With 2016 quickly coming to a close, now is the time to make lists regarding the best, worst, and most popular movies and TV shows of the year. Which blockbusters did movie fans google the most? Which made the most money? The lists are starting to come in, and the online movie database IMDb is no exception. The website just released the five most popular movies of 2016, based on searches on the website. And the results shouldn't be too surprising.
The DCEU's villain romp Suicide Squad was the most visited IMDb of the year. With such a fantastic marketing campaign, this does make sense. And what is even less surprising is that all of the top 5 movies are superhero movies. The list is as follows (via Variety):
1. Suicide Squad2. Captain America: Civil War3. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice4. Deadpool5. X-Men: Apocalypse.
That's right, superhero movies are still at the top of the Hollywood world, and it doesn't seem like the genre is going to be slowing down anytime soon, as the DCEU, MCU, and X-Men universe continue to produce action-packed blockbusters featuring superpowered characters.
Suicide Squad was an extremely hyped up movie, so it makes sense that IMDb named it the most popular film of the year. While it proved critically divisive, the footage and trailers leading up to its release promised a wild and fun adventure. Additionally, it appeared to be the polar opposite of the drab and muted Zack Snyder films Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Man of Steel. Additionally, DC fans were eager to see fan favorite character Harley Quinn make her silver screen debut, as well as the newest (and once again, divisive) Joker join the DCEU. Despite it's lukewarm critical reception, Suicide Squad did end up making a pretty serious amount of money at the box office. Additionally, its soundtrack has been nominated for a Grammy and Margot Robbie is getting her own spinoff as Harley, Gotham City Sirens.
There is a shocking admission from the above list: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The first standalone film in the Star Wars franchise was been heavily anticipated since its announcement, and last year's Star Wars: The Force Awakens was the most popular film of the year by a landslide. Perhaps the lack of IMDb searches for Rogue One is due to the high level of secrecy for the film. Cast members and characters were kept hidden until the film was released, so looking at the IMDb page wasn't exactly enlightening. I wish I knew how this has changed since the Rogue One's release, although it surely won't be significant enough to change the results of the survey.
As far as the other results, it is a little surprising that Suicide Squad was more popular than Captain America: Civil War. While Suicide Squad's hype revolved around the new and unknown, Civil War was a story that was 13 films and 8 eight years in the making. With so many well known characters involved, you'd think the fandom would be hitting up IMDb on the daily until its release.
Alas, Suicide Squad took the number one spot. Although it's worth noting that Captain America: Civil War won the battle in regards to box office performance, with its $1.15 worldwide gross. And for most studios, that's the real competition.
