that they should see. Films that are produced for critical acclaim can also become financially awarded.

  A screenwriter who wants to create a popular movie must therefore decide which audience he wants to please. Do you want to create a popular story that can become a financially successful movie, or do you want to write a screenplay that may not be financially successful, but would win critical acclaim and awards from the smaller audiences of the Writers Guild of America, the Sundance Film Festival , Film Critics, or the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences? But sometimes, if you are both good and very popular, like “The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King,” you can have it all.

  THE MEGAHIT MOVIES REDUX There are other films that have just missed the $250 million criteria, but which can certainly be considered megahit movies. Films in this group include Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ($249 million), Toy Story 2 ($245 million), Raiders of the Lost Ark ($242 million), Bruce Almighty ($242 million) , My Big Fat Greek Wedding ($241 million),Twister ($240 million), and Ghostbusters ($238 million). Scenes from these movies will also be discussed in this book if they exemplify a particularly important dramatic technique. For example, we will discuss the opening sequence to Raiders of the Lost Ark, which will illustrate the importance of using obstacles to create jeopardy for the protagonist. But for the most part, our analysis will be restricted to those films that have generated over a quarter of a billion dollars in box-office revenue.

  Over 2000 years ago, Aristotle (384-322 BC), the famous Greek Philosopher, wrote Poetics, a book in which he presented a theory of dramatic structure. He developed this theory by analyzing the successful dramas of Greek culture: the stage plays of Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles. Aristotle systematically studied the most popular works of drama that existed during his lifetime. From that research he then abstracted principles of dramatic structure that he presented in the Poetics.

  Much has changed in the mediums of story presentation during the past two thousand years. The film, video or motion picture medium, which did not exist in Aristotle’s lifetime, is now the dominant presentation mode for drama and comedy. In this book, The Megahit Movies, we shall continue within the research tradition established by Aristotle, and use empirical methods to develop a new theory of dramatic structure. We shall do this by studying the forms and constructs existing in the most successful and popular stories that currently exist in the motion picture medium.

  A few of the megahits are sequels, such as Return of the Jedi, Empire Strikes Back, The Phantom Menace, Harry Potter: Chamber of Secrets, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions. It can be argued that these films are successful because an audience already existed for the characters introduced in the originals. This can also be said for Batman, Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch, Harry Potter, Spider-Man and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Our main concern is with the megahit films for which a built-in audience did not already exist. What is it about the experience of viewing the original films that caused domestic theater patrons to pay over $250 million?

  The enormous box-office gross of an original film with new characters is usually generated by “word-of-mouth” recommendations to view the movie and the repeat attendance by the initial audience. A film can only become a megahit if members of the audience tell their friends that they must see the film. They also must go back to see the movie not just a second time, but also a third, fourth, and fifth time.

  Why do members of an audience want to see these movies again and again? When experiencing a movie, an audience sits in a dark room for about two hours. They begin by staring at a blank screen, then experience a series of images and sounds that have an emotional impact on them. How do these films create a satisfying emotional experience for the audience? To understand this is to understand the psychology of the audience. That is, how do members of the audience emotionally react to the characters and the situations that they see in the movie?

  Is there something common to these films in terms of dramatic structure or the human values revealed by the characters under conflict? If so, what are the dramatic structures and human values that compel the audience to recommend these films to friends and to repeatedly watch these movies themselves?

  Most of these movies are either fantasy films or action-adventure films with fantastic elements. I use the word “fantastic” to describe the exhibition of extremely imaginative images, or images extraordinarily unreal in conception, design or construction. But not all fantasy films achieve megahit status. Obviously, fantasy elements alone are not sufficient for large box-office grosses. So, what are the essential attributes of a megahit movie?

  One final point should be emphasized about the megahit movies. It is notoriously difficult for critics to agree on which films are good or even to agree on acceptable criteria for application of the word “good” when analyzing films. Aesthetic debates have been taking place among critics and philosophers of art for hundreds of years and usually degenerate into questions of taste and subjective personal opinion. There are no universally accepted criteria that can be used to judge which movies are “good” and which are “bad.” Every movie will find an audience, even if the audience is very small, and some members of that audience will believe the movie was “great”!

  But there is an objective criterion for deciding which movies are popular: box office revenues. People vote for these films when they purchase their tickets. They often see these films more than once. These are the films that they want their family, friends, and lovers to experience. Popularity may not be accepted by critics as a legitimate criterion of what is “good,” but popularity does clearly delimit a class of films worthy of analysis. They reflect the values and attitudes the movie-viewing public held during a specific historical period.

  Some people have argued that if the box office receipts were adjusted for inflation, there would be an entirely different order to the list of popular films. But there is a problem with using “adjusted” data to construct a hierarchical order of popularity. “Popularity” is not a concept to which you can apply a mathematical function and compute a new ordering that maintains validity. This holds true for the movies. Movies and the stories that they tell that were popular in 1939 are often no longer popular today. The concept of popularity involves values and attitudes of a group of people that change over time. These values and attitudes change not only over generations but also several times within a generation.

  To be specific, Gone With The Wind is listed as the movie with the greatest box-office revenues, after adjusted for inflation. But when Gone With The Wind was re-released, in the early 1990s, it generated only about $1 million in current box-office revenues. It failed as a movie because the story was no longer popular. Many producers have also tried to get financi
ng to make a movie based on some Hollywood screenwriter’s “new sequel” to Gone With The Wind. But they cannot get the project into production because the studio executives know that the story and the characters in the story would no longer be popular with the current mass market. Therefore, in our analysis of the megahit movies, we will not use an inflation-adjusted list of “biggest box-office hits of all time.”

  The fundamental question remains: what is it about the megahit movies that made them so popular? Stated differently, what does the audience feel and experience in a dark theater for about two hours that provides them with an emotionally satisfying experience that makes them enthusiastic about these movies?

  When writing the first edition of The Megahit Movies book, I studied films that had U.S. Domestic Box-Office Grosses of $250 million or more, in order to determine if there existed story structures common to all these movies. Although there did appear to be a common paradigm for designing stories for popular Hollywood movies, not all of the megahits shared all of the same story structures. For example, many screenwriting gurus tell us that the essential structure of any story is that of a protagonist overcoming obstacles in order to achieve an objective. But not all of the megahits have a single protagonist. Some, like Men In Black, have dual protagonists, and others, like Independence Day, have multiple protagonists, who are all trying to achieve the same primary objective: save the human race from annihilation by aliens.

  Yet most of these megahit movies have the same core story elements: a unique object desired by both a protagonist and an antagonist. For example, in Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Ark of the Covenant was the unique object desired by the hero, Indiana Jones, and the villain, Belloc. The protagonist was the character with whom the audience most identified and for whom the audience had empathy, while the antagonist was a villain hated by the viewers. The unique object, like the Ark, usually represented the ultimate power in the universe. Not only were the lives of the protagonist and antagonist at stake in the struggle for its possession, but in the middle of this conflict was another character, the love interest of the protagonist. Marion was this character in Raiders. The protagonist also had at least one primary supporter who helped him on his quest (the Egyptian Sallah for Jones) while the antagonist had one or more henchmen to do his dirty work (the sadistic Nazi and the German soldiers for Belloc).

  In the first ten minutes of the movie, the story attempts to hook the audience. This is often done by first having a scene in which the antagonist is introduced: a faceless villain that produces terror and hatred in the hearts of the audience. A problem is introduced which needs a hero. The protagonist then comes into the story. He is shown in a situation guaranteed to generate empathy for him with the audience. He reveals his dreams, his motivation, and the primary objective that he hopes will satisfy his personal needs. Then something happens that throws the protagonist out of his complacent everyday world. This is the inciting event which causes him to take action to fulfill his dreams.

  For example, in Jurassic Park, the Raptor in the metal cage devours a human being, then Dr. Grant is introduced as an expert on dinosaurs. The inciting event occurs when Dr. John Hammond requests that Dr. Grant come to Jurassic Park. The unique object in this movie will be “the control of Jurassic Park,” with the humans as the protagonist and the raptors the antagonist. In Jaws, the great white shark devours a young woman swimming in the ocean, then the Police Captain Brody is introduced. The inciting event occurs with the discovery of the girl’s mutilated body on the beach.

  As shown above, in many movies Spielberg does use the classic opening structure. But in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Spielberg starts his movie with a prologue to establish the bitter relationship between Jones and Belloc. Jones gets possession of an idol in the South American jungle, only to have it taken away from him by Belloc. The real story of this movie does not start until Jones is teaching at the University. In Raiders, the military intelligence officers asking Jones to seek the Ark is the inciting event that takes Jones out of the college and starts him on his quest for treasure. The protagonist’s primary objective becomes connected with the unique object that is also desired by the forces of the antagonist.

  The first act of the movie shows the protagonist in pursuit of the first major subgoal he needs to accomplish to possess the unique object. For Jones, this is the headpiece of the staff of Ra. To achieve this subgoal he must overcome many obstacles and problems. The love interest is usually introduced in the first act, as a factor that creates more problems for the protagonist. Marion is not willing to give Jones the headpiece. The protagonist confronts the antagonist and prevents the antagonist from possessing both the primary objective and the love interest in the first act. The completion of the first subgoal results in the first plot twist and sends the protagonist off to accomplish subgoal 2. In Raiders, Jones fights with Belloc’s henchman in order to save Marion and to get possession of the headpiece. Once that is achieved, Jones and Marion travel to Cairo in search of the Well of Souls.

  The pursuit of subgoal 2 provides the structure for the second act. The hero still must overcome difficult obstacles. At the end of the second act, the antagonist defeats the protagonist and prevents the protagonist from possessing both the primary objective and the love interest.

  In Raiders, this occurs when Jones and Sallah have found the Ark and lift it out of the Well of Souls, only to have Belloc take it from him. This is the surprise plot twist. The Germans then toss Marion into the Well of Souls. Jones and Marion appear to be doomed as the fires dim and snakes crawl toward them. This is the moment of hopelessness and despair for the hero, and the audience believes that he will never see his dream come true.

  Jones and Marion escape from this desperate situation. Jones then pursues his quest for the Ark. There are many more subgoals and acts in this movie. Both the Ark and the Love Interest constantly change hands between the protagonist and the antagonist. The Germans plan to take the Ark back to Berlin for Hitler. Jones has to stop them by destroying the plane. They then put the Ark into a truck. Jones jumps on a horse and rides after the trucks. He succeeds in getting possession of the Ark and places it on a ship. Then the Germans board the ship and take possession of both the Ark and Marion. Jones has to board the submarine and ride it across the Mediterranean Sea. On the island Jones tracks down the Germans and threatens to destroy the Ark if Marion is not released. Belloc calls his bluff, and Jones is captured.

  In popular megahit movies, the antagonist will have possession of both the unique object and the love interest during the climax scene. Classic story theory states that in the climax scene, the protagonist will fight with the antagonist for both. During the battle, the protagonist triumphs and the antagonist is destroyed. Yet Spielberg does not use this in Raiders or many of his other movies. In Raiders, Jones and Marion are tied to a post and are forced to watch as Belloc opens the Ark. Jones does not defeat Belloc and the Germans! It is the spirits unleashed from the Ark that destroy them. Jones and Marion survive only because they close their eyes and refuse to look at the spirits. In many megahit movies, the protagonist does not directly kill the antagonist, but the antagonist dies as a result of some action he initiated in his attempt to destroy the protagonist. This is the case in Raiders. In Jurassic Park, Dr. Grant, Elle, and the children do not defeat the raptors. The humans are about to be devoured when a T-REX enters and kills the raptors. The protagonist and love interest survive, but they are not the victors.

  In classic Hollywood story structure, after the climax scene we have a resolution scene in which all loose ends are resolved. The protagonist either obtains the unique object, or it is destroyed in the climax scene. The protagonist and the love interest are reunited, and the community celebrates their victory. In Raiders, the government officials take possession of the Ark, while Marion gets possession of Jones. In Jurassic Park, Dr. Grant, Elle, and the children all fly away from the danger and leave Jurassic Park to the dinosaurs.

  The summer of 2003 di
d have its share of megahit movies: Finding Nemo ($335 million), Pirates of the Caribbean ($295 million), Matrix Reloaded ($281 million), and two near misses with Bruce Almighty ($242 million) and X2: X-Men United ($214 million). Then, there were some potential contenders that did not make the cut: Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines ($150 million), The Hulk ($132 million), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen ($66 million), and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life ($65 million).

  Why did some of these films fail to become blockbusters? In order to become a megahit, the most important thing that a movie must do is give the audience an emotionally satisfying experience. The audience must feel good when they leave the theaters. They must also be willing to tell their friends that this is a film they should see. Good word of mouth and repeat viewing is necessary for any movie to become a megahit. It is not difficult to understand why some of these films failed.

  Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life did only half the business of the first Lara Croft movie. This story had a unique object, Pandora’s Box, which both the protagonist and antagonist desired. But it was far from a happy ending. After demonstrating love for each other, Lara kills her lover so that he will not take possession of the unique object. Killing the person who you love, and who loves you is not something that the audience wants to experience; a lesson they care not to learn! It became a bad date movie. Having the protagonist die at the end of the movie leaves an audience depressed, since they had invested so much emotion in this character. That was the biggest mistake made in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Sean Connery, who plays the character Alan Quartermain, dies at the end of the movie. Even though there is the suggestion that “Africa will not let him die” and the closing image is of an African Witch Doctor dancing over his grave, most members of the audience left very unhappy. The character with whom they most identified and admired was dead. In most people, this is a cause for grief, not joy. In Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, the audience is forced to watch human civilization being destroyed by a nuclear attack launched by the machines. Even though humans will probably prevail in the next Terminator movie, watching the human race being annihilated proved not to draw much return audience. A similar problem happens in X2: X-Men United. In the closing scene the mutants triumph over the human race. The President of the United States is at the mercy of the X-Men, with the implicit threat being that if the President does not change his attitude, he will be replaced. This scene is not a pleasing message for the post 9/11 American audience.