The complete lack of originality found in Hollywood is something I have personally been disappointed with for a countless number of years now.  Seemingly every heavily-marketed flick is based upon something else, whether it be a novel a comic book or various other art forms –nobody can come up with a single original idea.  Well, not nobody, but the amount of innovation hitting theaters is very slim indeed, as pointed out by /Film in their dissection of the top 50 grossing movies of the decade so far.

Among this list, only 2 of the top 30 money-makers are original concepts — Disney-Pixar’s Finding Nemo (slotted at #15) and DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda (rounding out the top 30).  In fact, taking into consideration the entire list, only 9 of the top grossing movies are new ideas, and 5 of those 9 were created by Pixar.

1 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King New Line Cinema $1,119,110,941 2003
2 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest Disney $1,066,179,725 2006
3 The Dark Knight Warner Bros. $1,001,921,825 2008
4 Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Warner Bros. $974,733,550 2001
5 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End Disney $960,996,492 2007
6 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Warner Bros. $938,212,738 2007
7 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Warner Bros. $929,022,922 2009
8 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers New Line Cinema $925,282,504 2002
9 Shrek 2 DreamWorks SKG $919,838,758 2004
10 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Warner Bros. $895,921,036 2005
11 Spider-Man 3 Columbia $890,871,626 2007
12 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Warner Bros. $878,643,482 2002
13 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 20th Century Fox $878,615,229 2009
14 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring New Line Cinema $870,761,744 2001
15 Finding Nemo Disney / Pixar $864,625,978 2003
16 Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 20th Century Fox $848,754,768 2005
17 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Paramount $833,229,011 2009
18 Spider-Man Columbia $821,708,551 2002
19 Shrek the Third DreamWorks SKG $798,958,162 2007
20 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Warner Bros. $795,634,069 2004
21 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Paramount $786,636,033 2008
22 Spider-Man 2 Columbia $783,766,341 2004
23 The Da Vinci Code Sony / Columbia $758,239,851 2006
24 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Disney $745,011,272 2005
25 The Matrix Reloaded Warner Bros. $742,128,461 2003
26 Transformers DreamWorks / Paramount $709,709,780 2007
27 Ice Age: The Meltdown 20th Century Fox $655,388,158 2006
28 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Disney $654,264,015 2003
29 Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones 20th Century Fox $649,398,328 2002
30 Kung Fu Panda DreamWorks SKG $631,736,484 2008
31 The Incredibles Disney / Pixar $631,442,092 2004
32 Hancock Columbia $624,386,746 2008
33 Ratatouille Disney / Pixar $623,707,397 2007
34 The Passion of the Christ Newmarket $611,899,420 2004
35 Mamma Mia! Universal $609,841,637 2008
36 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa DreamWorks SKG $603,900,344 2008
37 Casino Royale MGM / Columbia $594,239,066 2006
38 War of the Worlds DreamWorks / Paramount $591,745,540 2005
39 Quantum of Solace MGM / Columbia $586,090,727 2008
40 I Am Legend Warner Bros. $585,349,010 2007
41 Iron Man Paramount $585,133,287 2008
42 Night at the Museum 20th Century Fox $574,480,450 2006
43 King Kong Universal $550,517,357 2005
44 Mission: Impossible II Paramount $546,388,105 2000
45 The Day After Tomorrow 20th Century Fox $544,272,402 2004
46 Madagascar DreamWorks SKG $532,680,671 2005
47 The Simpsons Movie 20th Century Fox $527,071,022 2007
48 Monsters, Inc. Disney / Pixar $525,366,597 2001
49 WALL-E Disney / Pixar $521,268,237 2008
50 Meet the Fockers Universal $516,642,939 2004

And this is exactly why I have so much respect for the animated movie genre, which always had a hard time establishing itself as a serious enough genre.  But time and time again, these studios churn out imaginative films in an otherwise stale; dried-up Hollywood.

Source(s):
Only Two of the Top 30 Grossing Films of This Decade Are Original [slashfilm]