Speaking of Marvel... apparently Good Boys is only the second film this year to open at #1 that wasn't a sequel or remake of something else. If true, that's alarming. The other film was Us. Mojo reported this info, but they erroneously credited La Llorona as the third film to do it, but it's actually a conjuring universe film so I don't think it counts.
They're counting adaptations in the sequel/remake box. If you don't, Alita increases the number to 3-4, because La Llorona is a weird case where it is a part of the Conjuring universe, but marketing never really succeeded in making that association, and so most people probably didn't realize it was.
Jakyl25 posted...
It would be interesting to know how many there were each year like that this decade
Here's all the non-sequel/spinoff/remake/adaptations of previous works (even in the loosest sense) to open at #1 this decade:
2019: Good Boys, Us 2018: Bohemian Rhapsody, Night School, A Quiet Place 2017: Coco, Happy Death Day, The Hitman's Bodyguard, Dunkirk, Get Out 2016: The Accountant, Don't Breathe, The Boss, Zootopia 2015: The Perfect Guy, Straight Outta Compton, Spy, San Andreas, Chappie, Focus - Inside Out and War Room reached #1 without opening there. 2014: Ouija (an adaptation of a toy rather than a work of art), Fury, No Good Deed, Lucy, Neighbors, Non-Stop, Ride Along - The Other Woman is apparently "the adaptation of the original idea from The First Wives Club". 2013: Gravity, Elysium, The Purge, 42, The Croods, Identity Thief, Zero Dark Thirty (wide opening) - Prisoners, The Butler, The Conjuring, Pacific Rim, and Oblivion are all adaptations only in the loosest sense. 2012: Wreck-It Ralph, Hotel Transylvania, The Possession, Ted, Brave, Act of Valor, The Grey, The Devil Inside - The Vow and Chronicle are adaptations only in the loosest sense, while Safe House hit #1 after not opening there. 2011: New Year's Eve, Contagion, Super 8, Rio, Hop, Battle: Los Angeles, Rango, Hall Pass, The Roommate, No Strings Attached 2010: Megamind, Takers, The Expendables, The Other Guys, Inception, Despicable Me, Valentine's Day - Avatar opened in 2009 but held #1 for the first five weekends of 2010.
As far as I see it, there's two dominant trends to be gleaned from this. The first is that the doom and gloom over the death of the original movie looks more-or-less justified, which isn't surprising considering how high the streaming boom has pushed the bar for audiences to see a movie as a worthwhile theatrical attraction.
The second, however, is that even the totally original movies of past years have frequently leveraged established brands for their draws, and some adaptations have functioned as more original movies than some strictly original efforts (e.g. The Meg vs. Night School). Combine that with the biopics, real-life event adaptations, formulaic animated comedies, etc. on the original list and it's easy to see how muddy the definition of an original movie really is.