By skyforbes However, unlike Disney Animation, Pixar, or even Illumination, DreamWorks has never had a film cross the $1 billion mark at the global box office. Their biggest hit is “Shrek 2”, which came out over 20 years ago back in 2004 and grossed around $935 million at the worldwide box office. Ever since “Shrek 2”, they have never been able to replicate that success, get close to it, or even surpass it.
Given how long they have been making movies and how beloved many of their franchises are, what gives? I am truly curious as to why they have never had a billion dollar movie. I think most of their movies are more appealing than ones made by studios like Illumination.
I’ve heard a big reason is due to brand consistency. Some people say it’s due to DreamWorks being very inconsistent with their movies compared to Pixar (Ex: for every “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” you get a “Ruby Gillman.” Or for every “The Wild Robot” you get a “Gabby’s Dollhouse”). Others say it’s due to them having their biggest successes in the 2000s, which was at a time when billion dollar movies were rare, which there is some truth to that. Before the year 2010, only 5 movies ever crossed the billion dollar mark (not counting re-releases of movies like “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” and “Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone”).
I hope I didn’t answer my own question, but why is that the case? Is it due to marketing and merchandising, where they lack in behind when compared to their rivals? Or is it due to competition from other studios and they don’t have as big of an appeal as I previously thought? I’ve heard some people theorize that “Shrek 5” will hit a billion and be DreamWorks’ first movie to do so, but I don’t know if it will. We will have to wait for June 2027 to determine if that will be the case or not.
What are your thoughts?