8. Biggest Surprise - A Great Year For Blockbuster Movies
Much like every other year, 2014 brought plenty of big-budget blockbusters to the multiplex that featured the usual mixture of sequels, reboots, remakes and even (gasp) the occasional original property. While the quality of these movies tends to be decidedly hit-or-miss (with last year notoriously loaded with box office bombs), looking back this year turned out to be one of the best in recent memory for blockbuster fare. Yes, there were some disappointments (Transformers: Age of Extinction, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) but the bad far outweighed the good. Superhero fans were treated to Captain America: The Winter Soldier, X-Men: Days of Future Past and Guardians of the Galaxy, sci-fi aficionados had their pick from Edge of Tomorrow, Godzilla, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Interstellar, fans of animated movies were treated to The Lego Movie and How to Train Your Dragon 2 and comedy was well-represented by Neighbors and 22 Jump Street. All told, 2014 turned out to be a fantastic year for blockbuster movies that provided something for audiences of all ages. With the number of high-profile projects set for release next year, 2015 has a lot to live up to.
Runner Up - Edgar Wright Leaves Ant-Man
When the news broke in May that Edgar Wright had left Marvel Studios' Ant-Man just three months before the start of principal photography, it came as a huge surprise. Everybody involved had been hugely enthusiastic about the project, and Wright had been attached to Ant-Man since way back in 2006, before the Marvel Cinematic Universe ever existed. Peyton Reed was hired after a very public search for a replacement, and the project has now finished shooting and is still set for release next July. While it came as a shock at the time, looking back it doesn't seem like such a surprise; given Wright's previous work Ant-Man would be markedly different from anything the studio had done before, and it's unlikely he would compromise his smart writing and stylish visuals in order to follow the standard Marvel template.
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