A lot can happen in a year, and 2024 was certainly no exception as there have been an array of big events to take place —both good and bad— since the start of the year in the Entertainment world.
As a result there are a number of winners and losers, so to speak. From TV shows creating real change, to musicians having their big breakouts, to beloved shows being hit by scandal after scandal, there is a lot to look back on.
2024 winners
Mr Bates Versus the Post Office
It isn’t often that a TV show or film can enact real life change but ITV’s New Year’s drama started the channel on the right foot when it shone a light on the Post Office scandal. Hundreds of sub-postmasters were hit by false accusations when they were blamed for technical errors with computer system Horizon which led to huge losses. Many were prosecuted for theft, fraud, and false accounting, with some even facing jail time for it.
When the TV show was released it caused a public uproar, with the government deciding to launch an inquiry into the matter to help exonerate those affected. The legal dispute is still rumbling on, but it is clear that Mr Bates versus the Post Office played an important part in it all.
Baby Reindeer
Richard Gadd’s tale of a man’s traumatic experience with a stalker became a massive cultural phenomenon and made its creator a star overnight. It was a water cooler subject on everyone’s lips, especially as it was inspired by Gadd’s own life, but it also led to some surprising developments when viewers tried to find the real people involved.
Netflix has since been sued by a woman claiming to be the “real-life Martha” while Gadd has implored viewers not to falsely accuse people. It was a bit of a double-edged sword in that sense, it made the comedian an overnight sensation but has caused quite a bit of controversy as a result.
Glen Powell
There are few bonafide movie stars around these days, but Glen Powell certainly feels like one of them and the actor has had a great year building off the success of Top Gun: Marverick and 2023’s Anyone But You. 2024 saw Powell become a household name, with his movie Twisters become a box office success and the public even going into uproar when he wasn’t named People’s Sexiest Man Alive.
Powell has several high-profile projects in the pipeline including a Running Man remake, and there’s even rumours that Powell is being eyes by his Top Gun: Maverick co-star Tom Cruise to take the mantle of the Mission: Impossible franchise. Though the actor debunked these rumours it’s clear that the only way is up for him, that’s for sure.
Wicked
One of the biggest box office hits of the year has been Wicked, Jon M Chu’s adaptation of the beloved musical of the same name. Chu has split the story into two films and the first has been a resounding success, but what has been most notable is the huge marketing effort that has gone into the film.
Of all the films to be released in 2024 it seems like Wicked has had the biggest promotional campaign, with tie-in products made for dozens of shops and companies ranging from green and pink squash to themed clothing at M&S and Primark. The effort paid off, as the movie is one of the biggest of the year.
Disney
Speaking of box office, there is one studio that prevailed over all others: Disney. After struggling to make it big in 2023, Disney is back on top with a slew of huge hits including Inside Out 2, Deadpool and Wolverine, and Moana 2. Inside Out 2 earned $1.6bn while Marvel’s juggernaut earned $1.3bn, and Moana 2 is well on the way to replicating this with an almost $500m global taking in its first week.
Horror and family films
It’s a surprising combination, but the box office doesn’t lie the two genres that have prevailed over all else in 2024 has been horror and family movies. The former saw movies like The Substance, Heretic and Terrifier 3 dominate cinema chains, while family films like Despicable Me 4 and Inside Out 2 were the winners of the year.
Female pop stars
In the world of music there have been a few stars to stand out the most in 2024: Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, and Chapelle Roan. For Taylor Swift 2024 was the year she ended her Eras tour in style, with the musician performing in stadiums across the globe and continuing to be hugely impactful part of pop culture, Swift went on tour with Sabrina Carpenter who has also had a fantastic year.
Carpenter’s song Espresso was the song of the summer —even this year was dubbed “Brat Summer” after Charli XCX’s Brat— and it all but cemented her status as one of the brightest stars of the industry. The singer’s personal life, namely her rumoured relationship with actor Barry Keoghan, has also kept her in the spotlight.
While Chapell Roan has risen to fame with her music this year with her album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Girl earning the singer her first Grammy nominations in 2024, while her appearance at the VMAs as Joan of Arc won her even more fans. 2025 will continue to be a strong year as she is now set to headline Reading and Leeds festival.
2024 losers
Movie flops
Who would have thought that after the huge success of 2019’s Joker that a sequel would flop? Certainly not Warner Bros. but unfortunately that’s exactly what happened. Mixed reviews and the decision to try and hide the film’s musical nature backfired spectacularly, ending Joaquin Phoenix’s reign as the Clown Prince of Crime with a whimper rather than a bang.
Speaking of poor box office showings, Borderlands is an A-list 2024 release that proved to be dead on arrival when it landed over the summer. Harkening back to the days of bad video game adaptations, Borderlands squandered its talented cast in a terribly written B-movie that was a complete waste of everyone’s time.
The self-financers
In 2024 Kevin Costner finally launched his passion project Horizon: An American Saga, an ambitious epic Western that he starred in, co-wrote and directed. It was supposed to the first of four movies to be released in the saga, but poor box office results have put a pause on the actor’s would-be franchise which he also financed himself.
Talking of self-financed passion projects, another box office flop was Megalopolis from The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola. The director has been trying to make the film for decades and it was released to scathing reviews and in the wake of allegations against the director of sexual misconduct, which he denied. In the end the film bombed at the box office, thus ending Coppola’s career with a whimper rather than a bang.
Gregg Wallace
2024 has seen Masterchef co-host Greg Wallace be hit with allegations of sexually inappropriate behaviour and stepping back from the series after the BBC went public with the news it was investigating complaints from 13 people from different shows over a 17-year period. More women have since come out to speak against Wallace’s alleged behaviour, including Melanie Sykes who said she quit her TV career after an experience with the presenter.
Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing was also faced with scandal of its own in 2024, first with an investigation into Giovanni Pernice’s behaviour towards his 2023 celebrity partner Amanda Abbington. Abbington claimed the dancer created a “toxic environment” and subjected her to “inappropriate, mean, nasty bullying”.
The probe into Pernice cleared him of allegations of abuse, and the BBC apologised to Abbington after it said it had “upheld some, but not all, of the complaints made” when announcing the results of the investigation.
Scandal around Strictly only continued further when dancer Graziano di Prima left the show after allegations were made about his behaviour by Zara McDermott, who was his partner in 2023. After quitting the show, di Prima said he “deeply regret[ed] the events that led to my departure from Strictly” and it was later confirmed he had admitted kicking McDermott during training.
Ticketmaster
Another scandal that defined 2024 was that of Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing system, which saw the company increase the price of tickets if there was high demand for a show. This has caused issues on multiple occasions, such as when Swift’s Eras Tour tickets went on sale, but it became a hot button issue after it impacted sales of Oasis’ reunion tour — Parliament even issued a Private Members Bill to address the issue head on.
It ultimately made the experience of buying tickets for Oasis a less than pleasant experience for fans, and dampened their excitement for the reunion shows.
