By the time 2022 wraps up, two comic book films starring Dwayne Johnson will have been released in theaters: DC League of Super-Pets (July 29) and Black Adam (October 21).
Both stand a solid chance of ranking among Johnson’s highest-grossing films, but even his (animated) reteaming with Kevin Hart and his major introduction to the DCEU may not be enough to take the number one spot, particularly when it comes to his time as DSS Agent Hobbs of the Fast & Furious franchise.
The Mummy Returns (2001) — $443.3 Million
While not quite one of Dwayne Johnson’s best movies, The Mummy Returns was still extremely important to the success of his acting career. It showed that he had a formidable presence onscreen, and there’s a reason why it took only one year for him to get his own big-budget spinoff in the form of The Scorpion King.
The Mummy Returns held a budget of $90 million (sizable for a price tag in 2001), but it was lightning in a bottle yet again with a worldwide return of over $440 million per Box Office Mojo. Unfortunately, 2008’s The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor didn’t follow suit.
San Andreas (2015) — $474 Million
The hulking Johnson is the perfect fit for the heroic role in a disaster film, and he rises to the task in Brad Peyton’s (director of Rampage) San Andreas, a film that harkens back to Roland Emmerich’s golden days while managing to stand as one of the best of its kind of the past decade.
Most of Johnson’s big-budget solo ventures have scored at the box office, but there are exceptions to every rule, e.g. Skyscraper. However, San Andreas was a hit through and through, as the film more than quadrupled its production budget of $110 million per Box Office Mojo.
Fast Five (2011) — $626.1 Million
Johnson joined the Fast & Furious franchise for what ended up being the revitalizing boost of NOS it needed, and it ended up being the start of a long and not-so-beautiful friendship with at least one co-star.
But in Fast Five, Johnson’s Agent Hobbs takes on Dom Toretto and his crew head-on, and the clash of the two action movie stars is every bit the event fans could have hoped for. The film revitalized the franchise both critically and commercially, earning positive reviews even from those who hadn’t been sold on the series before and a substantial $626 million worldwide on a relatively slight budget of $125 million, per Box Office Mojo.
Moana (2016) — $643.7 Million
Moana wasn’t Dwayne Johnson’s first collaboration with Disney, and it stands to reason it won’t be his last. It’s a beautiful film in more ways than one, and every bit as visually and thematically poignant as Pixar’s best. Johnson nearly runs away with the movie as a short-fused demigod, Maui, but Auli’i Cravalho makes Moana the heart and highlight, and she’s already been inducted as the 12th official Disney Princess.
Deadline puts Moana‘s budget at $150 million, which is on the low end compared to some others’ estimates, but with a Box Office Mojo-reported worldwide gross of $643 million, it’s a multiple that pushes the film well over the line into profitability.
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019) — $759 Million
Dwayne Johnson’s Agent Hobbs teamed with reformed Fast & Furious villain, Deckard Shaw, after exiting the main series and the result is a very fun movie that manages to stand apart from the remainder of the franchise.
Hobbs & Shaw could never have been expected to reach the heights of the core franchise, and it did make a profit (of $84 million, according to Deadline Hollywood), but it also didn’t clear its budget via revenue from domestic venues. Only three other installments have failed to meet this mark: F9, The Fate of the Furious, and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.
Fast & Furious 6 (2013) — $788.7 Million
One of Vin Diesel’s best movies, just as it’s one of Johnson’s, Fast & Furious 6 was a wonderful adrenaline-fueled boost to the box office in May of 2013. The franchise had just rebounded in a substantial way with Fast Five and the subsequent installment not only kept the good times rolling but even exceeded the worldwide total of the acclaimed film it followed.
The budgets started out fairly low for the Furious films, but 6 was a different matter entirely, with a budget of $160 million. The investment was well worth it, as the film earned nearly five times that across the globe per Box Office Mojo.
Jumanji: The Next Level (2019) — $800 Million
Jumanji: The Next Level essentially repeated the central hook of the original film, but with a furthered element of body swapping. Having two of the original “players” on the outside of the game helps differentiate the formula, but not as much as having Danny Glover’s Milo and Danny DeVito’s Eddie in their place. Overall, The Next Level is fun, and it sets the stage for a very different next chapter.
The Next Level‘s budget was upped by $35 million from that of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, but it earned over $150 million less across the globe. Even still, a worldwide tally of $800 million (per Box Office Mojo) is far from anything to scoff at, and easily a figure that keeps a franchise going.
Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle (2017) — $962.5 Million
Both one of Dwayne Johnson’s most quotable movies and one of his most rewatchable, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was a gamble. The Robin Williams classic had come out 22 years prior and, furthermore, 1995’s original and the revamped take couldn’t be any more different. But winning chemistry goes a long way, as does a name brand and an inventive concept.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle hit theaters with a lineup of major ticket-selling stars, inventive action sequences, and a fairly paltry budget of $90 million. According to the film’s Box Office Mojo page, it earned over 10 times that, with $962.5 million.
The Fate Of The Furious (2017) — $1.2 Billion
The Fate of the Furious found itself using a real-life squabble for the plot, with Johnson and Diesel not even filming together once. The fracture is palpable in the film, and not always to the benefit of the convoluted narrative.
It may have dropped from Furious 7, but that movie captured the zeitgeist, and Box Office Mojo reports that Fate of the Furious still crossed $1.2 billion worldwide. With that being said, it was outgrossed domestically by Fast & Furious 6, a decline that would continue with F9: The Fast Saga (which was hampered by COVID-19) and Hobbs & Shaw. Fortunately, and impressively, Fate‘s domestic haul was practically irrelevant in comparison to its international tally: just over $1 billion.
Furious 7 (2015) — $1.5 Billion
Just as The Dark Knight assuredly received a bump via the public interest surrounding the late Heath Ledger’s Joker performance, audiences flocked in droves to Furious 7 to say goodbye to Paul Walker.
Following the actor’s tragic passing, the film had to be completed via some technical magic, which naturally raised the budget ($190 million, per Box Office Mojo). But even if the price tag were twice that, the film would’ve been in the black, as it cleared a staggering $1.5 billion worldwide, including $353 million from domestic screens alone.
