10. Batman (1989)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 71%
Domestic Gross: $251.1 million
Records: Highest-grossing opening weekend ever at the time, highest-grossing movie of the year
Reasons it was highly anticipated: The first Batman film since the campy 1966 Adam West movie, it was at first met with controversy due to the hiring of comedic actor Michael Keaton for the title role and the relatively inexperienced Tim Burton as director. Despite fan skepticism, the months leading up to the film’s June release became consumed by “Batmania” and enormous sales of related merchandise.
How it measured up to expectations: While not exactly a masterpiece, Batman allayed the fears of many. Far from being cartoonish, it was almost too dark for some, though many appreciated the bold tonal decision (the film deservedly won an Oscar for Art Direction). Jack Nicholson largely stole the show as the Joker, while composer Danny Elfman delivered a strong, brooding score that fit the film’s serious atmosphere. The movie’s incredible box office performance resulted in an animated series and three direct sequels (of starkly varying quality).
9. Cleopatra (1963)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 48%
Domestic Gross: $57.7 million
Records: Highest-grossing movie of the year
Reasons it was highly anticipated: Plagued by production problems, this epic starring Elizabeth Taylor in the title role had a lot of people talking before it was released. It became the most expensive film ever made at the time, and when Taylor began an affair with her co-star, Richard Burton, the film’s publicity was only heightened.
How it measured up to expectations: Clocking in at over four hours in length, Cleopatra is the longest film to ever be nominated for Best Picture. It received eight other Oscar nominations, winning four, but nevertheless received mixed reviews from critics. In the end, everything was overshadowed by the film’s cost, which was so large that Cleopatra ended up losing money for the studio despite being the highest-grossing film of the year – the only film made (so far) with this unenviable distinction.
8. Spider-Man (2002)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89%
Domestic Gross: $403.7 million
Records: Highest-grossing opening weekend ever at the time, highest-grossing movie of the year
Reasons it was highly anticipated: After being stuck in development hell for almost 25 years, this was the first film to feature the Marvel Comics character.
How it measured up to expectations: The movie was a critical and commercial hit, earning praise for Tobey Maguire’s performance as the title character and director Sam Raimi’s deft balancing of both the action and romantic elements of the story. The film’s tremendous success led to two sequels – both directed by Raimi – before the franchise was rebooted in 2012.
7. The Hunger Games (2012)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 84%
Domestic Gross: $408 million
Records: Highest-grossing opening weekend ever for a non-sequel, 3rd highest-grossing movie of the year
Reasons it was highly anticipated: Adapted from the first of three bestselling novels, The Hunger Games, like the Twilight movies, already had a gigantic built-in fanbase before it opened. Unlike the romantic vampire-werewolf saga, however, the dystopian young adult trilogy of books had a much broader audience, appealing to men and women alike. The casting of much-loved actress Jennifer Lawrence in the lead role only added to the excitement for the film franchise, especially given the cinematic vacuum left by the concluding of the Harry Potter film series a year earlier.
How it measured up to expectations: The highly faithful adaptation satisfied hardcore fans of the book while also drawing in new audiences, breaking records for advanced ticket sales set by Twilight and Harry Potter movies. While not without its flaws, the film benefited greatly from its top-notch performances (anchored by an unsurprisingly dynamic turn by Lawrence), and director Gary Ross’s respect for the integrity and brutality of the source material.
6. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%
Domestic Gross: $377 million
Records: Highest-grossing movie of the year
Reasons it was highly anticipated: Coming on the heels of its two Oscar-nominated predecessors, The Return of the King was seen less as a “second sequel” than as the third part of an ambitiously epic cinematic story. Given that it was filmed simultaneously with The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, there was little reason to doubt it would be as consistently great as the first two films.
How it measured up to expectations: The highest-grossing entry in Peter Jackson’s trilogy was adored by both fans and critics, who saw it as the crowning achievement of a risky experiment in storytelling, the likes of which had never been seen on this scale. The Academy obviously concurred, rewarding the film with eleven nominations, of which it won them all, tying it with Titanic and Ben-Hur for most Oscar wins. It’s not a perfect film – the multiple endings became a popular source of jokes – but the degree to which it succeeded in closing an epic trilogy for the ages cannot be denied.
5. The Avengers (2012)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%
Domestic Gross: $623.3 million
Records: Highest-grossing opening weekend of all time, 3rd highest-grossing movie of all time
Reasons it was highly anticipated: Planned since 2005, The Avengers was essentially the culmination of a long-term plan that entailed the releasing of multiple big-budgeted superhero movies in the years leading up to its release. The success of those films – two for Iron Man and one each for Thor, Captain America, and the Hulk – made The Avengers the ultimate Marvel movie fans had been waiting for.
How it measured up to expectations: Audiences and critics were not disappointed. The film broke records left and right, becoming the go-to entertainment experience of the summer. Much of the film’s extraordinary success can be attributed to director Joss Whedon, who masterfully tied together the multiple superheroes and their individual stories, in effect creating an epic treat for comic book fans (and all movie fans, for that matter).
4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80%
Domestic Gross: $317.5 million
Records: Highest-grossing opening weekend ever at the time, highest-grossing movie of the year
Reasons it was highly anticipated: With four books in the planned series of seven already published, Harry Potter was an unprecedented literary phenomenon by the time this movie, the first of what would end up being a series of EIGHT, was released in November of 2001 to worldwide fan excitement.
How it measured up to expectations: The movie stuck very close to the source material, which pleased most fans, while causing others to criticize the filmmakers’ hesitation to take any risks. Overall, however, most could agree that the film got much more right than wrong. The star power of the ensemble cast combined with a typically sweeping and memorable score from John Williams were particularly integral to its success.
Now that the film franchise is complete, it’s all the more clear that, for whatever flaws present in Chris Columbus’s adaptation of the first book, the sheer amount of the story’s aspects that were expertly translated to the screen is striking, to say the least. Columbus established the fundamentals of the wizarding world so well, in fact, that hardly any roles were re-cast (Dumbledore being a sad exception, due to Richard Harris’s passing), and few details required changing for the seven sequels to come.
3. The Dark Knight (2008)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%
Domestic Gross: $533.3 million
Records: Highest-grossing opening weekend ever at the time, highest-grossing movie of the year
Reasons it was highly anticipated: Christopher Nolan’s follow-up to his successful 2005 reboot of the Batman series already had people talking with the announcement of a seemingly unconventional casting choice: Heath Ledger as the Joker. When Ledger died of an accidental overdose prior to the film’s release, the buzz about the film and his performance began to build like nothing in recent memory. The clever viral marketing campaign and publicizing of the film’s use of IMAX cameras for certain action sequences only raised expectations further.
How it measured up to expectations: This is one of those rare event films that not only lived up to the hype, but probably exceeded it. Ledger’s crazed and disturbing interpretation of the clown-faced villain was even more brilliant than anyone had expected, earning him a deserved posthumous Oscar.
The film was nominated for seven other Oscars, though its conspicuous absence from the Best Picture race caused an outcry – one that many believed was the catalyst that led to the expanding of the category only a year later. A booming score by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, terrific performances all around, and direction that maintained a sense of realism and urgency cemented The Dark Knight as a genre-transcending masterpiece – one of the greatest superhero movies ever made (if not THE greatest).
2. Gone with the Wind (1939)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95%
Domestic Gross: $189.5 million (plus another $9 million when re-released)
Records: Highest-grossing movie of all time when adjusted for inflation
Reasons it was highly anticipated: To say that people were excited about David O. Selznick and Victor Fleming’s adaptation of Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 Civil War-era novel would be an understatement. Not convinced? One million people mobbed Atlanta for the film’s premiere on December 15, which caused the governor of Georgia to declare the day a state holiday. How many other film’s can brag about creating a holiday?
How it measured up to expectations: Despite having a running time well over three hours, Gone with the Wind was a national sensation. The film played for months on end, ultimately winning eight competitive Academy Awards and two honorary ones. Of course, it wasn’t without its critics, with many today – and even then – taking issue with the film’s stereotypical depiction of black people and somewhat rosy portrayal of slavery. Regardless of its rather excessive length and controversial representation of the Old South, it still remains a classic and unquestionably iconic film.
1. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 57%
Domestic Gross: $431 million (plus another $43 million when re-released)
Records: Highest-grossing movie of the year
Reasons it was highly anticipated: Sixteen years after the final film in the Star Wars trilogy came out, the idea that George Lucas would finally tell the origin story of Darth Vader with THREE prequels had sci-fi geeks everywhere in a frenzy. The casting of acclaimed actors Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, and Samuel L. Jackson, plus the returns of fan favorites like Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine and Frank Oz as the voice of Yoda only increased anticipation among fans.
How it measured up to expectations: The reaction was decidedly mixed. While many were impressed by the wall-to-wall modern special effects, many found that they overwhelmed the story, particularly in light of the underdeveloped main characters. Other criticisms centered on decisions that pandered to the younger demographic and the somewhat troubling characterizations of aliens that needlessly evoked racial stereotypes – both of which were problems epitomized in the new, all-CGI character, Jar Jar Binks. Still, the movie was not without its high points – the stirring “Duel of the Fates” lightsaber fight sequence being a chief example.
After the prequel trilogy wrapped up in 2005, it may have seemed that never again would an upcoming release be so greatly looked forward to by the masses. Little did anyone know then that a THIRD Star Wars trilogy would one day become a reality…
Author Bio: Jason Turer received his B.A. from Cornell University with a double major in Film and English, and currently works in television production in Brooklyn. He has too many favorite films to list here, but some of his favorite directors include Kubrick, Cronenberg, Hitchcock, and Lynch.