Franchises and sequels frequently have $1 billion expectations at the box office, but there are still a handful of popular franchises that have yet to have a movie cross that milestone. The 2010s were responsible for a significant rise in how frequently a movie’s box office haul could cross nine figures. Hollywood’s increased ability to produce $1 billion box office hits made that achievement the goal for just about every major blockbuster. The various franchises within the Marvel Cinematic Universe have made 10 movies that surpassed this total, while Star Wars has five such box office hits and the Jurassic franchise has four.
There are several other franchises that have achieved the $1 billion box office goal multiple times, as Frozen, Fast & Furious, Toy Story, Transformers, Avatar, Harry Potter, Despicable Me, The Lord of the Rings, The Dark Knight, and Pirates of the Caribbean have all done so twice. Meanwhile, a handful of other franchises have managed to break past the billion-dollar barrier once, such as James Bond, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Top Gun, and Alice in Wonderland. The success that these series have experienced is not too surprising considering the popularity of these various characters. However, some franchises with major characters and stars have yet to make a $1 billion movie.
10 X-Men
Deadpool 2 is the franchise’s closest movie to $1 billion
20th Century’s X-Men franchise is one of the most successful at the box office, as the 13 movies released combined to make over $6 billion worldwide. This came with turning Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool into two of the most popular comic book movie characters and castings. Yet, there has never been an X-Men movie that made $1 billion at the box office. The closest the franchise ever came was with Deadpool 2, which made $785 million worldwide in 2018. To make matters worse, Deadpool 3‘s potential box office success will be attributed more to the MCU than Fox’s X-Men series.
9 Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible – Fallout is the franchise’s closest movie to $1 billion
The Mission: Impossible franchise is still searching for its first $1 billion box office hit nearly 30 years after it began. The Tom Cruise-starring action blockbusters did not become significant performers at the box office until the 2010s, culminating with Mission: Impossible – Fallout‘s release in 2018. The movie made $791 million worldwide, which was well more than enough to set a new franchise record, even if it is well below the billion-dollar milestone. Expectations were high for the sequel to surpass this total and give Tom Cruise his second $1 billion earner, but Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1‘s box office significantly underperformed.
8 Shrek
Shrek 2 came incredibly close to $1 billion
DreamWorks came quite close to having the Shrek franchise cross the $1 billion threshold for a single film. After the first movie made $488 million in 2001, Shrek 2‘s arrival in 2004 nearly doubled that total. The sequel made $928 million worldwide, putting it just $72 million away from becoming one of a handful of $1 billion animated movies. Although the franchise has continued to find success with two additional Shrek sequels and two Puss in Boots spinoffs, none of them have surpassed Shrek 2‘s performance. Perhaps with Shrek 5 on the horizon, the franchise could finally have a shot at joining the elite company.
7 Star Trek
Star Trek Into Darkness is the franchise’s biggest box office hit
The Star Trek franchise has existed in many forms on the big screen for more than 50 years. Despite 13 movies being made over this time, the popular sci-fi series has not translated to this level of success. Star Trek movies have never been massive box office performers, but the biggest hauls came as part of the reboot 2009’s Star Trek kicked off. Star Trek Into Darkness is the franchise’s highest-grossing movie, as it earned $467 million worldwide in 2013. Even with plans for more Star Trek movies in the future, the franchise needs to make significantly more than ever before to break $1 billion.
6 The Matrix
The Matrix Reloaded is the franchise’s closest movie to $1 billion
The Matrix franchise never managed to surpass the $1 billion mark at the box office with a single film. The iconic sci-fi series got off to a great start as the original made $467 million in 1999. The announcement of two more sequels released within the same year brought massive financial expectations. While they did combine to make over $1 billion, neither The Matrix Reloaded nor The Matrix Revolutions made that much on their own. The Matrix Reloaded came the closest as it made $741 million by itself. The franchise’s long-awaited return with The Matrix Resurrections had its box office impacted by the pandemic and a simultaneous streaming release.
5 Twilight
Breaking Dawn Part 2 came close to breaking $1 billion
The Twilight franchise became incredibly successful at the box office throughout its run, but the young adult series failed to produce a $1 billion hit. The five movies collectively made over $3 billion worldwide, with all but the first making more than $500 million a piece. The highest grossing entry, and the closest sequel to make $1 billion, came with The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 in 2012. The final installment in the franchise made $848 million at the box office, which is quite an achievement but still $152 million shy of the specific milestone. That performance did mean the two-part Breaking Dawn adaptation collectively made $1.6 billion.
4 Planet of the Apes
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the franchise’s closest movie to $1 billion
The Planet of the Apes franchise tallies nine movies that have made over $2 billion at the box office, and much of the success came from the modern reboot that occurred in the 2010s. The three movies combined to make $1.6 billion, as they proved to be incredibly popular. Despite the overall acclaim and attention that they received, none of them ever exceeded the $1 billion milestone. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes came the closest in 2014 as the second film in the reboot made $710 million worldwide, which is easily a franchise record. Now, 2024’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will try to beat that.
3 Indiana Jones
Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is the only one that got close
Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones franchise is highly regarded as one of the best ever, but that popularity did not translate to hitting the phenomenal box office goal. The five movies made over $2 billion worldwide across 42 years, but none of them managed to make $1 billion on their own. The best attempt came with 2008’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The long-awaited sequel made $790 million worldwide. That gave some hope that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny‘s box office could break the $1 billion barrier, but the 2023 blockbuster instead struggled to come anywhere close.
2 How To Train Your Dragon
The box office peaked with How to Train Your Dragon 2
DreamWorks has another incredibly successful franchise with the How To Train Your Dragon movies. The three films collectively made over $1.6 billion at the box office as a passionate fan base developed for Hiccup and Toothless’ adventures. How To Train Your Dragon 2‘s release in 2014 proved to be the high point for the franchise, as it made $621 million worldwide. This brought great expectations for How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World to end the trilogy with a new franchise high performance, but it made $524 million. DreamWorks could have more luck with the upcoming How To Train Your Dragon live-action remake.
1 The Hunger Games
Hunger Games: Catching Fire is the franchise’s closest movie to $1 billion
It is quite surprising that The Hunger Games franchise does not have a $1 billion movie to its name. The series is largely responsible for kicking off a young adult craze in Hollywood as a result of the overall popularity and box office profits that came with it. A $1 billion Hunger Games movie seemed assured after the original made $695 million and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire made $865 million a year later. Instead, the two-part Mockingjay movies saw a decrease in box office performance. That trend continued with The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, even as the franchise eclipsed a $3 billion total.
