The box office is the beating heart of the movie industry, but it can be highly unpredictable with some movies shattering expectations and others drastically underperforming. The success of a film comes down to several different factors, including the gross box office takings, critical and public reviews, the number of tickets sold, and several other variables. While a movie making big money at the box office doesn’t necessarily mean it is definitively good, it goes to show the number of people willing to hand over their hard-earned cash and see it in theaters.
Considering how important the box office is, as the total gross profits for theatrically released films in any given year, it’s a good metric to look out for with new releases. Special attention is paid to how much money films earn at the box office and several sites like Box Office Mojo and The Numbers keep tabs on up-to-date earnings. In addition to this, experts predict potential earnings for new films based on a number of factors, and usually, they are pretty close. However, the estimates can get things completely wrong and a movie will soar to success, or flop toward failure.
10 Aquaman (2018)
$1.157 Billion
Aquaman was an underdog story in the DCEU before James Gunn stepped in to take over and rebrand. With the release of Man of Steel, Batman V Superman, and Wonder Woman, the DCEU earned decent figures at the box office, but it wasn’t until Aquaman was released in 2018 that they managed to get over $1 billion. Starring Jason Momoa as Artur Curry, the movie exceeded all expectations and, still to this day, is the highest-grossing DCEU movie, and the only one to beat $1 billion at the box office, almost doubling the total earnings of the 2017 Justice League.
9 Lightyear (2022)
$226.4 Million
Toy Story has always been an exceptionally popular franchise since the first film was released in 1995. Both of the latest mainline films, Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4, earned in excess of $1 billion at the global box office, so when Lightyear was announced as a new spin-off set in the same universe, it was expected to draw in a large audience. With that thought in mind, the studios put up a budget of $200 million to make the movie, a similar figure to the previous two films, but Lightyear massively bombed at the box office (via The Numbers).
8 Avatar (2009)
$2.743 Billion
James Cameron is one of Hollywood’s most influential and impressive filmmakers, so when Avatar was due to be released in 2009, it had already gained significant attention. However, the level of success that the movie would soar to was impossible to predict. After six short weeks in theaters, Avatar broke the $2 billion dollar threshold. It then continued to earn more during its initial theatrical release until it was the most profitable movie of all time. Since its release, Avatar was knocked from the top spot when Avengers: Endgame came out in 2019, but a special re-release in 2021 saw it surpass Endgame and reclaim the top spot (via CNBC).
7 Cats (2019)
$75 Million
Cats, based on the stage musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, features an all-star ensemble cast including Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Ian McKellan, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson, and more. The source material has received many awards and had some of the longest runs in the West End, Broadway, and elsewhere. With the pedigree of the show’s history and the star-studded cast, Cats was being set up to have a spectacular release in cinemas worldwide, but it only managed to bring in a meager $75 million despite the $95 million budget (via Box Office Mojo).
6 Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
$1.495 Billion
The first Top Gun film was released in 1986, starring a young Tom Cruise as the arrogant, yet charming, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. The film quickly became a hit and created a loyal audience who would support the franchise when the eventual legacy sequel would be released more than 35 years later. Top Gun: Maverick was guaranteed to have a nostalgia-driven audience to support it, but when it rocketed towards a total box office gross of almost $1.5 billion (via Box Office Mojo), it surpassed everyone’s expectations.
5 Fantastic Four (2015)
$167 Million
At the height of the superhero era for films, with the MCU reaching the end of Phase 2 of the Infinity Saga, and the DCEU preparing to release Batman V Superman, it made sense to look at other superhero properties. As a result, Fantastic Four, a new reboot of the duology that was released 10 years prior, came out in 2015. Whether the editing is to blame, underwhelming performances, or the fact that other superhero stories were occupying public attention, Fantastic Four struggled to recover the $120 million dollar budget. The film ended its run with a total box office gross of just $167 million (via Box Office Mojo), likely losing the studio money, before fading away.
4 Frozen (2013)
$1.334 Billion
Around the holiday season of 2013, Disney released a brand-new property that moved away from the traditional fairytale princess story with Frozen. The story follows Elsa, a young queen-in-waiting with ice powers that she has been taught to hide and fear. Elsa serves as a layered protagonist with a dark side, and the ability to stand up for and take care of herself. The empowered Elsa quickly became an icon and Frozen became the most profitable animated movie of all time, before being knocked off the top spot by its 2019 sequel. While Disney took a chance on a princess story without a prince, it paid off in a major way, earning over $1.3 billion (via Box Office Mojo).
3 The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
$159 Million
The Matrix films are some of the greatest sci-fi dystopian films of all time. Created and directed by the Wachowski sisters, the films quickly entered the public zeitgeist with language and concepts that resonated around the world. The trilogy managed to tell a complete and compelling story that ultimately saw the hero lay down his life and save humanity by giving them a choice to experience freedom or remain in the matrix. When Lana Wachowski decided to revisit the franchise in 2021 without her sister, the story took an odd turn.
Despite confusion regarding where the story could go in The Matrix Resurrections, the strength of the property meant that it was expected to earn a healthy box office total. However, despite a budget of $190 million dollars, the movie only managed to earn $159 million back in theaters, leaving investors and the studio short-changed (via The Numbers). The Matrix Resurrections thus became a short-lived revival before the sequel disappeared again into obscurity.
2 Mamma Mia! (2008)
$694 Million
Before the trend of musical legends receiving biopics detailing their lives, Mamma Mia! delivered a unique approach to getting an artists’ catalog featured in film. With a lean budget of $52 million, Mamma Mia! set out to tell a brand-new story punctuated by the music of Abba. The result was a fun, toe-tapping musical with a beautiful setting and talented actors. While that sounds great, the film’s ability to earn more than 10 times the budget, ending at $694 million, came as a complete shock (via Box Office Mojo), but it did encourage Universal Pictures to finance a second film, which was also a hit.
1 Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
$267 Million
After the 1982 film, Blade Runner introduced the world to Harrison Ford as the stony-faced Detective Rick Deckard, the franchise left a lot of things up in the air. Questions about whether Deckard is a replicant, his future with Rachael, and the future of replicants and the Tyrell Corporation hung in the balance. So, when a sequel was announced for release in 2017, which would see Harrison Ford appear once again, it seemed like audiences would be champing at the bit to get answers. However, the film only managed to eke out $267 million at the box office against the $150 million budget (via Box Office Mojo), which was considerably less than anticipated.
