Highest-Grossing Movies of All Time: What Makes a Blockbuster?

After the release of Jurassic World in 2015, a new generation of Jurassic fans were eager to see this movie in theatres. Although it generally fell short of many audiences expectations, the movie was among the top three highest-grossing films of the summer of 2018 (behind Avengers: Infinity War and Incredibles 2). The film also had a larger budget than its predecessor and even had five animatronic dinosaurs created for the film compared to Jurassic World’s one. All of this could not save it from being the worst rated movie on this list and in the Jurassic franchise.

Although it failed to meet the box office numbers of its predecessor, Star Wars: The Last Jedi still beat out its more recent successor Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. As the middle child to the trilogy, the film still raked in more than $1 billion USD internationally. Critically, The Last Jedi fared well. Among audiences, however, the film was a source of conflict as it entailed quite a few scenes that strayed a little too far for some fans. Nonetheless, it’s earnings speak for itself.

Although it never surpassed its predecessor in earnings or ratings, Avengers: Age of Ultron still had the second best opening weekend of all time. Over the course of the summer of 2015, the movie did get beat out by Jurassic World and could be remembered as a disappointment when contrasted to fans’ expectations for it.

Top Box Office Movies of All Time

9. Furious 7 (2015)

The seventh installment in the Fast and Furious franchise stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, and Jason Statham for an action-fueled blockbuster hit. The film rose above its predecessors both at the box office and among critics as fans gathered in theatres to see the peak film of the franchise as well as Paul Walkers’ last Fast & Furious film due to his extremely unfortunate and untimely death. The film pays tribute to Walker in its final scene in one of cinema’s more emotional send-offs.

Directed by Jon Favreau, the revamp of The Lion King rose to the top of the rankings among Disney’s live-action remakes. Although the film did not shatter any box office records, it did become just the ninth film to reach $1 billion USD overseas. This was not a surprise since the original The Lion King is widely considered one of the best animated films of all time. The film is fueled by CGI and a star-studded voice cast including Seth Rogen, Donald Glover, and Beyoncé. Despite commercial success, The Lion King is one of only two films on this list with a score of less than 55% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Pulling in all of its characters from previous franchise movies, Avengers: Infinity War had Marvel fans flooding theatres to finally see all of the heroes they know and love on the same screen in one movie. The film surpassed the three day opening weekend record set by Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

With one of the most memorable cliffhangers of the decade, Avengers: Infinity War was an absolutely key component to teeing up the record breaking release of Avengers: Endgame.

When the initial announcement was made that a new Star Wars movie was in the making, a debate rose among fans around the world. Will it tarnish the franchise? Is it necessary? Will people still care and be excited about it? These were all questions that were surely on the mind of J.J. Abrams, the director of the first Star Wars movie in 10 years.

To his and Disney’s relief, the box office numbers proved that the world was ready for more Star Wars. Star Wars: The Force Awakens passed $2 billion USD in gross earnings within 54 days. To this day it remains the highest-grossing domestic release of all time.

James Cameron’s Highest-Grossing Movies Ever

3. Titanic (1997)

How Much Money Did Avatar Make

2. Avatar (2009)