2017 in film is an overview of events, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies, festivals, a list of films released, and notable deaths.
Wolf Warrior 2, a Chinese film, became the first non-Hollywood film to be listed on the all-time worldwide top 100 box office.[5]
Split, by M. Night Shyamalan, was the year's most profitable film in terms of return on investment (ROI), having generated over 2,000% ROI. It is the 11th film to cross 2,000% ROI, and the first film to do so since 2015.[6]
InChina, the country recorded a new single-day record as well as an all-time admission high on Saturday, January 28, with over ¥755 million (US$110 million) registering an admission of over 21 million moviegoers, beating the previous record of ¥647 million ($98.4 million) and 17 million admissions set the previous year. Both records were set on the first day of the Chinese New Year.[7]
2017 has been a record year for non-Hollywood foreign films in the Chinese market, with the success of films such as India's Dangal, Thailand's Bad Genius and Spain's Contratiempo. As of November 5, 2017[update], non-Hollywood imports account for 72% ($519.7 million) of the year's foreign film box office revenue so far ($723 million), with Dangal alone accounting for 27% ($195.8 million).[9]
The Marvel Cinematic Universe became the first film franchise to gross more than $11 billion with the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.[10] With the subsequent release of Spider-Man: Homecoming, it became the first film franchise to gross more than $12 billion,[11] and with the release of Thor: Ragnarok, the MCU became the first film franchise to gross more than $13 billion.[12] It also became the first film franchise to release three movies in one year that all made over $800 million worldwide and opened to over $100 million domestically (through the aforementioned entries).
Wolf Warrior 2 was a massive commercial success and became the highest-grossing Chinese film ever released. The film broke numerous box office records, including the biggest single-day gross for a Chinese film as well as the fastest film to cross the RMB 2 billion, 3 billion, 4 billion and 5 billion box office marks. It also became the fastest film to surpass US$500 million and the first film to gross more than US$600 million at the Chinese box office. At a total domestic gross of CN¥5.68 billion (US$874 million),[15][16] it is the second-highest-grossing film of all time in a single market behind only Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($936.7 million in North America), and having exceeded North America's totals from Avatar ($760 million), Titanic ($659 million) and Jurassic World ($652 million).[17][18][19] The film was the sixth highest-grossing film of 2017 at US$874 million, making it the 54th-highest-grossing film worldwide.[15][16][20] It is the first and only Chinese film ever to be included in the list of 100 all-time highest-grossing films worldwide.[21][22] It was selected as the Chinese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards.[23]
Walt Disney Studios became the first studio ever to reach $6 billion at the global box office in consecutive years (following a $7.6 billion gross in 2016), and the first studio to reach $5 billion globally in three consecutive years.[24]
InChina, the film Wolf Warrior 2 became the fastest film to reach 2 and 3 billion yuan, as well as the first to reach 4 and 5 billion yuan. It is China's highest-grossing film, as well as the highest-grossing non-Hollywood film.[5]
Dangal became the highest-grossing Indian film,[25] crossing ₹20 billion (US$240 million) worldwide,[26] making it the first Indian film to gross $300 million worldwide.[27]Dangal is also the highest-grossing sports film.[28] Most of its gross ($194.71million) came from China, where it became the highest-grossing non-Hollywood foreign film, surpassing Japanese anime film Your Name.[9]Dangal also became the highest-grossing non-English foreign film in any single market (China), surpassing the gross of previous record holder Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) which grossed $128million in North America.[29][30][31]
InIndia, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion became the highest-grossing film with a gross collection of ₹14.169 billion ($218 million) in the country.[32] It also became the first Indian movie to gross more than $200 million. The film broke a numerous domestic records,[33] and also became the second-highest-grossing Indian film of all time with an estimated gross of ₹17.97 billion ($275 million) only behind Dangal.
Beauty and the Beast broke Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice's records ($166 million) for the highest weekend debut in March ($174.8 million) and for a spring release, The Lorax's record ($70.4 million) for the highest weekend debut for a musical film, Pitch Perfect 2's record ($69.2 million) for the highest weekend debut for a live-action musical film, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2's record ($169.2 million) for the highest weekend debut for a live-action fantasy film.
Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins, grossed $103.3 million in its opening weekend, breaking the record for a female-directed film previously held by Fifty Shades of Grey, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson ($85.2 million on 13–15 February 2015); the film also became the highest-grossing World War I film, surpassing War Horse ($79.9 million on 25–28 December 2011). It also became the highest-grossing superhero origin film. Overall, it is the highest-grossing female-directed film, surpassing Phyllida Lloyd's Mamma Mia! ($609.8 million).
Despicable Me 3 broke The Twilight Saga: Eclipse's 4,468 theater count with a theater count of 4,529 theaters in its first week.[36] It would have six more theaters in its second week, going to 4,535 theaters.[37]
Dunkirk grossed $525.6 million, making it the highest-grossing World War II film of all time, surpassing Saving Private Ryan ($481.8 million).
It broke Hotel Transylvania 2's record for largest September opening weekend ($48.5 million), and Gravity's record for largest fall opening weekend ($55.8 million) when it opened to $123.4 million and, subsequently, went on to become the unadjusted highest-grossing horror film in history, surpassing The Sixth Sense ($672.8 million). It is currently the third-highest-grossing R-rated film, after Deadpool and The Matrix Reloaded.[38]
Star Wars: The Last Jedi grossed $104.7 million in its opening day, becoming only the second movie (along with Star Wars: The Force Awakens) to gross more than $100 million in a single day, and making the Star Wars franchise the first film series to include two movies that recorded $100 million grossing days. On December 30, Last Jedi surpassed a billion dollars at the global box office, making Star Wars the first franchise to release three consecutive billion-dollar-grossing films and the first franchise to release billion-dollar-grossing films in three consecutive years (along with 2015's Force Awakens and 2016's Rogue One). Last Jedi also became the fourth Star Wars film to gross more than $1 billion, tying the Star Wars franchise with the Marvel Cinematic Universe for most billion-dollar films within a single franchise.
2017 breaks 2016's record for films that crossed over $500 million, with nineteen: the ten films in the table above, as well as Coco, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, It, Justice League, Logan, Transformers: The Last Knight, Kong: Skull Island, The Boss Baby, and Dunkirk. 2017 also broke 2016's record of films that crossed over $600 million with sixteen (Coco, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, It, Justice League, Logan, and Transformers: The Last Knight have all grossed over $600 million). It also surpasses 2016's record of films that earned over $700 million worldwide with thirteen consecutive films. (Coco, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and It have grossed over $700 million.) It additionally surpasses 2016's record of films that earned over $800 million worldwide with eleven, those being the ten in the table above and Coco (it also becomes the first year in history where every one of the top 10 highest-grossing films grossed over $800 million worldwide).
