When it comes to movies, people hardly ever agree. Even the most successful films have as many detractors as they have fans. There is, however, a concrete way to measure the success of a film - its box office earnings. This is the amount of money that a movie brings in from its ticket sales.
Box office earnings have always been a central aspect of the film industry. However, in the past decade, certain films have achieved higher numbers than ever before. These blockbusters have broken several earning records and sometimes even passed the $2 billion mark, including the franchises and reboots that fans love (and love to hate).
10 Black Panther Will Have A Sequel ($1,346,913,161)
The 2018 film Black Panther follows T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) as he becomes Wakanda's king and protector, Black Panther, following his father's death. After T'Challa's cousin, Erik "Killmonger" Stevens (Michael B. Jordan), challenges the king in an attempt to get the crown, their familial drama becomes a political matter.
Black Panther, directed by Ryan Coogler, earned $1,346,913,161, which makes it the tenth highest-grossing movie of the 2010s. Thanks to its undeniable success, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is in the making. Unfortunately, Chadwick Boseman passed away in 2020 and Marvel choose not to recast T'Challa, so there isn't any news about who will take the lead role for the sequel.
9 Avengers: Age Of Ultron Is The Second Most Expensive Film Ever Made ($1,402,809,540)
Avengers: Age Of Ultron is the 11th film in the MCU and the second installment of The Avengers saga. Age Of Ultron centers on the battle between Earth's Mightiest Heroes and Ultron, an artificial intelligence created by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner who becomes obsessed with ending the human race.
Written and directed by Joss Whedon, Avengers: Age Of Ultron is the twelfth highest-grossing movie of all time with $1,402,809,540. Additionally, Age Of Ultron has a $365 million budget, which makes it is the second most expensive film ever made. It's only surpassed by Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which had a $379 million budget.
8 Frozen II Was As Successful As Frozen ($1,450,026,933)
Written and directed by Jennifer Lee, Frozen II is set three years after the events of Frozen, the 2013 Disney success. Frozen II follows the adventures of Queen Elsa of Arendelle as she embarks on a journey to understand the origins of her powers alongside her sister Anna, Anna's boyfriend, and the sentient snowman Olaf.
Since it didn't cause the same hype as Frozen, many believe that Frozen II failed. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Frozen II is the second-highest-grossing animated film of all time, having earned $1,450,026,933 worldwide.
7 Furious 7 Broke A World Record ($1,515,341,399)
After securing amnesty, Dominic and Brian return to the United States in Furious 7 and come to realize that things aren't as simple as they were. In addition to dealing with their personal lives, they must face Deckard Shaw, an assassin seeking revenge after Dominic put his brother in a coma.
The seventh installment of the Fast & Furious franchise, Furious 7 brought in $397.6 million during its first weekend, which broke the record for highest-grossing in an opening weekend. Furious 7, which had an estimated budget of $250 million, grossed $1,515,341,399 in total. So far, it's the most successful film of the whole saga.
6 The Avengers Started It All In The MCU ($1,518,815,515)
After five solo films, the MCU finally brought its main heroes together in the 2012 film The Avengers. The Avengers depicts the first time the six original Avengers worked together after S.H.I.E.L.D. recruited them to stop Loki from conquering the world.
The Avengers, written and directed by Joss Whedon, is the first MCU movie to pass the billion and a half dollars mark. It made $1,518,815,515, making The Avengers the ninth highest-grossing movie of all time. Of course, The Avengers is one of the first of many successful movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to have brought in this amount of money.
5 The Lion King Is Proof That Nostalgia Sells ($1,662,899,439)
Following the success of The Jungle Book in 2016, Disney made a remake of its most popular film, The Lion King. Like the original film, the 2019 live-action reboot centers on Simba as he embraces his true role as king with the help of his friends. The voice actors for The Lion King are A-List celebrities such as Donald Glover, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Seth Rogen, and Beyoncé.
Many fans of the original animated film criticized Disney for its lack of imagination and predicted the live-action would flop. However, The Lion King grossed $1,662,899,439. It surpassed Frozen as the highest-grossing animated film of all time. As of 2022, The Lion King still holds this title.
4 Jurassic World Kicked Off A New Jurassic Saga ($1,671,537,444)
22 years after the events of Jurassic Park, Isla Nublar has been turned into a theme park of cloned dinosaurs where people get to interact with the bio-engineered reptiles as John Hammond wanted. Things work perfectly for years until a transgenic creature, the Indominus Rex, escapes and wreaks havoc.
The fourth film in the Jurassic Park franchise, Jurassic World is also the first Jurassic World trilogy film and the most successful one. With a budget of $150 million, it earned $1,671,537,444 and became the second-highest-grossing film of 2015. The second part of the trilogy, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom was just as successful. It's likely the upcoming film, Jurassic World Dominion, will follow these steps.
3 Avengers: Infinity War Earned More Than Two Billion Dollars ($2,048,359,754)
Avengers: Infinity War, a film by Anthony and Joe Russo, portrays the efforts of the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy to stop Thanos from gathering the six Infinity Stones and killing half of the world's population. Infinity War set the ground for the events of Avengers: Endgame, which completely modified what fans knew about the MCU.
The MCU's second most successful film, Avengers: Infinity War grossed $2,048,359,754. It was the first superhero film to earn over $2 billion worldwide and only the fourth film ever to surpass that mark alongside Titanic, Avatar, and Star Wars: Episode VII.
2 Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens Only Took 12 Days To Get A Billion Dollars ($2.066 Billion)
32 years after Return Of The Jedi premiered in 1983, The Force Awakens follows Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron. They search for Luke Skywalker amidst the battle between the Resistance and the First Order.
Released in 2015, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens is the first installment in the third Star Wars trilogy and the biggest box office success of 2015. As of 2022, it has been surpassed by several films. In 2015, it broke several records, including the fastest film to gross $1 billion, which it did in only 12 days.
1 Avengers: Endgame Is The Most Successful Superhero Movie When It Comes To Earnings ($2,797,501,328)
Five years after Thanos obliterated half of the universe, Scott Lang aka Ant-Man escapes from the Quantum Realm having experienced only five hours while trapped. With this new knowledge, the surviving Avengers travel back in time to gather the Infinity Stones and reverse Thanos' actions.
The highest-grossing film of the 2010s, Avengers: Endgame brought in $2,797,501,328, which also makes it the highest-grossing superhero film ever and the second-highest-grossing film ever (only surpassed by James Cameron's Avatar). Additionally, Avengers: Endgame holds the record for the quickest film to get $500 million, $1 billion, $1.5 billion, $2 billion, and $2.5 billion.