Six months down, and 2016 has already proven to be one of the most remarkable years when the topic of box office results comes up.
Some films haven't performed the way folks had anticipated, others have played like absolute gangbusters, and outside influences are hugely effecting the overall end result.
Here's the ten biggest worldwide box office hits of the year so, and our analysis on their position.
10. Warcraft
Worldwide Box Office to date: $422 million
We went in-depth into how China is saving Hollywood from having out-and-out flops anymore, and Warcraft is the ultimate testament to that. Only $45 million of it's gross has come from America, compared to $220 from China. The combined takings has made it the biggest success of a movie based on a video game ever, but whether that translates into producers ponying up the dough for a sequel is a different, quite unlikely story.
9. Kung Fu Panda 3
Worldwide Box Office to date: $518.8 million
While over half a billion is not to be sniffed at, the first two entries both made over $600 million each, so this threequel's return is something of an anomaly, which can probably be chalked up to the fact that it simply wasn't as good as the first two movies were.
8. X-Men: Apocalypse
Worldwide Box Office to date: $529 million
Sixteen years after the original X-Men movie, and Apocalypse is having trouble matching that first movie's takings in the US, despite the increased ticket prices, inflation, and IMAX/3D premium tickets too. With at least one more X-Men movie on the way - another standalone Wolverine movie is due in 2017 - it's difficult to see where this particular franchise has left to go now.
7. Finding Dory
Worldwide Box Office to date: $538.3 million
The original made $936 million back in 2003, but considering this one hasn't even reached these shores yet, and has only been out in the States and other territories a little over two weeks, there's a good chance the sequel will bypass that number. This is also the first of four Disney movies in the top ten, marking 2016 very much the Year Of The Mouse.
6. The Mermaid
Worldwide Box Office to date: $553.8 million
We covered this in our list of mega-blockbusters of 2016 you've never heard of, this is the biggest movie ever in the history of China, making over half-a-billion there alone. Its off the back of this success that Hollywood were forced to sit up and take notice that America is not the be-all-and-end-all when it comes to making their money back with the movies.
5. Deadpool
Worldwide Box Office to date: $783.8 million
On the flip-side, Deadpool never got a release in China due to excess violence and bad-language, and despite that, went on to become the dark-horse of the year. Initially it was just another comic-book movie in a year overflowing with them, already written off before arriving, only to blow most of the competition out of the water, despite the restrictive audience that is potentially allowed in to see it.
4. Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice
Worldwide Box Office to date: $872.8 million
Folks were quick to dismiss BVS as a flop when it didn't immediately make a gajillion dollars at the box office, but while it is a step up from Man Of Steel's haul ($668 million), it also pales slightly next to Batman's previous outings (both The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises made over a billion). Its made enough money to claim a profit, but the negative reviews mean that Warner Brothers aren't blindly confident with the future of their Justice League franchise. This August's Suicide Squad should be a shoo-in, though.
3. The Jungle Book
Worldwide Box Office to date: $934 million
Another dark horse of the year, for while we anticipated it wouldn't die a death at the box office, the guts of a billion dollars didn't seem mega likely, either. But Disney paired the incredible visuals and spot-on voice casting - Idris Elba is still the best villain of the year as Shere Khan - combined with the much loved origin story combined to make something very special.
2. Zootropolis
Worldwide Box Office to date: $1.019 billion
In some ways, Disney have now surpassed Pixar in terms of storytelling, and now their Zootropolis (or Zootopia, depending on where you live) is the animated movie to beat at the box office. While most sequels are cause for concern, we would absolutely love to see a return to the animal-run city, as long as Officer Hops is still there to keep us safe.
1. Captain America: Civil War
Worldwide Box Office to date: $1.149 billion
Compared to the first two Captain America movies ($370 million and $714 million), a huge success. Compared to the two Avengers movies (both in an around $1.5 billion), not as successful. However, outside of Iron Man 3 ($1.215 billion), its the biggest standalone Disney/Marvel film to date, but the fact that Captain America is hardly "standing alone" in Civil War muddies the waters a bit. Regardless, it was still a brilliant movie, and it made loads of money, so in the end, everyone's a winner!
