Every Billion-Dollar Movie, Ranked Worst to Best

Release year: 2014
Worldwide gross: $1.104 billion
All-time box office rank: #35

Though only one film in the series (2007's Transformers) received even decent reviews, two Transformers films have surpassed $1 billion at the box office, helping the series gross nearly $5 billion to date across six titles (and counting). Age of Extinction, the franchise's fourth entry, is not quite the worst of the bunch, but it's close. Directed like all of its preceding films by Michael Bay, but starring Mark Wahlberg rather than Shia LaBeouf, the 2014 hit was panned for its brainlessness, length, and lack of inspiration.

"Imagine if instead of creating new music, a recording artist kept putting out the exact same album, just playing the songs a little louder each time. That's what it feels like watching Transformers: Age of Extinction." —Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle

Release year: 2022
Worldwide gross: $1.002 billion
All-time box office rank: #54

The fourth and most recent Jurassic film to qualify here, 2022's Dominion is easily the worst entry in the six-film franchise so far (and one of just two negatively reviewed films to gross $1 billion). Directed (like 2015's better Jurassic World) by Colin Trevorrow and returning stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard from its two predecessors, Dominion was faulted by critics for its directing, acting, writing, action, and effects. That won't stop a seventh film from getting made, though it will be with a new director (Gareth Edwards) and star(s).

"In an almost impressive display of ineptitude, Dominion combines the very worst vices of its predecessors in addition to a few new ones for good measure. As well as non-existent characterisation or thematic coherence, quaint concepts like comprehensible scene geography and narrative tension have all but disappeared." —Christopher Machell, CineVue

Release year: 2011
Worldwide gross: $1.124 billion
All-time box office rank: #33

The first Transformers film to cross the $1 billion mark and still the highest-grossing entry in the franchise, 2011's Dark of the Moon actually grossed less than its predecessor (Revenge of the Fallen, the second film in the series) in North America but made up for it with huge overseas grosses. No, that Metascore isn't at all good, but critics actually liked Dark of the Moon better than Fallen, though they still had plenty of complaints about director Michael Bay's soulless, brain-dead style.

"An improvement on Transformers 2, but then what isn't? To paraphrase the Bard, it's a tale, full of sound and fury and extremely stupid dialogue and nonsensical plotting and preposterous stunts and robots punching each other's heads off, signifying nothing." —Chris Hewitt, Empire

Release year: 2011
Worldwide gross: $1.047 billion
All-time box office rank: #44

Disney's five-film series based on its popular theme park attraction (or, at least, titled after its popular theme park attraction) has collected more than $4.5 billion worldwide, with two films individually crossing the $1 billion mark. But only the 2003 original film managed to score decent reviews from critics, and the Metascore has dropped for each subsequent film in the series. On Stranger Tides is the franchise's fourth entry, which thus makes it the fourth-worst film in the series. Rob Marshall (Chicago) takes over from Gore Verbinski behind the camera, but he is unable to reverse the decline in quality despite the convenience of having a pre-existing story (Tim Powers' 1987 novel On Stranger Tides, which also inspired the Monkey Island game series) to draw from and the addition of actors Ian McShane and Penelope Cruz.

"It is by far the least strange of all the "Pirates" episodes so far, with none of the cartoonish exuberance or creepy-crawly effects that made its predecessors intermittently delightful." —A.O. Scott, The New York Times

Release year: 2023
Worldwide gross: $1.362 billion
All-time box office rank: #17

No, this 2023 animated comedy-adventure based on Nintendo's biggest franchise isn't history's first good videogame movie. But it is the highest-grossing one. Despite mostly lackluster reviews and the controversial casting of Chris Pratt (it's-a him?) as pop culture's most beloved plumber, this second big-screen Super Mario adaptation* somehow grossed over $1.3 billion following its spring 2023 release. Will there be a sequel? Of course, but not until 2026.

*No, the first one isn't good, either—well, not in the way that the filmmakers intended.

"It's hard to demand all that much from a Mario Bros film when its source material has been historically devoid of plot, but shouldn't we be allowed to demand a little more than mere competency?" —Clarisse Loughrey, The Independent

Release year: 2017
Worldwide gross: $1.035 billion
All-time box office rank: #45

Not every billion-dollar animated film is a Disney production, even if it may seem that way. Created by Universal-affiliated animation house Illumination, the Despicable Me franchise is the highest-grossing animated franchise in history (yes, even ahead of Shrek and Toy Story) and has produced two billion-dollar grossers, including this third entry in the main series (which began with 2010's Despicable Me and currently spans six feature films altogether). The first two DM films received positive reviews from critics, but that wasn't the case for this third film, which returns Steve Carell as the voice of the super-villain Gru (and also finds him voicing Gru's twin brother, Dru). Will there be a Despicable Me 4? Yes ... in 2024.

"The whiz-bang joy of the first film is wholly absent, and Despicable Me 3 limps along for nearly an hour before finding its footing." —Kate Erbland, IndieWire

Release year: 1999
Worldwide gross: $1.027 billion
All-time box office rank: #47

Many critics and film fans hold up the year 1999 as perhaps the last great year in cinema history, though this film is not one of the reasons they do so. Nevertheless, it may have been the film event of 1999: the first new Star Wars movie in 16 years, directed by George Lucas himself and intended to kick off a new prequel trilogy telling the origin stories of characters like Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Phantom Menace easily became not only the highest-grossing film of that year but also of the entire Star Wars series to date in spite of surprisingly lackluster reviews that placed the film dead last among all the films in the Skywalker Saga when ranked by Metascore. (Perhaps this author wasn't the only moviegoer who was so flummoxed by how bad the film was that they went to see it in theaters a second time just to make sure they didn't miss something.)

The Phantom Menace didn't actually crack the $1 billion mark until a 3D re-release in 2012 added another $100 million or so to its grosses. Fans, however, learned their lesson: The following two films in the prequel trilogy grossed "just" $654 million and $868 million despite being slightly more enjoyable to watch.

"While the new film is certainly serviceable, it's noticeably lacking in warmth and humor, and though its visual strengths are real and considerable, from a dramatic point of view it's ponderous and plodding." —Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

Release year: 2018
Worldwide gross: $1.310 billion
All-time box office rank: #21

The sequel to the 2015 franchise revival/spin-off Jurassic World grossed a bit less than its predecessor but still easily cleared the billion-dollar mark. Critics, however, liked Fallen Kingdom much less than the previous film. Accomplished Spanish director J. A. Bayona (The Orphanage, A Monster Calls) took the directing reins from Colin Trevorrow, but his film was deemed pretentious, brain-dead, and even boring by some critics, though others appreciated the fresh style Bayona brought to the franchise.

"J.A. Bayona's gothic flourishes suggest opioid hallucinations, and they're a welcome escape from the doldrums of the writing, but they seem at odds with the rest of the film." —Josh Wise, Slant

Release year: 2006
Worldwide gross: $1.066 billion
All-time box office rank: #41

The second of Johnny Depp's five voyages as Captain Jack Sparrow remains the highest-grossing film in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Also returning from the first film is director Gore Verbinski and stars Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley, and while reviews were less positive this time around, they were still better than the receptions for the three films to follow. Critics felt that Dead Man's Chest was overly long with no real payoff for sitting through the entire thing.

"Dead Man's Chest is best summed up by the scene where Sparrow and Will battle each other atop a runaway water wheel. Like the characters, this movie is just running in circles." —Ethan Alter, Premiere

Release year: 2019
Worldwide gross: $1.054 billion
All-time box office rank: #43

Has Disney's recent live-action remake infatuation paid off for the studio? Financially, the answer appears to be yes: This 2019 remake of 1992's Aladdin is one of four such Disney remakes to appear on this list of billion-dollar grossers. But only one of those four films (and just a small percentage of the other sub-billion remakes) received positive reviews from critics. (In fact, with one exception, critics preferred the original film to the remake in every case.)

What did critics dislike about the newer Aladdin, which stars Will Smith (it's his only billion-dollar film) in the role of the blue Genie that was originally played by Robin Williams and comes from director Guy Ritchie (it's both his only musical and his only PG-rated title)? For one thing, the "ghastly" CGI used to put Smith's face on Genie's digital body. There were also complaints about the musical sequences (Ritchie, it seems, is not a natural fit for the genre) and overall lack of magic.

"Ricthie's Aladdin feels sluggish in comparison to the fast-paced original. Even the songs suffer; the direction of the musical numbers is surprisingly unimaginative and turgid, to the point that even surefire showstoppers like "Prince Ali" and the mighty "A Whole New World" end up succumbing to lackluster staging and uncomfortable performances." —Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, A.V. Club

Release year: 2019
Worldwide gross: $1.077 billion
All-time box office rank: #38

Can you call a film that made over $300 million in pure profit a failure? Arriving in theaters over 42 years after the original Star Wars, the concluding chapter in the Skywalker Saga saw J.J. Abrams, who revived the franchise under Disney's auspices with 2015's The Force Awakens, return to the director's chair as a last-minute replacement for Colin Trevorrow. Though Rise's box office total did eventually squeak past the $1 billion mark, it was the lowest-grossing mainline Star Wars film since Revenge of the Sith. Fans and critics also considered it a disappointing finale to a beloved saga, with the latter group giving it one of the lowest Metascores in franchise history.

"There were times it felt like The Rise of Skywalker was put together by reading angry reddit boards, just throwing in anything a fan might possibly want to see. It really is baffling." —Mike Ryan, Uproxx

Release year: 2010
Worldwide gross: $1.025 billion
All-time box office rank: #49

Both one of Disney's many live-action remakes and one of director Tim Burton's many collaborations with Johnny Depp and (then-wife) Helena Bonham Carter, this 3D, CGI-heavy 2010 take on Lewis Carroll's classic fantasy also stars Mia Wasikowska as the titular Alice. Critics found it garish, jumbled, and lacking the charm of Disney's 1951 animated feature, but its massive box office success convinced Disney to not only greenlight a sequel (which turned out to be a box office bomb in 2016) but also what has turned into a never-ending stream of similar live-action remakes of the studio's classic animated catalog. Wonderland is also Burton's most financially lucrative film by a wide margin, grossing over twice as much as his second-best performer (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).

"In the end, Alice in Wonderland comes off as manufactured instead of dreamy. Burton delivers all the wonder money can buy; what's missing is the wonder it can't." —Stephanie Zacharek, Salon

Release year: 2019
Worldwide gross: $1.663 billion
All-time box office rank: #9

Disney may consider it one of their "live-action" remakes, but this 2019 version of The Lion King is actually the highest-grossing animated film of all time. (But if you insist on adhering to Disney's claim that this almost entirely CGI film is live-action, the title of highest-grossing animated film would instead fall to Frozen II.) But while critics loved the original Lion King, they were generally unimpressed by Jon Favreau's remake despite an all-star voice cast led by Beyoncé, Donald Glover, and Seth Rogen. It seems that ultrarealistic talking animals makes for a less pleasant moviegoing experience than does traditional, more fanciful animation.

"The songs don't have the pop or the splendor. The terror and wonder of the intra-pride battles are muted. There is a lot of professionalism but not much heart. It may be that the realism of the animals makes it hard to connect with them as characters, undermining the inspired anthropomorphism that has been the most enduring source of Disney magic." —A.O. Scott, The New York Times

Release year: 2018
Worldwide gross: $1.152 billion
All-time box office rank: #29

The only film in the DC Extended Universe to break the $1 billion barrier so far—for those of you keeping score at home, 10 Marvel films have done so—Aquaman actually grossed less in the States than Wonder Woman but made up for it with a higher global take. The clash of underwater kingdoms stars Vincent Chase Jason Momoa as the title hero for director James Wan, best known for his work in the horror genre, where he co-created the Saw series, among others. (Maybe more non-horror franchises should enlist Wan, however—he also directed the highest-grossing Fast & Furious film.) Critics unleashed a torrent of water-based puns to describe a film that was overstuffed, unoriginal, silly, and at times dull, though a decent number of reviewers did find it entertaining. A sequel is due to arrive in early 2023.

"This is an Aquaman film that needs lots more Aquaman and vastly less bombast. It's visually wild and recklessly inventive, but the cast deserve better than to be cast adrift in a tempest of CGI." —Helen O'Hara, Empire

Release year: 2015
Worldwide gross: $1.159 billion
All-time box office rank: #26

The first spinoff from the Despicable Me series is a prequel depicting the origin story of the cheerful, adorable, and inescapable yellow creatures who eventually come to work for the super-villain Gru. Here, after a brief look at how they have evolved through the centuries, we follow a group of minions as they emerge from exile in the late 1960s. Critics were only mildly entertained—they felt Minions plenty cute but lacking in story and emotion—but the film is currently the highest-grossing entry in the entire Despicable Me franchise. A sequel, Minions: The Rise of Gru, opens in theaters this summer.

"Minions is product, pure and simple. Little kids will love it, but grown-ups will feel like they're being held hostage in a Fisher-Price test laboratory." —Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Release year: 2017
Worldwide gross: $1.236 billion
All-time box office rank: #24

Though it collected less money than its immediate predecessor, this eighth film in the Fast and Furious franchise still finished with receipts well north of $1 billion—an achievement unmet by either its sequel F9 or spinoff Hobbs & Shaw. The first Hollywood film to shoot (in part) in Cuba since the 1960s (which required American government permission), F8 is also the only FF feature directed by F. Gary Gray, who was fresh off the success of his rap biopic Straight Outta Compton. But critics liked it much less than the previous FF outing, with reviewers finding the action sequences a bit less inventive this time around (and the story even more "brain-dead" than normal).

"With The Fate of the Furious, it feels like the movies have gotten as big as they can get, and the gleeful absurdity that drove them is losing ground to the specter of obligation." —Sam Adams, Slate

Release year: 2012
Worldwide gross: $1.017 billion
All-time box office rank: #51

Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy combined to gross nearly $3 billion, collect absolutely stellar reviews, and earn a record-setting (for a trilogy) 30 Academy Award nominations, winning 17 (another record). After a decade, the director decided to return to Middle-earth by adapting J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit into not just one film (as a reasonable person might expect) but another full trilogy, clocking in at nearly 8 hours in total—even more in the extended version. (Yes, it really exists.)

The glowing reviews and Oscar glory didn't return, but the three films again grossed nearly $3 billion all told. And, once again, one of the three films took in more than $1 billion. In this case, it was the first film in the trilogy rather than the last—and the worst of the three films rather than the best. Critics found it to be an unexceptional Journey, overlong and surprisingly uncinematic.

"To sum it up, there is little that is unexpected in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Rather than an epic continuation of Jackson's Middle-earth obsession, the film seems more like the work of a man driving around a multilevel parking garage without being able to find the exit." —Marjorie Baumgarten, The Austin Chronicle

Release year: 2019
Worldwide gross: $1.079 billion
All-time box office rank: #37

Todd Phillips's controversial DC Comics film, a riff on Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy (and Taxi Driver) starring Joaquin Phoenix as the titular Batman villain, not only became the second comic book movie ever nominated for best picture (following Black Panther), it collected more Oscar nominations than any other film released in 2019. (It even won the top award at the prestigious Venice Film Festival for good measure.) Not bad for a movie that wasn't particularly liked by critics, who found Joker to be overly cynical, derivative, and shallow. And fans weren't deterred by reviewers: Joker became the first R-rated movie to surpass $1 billion in grosses.

"Joker is a well-made movie, with a killer performance from Joaquin Phoenix, who seems born to play the role. But there's nothing "bonkers" about it. It has nothing to say about the Joker himself or what he represents, or even about the world in which his brand of evil exists. Go ahead and crack open the movie. It's hollow to the core." —Alissa Wilkinson, Vox

Release year: 2015
Worldwide gross: $1.671 billion
All-time box office rank: #8

Reviving a franchise that had been dormant for 14 years and had seemingly ended with Jurassic Park III (easily the worst in the series by Metascore and by box office grosses), 2015's Jurassic World kicked off a spinoff trilogy centering on new characters played by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard but set in the same location as the original film, Isla Nublar. Director Colin Trevorrow had no previous experience in big-budget, effects-driven cinema, and critics found his film inferior to the original Jurassic Park, though many had fun with it nevertheless.

"What's missing from ... Trevorrow's thriller is that 'wow factor' that Spielberg's first outing delivered. Lacking that, and any serious effort at rethinking the story formula, Jurassic World plays like a theme park ride that's a decade out of date." —Roger Moore, Movie Nation

Release year: 2013
Worldwide gross: $1.216 billion
All-time box office rank: #25

The first of 10 (!) Marvel Cinematic Universe entries on our list, Iron Man 3 is also the worst-reviewed of the bunch. But that's not to say that director Shane Black's lone MCU film is a dud; it's just that critics seemed to like most of the other Marvel films better. That said, it's certainly an improvement over Iron Man 2, which is one of five MCU films with a lower Metascore than Iron Man 3. None of those five grossed over $1 billion—nor did 12 of the MCU films with better reviews than Iron Man 3.

"For all the clanking armies of iron knights on display to dazzle the eager kid in each of us, this summer epic rings hollow. There's no one home inside the suit." —Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Release year: 2019
Worldwide gross: $1.131 billion
All-time box office rank: #32

The first of three billion-dollar-grossing MCU films released in 2019 (which stands as the franchise's best year from a financial standpoint), Marvel's first female-centered installment introduces Brie Larson's Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel. It's the sole big-budget film directed by indie filmmakers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Sugar), but directing duties for the sequel (due in 2023) will fall to Nia DaCosta. Critics compared Captain Marvel unfavorably to the recent DC release Wonder Woman, though reviews were decent overall.

"So why does Captain Marvel feel like a bit of a disappointment? It's fine and often quite funny. It fits securely within the MCU but also functions sufficiently as a stand-alone entity. But the character, and the tremendous actress playing her in Oscar-winner Brie Larson, deserved more than fine." —Christy Lemire, RogerEbert.com

Release year: 2019
Worldwide gross: $1.454 billion
All-time box office rank: #13

One of three Disney animated films (not including Pixar releases) to surpass the $1 billion mark—and currently the highest-grossing animated film of all time from any studio (as long as you ignore the 2019 "live-action" remake of The Lion King)—this sequel to 2013's Frozen scored 10 points lower with critics and lacked a "Let It Go"-level soundtrack hit. Those factors obviously didn't deter fans from seeking out the film in theaters, but while the first Frozen won an Oscar for best animated feature, the sequel didn't even get nominated in the category. Will there be a Frozen III? Disney has yet to confirm that another sequel is in development.

"It just doesn't have the exciting, lightning-in-a-bottle feel that the wonderful original had. Perhaps that was too much to ask." —Jocelyn Noveck, AP

Release year: 2017
Worldwide gross: $1.266 billion
All-time box office rank: #22

It's a tale as old as time: The accountants are running the show. This live-action remake of one of Disney's all-time best animated films didn't exactly receive a best picture nomination like the original 1991 film did. Nor did it receive the same widespread critical acclaim or manage (like any other recent Disney remake) to justify its existence on a creative level. But director Bill Condon's version, which stars Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as Beast, isn't exactly a bad movie, and it did manage to score two Oscar nominations of its own (albeit in technical categories). But it's hard to say that reviews even matter when the word "Disney" is stamped on a film: The 2017 remake grossed over $800 million more than the original film did.

"It's fine and funny and sweet and lush and some of the songs are infectious, but I still don't completely understand why it exists — and why they couldn't do more with it." —Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly

Release year: 2001
Worldwide gross: $1.024 billion
All-time box office rank: #50

Surprisingly, only two films in the massively successful Harry Potter franchise passed the $1 billion mark: the last film (Deathly Hallows Part 2) and this, the very first one. The Chris Columbus-directed Sorcerer's Stone (aka Philosopher's Stone) is actually the second-worst Harry Potter film according to critics—only Chamber of Secrets scored lower—but like all Potter films its reviews were positive overall.

"It's a very busy movie, designed to appeal to short attention spans, and it leaves you feeling full, but not satisfied, because it's missing the most important ingredient of all: genuine magic." —Rene Rodriguez, The Miami Herald

Release year: 2016
Worldwide gross: $1.059 billion
All-time box office rank: #42

The first standalone Star Wars film not to fall in the main (numbered) series, the Gareth Edwards-directed caper film Rogue One finally filled in the gaps about exactly how the plans of the Death Star were obtained by the Rebel Alliance prior to the events of 1977's Star Wars. Is that a story that needed to be told? Maybe not, but the billion dollars in receipts suggest that it was one that audiences were willing to see, and a strong cast that included Felicity Jones, Ben Mendelsohn, Mads Mikkelsen, Riz Ahmed, Forest Whitaker, and Diego Luna helped overcome any weaknesses in the plot to push that Metascore into the green range. Disney envisioned a slew of stand-alone Star Wars Stories to come, but when the next one (2018's Solo) proved to be a box office dud, those plans were put on hold.

"By no stretch is this a disaster on a par with Lucas's misbegotten prequel trilogy. Still, at least until its final section, Rogue One lacks the zip, zing and exhilarating sense of return to form that 'The Force Awakens' conveyed so lightly." —Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post

Release year: 2015
Worldwide gross: $1.405 billion
All-time box office rank: #15

You would think that uniting the main characters from the most financially successful franchise of all time would produce a box office monster—and, well, that's exactly what happened. All four of the Avengers films easily exceeded the $1 billion mark, with this 2015 feature from Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon (who also directed the previous Avengers film) somehow the lowest-grossing of the bunch despite taking in $1.4 billion en route to becoming the fifth highest-grossing film in history (though subsequent releases have since dropped Ultron down to 12th place). Perhaps not coincidentally, Ultron is also the worst-reviewed of the four Avengers titles, though it's by no means a bad film.

"Entertaining as much of Avengers 2 is, especially when it's just hanging out with the gang in between scuffles (the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' lesson, learned), Whedon's picture meets expectations without exceeding them." —Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

Release year: 2015
Worldwide gross: $1.515 billion
All-time box office rank: #11

The highest-grossing film in the still-ongoing Fast and Furious franchise to date, Furious 7 single-handedly made more money than the two previous installments combined, with most of those grosses coming from non-U.S. theaters. It's the only FF film directed by horror specialist James Wan—yes, the same man who directed the highest-scoring film in the DC Extended Universe—and it served as an emotional send-off for franchise star Paul Walker, who died while the film was in production. While that may have factored into the film's success, the incredible action sequences (boosted by a massive $250 million production budget) made this a film worth seeking out even for newcomers to the FF universe.

"No one forks over 10 bucks to see one of these flicks for its logic. We go for the bananas demolition-derby mayhem. Furious 7 delivers that with the direct visceral rush of an EpiPen." —Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Tonight

Release year: 2022
Worldwide gross: $2.320 billion
All-time box office rank: #3

The sixth film to gross more than $2 billion, 2022's The Way of Water is the first of four planned sequels to the highest-grossing film of all time, 2009's Avatar. (The next is planned for a late 2025 release.) Returning director James Cameron and stars Zoe Saldaña, Sam Worthington, and Sigourney Weaver (among others) while adding Kate Winslet and Edie Falco, Water fell about $600 million short of the first film's gross—still good enough for third place all time, meaning that Cameron has directed three of the four highest-grossing films in history—while scoring 16 points lower with critics who found the sequel bland and unengaging despite its technical achievements.

"It's still more of a spectacle than a movie. But as spectacles go, it's a big one. And with more elements of an actual film creeping in here and there, who knows? By the time we get to the fifth one, we might have some actual cinema on our hands." —Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic

Release year: 1993
Worldwide gross: $1.114 billion
All-time box office rank: #34

While we said in our intro that 1997's Titanic was the very first film to gross more than $1 billion, Steven Spielberg's franchise-launching Jurassic Park film is actually the oldest film on our list. How does that work? Well, Park grossed over $900 million upon its original release in 1993 but later boosted that total with several theatrical re-releases over the next few decades, including one in 2013 that saw the film add an impressive $118 million to its grosses. (Not bad for a 20-year-old movie).

Park would be followed by four sequels (with another to come this year), including the Spielberg-directed The Lost World. Though the two more recent chapters grossed more than this original film, Jurassic Park remains the only film in the franchise to receive positive reviews from critics, thanks mainly to its then-impressive special effects. Even so, critics certainly found a number of issues with Park's script.

"Spielberg's scary and horrific thriller may be one-dimensional and even clunky in story and characterization, but definitely delivers where it counts, in excitement, suspense and the stupendous realization of giant reptiles." —Variety

Release year: 2018
Worldwide gross: $2.052 billion
All-time box office rank: #6

The third Avengers film and 19th MCU entry kicked off a two-part story (which concluded the following year with Endgame) from directors Anthony and Joe Russo, the former TV directors who previously made the jump to big-budget cinema with a pair of Captain America films. Infinity War is actually the only one of their four MCU films not to score 70 or higher—a victim, perhaps, of the story's inherent incompleteness—though both critics and fans found the film's main villain, Thanos (James Brolin), extremely compelling.

"Some of the sequences are undeniably thrilling but, at about 2-1/2 hours, overkill sets in early." —Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor

Release year: 2019
Worldwide gross: $1.132 billion
All-time box office rank: #31

The sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming—the webslinger's solo MCU debut—was again directed by Jon Watts and returned Tom Holland to the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Though review scores were slightly lower this time around, Far From Home was a massive box office hit, becoming the first Spider-Man film from any studio to cross the $1 billion threshold as well as the highest-grossing title ever released by Sony. The film's sequel, of course, performed even better, but we'll get to that in a moment.

"The high-school comedy bits of 'Far From Home,' while not especially original, have a sweet, affable charm." —A.O. Scott, The New York Times

Release year: 2012
Worldwide gross: $1.521 billion
All-time box office rank: #10

The first Marvel movie to crack the $1 billion mark is this 2012 blockbuster from Joss Whedon. Often called "Marvel's The Avengers" (in part to differentiate it from this dud), it's just the second film ever directed by the Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator following his Firefly film sequel Serenity, and the first film to assemble the titular Marvel heroes, many of whom had appeared separately in prior Marvel films. The film's success led to three direct sequels and the seemingly eternal continuation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole. Quality-wise, however, the film's Metascore puts it right in the middle of all MCU films to date. Some critics compared it to a Transformers film in that it emphasized effects and spectacle over character and story, but others found that Whedon's knowing script and effective direction made it a thrill to watch.

"Because it pulls off the tricky feat of combining multiple pre-existing Marvel franchises into a reasonably entertaining and tonally coherent whole, The Avengers will likely be hailed as a kind of thinking fan's superhero film, the way Whedon's recent 'Cabin in the Woods' functioned as both a horror movie and a critique of same." —Dana Stevens, Slate

Release year: 2021
Worldwide gross: $1.922 billion
All-time box office rank: #7

One of the newer members of the billion-dollar club was also the first film to gross more than $1 billion since the start of the pandemic. A self-referential trip through a multiple-Spidey multiverse, the third Spider-Man film since the franchise was incorporated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe is neither the best nor the worst of the three—in fact, in terms of Metascore, it's squarely in the middle of all Spider-Man films from any era—but it is easily the most successful at the box office, and trails only the two most recent Avengers films on the list of highest-grossing MCU titles.

"No Way Home is overlong and its various temporal loop-the-loops start to wear out their welcome... All that said, there's an imaginativeness to No Way Home, along with a ton of energy, that makes the viewer cut it a lot of slack." —Mark Feeney, The Boston Globe

Release year: 2007
Worldwide gross: $1.003 billion
All-time box office rank: #53

It didn't break the billion-dollar barrier until a 2023 re-release, but this fifth Harry Potter film is currently one of three in the series to gross in the 10-figure range. The 2007 release finds David Yates taking over directing duties from Mike Newell, and Yates would ultimately stick with the series until the final film in 2011. All four of his Potter films—indeed, all eight films in the series (not counting the Fantastic Beasts spinoffs)—were greeted by generally positive reviews, but Phoenix is only the fifth best of the franchise when ranked by Metascore.

"This is a gangly, confusing sprawl, and yet there are enough patches of beauty scattered throughout that it's impossible to reject it wholesale." —Stephanie Zacharek, Salon

Release year: 2013
Worldwide gross: $1.397 billion
All-time box office rank: #16

Capturing the public's attention like no Disney animated feature since The Lion King, this loose adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen tale "The Snow Queen" became the highest-grossing animated film of all time upon its release in 2013, though it has since been surpassed by its 2019 sequel. Well received by critics and an Oscar winner for best animated feature, Frozen features memorable songs by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and EGOT-winner Robert Lopez, including the Oscar-winning hit "Let It Go" (sung by the apparently unmemorably named Idina Menzel, who is joined in the cast by Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, and Jonathan Groff).

"Frozen is a delightful animated musical, a return to form for Disney animation with an intriguing story and terrific songs." —Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic

Release year: 2016
Worldwide gross: $1.155 billion
All-time box office rank: #28

Kicking off Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2016, Civil War is both the best-reviewed and the highest-grossing of the three Captain America-centered films to date. In fact, the Russo brothers-directed film, which finds the Avengers fracturing into two groups led by Chris Evans' Captain America and Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man, took in more money than the two previous Captain America films combined. A fourth Captain America film is in the works, but it will likely center on Anthony Mackie's version of Captain America rather than Evans.

"While slightly overlong, this movie is bright, creative, insightful, affecting and, above all else, fun." —Mike Sampson, Screen Crush

Release year: 1997
Worldwide gross: $2.265 billion
All-time box office rank: #4

An unprecedented sensation when it arrived in theaters at the tail end of 1997, James Cameron's epic period romance set on the ill-fated maiden voyage of the Titanic shattered box office records on its way to winning a record-tying 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture. Critics didn't love Titanic—the first film to gross more than $1 billion—quite as much as audiences or Academy voters seemed to, but they gave the film solid reviews overall despite some quibbles with the dialogue and melodramatic story.

"[Cameron's] movie may not be perfect, but visually and viscerally, it pretty well is." —Mike Clark, USA Today

Release year: 2016
Worldwide gross: $1.029 billion
All-time box office rank: #46

One of four Pixar films in the billion-dollar club, this 2016 film is the long-awaited sequel to Finding Nemo, which held the title of Pixar's highest-grossing release from 2003 to early 2010. Nemo actually scored 13 points higher than Dory with critics, but the latter, which returns stars Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks and adds Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy (among others), still received solid reviews from critics ahead of its massive financial success.

"It's a solid, entertaining, well-paced sequel featuring terrific voice work, a clever script and some ingenious action sequences. It just doesn't quite reach the soaring heights of inspirational storytelling and elevated humor of the original." —Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times

Release year: 2016
Worldwide gross: $1.026 billion
All-time box office rank: #48

Talking animals have long been a staple of Disney animated features, but those films typically feature no more than a handful of species. But the 2016 animated comedy Zootopia (or Zootropolis, as it is known in many countries outside the U.S.) features anthropomorphic versions of seemingly every mammal on the planet, though the film finds them not in their native habitats but in a modern city environment with no humans in sight. The well-reviewed and Oscar-winning film is often compared to Disney's live-action/animation hybrid Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, as both share a film noir sensibility, mystery/conspiracy storyline, and somewhat more adult themes than the typical Disney outing. It may be somewhat surprising that Disney has yet to commission a sequel, given that among Disney animated films only the two Frozen features have grossed more, but a TV series spinoff will debut on Disney+ later in 2022.

Release year: 2019
Worldwide gross: $2.799 billion
All-time box office rank: #2

Briefly the highest-grossing film of all time—before an Avatar re-release in 2021 helped that film regain its former title, which it holds to this day—Endgame is also the third-highest-scoring film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. (In other words: It's no masterpiece, but it's pretty good.) Directed by the Russo brothers, Endgame concludes the story begun in 2018's Avengers: Infinity War, which the brothers also directed. Clearly, fans were excited to see how the story ended: Endgame managed to exceed the box office receipts of the previous film in just 11 days. The film's box office prowess is all the more impressive given Endgame's three-hour runtime, which limited the number of daily showings possible on each screen.

MCU films as a group, by the way, have grossed over $9.7 billion to date, easily best among all franchises and over $4 billion more than the next-closest franchise, Star Wars.

"This is fan service elevated into an art form, transcending winking self-aggrandisement to become something of a reflection on the past eleven years, a chugging, tooting, spectacular train of a franchise, careering indefinitely forward." —Christopher Machell, CineVue

Release year: 2012
Worldwide gross: $1.085 billion
All-time box office rank: #36

Rises closed out director Christopher Nolan's unmatched trilogy of Batman films with the franchise's biggest commercial success to date: It's still the highest-grossing Batman film (by any director) in history. Critics, however, put it in the middle of the three films, giving it a higher Metascore than Batman Begins but lower than The Dark Knight. Would it have scored a few points higher if anyone could figure out what Tom Hardy's Bane was saying? Perhaps. But reviewers still had plenty of praise for Nolan's vision and felt that Rises made for a satisfying concluding chapter.

"Nolan brings his Batman trilogy to a close with a majestic, almost completely satisfying crash. Everything feels epic about the film: the characters, the effects, the emotional stakes - even the missteps (and there are more than a few)." —Ty Burr, The Boston Globe

Release year: 2022
Worldwide gross: $1.496 billion
All-time box office rank: #12

Did Tom Cruise save the movie industry? Maybe not, but his Joseph Kosinski-directed sequel—in which, in his late fifties, he somehow reprises the role of ace naval fighter pilot Maverick that he first played in Top Gun 36 years prior—was the first big box office hit of the post-pandemic era. The rare sequel to be considered a much better film than its predecessor, Maverick scored 28 points higher with critics en route to a Best Picture nomination and nearly $1.5 billion in receipts. The first Top Gun? That grossed a mere $357 million.

"Thirty-six years after the original, Tom Cruise is having the time of his life, the in-flight thrills are off the charts and—hot damn!—you won't find more blazing action anywhere." —Peter Travers, ABC News

Release year: 2023
Worldwide gross: $1.446 billion
All-time box office rank: #14

Picking up the torch from the prior year's Top Gun: Maverick, the 2023 summer blockbusters Barbie and Oppenheimer—famously released on the same day—helped revive the post-pandemic fortunes of movie theaters by combining to gross over $2.4 billion worldwide. Both films also greatly impressed reviewers, featured memorable performances (in the case of Barbie, led by Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling), and went on to receive multiple Academy Award nominations including Best Picture nods.

But while Christopher Nolan's Manhattan Project drama ultimately won that biggest Oscar, it was only the Greta Gerwig-directed, doll-inspired comedy Barbie that grossed north of $1 billion. In doing so, it became the all-time highest-grossing film directed by a woman—but only domestically. On a worldwide basis (which we are using in this gallery), Barbie trails slightly behind Frozen II, which was co-directed by Jennifer Lee.

"Greta Gerwig delivers a new kind of ambitious and giddily entertaining blockbuster that boasts two definitive performances from actors already in their stride. Life after Barbie will simply never be the same again." —Beth Webb, Empire

Release year: 2015
Worldwide gross: $2.071 billion
All-time box office rank: #5

Avatar may be the highest-grossing film of all time worldwide, but The Force Awakens is actually the all-time leader in North American receipts, grossing over $930 million domestically in addition to the film's sizeable foreign box office. Awakens returned the now-so-called Skywalker Saga to the big screen a full decade after the last of the three prequels, with J.J. Abrams becoming the first person not named George Lucas to direct a Star Wars film in 32 years. Four Star Wars films have followed to date—two more in the Saga plus two stand-alone adventures—but all grossed far less and all but The Last Jedi scored much lower with critics. In fact, the latter is one of just three Star Wars films (along with the original Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back) to receive better reviews than The Force Awakens.

"The film ultimately runs up against the limitations of its own nature.... But it's still an exhilarating ride, filled with archetypal characters with plausible psychologies, melodramatic confrontations fueled by soaring emotions, and performances that can be described as good, period, rather than 'good, for Star Wars.'" —Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com

Release year: 2018
Worldwide gross: $1.243 billion
All-time box office rank: #23

Arriving in theaters 14 years after the original Incredibles—an animated superhero comedy and one of Pixar's highest-scoring and most-beloved films—this inevitable sequel returns the cast (led by Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter) and director (Brad Bird) from the first film. While it can't quite recapture the magic of the original, it's still a fun, lighthearted outing, and many critics enjoyed the result. Apparently, moviegoers did too: Incredibles 2 grossed nearly twice as much as its predecessor, and the film still stands as Pixar's highest-grossing release to date.

"There's some quibbles to be had in an over-familiar setup, and an under-served villain, but overall this is a gloriously fun family parable, and as entertaining as any superhero movie you'll see this year." —John Nugent, Empire

Release year: 2012
Worldwide gross: $1.143 billion
All-time box office rank: #30

The highest-grossing film in the James Bond franchise, Skyfall is also Daniel Craig's best-reviewed outing as 007—an impressive comeback from his previous Bond film, which was his worst. Director Sam Mendes (American Beauty) made his series debut with this lengthy film that finds Bond pitted against Javier Bardem's villain Raoul Silva, with the film taking its title from the name of Bond's childhood home where the pair's final showdown unfolds. A completely original story not tied to a particular Fleming work, Skyfall was filmed by the great Roger Deakins (with more than one critic singling out his visuals for praise) and written by the team of Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (who scripted every Daniel Craig Bond film), joined by John Logan (Hugo, The Aviator).

"Skyfall triumphantly reinvents 007 in one of the best Bonds ever. This is a full-blooded, joyous, intelligent celebration of a beloved cultural icon, with Daniel Craig taking full possession of a role he previously played unconvincingly." —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Release year: 2009
Worldwide gross: $2.924 billion
All-time box office rank: #1

One of just a few non-franchise titles on this list—though that will change when the first of its four planned sequels arrives at the end of 2022—James Cameron's groundbreaking 2009 sci-fi epic isn't just an impressive performer for a piece of brand-new IP; it's the highest-grossing release in movie history, breaking the previous record held by Cameron's own Titanic and becoming the first film to cross the $2 billion mark. (Note that Avatar likely trails the classic Gone With the Wind by quite a bit if you factor in inflation, which we are not doing here due to the imprecise nature of such calculations coupled with the lack of accuracy in box office tallies for older films.) Critic opinions when Avatar was first released ranged from generally impressed (by the immersive visual effects, if not the story) to downright awestruck, and out of Cameron's films only The Terminator and Aliens have scored higher.

"A quantum leap in movie magic; watching it, I began to understand how people in 1933 must have felt when they saw 'King Kong.'" —J.R. Jones, Chicago Reader

Release year: 2017
Worldwide gross: $1.334 billion
All-time box office rank: #20

The penultimate film in the Skywalker Saga is the only Star Wars film directed by Rian Johnson (Looper, Knives Out)—at least so far. And his fresh, progressive touch resulted in not just another box office hit but also the best-reviewed Star Wars film since the 1977 original, even if the reception from fans was a bit more uneven. But even though it was the highest-grossing film released in 2017, Last Jedi grossed over $700 million less than its record-setting predecessor The Force Awakens.

"Easily its most exciting iteration in decades — the first flat-out terrific 'Star Wars' movie since 1980's 'The Empire Strikes Back.' It seizes upon Lucas' original dream of finding a pop vessel for his obsessions — Akira Kurosawa epics, John Ford westerns, science-fiction serials — and fulfills it with a verve and imagination all its own." —Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

Release year: 2019
Worldwide gross: $1.074 billion
All-time box office rank: #39

Toy Story may be the franchise that put Pixar on the map, but the first two films in the series grossed less than $900 million combined. (That relatively low total is likely due to inflation more than anything else; even the budget for the first Toy Story film was just $30 million, shockingly low by today's standards.) Films 3 and 4, however, each surpassed $1 billion, with this most recent entry slightly edging out its predecessor in receipts even though it has the lowest Metascore of any Toy Story film. In this case, "low" definitely doesn't mean bad: Toy Story 4, which adds Tony Hale's Forky to a returning cast once again led by Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, is still another terrific, well-reviewed film.

"It doesn't put you through the emotional wringer the way its predecessor did, but it's consistently inventive, funny, witty, and heartfelt. In other words, it's a lot better than it has any right to be. It's more than good enough to justify its existence." —Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor

Release year: 2008
Worldwide gross: $1.008 billion
All-time box office rank: #52

While follow-up The Dark Knight Rises may be the highest-grossing Batman film worldwide, this middle film in Christopher Nolan's trilogy still holds the North American record for a Batman title. It's also the superior film and is widely considered one of the best superhero films ever made. (Or maybe even the best.) Helping to elevate the film was a memorable, career-defining performance by Heath Ledger as the villain Joker. He died while the film was in post-production but became just the second person in history to win a posthumous best supporting actor Oscar. The Dark Knight, however, was overlooked for a best picture nomination despite its widespread acclaim. (Eleven years later, the far inferior Joker would have no problem getting nominated.)

"An ambitious, full-bodied crime epic of gratifying scope and moral complexity, this is seriously brainy pop entertainment that satisfies every expectation raised by its hit predecessor and then some." —Justin Chang, Variety

Release year: 2011
Worldwide gross: $1.357 billion
All-time box office rank: #18

The eighth and final installment in the Harry Potter film series—but not in the larger Wizarding World, which also includes three subsequent Fantastic Beasts films—Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is the highest-grossing entry in the franchise. It's also the best film in the series, when ranking the titles by Metascore. Like its three immediate predecessors, it was directed by David Yates, and critics felt that he expertly blended action and emotion into an excellent send-off for the beloved series.

"What an exhilarating gift to watch Harry and Company go out in a blaze of glory and amazing grace." —Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Release year: 2018
Worldwide gross: $1.350 billion
All-time box office rank: #19

The best-reviewed MCU film to date is also the second-highest-grossing entry in the series not to include the word "Avengers" in its title—not bad for a film that featured few returning characters from previous Marvel films (though Chadwick Boseman's titular Black Panther did appear in 2016's Captain America: Civil War). Ryan Coogler's Black Panther was also the first superhero movie to be nominated for Best Picture and the first MCU film to win an Academy Award (actually, three), even if it couldn't collect the top prize. A sequel is scheduled for release in late 2022.

"Say this about Black Panther, which raises movie escapism very near the level of art: You've never seen anything like it in your life." —Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Release year: 2010
Worldwide gross: $1.067 billion
All-time box office rank: #40

Before Toy Story 3, no animated movie had ever hit the $1 billion mark—and that's just one of this heartwarming classic's many achievements. Just missing out on the title of highest-grossing Toy Story film by a few thousand dollars, the franchise's third entry is the only title in the series to be nominated for a best picture Oscar. (In fact, it was just the third animated film in history, following Beauty and the Beast and fellow Pixar film Up, to land in the best picture field.) It would have sent the trilogy out on an incredibly high note if it weren't for the fact that a fourth film arrived nine years later—but that one wasn't half bad, either.

"This installment, the best of the three, is everything a movie should be: hilarious, touching, exciting and clever." —Claudia Puig, USA Today

Release year: 2003
Worldwide gross: $1.157 billion
All-time box office rank: #27

The only one of the three LOTR films to break the billion-dollar barrier, The Return of the King is also the only film to score 90 or higher to appear on this list. In fact, Peter Jackson's remarkable film did just about everything right, winning over critics, moviegoers, and Academy voters on its way to finishing as 2003's best-reviewed movie and winning 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture. Only two other films in history won 11 Oscars, and one of those—the aforementioned Titanic—is also the only other Best Picture winner to gross $1 billion or more.

"Here is an epic with literature's depth and opera's splendor -- and one that could be achieved only in movies. What could be more terrific?" —Richard Corliss, Time