2005 was a very modern year.
Unlike 2004 and before, 2005 felt like a year that was becoming part of the modern age. YouTube was blowing up, the television landscape was transforming with shows that are still on or well known to this day and Kanye West was making himself known as a performer who would always (for better or worse) speak his mind.
Yes, 2005 felt like it was the entrance to a new age. But the top ten domestic hits at the box office mostly contained very iconic and classic titles and characters: King Kong, Batman, Star Wars, C.S. freakin’ Lewis — there were a lot of properties and creatives that had been around a long, long time. So 2005 was actually a mix of the old and the new, concocting a delicious cocktail of cinematic success.
The Top Grossing Films of 2005 (Domestic)
After three decades and millions upon millions of dollars, Star Wars came to an end in 2005. Well, at least that’s what we thought. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith was the concluding chapter of George Lucas’s troubled prequel series. This was the film that had all the pay-offs: Yoda going into hiding, Padme passing away, the birth of Luke and Leia and, of course, Anakin Skywalker’s brutal transformation from Jedi to Sith Lord. It had all been leading up to this.
Fans were excited for Sith because it had to be good. Had to be. The previous two prequels were…well, they weren’t great. By the time ROTS rolled around, most people had pretty much given up hope. But there was no way Lucas couldn’t stick the landing, right? Sith’s plot points were the whole purpose behind the prequels, the entire premise for the trilogy was Anakin’s downfall. So the pay-off was sure to be worth the wait. Right?
Yes, more or less. Revenge of the Sith is a decent film and certainly does contain the moments everyone was waiting for (personally my favorite part was watching Jar Jar Binks cry) and it was a relief to see Lucas actually deliver what he promised. The movie isn’t as good as it should be though. For a movie about a terrifying and heartbreaking fall from grace, it lacks any urgency or real surprises. You can feel every beat of the story before it happens. But still, it was nice to finally see what we had all been waiting for. Audiences were quite receptive to the movie, giving it $380,270,577 after a $108 million opening. The movie ended up being the biggest one of 2005 and left the a good-if-not-great taste in the mouth of fans. Of course, it really wasn’t the end of Star Wars. In only a few years, Disney would buy Lucasfilm and start a brand new trilogy. Star Wars may be an older title but it will never, ever truly fade away.
Another older property that found its way into relevance again in 2005 was The Chronicles of Narnia. The children’s-tale-meets-Christian-fable wasn’t necessarily the first title on the minds of audiences when the movie debuted but it did incredibly well, roaring up $291 million and taking the number two spot. The time was right for a film like this. The Lord of the Rings had just made billions so fantasy movies were most definitely in. And when are children’s film not popular? This was like LOTR for the kids! And of course kids can’t go to the theater without their dear parents so that’s even more tickets sold. As well, church groups ate Chronicles up so that is even more money in the bank! It’s no surprise that The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe did so well. The movie did even better overseas, drumming up an additional $453 million. This thing was a bonafide global smash. The following two Narnia films would not fare nearly as well at the box office but The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was a strong reminder that fantasy films can be huge hits. Thank the Lord (of the Rings).
Harry Potter made his annual appearance on the charts with The Goblet of Fire. At this point in the series, it had become apparent to Warner Bros that these movies were going to consistently make money and were becoming the surest thing in Hollywood. Even if each film wasn’t nabbing the number one spot for the year, they were all summoning up great heaping amounts of cash. Maybe this was around the time that some WB executive thought about splitting one of the books into two films. More movies equals more money. That is some math that studio big wigs love.
Any year that includes a Steven Spielberg film in the top ten is a special year indeed. But let’s be honest, not all of his films are massive blockbusters. Not because he isn’t a brilliant filmmaker but because he isn’t always creating content like Jurassic Park or Indiana Jones. But, damn, the world just feels better when a Spielberg movie cleans up at the box office. And his War of the Worlds did just that. Based on the classic H.G. Wells novel, War saw Spielberg once again making a movie about aliens. However, this time the aliens weren’t friendly, lovable little sweaty botanists like E.T. This time the aliens were there to fuck shit up. Spielberg absolutely delivered with War of the Worlds, which is one of his best action films. It contains brilliant set pieces (that ferry ride!), true tension (Tim Robbins!) and an overwhelming sense of dread. And it was actually a rather deep film. It was one of the first post-9/11 blockbusters to truly touch upon some of the grief and fear that Americans had been feeling. It wasn’t over-the-top and it didn’t bash you over the head but War of the Worlds was an action movie with a soul and something to say. It spoke of the trauma, despair and chaos that comes with devastating disasters. It was such a treat to see audiences eat it up. The movie reminded folks that no one — seriously absolutely no one — can direct action like Steven Spielberg. The guy is literally the best. He can take a book as old as War of the Worlds and turn it into something topical and fresh and wildly exciting. There’s a reason they call him the greatest filmmaker of all time.
Speaking of amazing filmmakers, let’s talk about Christopher Nolan. In 2005, Nolan was best known for his breakout hit Memento. But he had been given the keys to the kingdom: Warner Bros had selected him to helm the new Batman film. And what Nolan delivered in June 2005 was Batman Begins: an origin tale about the Caped Crusader that was grounded in reality. Obviously Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy went on to be a massive success but it wasn’t a sure thing when Begins came out. Believe it or not, people were kind of burnt out on Batman in the early 2000s. The last taste they got of the character in theaters was Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin. Plus, superhero movies weren’t the colossal forces that they are now. Also, did people really want to see a gritty, realistic Batman? Realistic? Wasn’t Batman the dude that had little rubber nipples on the suit?
Guess what? People did want to see a new Batman flick. While it wasn’t the biggest movie of the year (number 8 with $205 million) Batman Begins was in fact a hit. It’s $48 million opening weekend sounds downright pitiful compared to modern openings but that really wasn’t bad for a movie that was reviving a disgraced franchise in 2005. Critics were very kind to the movie, lauding Christian Bale’s performance and Nolan’s approach to the material. Audiences enjoyed the movie quite a bit too, though many felt that it was a good jumping off point for something bigger. They liked the movie but they were left wanting more of this take on Batman and Gotham City. And they got that in just a few years, when Nolan’s sequel caught the world on fire and made a $48 million opening look laughable.
2005 contained the old with an injection of the new and made for a boisterous, high-octane year. Aliens, Sith Lords, talking lions — it was a wild 12 months. Enjoy it while you can because 2006 was right around the corner and with it came one of the blandest, most boring box office years in history.