For a movie to reach that level of success, they have to be family oriented.
For kids, it has to be fantastical.
For extended popularity, it has to have a minimum of three movies/4 seasons. It has to have a world that can be expanded upon (this is the issue with Hunger Games.)
If Fourth Wing were appropriate for younger people than it currently is, it could do done it. It has all the right pieces to be blockbuster-level literature.
If the first Eragon movie wasn’t botched so badly, it could have reached similar levels. With the new book and a film series in production renewing interest, I still think it could.
But if we’re talking a brand new IP; Well, I could actually write a book. Magic, beasts, shapeshifters, some sort of organization (like a school or secret society) and/or a small friend group of 3-6, an evil character threatening to take over the world OR a revolution against said character, with a protagonist that’s relatively young and inexperienced learning everything as we go. An evil side character that is good at heart and experiences internal conflict. The main chracter often (but not always) rises from a place of low-ness in society and rises to the upper echelon. These are the core elements to a good YA fantasy novel. They all have these. I have a personal interest in dragons.
Parenthesis indicates possible options below
So: A young woman born into (orphanage, slavery, the slums, etc) gets selected for the prestigious Beast Training School because her long-lost father was one of the best beast trainers the (empire, small secluded country, island nation, world existing in the real world unbeknowst to them like magic or fae etc). The (king, president, elder council, etc) forces the school to recruit her for these reasons. However, the (headmaster, similar synonym) was a rival of her father’s and hated him. Therefore, he makes things increasingly difficult on the MC early on in training. She struggles early-on because she grew up outside of the beast world. Comes to the realization that she is gifted and is worthy, works hard to become one of the best students/trainers. They find out the headmaster is a traitor/spy for the (some sort of dark lord, or larger country/empire that wants their resources) and fight. He’s the first bad guy. Alternatively, he’s actually a good guy and teams up with MC to stop the (country/organization leader) from taking over.
This is just book one. Possibly could be split into two, depending on material written. Writing is a lot more formulaic than people realize, which is why original stories are so great.
Idk man, Woodland Critters Christmas is up there somewhere, and nobody is even mentioning it.