A1Film Top 10 Films of 2023

Alpha1Media launches A1Film Top 10 Movies of 2023

London, UK (28 December 2023): Global media and entertainment firm Alpha1Media on December 28 launched its annual list of the top 10 best films from around the world which global cinema audiences enjoyed in 2023, as original, innovative auteur-led movies started to help rebalance the global box office with the previous dominance of superhero blockbusters.

The A1Film Top 10 Movies of 2023 surveys and highlights films from Hollywood, Bollywood, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Far East, which are reflective of the best of global popular cinema in 2023,Alpha1Media said.

“2023, as I stated at the start of the year, became the ‘The Year of Cinematic Inflection’ as cinema audiences flocked to cinemas to watch both new auteur-led original films as well the increasingly rarer high-quality franchise blockbusters,” said Talal Malik, Founding CEO and Writer-Producer of Alpha1Media.

“The year marked an overall decline in the quality and reception of superhero films, but the exception was disruptive as we will see with the A1Film Top 10 2023.”

Global box offices revenues are estimated to have shot up by 28% to $33.4 billion in 2023 compared with $26 billion in 2022, but still far from pre-pandemic revenues in 2019 at $42.3 billion.

Alpha1Media Founding CEO and Writer-Producer Talal Malik on March 27, 2023, published his exclusive perspective on ‘How the 1970s shaped the Hollywood blockbuster movie’ to mark the 50th Anniversary of ‘The Godfather’winning the Best Picture Oscar. On October 7, 2023, Talal Malik, as inspired by the film ‘Point Break’, conducted his first skydive in Dubai, released as a video titled ‘Point Break – #LiveLifeInTheSky’ on October 21, 2023, with help in inspiration through a motivational review video by Hollywood iconic actor and producer, Will Smith, after his own skydive in Dubai. On November 30, 2023, Talal Malik conducted his first interview with the iconic international film industry magazine, ‘Screen International’, founded in 134 years ago in 1889, about global cinema.

As an attendee of the Red Sea International Film Festival in December 2023, Talal Malik met with iconic Hollywood actor and producer Will Smith, with ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’, ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ and ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ actor Andrew Garfield (having attended both the European Film Premiere of ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ on June 18, 2012, and the World Premiere of ‘The Amazing Spider-Man on April 10, 2014), with director Terry Gilliam, who directed ‘12 Monkeys’ and ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen’ and with actor John Rhys Davies, who most memorably portrayed the Egyptian excavator Sallah opposite Hollywood movie star Harrison Ford in the iconic ‘Indiana Jones’ film franchise, including in 2023’s final entry, ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’. On December 8, 2023, Talal Malik on behalf of Alpha1Media marked the 100th anniversary of the iconic Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, with their commemoration fully endorsed on the anniversary day by the Hollywood Sign Trust itself.

At the start of 2023, as part of the A1Film Preview for 2023, Talal Malik had said, “2023 therefore can be potentially ‘The Year of Cinematic Inflection’, with many talent, especially A1Film Awards winners, having significant transition points in their careers: with new ventures such as Christopher Nolan’s first film outside his traditional studio at Warner Bros, Martin Scorsese teaming up with his greatest muses Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio for the first time, in India, Shah Rukh Khan and hit director Rajkumar Hirani teaming up for the first time whilst in China, Jackie Chan and Jing Wu also collaborate across generations; with completion arcs, such as Denis Villeneuve completing ‘Dune’ with its sequel [postponed to 2024], Tom Cruise commencing the end of his ‘Mission: Impossible’ franchise, and Sylvester Stallone handing over ‘The Expendables’ franchise; and franchise continuation with quality control for Marvel with Sony’s sequel to their first animated Spider-Man film and the start of the Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.”

In 2022, Talal Malik as an official participant at the 75th Festival de Cannes,  published his exclusive milestone perspective on the future of global cinema on May 23 in prestigious British newspaper, The Independent’ (Premium Section), expanded exclusively on Alpha1Media.com as ‘Cinema’s Next Quantum Leap’, and also published in Arabic in Fortune Magazine (US) and also in Mandarin.

The A1Film Top 10+ Movies of 2023 List in order:

1. ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ IMDB: 8.6 (The Superhero Blockbuster, Franchise, Sequel)

@SpiderMan #AcrossTheSpiderVerse : A majestically phenomenal epic penned by Lord & Miller, elevated bars by Daniel Pemberton proving whatever the iteration of @SpiderManMovie, the character is blessed to be the best

@Alpha1Media #Alpha1Media #A1Film  #SpiderMan  #SpiderVerse

https://twitter.com/Alpha1Media/status/1664754866579726337

2. ‘Oppenheimer’ – IMDB: 8.4 (The Auteur, Historic Bio, The Epic)

@OppenheimerFilm – With a tour de force career-defining performance by #CillianMurphy, blockbuster auteur#ChristopherNolan not only enters the biopic genre with the father of the atomic bomb, but at a Shakespearean level, his first tragedy

@Alpha1Media #A1Film  #Oppenheimer

https://twitter.com/Alpha1Media/status/1682832331093016576

2. ‘Flowers of the Killer Moon’ IMDB: 7.8 (The Auteur, Historic Bio, The Epic)

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON – @martinscorsese_  combines screen leading men #RobertDeNiro and@LeoDiCaprio to deliver brave & brisk 3.5 hour much-needed story about Machivellian nature, greed & hypocrisy targetting Native Americans as lesser

@alpha1media #alpha1media #A1Film

https://twitter.com/Alpha1Media/status/1722280277458776068

4. ‘Sound of Freedom’ – IMDB: 7.7 (The Zeitgeist, Social Justice, Bio) /

‘The Creator’ – IMDB: 6.8 (The Auteur, The Blockbuster)

#SoundOfFreedom – Crowdfunded profit generator of 10x via @AngelStudiosInc with mainstream cinema’s most gut-wrenching story of  modern child slavery trafficking on true stories, God-Willing gallvinates punitive global laws

@Alpha1Media #Alpha1Media #A1Film @SOFMovie2023

https://twitter.com/Alpha1Media/status/1693158690935709762

@creatorthefilm #GarethEdwards as auteur offers inspired& ambition vision, visual  production design + attempt deserve applause vs final delivery, surprisingly a really majorly Asian Hollywood blockbuster by #ArnonMilchan

@Alpha1Media #Alpha1Media #A1Film

https://twitter.com/Alpha1Media/status/1707406420528775495

5. ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ IMDB: 7 (The Blockbuster, Franchise, Sequel) / ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ IMDB: 7.8’ (The Blockbuster, Franchise, Sequel)

@JohnWickMovie: CHAPTER 4 – Keanu Tactical Kevlar suit flex ride with Oscar-level stunts relentless set-ups,@DonnieYenCT gets his real Hollywood star debut and @TheScottAdkins  gets career range boost

@Alpha1Media  #Alpha1Media #A1Film #JohnWick  #KeanuReeves #ChadStahelski

https://twitter.com/Alpha1Media/status/1650190825303818242

#MissionImpossible – DEAD RECKONING PART 1 – American Bond & Real Life Stuntman @TomCruise teams with @chrismcquarrie to trot globe to deliver @MissionFilm 7 entertainer as per franchise which breezes

@Alpha1Media #Alpha1Media #A1Film #TomCruise #MissionImpossible

https://twitter.com/Alpha1Media/status/1678747820768075776

6. ‘Napoleon’ – IMDB:6 (The Auteur, Historic Bio, The Epic)

@NapoleonMovie #SirRidleyScott teams up #JoaquinPhoenix after  triumphant Gladiator near qtr century ago to give tour de force performance as Emperor with Anglais amusement-  bravo to brutally efficient production at 62 days at 85 years old

@Alpha1Media  #Alpha1Media #A1Film

https://twitter.com/Alpha1Media/status/1730478383295873505

7. ‘Air’ – IMDB: 7.4 (Real Life Biopic) / ‘Blackberry’ – 7.4 (Real Life Biopic)

@airmovie – From 1st time @theblcklst credit @alexconvery, @BenAffleck helms to set up play for #mattdamon to slam dunk as Sonny Vaccaro in @Nike‘s 80s pursuit to sign #MichaelJordan, with stellar Ensemble in tow

@Alpha1Media #Alpha1Media #A1Film #AirMovie @TheAcademy

https://twitter.com/Alpha1Media/status/1652317327663169536

BLACKBERRY – Canadian auteur Matt Johnson splendid must-see docu-drama-style rise and fall of @BlackBerry tech giant with @

#JayBaruchel‘s quiet performance balanced by tour de force star-ascendant cinema newcomer @GlennHowerton

@Alpha1Media #Alpha1Media #A1Film

https://twitter.com/Alpha1Media/status/1658750047780052997

8. ‘Pathaan’, ‘Jawan’, ‘Tiger 3’, ‘Dunki’ – IMDB: 5.5, 7.0, 7.0, 8.0 (The Blockbuster, World Cinema, India) / ‘Ride On’ – IMDB: 6.3 (The Blockbuster, World Cinema, China)

PATHAAN – Bollywood megastar #ShahrukhKhan leads first crossover popcorn fun in #YRFSpyUniverse kickstarted by#JohnAbraham who did same for #Dhoom with bright Downtown Dubai set piece

 @Alpha1Media #Alpha1Media #A1Film @PathaanTheFilm @iamsrk  @yrf @TheJohnAbraham

https://twitter.com/Alpha1Media/status/1624480751591862274

DUNKI – Director @RajkumarHirani 1st time teamup with Bollywood King @iamsrk to tackle social justice issue of economic migrants with greener grass ‘Three Idiots’ template but social message hits home towards end of Act 3

 @Alpha1Media #Alpha1Media #A1Film #ShahRukhKhan

https://twitter.com/Alpha1Media/status/1739691726204223986

9. ‘The Marvels’ – IMDB: 5.8 (Superhero Blockbuster, Franchise, Sequel) / ‘Blue Beetle’ – 6.0 (Superhero Blockbuster, Franchise)

THE MARVELS – @MarvelStudios does Girl Power 3x across age, race and culture & raises Cross Culture references with remarkable reference to @msmarvel Muslim heritage with breakout cinematic star Iman Vellani @Alpha1Media#Alpha1Media #A1Film @captainmarvel @msmarvel @brielarson

https://twitter.com/Alpha1Media/status/1724390834303365469

BLUE BEETLE – DC brings 1st US-Hispanic Superhero fronted by @Xolo_Mariduena of @CobraKaiSeries in 1st cinematic role, amiable and good for representation – interesting to wonder on casting for senior role in potential sequel@alpha1media #Alpha1Media #A1Film @bluebeetle

https://twitter.com/Alpha1Media/status/1696831914781319509

10. ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ – IMDB: 6.6 (The Blockbuster, Franchise, Sequel) /

‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ – IMDB: 6.1 (The Blockbuster, Franchise, Sequel)

@IndianaJones & THE DIAL OF DESTINY – entertaining set-piece-filled swansong after 4 decades for iconic#HarrisonFord as the adventurous archaeologist – minus as auteur Spielberg, 1st Disney – capturing some feel of how they used to make ’em, a trilogy +2

 #A1Film #IndianaJones

https://twitter.com/Alpha1Media/status/1676870400012177408

TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS – The first @transformers film out of 7 live action series since 2007 to get the tone, which is critical, right, amid robot smashing which 9 year olds love, well done Steve Caple Jr.

@Alpha1Media  #Alpha1Media #A1Film #RiseOfTheBeasts @Hasbro

https://twitter.com/Alpha1Media/status/1668895778239029248

‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’, surprisingly for many, tops the A1Film Top 10 + Films of 2023 as it, rather remarkably, represents 2023 as ‘The Year of Cinema’s Inflection,” said Ms. Maria Felce, Head of Talent and Media at Alpha1Media about the top movie in the A1Film Top 10 + Movies List for 2023. “In a year when both Marvel and DC released films which significantly under-performed, with Marvel’s Phase 5 and the end of the DC Cinematic Universe (DCEU) after more than a decade,’ ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ was a major exception to the superhero blockbuster genre, demonstrating that for a highly quality movie, with an amazing epic story and characters they love like Peter B. Parker, and new ones they instantly grow to love, like his baby daughter Mayday, audiences and critics will show due appreciation. However, it also showed that original auteur-led epic content, often at 3 hours plus as value for money at the cinema compared to streaming, the likes of Christopher Nolan with ‘Oppenheimer’ and Martin Scorsese with ‘Flowers of the Killer Moon’ represented a return to the 1970s Blockbusters as written with foresight by Alpha1Media Founding CEO Talal Malik in March this year in his article, ‘How the 1970s shaped the Hollywood blockbuster movie’.

“The A1Film Top 10 Movies List for 2023 represents a first in many ways: it is the first time an animated film has topped the list (with its prequel ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ being the first animated film ever to be featured on the A1Film Top 10 List at No. 6 in 2018; it also marks the first time an animated movie has hit 8.6 on IMDB, justifying by global popular acclaims the film’s exceptional inclusion;it is the first list to officially be a Top 10 Plus list as it features more than 18 films, which generally represent 2, 3 or 4 films of the same or similar genre or level of innovation; such as‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ and ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’ or four films throughout the year for Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan with  ‘Pathaan’, ‘Jawan’, ‘Tiger 3’ and ‘Dunki’ or a career milestone for global cinema icon from Hong Kong Jackie Chan with ‘Ride On’; and the first list to represent a cinematic inflection, as the attrition between original, innovative films and blockbusters, especially superhero or IP-based, was in full force throughout the year, and especially the summer.’

Six of the Top 10 + films selected by Alpha1Media have been recognised in the Quintessential section of the official A1Film Preview List of 2023, namely ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’,  ‘Oppenheimer’, ‘Flowers of the Killer Moon’, ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’, ‘Dunki’, ‘Ride On’ and ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’.

There have been many films in 2023 which cannot be included in the A1Film Top 10 + List, either due to limited theatrical releases globally, not representative of global popular cinema, delayed international release, specifically largely for one demographic, being primarily released on streaming platforms, for under-performance or deserve notable orhonourable mentions such as ‘Past Lives’, ‘Maestro’, ‘Anatomy of a Fall’, ‘American Fiction’, ‘Barbie’, ‘The Super Mario Bros Movie’, ‘Animal’, ‘The Killer’, ‘The Equalizer 3’ and ‘Priscilla’.

Alpha1Media will release the A1Film Awards 2023, celebrating the achievements of global popular cinema in 2023, andthe A1Film Preview for 2024.

Alpha1Media (Media. ENHANCED) is a global media and entertainment firm. Alpha1Media produces and advises onmedia creation using 10×10 types of media including phone, print, TV, radio, billboard, computer, cinema and futuristicmedia based on scale, motion and holograms.

In the film sector, Alpha1Media focuses on film development, production, financing and cultural advisory services. Itcurrently has six film projects in development with production value estimated at over USD $500 million.