The roundtable didn’t include a representative from “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which was not only the second highest-grossing film of 2023 but also came out within the same year as the “Super Mario Bros. Wonder” video game and the opening of Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood. There’s no telling how much the success of all three influenced one another’s profit margins. “People like to latch on to trends, and try to point out little trends. None of them hold up,” said Rogen. “They’ll all be like, ‘Everyone’s saying that family films aren’t great and they’re not doing well,’ then ‘Spider-Verse’ makes a billion dollars [sic], and everyone says, ‘No one wants a female-led comedy,’ and then ‘Barbie’ makes a billion dollars.”
There’s an endless discussion about Hollywood learning the wrong lessons from previous successes, which makes predicting trends a fleeting errand. “People like good movies. People like to be a part of a cultural conversation,” Rogen explained. “If everyone’s talking about something, they want to talk about it, too. If they see something they relate to, if they see something that is exciting, they go see it. Good movies prevail, period.” Peter Sohn, the director of “Elemental,” wholeheartedly agreed, pointing out that when his film looked like it was heading toward flopping, it made it seem as if the film had underperformed. But then once word-of-mouth praise started spreading, he was able to see how the film was resonating with people on a deep level. “It’s that idea that audiences are connecting to a film,” Sohn said. “The idea of it being in a theater, or being in streaming, or in someone’s pocket, in their iPhone — you’re working your ass off, and putting all your heart into this stuff, so that it could one day chemically reach out to an audience member and spark something.”
“Elemental” and “Mutant Mayhem” may not share many visual similarities, but they’re both films about familial obligation and trying to find your “people” in a world that is actively hostile toward you. It’s no wonder both films resonated so deeply with so many.