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Top 10 Highest-Grossing NEON Movies, Ranked
One of the most notable trends defining modern independent filmmaking has been the rise of signature distribution companies specializing in experimental and auteurist works. One of the most prominent and successful is NEON, with an array of beautiful and exciting films released under their banner year after year. Since their creation in 2017, they have found themselves distributing some of the most prominent and successful indie films of recent memory, quickly cementing themselves as a powerhouse in the film space.
While the box office numbers for these independent films aren’t nearly as massive as a standard blockbuster, the most successful and highest-grossing part of NEON’s filmography shows signs of increased quality and popularity in independent films. From budding awards films that rode the waves of the awards circuit to striking horror films that hit hard among select audiences, NEON’s biggest success stories are filled with variety and distinct visions.
The most successful out of the various documentaries that NEON has released, Moonage Daydream is a cinematic journey of vibrant colors and mystical energy exploring the life of acclaimed musician David Bowie. The film made use of previously unreleased footage from Bowie’s archives with a mixture of live concert footage and classic interviews to create a complete and fully compassionate love letter to Bowie’s life and music.
Documentaries are seldom major box office hits, but the allure and intrigue surrounding Bowie, combined with Moonage Daydream‘s appeal of having the same wild and psychedelic energy of his music, made it a wild success. While it only made $4.2 million at the domestic box office, it managed to earn another $9.6 million in International markets, proving the longevity and worldwide appeal of Bowie’s music and character.
A powerful and poignant historical drama from acclaimed director Pablo Larraín, Spencer sees Kristen Stewart as the legendary Princess Diana during one of the most important weekends of her life when she decided to end her marriage to Prince Charles. As she deals with her inner turmoil and the mental strain of her decision, Diana has numerous conversations with her closest confidants about how to approach and tackle such a difficult and painful situation.
Princess Diana was one of the most recognizable and iconic public figures of the late 20th century, and Spencer is one of the few films that truly gives her legacy and struggles the justice they deserved. One of the biggest draws from the film was certainly the brilliant leading performance from Kristen Stewart, who was even nominated for Best Actress at The Academy Awards for her efforts. The film earned over half of its worldwide gross due to international markets, with $9.4 million at the international box office compared to $7.0 million at the domestic box office.
A beautiful story of the simplicity and melancholy nature of life through the perspective of a blue-collar worker, Perfect Days is the type of sweet, beautiful reminder of the wonders of life that everyone deserves from time to time. The film follows the story of Hirayama, who, despite his simple life of cleaning the toilets of Tokyo, consistently finds ways to enjoy his passions and has a powerful, always optimistic look at life. His view on life soon garners the attention of those around him, who take an interest in learning more about his past and how he came to be.
It’s difficult to find a recent release more uplifting and positive than Perfect Days, which exudes a joyous energy for the world and everything that is taken for granted day after day. It became one of the defining films to come out of Japan, earning a nomination for Best International Film and near-unanimous praise from critics around the world. On top of earning millions in the domestic market and in Japan, the film became a surprise hit in Italy, where it earned the most in a single country at $6.1 million.
Riding off of the success of experimental horror as well as the growing star power of Sydney Sweeney, Immaculate quickly became a horror sensation as one of the defining horror experiences of the year. The film sees Sweeney as an American nun who finds herself joining a remote convent in the Italian countryside. Soon after joining, she realizes the sinister secrets surrounding her new home, challenging her worldview and perspective.
Sweeney has proved herself to be one of the biggest and most defining stars of the modern era, drawing in audiences with her star power in a wide variety of different genres and concepts. Immaculate tapped into her inherent star power on top of the continued success that independent horror has been seeing recently, helping earn $15.6 million at the domestic box office. Even on top of its box office success, the film continues to find a new life and audience after its release on digital platforms.
A Palme d’Or winner that rode the early word of mouth and success into a successful box office run and a nomination for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, Triangle of Sadness‘s comical satire of the upper class helped it find success around the world. The film follows a variety of extravagant and wealthy people attending a high-end luxury cruise that, after a series of innocuous events, slowly transforms the getaway into an explosion of depravity and chaos.
Much like Ruben Östlund’s other films, Triangle of Sadness doesn’t hold back when it comes to the dark and sometimes uncomfortable aspects of its comedy, taking an intellectual approach to a mass vomiting spree. While this in-your-face style of black comedy proved to find an audience in domestic markets, the vast majority of this film’s success came from international markets. $28.2 million was earned at the box office in international markets, helping cement the film as one of NEON’s biggest success stories to date.
The Best Picture nominated and Palme d’Or winning court drama that took the world by storm and became a critical sensation, Anatomy of a Fall is a masterclass in mystery and tension. The film follows the surprising death of Samuel Maleski, who seemingly fell out of his attic window in an accident and died on impact from the fall. However, when an investigation into the death brings into question the possibility of his wife, Sandra Voyter, pushing him, it becomes up to the testimony of their child, the visually impaired Daniel, to find the truth.
Any film that wins a prestigious award like the Palme d’Or is going to receive a great deal of attention and appeal from around the world. Anatomy of a Fall furthered its success thanks to its multitude of strengths and positives. While it made the most of its box office earnings in France, it would find similar audiences around the world on the back of its numerous Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.
From legendary director Michael Mann, Ferrari is a notable outlier when it comes to NEON’s highest-grossing films, as it was given much more marketing and had a higher budget than most other films in their catalog. The film follows the uprising of automotive mogul Enzo Ferrari, who redefined the very ideals and concepts of what an Italian sports car could be, changing the industry forever. At the same time, his involvement with the industry would directly create the concept of Formula One racing as it is known.
Ferrari is an interesting case when it comes to the discussion of the box office compared to NEON’s other films. While it touts higher earnings than NEON’s independent outings, Ferrari is widely considered to be a box office bomb. With a $95 million production budget, the film needed to be significantly more successful in the theatrical window to return a profit, something that was impossible when facing steep competition like Wonka and The Color Purple. Still, the film proves that a failed blockbuster will have a higher box office than a successful low-budget indie film.
One of NEON’s first massive hits that put them on the map in terms of independent distribution and awards to budding filmmakers, I, Tonya was one of the most acclaimed historical biopics of recent memory. The film follows the story of competitive ice skater Tonya Harding, played by Margot Robbie, as she rises through the ranks at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships as one of the scene’s biggest stars of all time. However, her future success in the sport is soon placed in jeopardy after she is implicated in a horrific, career-ending crime.
While it didn’t necessarily have a wide release in theaters, I, Tonya expertly navigated its limited release, leveraging the massive critical acclaim and various Academy Awards nominations to keep people’s interest throughout awards season. Tonya Harding’s story also lends itself perfectly to the historical biopic format, telling a strange and unbelievable real-life tale that makes for a perfect cinematic experience.
The recent smash horror hit that quickly became a cultural phenomenon thanks to its ingenious marketing campaign and terrifying underlying concepts, Longlegs has risen to be the quintessential horror experience of 2024. The film follows special FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) on her quest to bring the culprit behind several dastardly family murder-suicides to justice. However, as she grows closer and closer to solving the mystery behind the killer, Longlegs (Nicolas Cage), she comes to realize that she has a closer personal connection to the killer than she previously assumed.
In the same vein as horror films like The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity, Longlegs achieved massive box office success thanks to an ingenious marketing campaign that made use of social media. This overall building of mystery and confusion in its marketing campaign, combined with acclaim from critics across the board, created the perfect storm that made the film a horror smash hit. It is continuing to make a killing at the box office, becoming one of the top 20 highest-grossing films of 2024 so far and NEON’s highest-grossing film domestically.
While Longlegs may become NEON’s highest-grossing film in the domestic marketplace, the global appeal and success of Parasite creates a massive gap that easily makes it NEON’s highest-grossing film. One of the most critically acclaimed films of the past 5 years, Parasite follows a struggling, unemployed family who find themselves one-by-one getting effective jobs working for the well-off Park family while also lying about their relation to one another. While all seems to be good with a steady income from the family, an uncovered secret threatens to destroy everything they’ve worked for.
Even just talking about the domestic box office, Parasite became the rare international film to be a smash-hit phenomenon, earning $53 million in the domestic marketplace following all the hype and its iconic Best Picture win. However, the domestic box office is far from the full picture, as the film also found similar levels of success in countries around the world. Parasite earned $71 million in its home country of South Korea, $43 million in Japan, and much more money across the world as it quickly became one of the most defining cinematic experiences of all time.
Source: Collider
