Since the 1990s, the fantasy genre has taken a back burner to the sci-fi genre. In the 1970s and 80s, fantasy was a huge trend for movies, TV shows, cartoons, and games. But once the 1990s rolled around, people became more interested in space travels and aliens than fairy tales and fantasy battles.
With the revival of a few major fantasy franchises, such as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, other movie producers have created a variety of fantasy movies as well. Popular movies of the day include dark fairytale revivals, zombie and mythical creature fantasies, and the retelling of original fantasy stories, a la Game of Thrones.
With the recent revival of fantasy stories, is this the end of science fiction? Or will sic-fi quickly return to the seat of honor? Perhaps the two genres will coincide for a while. Take a look at some of these monetary facts for recent fantasy and sci-fi movies to find out.
Recent Fantasy Movies and Revenue
- Game of Thrones
The Game of Thrones has had two seasons on HBO and is about to start its third season. When the first season aired, the first few episodes had around 800,000 views. By the end of season 1, however, the show had gathered an average of 3 million views per episode. This loyalty has remained throughout the second season as well. While 3 million views is not a lot compared to major prime time shows, it is a lot for a mature television show on a subscription-only channel.
- The Hobbit
The Hobbit was a wildly anticipated movie by fans of all ages. It was able to bring in more money on its opening weekend than many movies make throughout their entire time at the box office. To date, The Hobbit has brought in over a billion dollars worldwide.
- Jack and the Giant Slayer
Jack and the Giant Slayer is an updated take on the classic Jack and the Beanstalk story, In the movie, Jack accidentally opens a portal to a world of giants, and must then work to close the portal and defeat the giants to win the hand of the princess. Jack and the Giant Slayer came out in the beginning of March, 2013. By the end of March, it had brought in $119,552,000 worldwide.
Recent Science Fiction Movies and Revenue
- Warm Bodies
Warm Bodies is a paranormal romance/zombie comedy based on a book by the same name. In the movie, a zombie named “R” slowly falls in love with a human girl. The bond between the two gradually cause the zombie to become human again. The film was released in February, 2013 and has made $98,581,848 at the box office so far.
- Contagion
Contagion was a 2011 movie that focused on the spread of a viral infection throughout the world. The characters in the movie had to fight the spread of illness as they searched for a cure. The movie was able to bring in $135,458,097 at the box office.
- Prometheus
Prometheus was a 2012 movie about alien exploration. It had a total gross of $126.4 million by the end of its run in theaters.
Currently, fantasy is performing better than sci-fi at the box office. Whether this trend will continue is likely up to the companies producing movies. Good stories usually bring in more money, and right now, the fantasy stories are better than the sci-fi stories.
This is a guest post by Lindsey Mcmahon. Her interests are education, parenting and health but she is constantly extending her field of view to incorporate interesting news suggested to her by her readers. She currently works for Direct2TV.com.