As 2018 comes to an end, it's time to look back on the movie year that was and crack open my Hollywood grade book in order to hand out Studio Report Cards. In a sense that makes me Santa Claus, making a list of which studios have been naughty and which have been nice, at least in terms of box office. Which studio executives will have a bonus waiting for them under the Christmas tree, and who will find a lump of coal waiting in their stocking? Let's find out!

But first, some things to keep in mind. For starters, distribution terms vary among studios (Disney drives a hard bargain with theater owners), but the general rule when it comes to box office is, divide the worldwide gross in half, because you're splitting revenues with theater owners, and keep in mind that all of the budgetary figures below are based on reported production budgets, so not only could they be inflated or under-reported, but they do not factor in major costs like marketing. Also, some films aren't released overseas, and even if they are, international grosses can be hard to come by for films that aren't released by major studios, which is the case with certain titles listed below.

Grades were given out largely based on box office, but there were other factors to consider, such as the variety and ambition behind a studio's slate, and how films were received by both critics, audiences, and awards voters, though it's still a tad early on that last front. With Netflix, we had to grade on a scale, as the company doesn't typically release films in theaters, and even when it does, it doesn't report grosses.

I'm sure there were some major distributors we missed this year, so my sincere apologies to those companies, but we don't have time to cover everything and everyone. Without further ado, let's dive in and examine the year that was...

Walt Disney Pictures

Grade: A

Shot Callers: Alan Horn; Kevin Feige (Marvel); Kathleen Kennedy (Lucasfilm); Ed Catmull (Pixar/Disney Animation)

Highlights: Black Panther; Avengers: Infinity War; Incredibles 2

Lowlights: A Wrinkle in Time; The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

Takeaways: It's hard to give Disney anything besides an A-grade when the studio took in more than $7 billion in global box office (including nearly $3 billion stateside) for just the second time ever and delivered the three highest-grossing domestic films of the year -- one of which became a bona fide cultural phenomenon. Of course, that would be Black Panther, this year's domestic box office champion that is also primed to become the first comic book movie to be nominated for Best Picture, and frankly, it stands a decent chance to win. The studio is all but assured of two nominations for Best Animated Feature between Incredibles 2 and Ralph Breaks the Internet, though they'll face stiff competition this year from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The Incredibles sequel was well worth the wait, as it had the biggest domestic opening for an animated movie ever, and it stands as the highest-grossing animated film of all time stateside. Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War stands as the #4 film of all time, both domestically and globally, and its $257.7 domestic debut was the best in box office history.

On the flip side of that coin, with nearly $400 million worldwide, Lucasfilm's Solo: A Star Wars Story failed to gross even half of what Rogue One made, though it still finished the year in the top-10 at the domestic box office, one spot below Marvel's Ant-Man and the Wasp, which more than doubled Solo's domestic gross. Wall Street analysts have suggested that Solo could lose between $50 million and $80 million for Disney, but hey, the studio can certainly withstand the write-down this year. Another film that seems to be under-performing is Ralph Breaks the Internet, though to be fair, it's still in release. That said, its global haul stands at $259 million worldwide, whereas the first film made $471 million and also cost less than the sequel's reported budget of $175 million. Disney's Christopher Robin put up a respectable $197 million worldwide, but Nutcracker and the Four Realms will end up being a major money loser for the studio, which prides itself on taking big swings, knowing full well that every now and then, they're going to miss. Speaking of which, Ava DuVernay's A Wrinkle in Time was another misfire, but it was still an important film for Disney to make, as DuVernay became the first African-American woman to direct a $100 million movie. This year also saw Disney take in more than $500 million in global grosses from its late-2017 releases Coco and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, as well as prepare the launch of Disney+, giving the studio a streaming pipeline for films that don't quite fit its theatrical model.

Future Outlook: Amazing. Disney has a stacked 2019 slate including Star Wars: Episode IX, Frozen 2, Toy Story 4, The Lion King and a little movie called Avengers: Endgame. They're going to be just fine.

Universal Pictures

Grade: B+

Shot Callers: Jeff Shell; Donna Langley

Highlights: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Dr. Seuss' The Grinch, Halloween, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Fifty Shades Freed

Lowlights: Mortal Engines; Welcome to Marwen

Takeaways: Universal had a pretty solid year that offered something for everybody, but there's still room for improvement. The studio had a monster hit with Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which took in more than $1.3 billion worldwide and was one of only four billion-dollar grossing films this year, not to mention the only non-Disney title. And yet it still grossed $300 million less than its predecessor. The same goes for two more moderately-priced sequels, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and Fifty Shades Freed, Both films fared well with audiences, with each whipping up nearly $400 million worldwide, but they still came up $200 million short of the first film in those franchises. Audiences warmed to Illumination's animated revamp of The Grinch, which is expected to cross the $400 million mark worldwide this weekend. The Grinch opened a week after Halloween but it's still going strong, posting solid holds and outpacing Ralph Breaks the Internet by $100 million.

But you can't talk about Universal without giving the studio credit for its partnership with Blumhouse, which delivered three of the top-six grossing horror movies of the year. Halloween cost $10 million and slayed at the box office, grossing $253 million worldwide. The First Purge cost $13 million and captured $136 million worldwide. Insidious: The Last Key cost $10 million and unlocked nearly $170 million worldwide. Truth or Dare cost less than $5 million and grossed nearly $100 million. You get the picture. Blumhouse was essential to Universal's market share this year and you'd better believe that there's a Halloween sequel coming soon. The studio even fared well with Amblin's The House With a Clock In Its Walls, the first family-friendly film from Eli Roth, which grossed $130 million worldwide on a $42 million budget, while even Breaking In was a nicely single, costing $6 million and grossing $46 million at the domestic box office. Universal also released films from the Jumanji duo of Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart. Johnson's pricey action movie Skyscraper was a modest performer stateside, where it took in $67 million, but it was always aimed at international audiences and it climbed to $236 million overseas. All in all, a bit of a wash, but it was a Chinese co-production so Universal likely isn't shouldering the load here, and Johnson certainly, um, elevated his profile overseas. Meanwhile, Hart's Night School was the highest-grossing domestic comedy of the year, while Johnny English Strikes Again made next to nothing stateside, but it still ended the year as the highest-grossing comedy worldwide thanks to an international gross of $152 million. Universal seems to be the only studio that is consistently doing well with comedies right now, thanks in large part to its deal with producer Will Packer (Girls Trip).

On the flip side of the ledger is Mortal Engines, which will probably end up as the biggest money loser of the year, though Universal's exposure is helped by the fact that it has financial partners (hello, MRC!) on that film that should help shoulder the load. In terms of awards, Universal's once-primary Oscar pony, First Man, under-performed at the box office and hasn't fared well with awards voters or critics groups. You can chalk some of that up to a stupid controversy over the American flag, but really, I just think audiences were expecting a different kind of film. Meanwhile, Green Book started out slow but it has been gaining momentum and holding well in expansion, possibly due to strong word of mouth. After all, the film earned an A+ Cinemascore. I fully understand that Green Book presents a bit of a marketing challenge, but when you've got the goods, you have to do a better job of selling it. People who see the movie love it, but you have to get them into the theater first. Hopefully, next month's Oscar nominations will help Universal figure out a way to do that.

Future Outlook: Universal may not be blessed like Disney, but its 2019 slate is looking strong thanks to Jordan Peele's Us, M. Night Shyamalan's Glass, the Fast & Furious spinoff starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, a sequel to The Secret Life of Pets, next year's hot musical Cats and Sam Mendes' WWI drama 1917, which arrives on Christmas Day.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Grade: B+

Shot Callers: Kevin Tsujihara; Toby Emmerich; Richard Brener & Carolyn Blackwood (New Line); Walter Hamada (DC Films)

Highlights: A Star Is Born; Crazy Rich Asians; The Nun; The Meg; Rampage

Lowlights: 12 Strong; Paddington 2

Takeaways: Warner Bros. posted one of its most profitable years ever thanks to a diverse slate led by A Star Is Born, which is expected to cross the $200 million mark at the domestic box office this weekend. Bradley Cooper's directorial debut has proven to be a cultural sensation thanks to the music of Lady Gaga, and the film is positioned as a Best Picture frontrunner heading into next month's Oscar nominations. Crazy Rich Asians is another potential awards contender that cost around $35 million and has grossed $237 million worldwide. The film boasted an all-Asian cast that helped make it feel like a can't-miss cultural event, and I know it meant a lot to many of my Asian-American friends who had yearned for more representation on the big screen. WB's highest-grossing global release was Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, though it still came up $200 million short of the first film, which isn't an encouraging sign for the Harry Potter-adjacent franchise. Films like Ready Player One, The Meg and Rampage weren't exactly inexpensive, but they all justified their budgets, taking in $582 million, $527 million and $426 million, respectively. Rampage was the lowest domestic grosser of that bunch, but as we saw with Skyscraper, Dwayne Johnson's movies play well overseas. The same could be said for Tomb Raider this year, with the remake grossing $273 million worldwide despite a domestic haul of just $57 million. New Line's The Nun scared up $365 million on a budget of just $22 million to become the highest-grossing film in The Conjuring franchise so that's a major feather in its habit, further proving that James Wan's horror universe remains a major profit center for Warners. Elsewhere, Teen Titans Go! to the Movies took in $51 million worldwide and cost just $10 million. It was the only wide-release film that failed to crack the $30 million mark, but it served as a smart exercise in corporate synergy, as WB execs believed the property could work on the big screen so long as it was made and marketed on the cheap. At the end of the day, it should turn a modest profit. WB’s other animated film, Smallfoot, fared quite a bit better with its big-name cast including Channing Tatum, Gina Rodriguez and LeBron James, as it picked up $213 million worldwide. New Line’s comedies performed in line with expectations, as Tag and Life of the Party were modest performers that earned grossed $54 million and $52 million, respectively, though neither was able to match Game Night, which rolled $117 million worldwide. WB also found success with the female heist movie Ocean's 8, which capitalized on the moment and added nearly $300 million to WB's coffers.

So, what didn't work? Well, the Chris Hemsworth war drama 12 Strong, for starters, and the less said about Clint Eastwood's 15:17 to Paris the better, though the film ultimately broke even at the box office, and Eastwood's The Mule opened strong to $17.5 million. Which brings us to Paddington 2. WB acquired the film, which stands as the best-reviewed movie of all time, so you'd think its box office receipts would back that up, but the sequel stalled out at $40 million stateside ($36 million less than the first film), and while it did boffo biz overseas, the studio didn't actually have international on the picture. Thankfully that's not the case on Aquaman, which opens stateside this weekend, but is already off to a hot start overseas, where it has taken in over $315 million thus far. In summation, WB didn't suffer any heavy losses this year, but it didn't have anything close to a billion-dollar grosser and Fantastic Beasts looks like it may be running out of steam.

Future Outlook: Warner Bros. is well-positioned heading into 2019 and should get off to a hot start thanks to The LEGO Movie 2 and Shazam!, Godzilla: King of the Monsters stomps into theaters next summer along with Detective Pikachu and a third Annabelle film, while the fall brings IT Chapter 2 (a sequel to the highest-grossing horror movie of all time) as well as a highly-anticipated Joker movie starring Joaquin Phoenix.

Sony Pictures

Grade: B

Shot Caller: Tom Rothman

Highlights: Venom, Hotel Transylvania 3, Peter Rabbit

Lowlights: The Girl In the Spider's Web, The Front Runner

Takeaways: Sony actually had a decent year, especially since Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was a Christmas Day release last year but made the bulk of its enormous gross in 2018, taking in an additional $235 million at the domestic box office. You have to give Sony credit for successfully expanding the Spider-Man universe with Venom, which many industry observers had expected to fail, only to watch it post the all-time best worldwide October debut and outgross Wonder Woman on its way to a global haul of $852 million. Tom Rothman had a lot riding on Venom but he got the last laugh, and now Sony is pressing ahead with movies based on Morbius the Living Vampire, Kraven the Hunter and Spider-Gwen. The latter film will be animated, just like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which posted the biggest opening weekend for an animated movie opening in December, and appears to be the frontrunner for an animation Oscar this February. Looking at the bigger picture, Sony's slate brought in $3.6 billion worldwide, with domestic box office up 20 percent over last year, and international box office up 17 percent. Jumanji was actually Sony's highest domestic grosser, not just this year, but of all time, and it also ranks as the studio's second-highest grossing movie worldwide, behind only Skyfall. Elsewhere, Sony found success with animated films such as Peter Rabbit, which grossed $351 million worldwide and became Sony's highest-grossing film ever in the UK. Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation did even better, grossing $527 million worldwide, sending the franchise past the $1 billion mark worldwide en route to becoming Sony's biggest animated film of all time. Meanwhile, Denzel Washington can rest easy knowing that his first sequel, The Equalizer 2, crossed the $100 million mark stateside and topped the opening of the first film. The low-budget acquisition Searching was a solid performer, earning $73 million worldwide on a budget that simply had to have been under $5 million.

Sony's biggest misfire of the year appears to be The Girl In the Spider's Web, which cost $43 million and has grossed only $34 million worldwide. Let's hope the studio puts the Lisbeth Salander franchise on ice for a while. Sony's attempt to court black audiences didn’t really work, as both Proud Mary and Superfly each grossed $20 million stateside, which wasn't enough to cover their budgets when you take theater splits and marketing costs into account. White Boy Rick also missed the target in that regard despite an energetic trailer, and Studio 8 didn't fare much better with Alpha. Sony probably came close to breaking even on its Goosebumps and Sicario sequels (the latter an acquisition from Liongate), though the studio saw better returns with its low-budget Screen Gems titles like Slender Man and The Possession of Hannah Grace, which each cost around $10 million and managed to gross $50 million and $30 million, respectively, despite receiving little marketing attention. Those are two decent singles for a studio that needs to just get on base as often as possible. And finally, Jason Reitman's criminally ignored The Front Runner was DOA, taking in just $2 million at the domestic box office, making it a double shame, since to add insult to injury, awards pundits have largely dismissed its Oscar chances. The studio finished fourth in market share, though it had the second-highest number of releases.

Future Outlook: All things considered, pretty decent, given all the sequels and reboots. That list includes Spider-Man: Far From Home, Men in Black International, Charlie's Angels, Angry Birds 2 and the untitled Jumanji sequel, plus originals like Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the horror movie Brightburn from producer James Gunn, and an untitled Mister Rogers movie starring Tom Hanks.

20th Century Fox

Grade: B

Shot Caller: Stacey Snider

Highlights: Deadpool 2; Bohemian Rhapsody; Maze Runner: The Death Cure; Love, Simon

Lowlights: The Predator; Widows, The Darkest Minds; Bad Times at the El Royale

Takeaways: Make no mistake, Deadpool 2 was a monster hit for Fox with a global haul of $740 million, but that's still $40 million less than the first film made. To be fair, Fox's tentpole cost about half of what most Marvel movies cost, making the profit margin that much sweeter for the studio. Bohemian Rhapsody was a high note for Fox, opening to more than $50 million at the domestic box office en route to grossing nearly $650 million worldwide. The crowdpleaser is still a dark horse contender for a Best Picture nomination this year, even with the Bryan Singer controversy and poor reviews hanging over its head. Fox also had a pair of YA hits this year between Maze Runner: The Death Cure ($288 million worldwide) and Love, Simon, which grossed $66 million globally on a budget of just $17 million. That was an important film for gay youth, just as The Hate U Give also brought important social issues to the forefront, though it didn't perform quite as well as Simon. But hey, on the bright side, it performed more than twice as well as The Darkest Minds did stateside.

On the flip side of the coin, $160 and $151 million should be solid grosses for The Predator and Red Sparrow, but both of those films cost too much, and as such, they'll be modest money losers for the studio. The same goes for Bad Times at the El Royale, which failed to find an audience both here and overseas. And finally, Fox struggled to wring the most out of Widows, which has stalled out around $41 million at the domestic box office and failed to make an impact on awards voters and critics groups.

Future Outlook: Technically non-existent since Disney bought Fox, which is bringing at least two of James Cameron's Avatar sequels to the table. But the studio keeps bumping Alita: Battle Angel and the X-Men movies Dark Phoenix and New Mutants, making fanboys nervous. The studio does have some intriguing adult fare, such as Brad Pitt's space movie Ad Astra, Joe Wright's The Woman In the Window starring Amy Adams, and a Christian Bale-Matt Damon racing movie from Logan director James Mangold. We'll also get a Kingsman prequel from Matthew Vaughn, The Kid Who Would Be King from Joe Cornish, and the animated movie Spies in Disguise, featuring the voices of Will Smith and Tom Holland.

Paramount Pictures

Grade: B

Shot Caller: Jim Gianopulos

Highlights: Mission: Impossible - Fallout; A Quiet Place; Book Club

Lowlights: Overlord; Action Point

Takeaways: Paramount only released nine films this year, which is why its market share was less than a quarter of the size of Disney's, but the studio made its big swings count. Mission: Impossible - Fallout was the highest-grossing film in the franchise and delivered action thrills on a level rarely seen these days. Sources tell me Paramount's marketing team was worried about A Quiet Place until it played through the roof at SXSW. Then the department got behind the film in a big way, guiding it to a worldwide gross of $340 million worldwide -- not bad for a dialogue-light movie that only cost $17 million. A Quiet Place is also on the fringes of the awards conversation, which represents an added bonus. Paramount's acquisitions team also deserves props for picking up Book Club, which tickled older audiences to the tune of $68 million at the domestic box office. Paramount's holiday comedy Instant Family grossed a respectable $61 million stateside. The only problem is that it cost nearly $50 million. That's simply too expensive, and I suspect that Mark Wahlberg's hefty star salary played a significant part in the cost. It's not the kind of project that he should've lowered his quote for, necessarily, but the studio has to figure out how to make that movie for $30 million or less.

Paramount also left money on the table with Nobody's Fool, which took in $31 million domestically, though it might've done better if the studio had used Tyler Perry's name more in the marketing. Looking at the poster, you'd never guess that Perry directed that Tiffany Haddish comedy. Paramount's lone animated movie, Sherlock Gnomes, performed half as well as its 2011 predecessor Gnomeo and Juliet, so that was a modest money loser, and the same can be said for Johnny Knoxville's woeful "comedy" Action Point, which limped its way to a $5 million in theaters. The film didn't cost that much, but it's still a red flag on Paramount's 2018 resume. Which brings us to... Netflix, of all places. Paramount likely dodged a box office bullet by selling The Cloverfield Paradox to the streaming service, which also handled international distribution on Annihilation. Paramount was probably smart to sell off those rights, as Annihilation topped out at $32 million stateside, dividing critics and confounding audiences.

Future Outlook: Much better than before. Gianopulos has stabilized the studio, which has the well-reviewed Transformers spinoff Bumblebee flying into theaters this weekend. Next year brings a new Terminator movie from the director of Deadpool; Ang Lee's ambitious tentpole Gemini Man starring Will Smith; live-action movies based on Dora the Explorer and Sonic the Hedgehog; a remake of Stephen King's Pet Sematary; and the Elton John biopic Rocketman, which Paramount hopes will become next year's Bohemian Rhapsody.

Lionsgate

Grade: C-

Shot Caller: Jon Feltheimer

Highlights: A Simple Favor; Overboard; The Commuter

Lowlights: Robin Hood; Hunter Killer

Takeaways: It was a pretty mediocre year for Lionsgate coming on the heels of its 2017 campaign, which saw the release of hits like Wonder, John Wick: Chapter 2, and The Hitman's Bodyguard, not to mention Power Rangers and The Shack. None of this year's films remotely approached those, though the scrappy Liam Neeson movie The Commuter scored $119 million worldwide on the strength of its international box office. But besides that, the best Lionsgate could do was a remake of Overboard starring Anna Faris and Eugenio Derbez, and the Paul Feig mystery A Simple Favor starring Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively. Both of those films cracked the $90 million mark worldwide, while Tyler Perry's Acrimony and Uncle Drew could only manage half that number. The Spy Who Dumped Me was a modest performer, taking in $75 million worldwide, but it wasn't enough to make up for the huge loss on Robin Hood, which grossed the same amount but at $100 million, cost more than twice as much. Lionsgate also released CBS Films' genre efforts Winchester and Hellfest, neither of which really resonated with audiences, while Hunter Killer sank like a stone, grossing just $15 million stateside. Lionsgate gambled on some smaller indie movies as well, like Kin and Blindspotting, though neither one were able to breakout as hoped.

Future Outlook: Lionsgate is poised to rebound in a major way next year, as 2019 brings John Wick: Chapter 3; a new Hellboy movie starring David Harbour from Stranger Things; the big-budget tentpole Chaos Walking starring Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley; the Liam Neeson action movie Cold Pursuit; the Seth Rogen comedy Flarsky; the Olympus Has Fallen sequel Angel Has Fallen; a Guillermo del Toro-produced adaptation of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark; a new Madea movie from Tyler Perry; Roland Emmerich's war movie Midway; and Rian Johnson's star-studded murder mystery Knives Out. Yeah, next year is going to be much more prosperous for Lionsgate, so just be patient. Not every year can be boffo at the box office.

Netflix

Grade: A-

Shot Caller: Scott Stuber

Highlights: Roma; Set It Up; The Kissing Booth; To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Lowlights: The Cloverfield Paradox, Ibiza

Takeaways: Netflix movies, for the most part, aren’t released in theaters, so this grade is based on buzz rather than box office. While Netflix takes more swings than any other studio given its deep pockets, you still have to give the streaming service credit, as this was the year it took a major leap forward. Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma is in the awards race and more importantly, it’s also in theaters, as Netflix finally gave in to pressure from filmmakers and demand from audiences and decided to release select titles before they’re available on the service. Besides Cuarón, Netflix found itself in business with Paul Greengrass, Tamara Jenkins, Nicole Holofcener, Gareth Evans, Duncan Jones, Jeremy Saulnier, David Mackenzie, Andy Serkis and J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, not to mention the Coen Brothers, whose anthology film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs appeared on AFI’s top-10 list. Netflix scored three major surprise hits with Set It Up, The Kissing Booth and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, which spawned an upcoming sequel. The streamer also unleashed solid genre movies like The Ritual and Calibre, struck a deal with Paramount for international rights to Annihilation, and dropped The Christmas Chronicles during the holidays, which reportedly drew 20 million viewers in its first week of release. And have I mentioned that The Package was one of the funniest films I saw all year? Netflix still didn't release a movie that could, conceivably, gross $100 million in a theater, and they need something like that. Something big like Bright, but good like Roma. I'd also like to see Netflix make a play for more documentaries, as this year's top docs belong to Focus, Neon, NatGeo and Hulu.

Future Outlook: 2018 was a big year for Netflix,the year the industry started taking them seriously, but the streamer is poised to leap to the next level in 2019. Martin Scorsese will finally turn in his long-gestating hitman opus The Irishman, while Netflix will release its most expensive film ever, Michael Bay's Six Underground starring Ryan Reynolds. Dee Rees will deliver The Last Thing He Wanted, her follow-up to Mudbound that stars Ben Affleck and Anne Hathaway. Netflix will also release the Adam Sandler-Jennifer Aniston comedy Murder Mystery, Steven Soderbergh's Panama Papers drama The Laundromat starring Meryl Streep and the horror movie Eli, which the streaming service recently acquired from Paramount. Elsewhere, the streamer is planning a theatrical release for the Ben Affleck-Oscar Isaac thriller Triple Frontier, and the company is developing a new Narnia movie, a new Pinocchio, and a Carmen Sandiego movie. Those are in addition to nifty genre titles like The Perfection, Fracture, Lost Girls, In the Shadow of the Moon, Point Blank, Wonderland and Rebecca.

Amazon Studios

Grade: D

Shot Callers: Jennifer Salke; Ted Hope; Matt Newman

Highlights: Beautiful Boy; Cold War; You Were Never Really Here

Lowlights: Gringo; Life Itself; Suspiria

Takeaways: Listen, I loved Beautiful Boy. It’s my second-favorite movie of the year. But it was also Amazon’s top grosser at a measly $7 million. It just wasn't a good year for the studio despite working with Gus Van Sant, Luca Guadagnino, Lynne Ramsey and Dan Fogelman, whose Life Itself was considered a true embarrassment by many critics, though oddly enough, not myself. I just didn’t care for the first act. Either way, Amazon bought it for $10 million and it didn't even gross half of that. Neither of the studio’s Joaquin Phoenix films performed, and Suspiria, for all the excitement surrounding its release, was a major flop and extremely divisive. Jennifer Salke recently came aboard to steer the ship, and frankly, this ship needs steering. I still believe in the work that Amazon does, and I like that they're working with world-class filmmakers on cool indie projects, but they need to think a bit more commercial-minded if they’re going to survive in this harsh Hollywood landscape.

Future Outlook: Honestly, it's not great. Amazon's big awards hope next year will be The Aeronauts starring Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones and a hot air balloon. The studio co-produced the Ansel Elgort-Nicole Kidman movie The Goldfinch, but Warner Bros. will release that film in theaters. Amazon has Mike Leigh's Peterloo, Marjane Satrapi's Radioactive starring Rosamund Pike as Marie Curie, and the dramedy Troop Zero, which stars recent Oscar winners Viola Davis and Allison Janney, and hails from Beasts of the Southern Wild co-writer Lucy Alibar. The studio still has no idea what to do with Woody Allen's star-studded A Rainy Day in New York, which hangs like an albatross around its neck. Amazon will have to find more commercial projects if it wants to compete with Netflix and the major studios, because the risky indie approach just isn't working for them.

STXfilms

Grade: D+

Shot Caller: Robert Simonds

Highlights: I Feel Pretty

Lowlights: Mile 22; Adrift; The Happytime Murders; Gringo

Takeaways: STX has been busy churning out generic programmers and those films performed right in line with expectations. I mean, you get what you pay for, which is why Den of Thieves, Mile 22 and Peppermint all grossed between $35 million and $45 million. STX may see that as their sweet spot, but I think they’d like to see those grosses in the $55 million to $75 million range. The studio’s biggest hit, believe it or not, didn’t rely on any gunshots of explosions. It was the Amy Schumer comedy I Feel Pretty, which took in $48 million and was actually pretty good. Elsewhere, Shailene Woodley’s survival drama Adrift was left stranded by audiences, taking in $31 million, and The Happytime Murders laughed its way to $20 million — and some of the worst reviews of the year, though those snooty critics certainly don’t represent my opinion of the film. Having said that, STX also released Gringo, which was so silly, and appropriately ignored by audiences to the tune of less than $5 million despite its big-name cast.

Future Outlook: STX has the Jennifer Lopez comedy Second Act opening this weekend and next year brings the Bryan Cranston-Kevin Hart dramedy The Upside as well as the Taraji P. Henson-Sam Rockwell drama The Best of Enemies. It'll be interesting to see if Hart's recent Oscar host controversy will have any affect on The Upside. It would be a shame, as Hart is said to be quite good in the film, and STX can't afford a flop, even if that film was rescued from the whole Weinstein Company scandal. STX also has the Chadwick Boseman thriller 17 Bridges, which could be a very smart play for them given the success of Black Panther, and the company will also release an UglyDolls movie next May.

Focus Features

Grade: B-

Shot Caller: Peter Kujawski

Highlights: BlacKkKlansman; Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Lowlights: The Little Stranger

Takeaways: I can’t say it was a great year for Focus Features, even though the studio released a really solid slate this year. Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman was a nice hit with $48 million, as was the acclaimed Mister Rogers documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? ($22 million), and last year’s awards movies Darkest Hour and Phantom Thread also performed well at the beginning of the year. And yet, while I loved Tully and Boy Erased, those films stalled out at $9 million and $5 million, respectively, when both really should be around $20 million. Meanwhile, Thoroughbreds failed to capitalize on its clever marketing campaign, while The Little Stranger must’ve been too small to resonate with audiences despite hailing from the director of Room, as it received a two-week released on less than 500 screens where it earned less than $1 million. Even the little-seen 7 Days in Entebbe and the studio’s Pope Francis documentary performed better than that.

Future Outlook: Focus will release the Ruth Bader Ginsburg movie On the Basis of Sex on Christmas Day. It has Neil Jordan's thriller Greta starring Isabelle Huppert and Chloe Grace Moretz coming out in the spring along with Rupert Wyatt's sci-fi movie Captive State; the Matthias Schoenaerts horse drama The Mustang; Asghar Farhadi's Everybody Knows starring Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz. None smell like obvious commercial hits, but fear not, for Focus will release the Downton Abbey movie next fall.

A24 Films

Grade: B-

Shot Caller: David Fenkel; Daniel Katz

Highlights: Hereditary; Eighth Grade

Lowlights: How to Talk to Girls at Parties, Never Goin' Back

Takeaways: It was a mixed year for A24, which released the biggest release in its short history, Hereditary, which took in $44 million — a strong showing for an original horror movie. Eighth Grade and Mid-90s both won plaudits for their first-time filmmakers and young stars, but those films only took in $13 million and $7 million, respectively. After that came First Reformed ($3 million) and Lean on Pete ($1 million), but nothing else cracked seven-figures, as The Children Act, How to Talk to Girls at Parties, Never Goin’ Back, Woman Walks Ahead, A Prayer Before Dawn and The Last Movie Star failed to resonate with audiences, though I will give Dawn a shout-out, as I caught that one on VOD and it was pretty damn intense, with an excellent lead performance from Joe Cole.

Future Outlook: A24 has an eclectic slate. There's no obvious breakout, but the company has such a unique approach to marketing that it's way too early to tell. Studios are predictable in terms of marketing, but with A24, there's no telling to which way or how far they could go with something. They've got the quirky comedy Gloria Bell starring Julianne Moore; High Life, a trippy sci-fi movie from Claire Denis starring Robert Pattinson; David Robert Mitchell's Under the Silver Lake starring Andrew Garfield; Janicza Bravo's Zola, based on the viral stripper saga; Ari Aster's untitled follow-up to Hereditary; Gaspar Noe's hellish dance movie Climax; and an adaptation of Richard Wright's Native Son starring Ashton Sanders of Moonlight fame.

Fox Searchlight Pictures

Grade: C+

Shot Caller: Stephen Gilula; Nancy Jacobs

Highlights: Winning Best Picture for The Shape of Water

Lowlights: None

Takeaways: Sorry, but I refuse to call Can You Ever Forgive Me? a lowlight just because it only grossed $7 million domestic. The studio gets a three-year pass for winning Best Picture, just like how in sports, a team gets a five-year pass in my book after it wins a championship. It had a solid slate this year, but it's biggest release was Wes Anderson's animated Isle of Dogs, which grossed $32 million both here and abroad. The Favourite, like Can You Ever Forgive Me?, is sitting at around $7 million, but Searchlight has been executing a careful, patient rollout strategy with that film and so far it seems to be working. The Old Man & the Gun out-grossed both of those films with $11 million, but again, nothing seemed to break out like The Shape of Water or Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

Future Outlook: Murky. Fox Searchlight is expected to retain its autonomy once it comes under Disney ownership. I don't know why Disney would want to mess with a good thing. This is the most trusted brand in indie cinema alongside Focus Features. Next year brings the Keira Knightley war drama The Aftermath and Scott Cooper's horror movie Antlers starring Keri Russell and Jesse Plemons.

Neon

Grade: C

Shot Caller: Tom Quinn; Tim League

Highlights: Three Identical Strangers

Lowlights: Assassination Nation; Gemini

Takeaways: Remember A24’s entry? The same can be said for Neon, which saw its Sundance acquisition Three Identical Strangers gross $12 million to become its top-grossing 2018 release, not counting all the money 2017’s I, Tonya made early in the year. But the rest of Neon’s acquisitions came up short. Assassination Nation came with a $10 million price tag but only managed to scare up $2 million. It got worse from there, as Border, Monsters and Men, Borg vs. McEnroe, Gemini, Bodied and Revenge all failed to gross $1 million, even though half those movies are really good.

Future Outlook: I actually like Neon's indie slate next year, which include Harmony Korine's The Beach Bum starring Matthew McConaughey and Zac Efron, as well as the Toronto acquisition Wild Rose, which is said to feature a breakout performance from Jessie Buckley. They're also releasing the crowdpleasing documentary about male strippers, This One's for the Ladies, over Valentine's Day weekend, which seems like a smart play to me.

Bleecker Street Films

Grade: C-

Shot Caller: Andrew Karpen

Highlights: Leave No Trace

Lowlights: Unsane; Papillon

Takeaways: Bleecker Street also had a mixed year, as none of its films really managed to break out in any significant way. Unsane was its only wide release and it only took in $7 million. Leave No Trace, Collette and Beirut all grossed between $5 million and $6 million, so they were nice singles for the company, though Disobedience and Papillon seemed to disappear from theaters all too quickly. The McQueen documentary crossed the $1 million mark, so that’s a solid win for the budding distributor.

Future Outlook: TBD. This is a company that relies on acquisitions, not development. Stay tuned.

Roadside Attractions

Grade: B+

Shot Caller: Howard Cohen; Eric d'Arbeloff

Highlights: I Can Only Imagine

Lowlights: The Oath; Lizzie

Takeaways: Roadside had its best year yet thanks to the faith-based film I Can Only Imagine, which grossed an impressive $83 million worldwide. Likewise, Forever My Girl was a nice single for the studio, taking in $16 million. Oddly enough, it’s the films I’ve actually heard of that bombed with audiences, such as Beast, The Party, Lizzie, and The Oath, all of which failed to crack the $1 million mark. That’s a shame, particularly in the case Lizzie and The Oath, which boasted stars like Kristen Stewart and Tiffany Haddish. Roadside also released the Whitney Houston documentary and Sundance hit Juliet, Naked to the tune of $3 million apiece.

Future Outlook: Roadside could be a player in the Oscar race next year with Judy, which stars Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland. She's said to be very good in the film, and we all know Zellweger has it in her, so I'll be rooting for her comeback in that role.

Annapurna Pictures

Grade: Incomplete

Shot Caller: Megan Ellison

Highlights: Sorry to Bother You

Lowlights: The Sisters Brothers

Takeaways: It's hard to judge Annapurna at this point. On one hand, you have to give the company credit for Sorry to Bother You, which became the highest-grossing film in its history as a distributor with $17 million domestic. I was not a fan of Sorry to Bother You but Annapurna got critics and audiences to take it seriously and it had a genuine moment in indie film culture this year, so hats off to them for supporting Boots Riley's unique vision and acquiring the film at Sundance. The Sisters Brothers boasted a far starrier cast between Jake Gyllenhaal, Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly, but hardly anyone saw that film, which I happened to think was one of the best Westerns in years. It was one of those releases where you had to ask yourself, "Does Annapurna actually expect to make money on this artistic endeavor?" We'll see if the same question applies to Barry Jenkins' Moonlight follow-up If Beale Street Could Talk, which is currently playing in limited release. It'll expand into more theaters on Christmas Day, and it earned a Golden Globe nod for Best Picture. So did Vice, which hits theaters on Christmas Day and has already proven to be very divisive among critics. Still, it led the Golden Globe nominations, and Annapurna's other Christmas Day release Destroyer picked up a Globe nod for Best Actress in a Drama on behalf of Nicole Kidman. Again, I don't know how commercial that film will prove to be, which is why Annapurna's report card is incomplete for now.

Future Outlook: A little shaky, to be honest. Annapurna was dogged by pesky "What is going on over there?" rumors throughout the fall, which saw the exit of its film president Chelsea Barnard. Ellison needs to right the ship, as perception is everything in this town, even if money is what ultimately talks. Still, I didn't love that first trailer for Richard Linklater's adaptation of Where'd You Go Bernadette, which feels like it kind of, maybe should've been directed by a female filmmaker. Elsewhere, Annapurna has LAIKA's animated movie The Missing Link, which could surprise next year, as well as Olivia Wilde's high school comedy Booksmart, which I imagine will be sold as the Lady Bird of 2019 or something like that. The company needs more commercial titles and has been jettisoning smaller projects that don't fit its new mandate.

MGM

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Grade: B-

Shot Caller: Jonathan Glickman

Highlights: Creed II; Overboard

Lowlights: Death Wish; Operation Finale

Takeaways: MGM had itself a hit in Creed II, which managed to replicate the success of the first film at the domestic box office. The only real problem with Creed II is that it cost $15 million more than the first film, according to Box Office Mojo. I know everyone gets a bump on a sequel and you're bringing in Dolph Lundgren this time around, but this film probably should've been a little cheaper, at least compared to the original. That said, the sequel is performing 65 percent better internationally than Ryan Coogler's Creed, not including releases in China or Korea, where the first film wasn't released. MGM also produced the Overboard remake starring Eugenio Derbez, which proved to be a solid investment, as it grossed $50 million at the domestic box office and $26 million in Mexico on a $14 million budget. Further proof that it pays to cater to Latinx audiences these days. Meanwhile, Death Wish and Operation Finale both failed to make a dent stateside, even though the latter film was actually not bad.

Future Outlook: Well, they've got Daniel Craig coming back for Bond 25, so that's a pretty big deal, but it doesn't arrive until 2020. Instead, next year brings the Dwayne Johnson wrestling movie Fighting with My Family; the Dirty Rotten Scoundrels update The Hustle starring Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson; an animated Addams Family movie featuring the voice of Oscar Isaac; and MGM's Orion label will release a remake of Child's Play.

Everyone Else

Grade: Global Road (D-); Aviron (C); Entertainment Studios (C)

Shot Callers: Too many to count.

Takeaways: It was a brutal year for Global Road, which came up short time after time between Midnight Sun, Hotel Artemis and A.X.L., all of which grossed between $6 million and $9 million, though Show Dogs barked its way to $17 million thanks to all those adorable puppies. Aviron had Strangers: Prey at Night and A Private War. With the exception of one fantastic sequence, the Strangers sequel was a forgettable disappointment, though it held its own at the box office, taking in $24 million stateside. However, there's little buzz surrounding A Private War, which boasts a fearless performance from Rosamund Pike, who earned a Golden Globe nod for her troubles. The film itself is far from perfect, but it happens to be pretty good, which is why it should've performed better. And finally, Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios managed to get the Ted Kennedy drama Chappaquiddick to $17 million, but The Hurricane Heist could only muster $6 million. At least Christian Bale's late-2017 release Hostiles took in the bulk of its $30 million domestic gross in 2018.

Future Outlook: Who knows what is going to happen with Global Road and its finished films such as the Johnny Depp thriller City of Lies and the Playmobil movie? Aviron is set to release at least two films that intrigue me -- the Matthew McConaughey-Anne Hathaway thriller Serenity and the Joel Kinnaman-Rosamund Pike crime movie The Informer. The company is also releasing the YA sensation After, which will either become the next Twilight, or the next movie that tried to be Twilight and failed and you never heard of it again. Entertainment Studios will release the Keanu Reeves movie Replicas and Joe Carnahan's action movie Boss Level starring Frank Grillo, Naomi Watts and Mel Gibson.