Event Films are defined as blockbusters or top grossing movies whose release is an event in itself. These can be big budget movies or sequels with a humongous star cast, they might have state of the art VFX or stories that grip the audience. They can be anything but what sets these movies apart from the rest is that they take the box office by the storm and make their producers immensely rich while becoming a part of popular culture. There are a number of movies that have attained the blockbuster status in the world in the past five years but a few among them have stood out a little more than the rest.

Here we will list the top five Event Films of the last five years that created a furore in the market. So, let’s begin without further ado.

2017

Star Wars, a cinematic galaxy that we are all too familiar with. The first movie released back in 1977 was in itself a mega hit during its time. Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, though highly anticipated, couldn’t work the magic of its predecessor, Star Wars: The Force Awakens which stands fourth among the list of highest grossing movies of all time (for now). In fact, the Last Jedi, went on to become the most controversial movie of the Star Wars saga. The movie made some of its ardent followers quite unhappy as it broke a few established rules of Star Wars physics, it was also accused of being too comical and for the representation of unrequired progressive values.  

But all this didn’t stop it from becoming the highest grossing movie of 2017. The movie earned around 1.3 billion US dollars worldwide. The creators probably didn’t complain till it affected the revenue of the continued movies of the Star Wars franchise. But at the end of the day Star Wars will remain Star Wars and with its large fan following, there will always be people who would want to and definitely will watch Star Wars.

2018

Even though 2018 was a year of blockbusters like Black Panther, Jurassic World: The Fallen Kingdom, Incredibles 2, Aquaman etc. there was one movie that outperformed the rest. And that movie was, *drumroll please* Avengers: Infinity War, the movie at the end of which Thanos destroys the half the universe with the snap of a finger. Even though Marvel studios has a history of producing blockbusters starring the all-time favourite heroes of the audience, Infinity War surpassed them all. It wasn’t just the story and the VFX that attracted the audience but it was also the inclusion of almost the entire Marvel Universe that appealed to the audience.

The movie went on to become one of the most popular movies worldwide.  It grossed more than 2 billion US dollars worldwide making it a movie to remember. People swarmed the theatres to watch their favourite Marvel superheroes come together in order to fight Thanos. And while people stormed the theatres the producers were probably busy counting the humongous profits.

2019

While Infinity War took the world by storm and left everyone on a cliffhanger, it’s much awaited sequel Avengers: Endgame only upped the game when it came to box office collections. It went on to become the second highest grossing movies of all time as it surpassed Titanic and was just a little behind Avatar in terms of collection earning a gigantic amount of nearly 2.8 billion US dollars. It became another proof of the heights a blockbuster can achieve at the box office. The Marvel Cinematic Universe delivered another masterpiece with Endgame, a movie that was not just filled with stellar VFX but various twists and turns as the movie ended with a gruelling and amazing finale. It was a movie that will probably remain the blockbuster of the century especially after the rising popularity of OTT platforms during recent years.

What made this movie such a hit? Well, the twists and turns of the story took the audience on an emotional roller coaster ride. And, how can a movie become legendary if some major characters don’t die, right? Not going to reveal who died, just in case you haven’t watched this mega hit but at the end of the day whose complaining? Definitely, not the team behind creating this massive hit.

2020

2020, the year we will all remember for all the wrong reasons and I am pretty sure everyone will agree with us. As for the movie industry, it was never going to see the success it saw in the year 2019. But survival is imperative and there were a few movies that were able to leave their mark on the industry despite the pandemic. No major blockbusters but we can definitely talk about the highest grossing movie of the year. It was directed by Hu Guan, the much-acclaimed director of Mr. Six. Set in the year 1937, The Eight Hundred was a war epic about a group of Chinese soldiers who defended a Shanghai warehouse while the Japanese forces were overwhelming the entire nation.

It was released on August 21, 2020, not a great month considering the pandemic was at its peak during that period. The makers probably believed in their creation and this belief didn’t disappoint them. The movie was a critical as well as commercial success earning nearly 461 million US dollars worldwide, making it the most successful film of the peak year of the pandemic. Pretty sure, it provided some happiness to the makers during those depressing times.

2021

2021 also had its fair share of ups and downs, all thanks to COVID. People preferred staying home than going out. December arrived slowly and everyone was set to say goodbye to another bleak year. The Pandemic was subsiding and the theatres had opened up.  It was the perfect timing and Marvel didn’t waste anytime as it released Spider Man: No Way Home. Maybe because it was Marvel or maybe because everyone wanted to watch the hero that Ironman mentored or just because they had been cooped up for way too long and wanted a good excuse to leave their homes, Spider Man: No way Home became a major blockbuster worldwide.  Though it did not reach the heights that Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame reached, it wasn’t far behind on the roster and cinched the sixth spot just below Infinity War in the highest grossing films of all time.

So, what was the box office collection of the movie? It was a whopping 1.9 billion US dollars. Now that’s not exactly disappointing, to say the least.  

With this we come to the end of our list of the Top 5 event films of the past five years. To create a blockbuster hit is the dream of every filmmaker but only a few are able to realise it. Event films are movies that remain in the hearts of the audience for a long time to come. Don’t we all still talk about the Infinity Stones?  And who can forget Spider Man getting acquainted with the multiverse? And Star Wars will remain Star Wars!  And the Eight Hundred? We will probably remember it as the movie that earned a lot during the pandemic! The pandemic was brutal for all of us but there were filmmakers out there who wanted to keep their art alive. The movie is an example of staying true to your art and passion and that goes for all the movies of 2020-2021.