Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies ever made

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World

When blockbusters are released, millions of people around the world flock to theaters, and distributors tally up mind-blowing fees that have skyrocketed more than a billion dollars in recent decades. What films did the best at the box office? We remember the 50 greatest hits in the world of cinema, without adjusting for inflation.

Contents
50. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)49 The Dark Knight (2008)48. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)47. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001)46. ​​Zootopia (2016)45. Alice in Wonderland (2010)44. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)43. Finding Dory (2016)42 Despicable Me 3 (2017)41. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)40. Aladdin (2019)39. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)38 The Lion King (1994)37. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)36. Toy Story 3 (2010)35. Toy Story 4 (2019)34. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)33. Joker (2019)32 The Dark Knight Rises (2012)31 Jurassic Park (1993)30. Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)29. Skyfall (2012)28. Transformers: Dark side of the Moon (2011)27. Captain Marvel (2019)26. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)25. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)24. Aquaman (2018)23. Captain America: Civil War (2016)22. Minions (2015)21. Iron Man 3 (2013)20. The Fate of the Furious (2017)19. The Incredibles 2 (2018)18. Beauty and the Beast / Beauty and the Beast (2017)17. Frozen (2013)16. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)15. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)14. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)13. Black Panther (2018)12. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)11. Frozen II (2019)10. Furious 7 (2015)9. The Avengers (2012)8 The Lion King (2019)7. Jurassic World (2015)6. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)5. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)4. Star Wars: The Force Awakens / Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)3. Titanic (1997)2. Avengers: Endgame (2019)1. Avatar (2009)

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

50. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)

Countries – UK, USA | Directed by David Yates | Duration – 146 minutes | Fees – $977 million

About what: the young wizard Harry Potter and his friends are looking for the secret sources of power and power of the villain Voldemort

Before bringing down the grand finale of the Potter series on the audience, the creators of the film adaptation of the JK Rowling cycle offered the public a magical detective story about the search for Horcruxes – artifacts that store fragments of Voldemort’s soul and guarantee his immortality. Like the characters in fairy tales, the heroes of the first series of “Deathly Hallows” must collect Horcruxes that have not yet been destroyed in order to have a chance to defeat the “Koshchei the Immortal” of their universe. Young sorcerers can no longer count on the help of adults, and the penultimate screen adventure of Harry, Ron and Hermione is one of the most dangerous and scary in their lives, despite its comparative intimacy by the standards of a usually sweeping epic. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson.

Fact: The romantic dance scene between Harry and Hermione was not in the book and was made up by screenwriter Steve Kloves. It was a gift for those Harry Potter fans who thought Harry and Hermione were meant to be together.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

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49 The Dark Knight (2008)

Country – USA | Directed by Christopher Nolan | Duration – 142 minutes | Fees – 1.004 billion dollars

About what: while the superhero Batman is trying to rid the city of Gotham from the mafia, the supervillain Joker promises the bandits that he will kill the hero

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High-budget superhero action films impress the audience with the scope of the battle scenes, the abundance of special effects, the color of the characters, and the intensity of passions. They don’t claim to have a lot of plot depth – unless it’s The Dark Knight, which is considered one of the best films of modern cinema. While in Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan merely presented his vision of Batman and his universe to the public, in The Dark Knight, the director put the hero to the test in such a subtle way that it forced viewers to think about difficult and terrible questions of morality. Until 2008, no other on-screen Joker was as creepy to audiences and dangerous to Batman and his entourage as Heath Ledger’s unexpectedly powerful performance, far from his usual roles. Christian Bale played the title role in the film.

Fact: According to actor Michael Caine, when he first saw Ledger play in Joker makeup, he was so scared and taken aback that he forgot his lines.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

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48. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Countries – New Zealand, USA | Directed by Peter Jackson | Duration – 169 minutes | Fees – 1.017 billion dollars

About what: the wizard Gandalf hires the hobbit Bilbo for a dwarf expedition to the mountain, where the dragon guards the gold of the destroyed underworld

The Hobbit trilogy is a unique phenomenon in the history of film adaptations. The book of the same name was written by John Tolkien as a children’s fairy tale, and it wasn’t until a decade and a half later that the British writer began publishing The Lord of the Rings, the epic adult sequel to The Hobbit. Director Peter Jackson filmed The Hobbit after directing the amazing Lord of the Rings trilogy. So he turned Tolkien’s modest tale into a sprawling three-episode epic, as pompous as Jackson’s previous blockbusters. It was a controversial decision, but the public was so eager to know how the director coped with his task that the first series of The Hobbit became the most commercially successful in the trilogy. It stars Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen and Richard Armitage.

Fact: Director Peter Jackson really wanted to cast Martin Freeman in the title role, and he planned the shooting of The Hobbit in accordance with the filming schedule of the actor in Sherlock so that Freeman could play in both films.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

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47. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001)

Country – USA | Directed by Chris Columbus | Duration – 152 minutes | Fees – $1.018 billion

About what: a little orphan boy learns that he comes from a family of magicians and must study at the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

British producer David Heyman turned his attention to J.K. Rowling’s first book as soon as the fantasy novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone went on sale. This allowed him and Warner to sign Rowling on a rather cheap deal to film the Potter series, as the writer hadn’t fully realized that she was creating the most successful series of children’s books in human history. However, Rowling then already enjoyed enough respect that the first blockbuster based on her creations was created with a big budget and even more respect for the source material. Thanks to this, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” received recognition from the “Harry Potter” fans and laid the foundation for the franchise for years to come. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson.

Fact: Selling the rights to the film adaptation of “Potteriana”, J.K. Rowling insisted that only British and Irish actors play British characters – by no means Americans, imitating an English accent with sin in half.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

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46. ​​Zootopia (2016)

Country – USA | Directed by Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush | Duration – 108 minutes | Fees – 1.024 billion dollars

About what: a lively rabbit trains at the police academy and becomes the first rabbit in the police of Zootopia, the city of sentient animals

The fashionable theme of prejudices, stereotypes and racial contradictions can be revealed in different ways. Someone does it clumsily and corny, and someone – as masterfully as the creators of the Disney cartoon “Zootopia”. This is a captivating comedic detective story about a detailed world in which sentient anthropomorphic animals of all shapes and sizes coexist. Although the English title of the film hints at the word “utopia”, life in Zootopia is far from ideal, and the charming main character of the film not only becomes a victim of other people’s prejudices, but also demonstrates a flawed upbringing herself. Exploring the contradictions of the human world using material from the animal world, Zootopia clearly and ingeniously shows children and adults how complex and ambiguous these problems are, and how difficult it is to solve them, no matter how beautiful-hearted slogans politicians proclaim.

Fact: Initially, the main character of the cartoon was supposed to be the rogue fox Nick. However, test screenings showed that the audience did not like him enough, and Judy the police rabbit became the main character.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

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45. Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Country – USA | Directed by Tim Burton | Duration – 109 minutes | Fees – $1.025 billion

About what: matured Alice again finds herself in Wonderland, where she once visited as a little girl

One of the most eccentric Hollywood directors and one of the most insane children’s books in a good way – when Tim Burton’s blockbuster Alice in Wonderland was announced, it seemed that the tape was destined to become a masterpiece. However, Burton and his team agreed with those who reproached Lewis Carroll’s fairy tale for the lack of a coherent narrative, and instead of filming Alice, they created its sequel. This allowed them to come up with an entirely new storyline, cast an adult actress in the title role, and rethink some of the characters. The resulting grotesque film did well at the box office, but disappointed those who wanted to see the adaptation of the classic and appreciated Carroll’s creation for its randomness and unpredictability. Starring Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway.

Fact: Alice in the film goes by the surname Kingsley. This is a reference to Charles Kingsley, the British writer and intellectual whose didactic and satirical tale “Children of the Water” was published at the same time as Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

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44. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)

Country – USA | Directed by George Lucas | Duration – 133 minutes | Fees – 1.027 billion dollars

About what: two Jedi Knights go to trade negotiations and end up in a war because one of the parties to the conflict launches a military invasion

With 16 years between the premieres of Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace, audiences have longed for blockbusters from the Star Wars franchise, one of the most successful movie cycles in Hollywood history. Instead of continuing the story of Luke, Leia, and Han, The Phantom Menace took viewers back to the past of The Wars, to a time when the villainous Sith were a long-forgotten threat and the Galactic Republic and its Jedi defenders believed their power was unshakable. . Invented by George Lucas, a trilogy of epic prequels with huge budgets and cutting-edge special effects promised to tell how Anakin Skywalker became first a Jedi and then a servant of darkness Darth Vader, and how the Empire replaced the Republic. It was an offer that fantasy fans couldn’t refuse. The film stars Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor,

Fact: The future British and Hollywood star Keira Knightley played Portman’s double in the film. After applying makeup, the actresses were so similar that even Kira’s mother could hardly tell them apart.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

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43. Finding Dory (2016)

Country – USA | Directed by Andrew Stanton, Angus MacLane | Duration – 97 minutes | Fees – 1.029 billion dollars

About what: Dory, a fish suffering from memory lapses, begins to remember her childhood and, together with friends, goes in search of her parents.

After Dory the fish helped father and son find each other in the hit Finding Nemo cartoon, it only made sense that in the sequel, Marlene and Nemo would help Dory find his parents. 13 years have passed between the premieres of these films, and Pixar has managed to make a huge step forward in creating first-class and carefully detailed and elaborate computer animation. Although Finding Dory wasn’t as heartfelt and dramatic as its predecessor, the film’s striking beauty, energetic action, and abundance of gags and story surprises ensured it was an audience favorite and a terrific box office success, even by Pixar standards.

Fact: When Finding Dory was released in the US, it grossed $486 million and set the national record for an animated film.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

42 Despicable Me 3 (2017)

Country – USA | Directed by Pierre Coffin, Kyle Balda, Eric Guillon | Duration – 90 minutes | Fees – $1.035 billion

About what: Former supervillain Gru learns that he has a twin brother, Drew, a respected businessman who wants to become a villain.

The success of two episodes of the comedy cartoon Despicable Me led to the appearance of the prequel Minions, and the success of Minions made the release of Despicable Me 3 inevitable. In this picture, Gru, who in Despicable Me 2 acted as an agent of a secret anti-villain organization, once again embarked on the path of crime. Why? Because films and cartoons about superheroes and super agents are a dime a dozen, and there are much fewer films about supervillains. So Illumination wisely reasoned that it must again give the public what they loved about the first Despicable Me, a reckless fantasy action-comedy about an adventurous but dim-witted villain and his hilarious minion minions.

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Fact: South Park co-creator Trey Parker voiced one of the characters in the picture so that his little daughter, who was still too early to watch South Park, could see the cartoon with her dad.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

41. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

Country – USA | Directed by Rob Marshall | Duration – 136 minutes | Fees – 1.046 billion dollars

About what: Captain Jack Sparrow and other pirate captains go in search of the Fountain of Youth

After the completion of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, director Gore Verbinski and stars Orlando Bloom and Kira Find left the franchise, and Walt Disney Studios began work on a sequel in which Johnny Depp’s beloved Captain Jack Sparrow was no longer the main secondary character, but full-fledged protagonist. The role of the main character was given to the Spanish and Hollywood star Penelope Cruz. The tape was based on the popular novel by American writer Tim Powers “On Stranger Tides”. In order to fit its plot into the world of Pirates of the Caribbean, this book at the junction of fantasy and pirate adventures was so significantly reworked that the movie ended up not being very intelligible. However, it was still spectacular and exciting enough to perform well at the box office and receive praise from some critics.

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Fact: When the picture was planned, the head of the Walt Disney company did not want to spend more than $ 200 million on it – after the previous tape of the cycle cost 300 million. As a result, the budget of “On Stranger Tides” exceeded $400 million, despite all attempts to save money.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

 

40. Aladdin (2019)

Country – USA | Directed by Guy Ritchie | Duration – 128 minutes | Fees – 1.051 billion dollars

About what: a cunning vizier forces a street thief to steal a magic lamp in which a wish-granting genie is imprisoned

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In 1992, Walt Disney Studios turned the famous fairy tale “Aladdin” from the 1001 Nights Oriental cycle into a swashbuckling cartoon musical, which is considered one of the masterpieces of animation of the 20th century. The main asset of the tape was an ingeniously animated and excellently voiced genie – a real theater of one magical actor. A quarter century later, Walt Disney hired British director Guy Ritchie to create a big-budget live-action remake of Aladdin. Ritchie entrusted the role of the genie to superstar Will Smith, who did an excellent job, although he did not surpass Robin Williams, who voiced the character in the 1990s. Also, Richie expanded the role of Princess Jasmine a bit to match the trends of the times. As a result, the new Aladdin grossed twice as much as its predecessor. Starring Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott.

Fact: British actor Patrick Stewart really wanted to play the vizier because he missed the role during the casting of the cartoon. However, the producers preferred Marwan Kenzari, a much younger actor with Iranian roots.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

39. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Country – USA | Directed by Gareth Edwards | Duration – 133 minutes | Fees – 1.056 billion dollars

Synopsis: A small squad in the service of the Rebel Alliance is ordered to retrieve the plans for the Death Star.

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When the Walt Disney Corporation bought Lucasfilm and the rights to its films, it decided that audiences should get a Star Wars blockbuster every year. It was impossible to shoot the same actors at that pace, and the studio announced that in between the sequels to the George Lucas films, stand-alone films would be released to fill in the gaps in the Star Wars mythology. Caustic fans of the franchise have repeatedly wondered why there was a vulnerable technological hole in the design of the Death Star, and the studio tried to answer this question in Rogue One, a dramatic and even tragic action thriller about the heroes thanks to which the Death Star “was destroyed. In 2016, the audience had not yet had time to be disappointed in the new vision of “Wars”, and the picture was a great success. Now it is considered the best blockbuster of the cycle, released in recent years. Rogue One stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Donnie Yen and Ben Mendelsohn.

Fact: Initially, the scriptwriters wanted to make the main character of the film a descendant of the Jedi, but then decided that it was time to tell stories from the world of Star Wars without the Jedi at the center of events.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

38 The Lion King (1994)

Country – USA | Directed by Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff | Duration – 88 minutes | Fees – 1.064 billion dollars

About what: the heir to the lion kingdom in the African savanna loses his father early and becomes an outcast until he challenges the usurper

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Of all the two-dimensional Disney cartoons released in the last decades of the 20th century, The Lion King was the ultimate masterpiece. Inspired by Hamlet and the Japanese anime series Kimba the White Lion, animation masters from Walt Disney have created a stunningly beautiful and diverse hand-drawn blockbuster that has room for family drama, strong friendships, hilarious jokes, and a saga of coming-of-age and revenge. Separately, it is worth mentioning the amazing songs of Elton John with lyrics by Tim Rice. Anyone who has ever watched “The Lion King” will never forget such hits as “Circle of Life”, “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” and “Hakuna Matata”. The soundtrack of “The Lion King” flew off the shelves so quickly that it was awarded a rare “diamond disc” for the record industry (more than 10 million copies sold in the US alone).

Fact: The Lion King made $858 million the year it was released. The remaining 200 million the tape collected when it was re-released for IMAX theaters in 2002, and in 2011 for 3D cinemas.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

37. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)

Country – USA | Directed by Gore Verbinski | Duration – 150 minutes | Fees – 1.066 billion dollars

About what: The British East India Company blackmails blacksmith Will Turner to get the magic compass of his pirate friend, Captain Jack Sparrow.

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The blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was created as a risky experiment. Pirate films were considered a “dead” genre at the time, and the Walt Disney Studios weren’t sure the project would pay off. But when it became a worldwide hit, Walt Disney invested in two sequels at once with a single plot to strike while the iron is hot. “Dead Man’s Chest” was the first of these sequels, and the charm of the characters of the first tape, together with a new incendiary adventure in the world of pirate legends and myths, ensured that the tape almost doubled the box office in comparison with the box office of “The Damnation”. The film stars Orlando Bloom, Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley.

Fact: Johnny Depp’s old friend director Tim Burton created some grotesque make-up designs for the bewitched sailors of the crew of Davy Jones, the captain of the ghost ship The Flying Dutchman.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

36. Toy Story 3 (2010)

Country – USA | Directed by Lee Unkrich | Duration – 103 minutes | Fees – 1.067 billion dollars

About what: when the owner of living toys grows up, the dolls end up in a kindergarten, which is terrorized by a toy bear

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The history of the creation of the third “Toy Story” was long and difficult. At one point, Walt Disney even created a new CG studio to draw this picture instead of Pixar. When everything settled down, and Pixar found time for Toy Story 3, it became clear that the little fans of the two previous cartoons about living toys had already grown up, and some even became parents (recall that Toy Story 2 was released in 1999). ). Therefore, the theme of growing up and the changes associated with it has become the key to this fascinating cartoon with one of the most heartfelt climaxes in the history of Western cartoon cinema. However, the main source of inspiration for the tape was American films about the escapes of prisoners of war from Nazi concentration camps.

Fact: Toy Story: The Great Escape became the third animated film in Hollywood history to be nominated for an Oscar in the Best Picture category. The category “best animated film” already existed at that moment, and the picture received this statuette.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

35. Toy Story 4 (2019)

Country – USA | Directed by Josh Cooley | Duration – 100 minutes | Fees – 1.073 billion dollars

What it’s about: When his new owner’s family goes on a road trip, toy cowboy Woody stumbles upon his old girlfriend Bo Beep, who has become an orphaned “lost toy”

Although many critics and viewers thought that “Toy Story 3” was a great conclusion to the Pixar animation saga, the studio’s writers were able to compose a new chapter of the story and close it almost better than in the previous film. Toy Story has always been built around the relationship of the main characters to their little owners, and it was logical that the final film of the series raised the question whether a toy could outgrow its attachment to the owners and find true freedom in the society of its own kind. Together with this emotionally charged message, the tape offered the audience an exciting, funny and well-animated storytelling, which provided the tape with a record box office for the franchise.

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Fact: Keanu Reeves was brought in to voice the toy stuntman Duke Boobooms, not so much because of his heroic roles, but because of his Canadian accent, which was required by the script. The voice of the actor was chosen blindly from several recordings of native Canadians.

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

34. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Country – USA | Directed by JJ Abrams | Duration – 142 minutes | Fees – 1.074 billion dollars

What: A revived Emperor Palpatine takes control of the First Order, and the final battle for power in the galaxy begins.

As we now know, the third Star Wars trilogy was created without a clearly defined plot plan. In the first two films, the producers let directors J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson create their own personal visions of the fantasy saga, and their visions of storytelling turned out to be very different in many ways. Therefore, when Abrams directed the third series, it turned out to be a rejection of the ideas of the second film and a return to the idea of ​​the first picture. “Sunrise” did not benefit from such confusion, and if the audience took the second series ambiguously, then many considered the finale of the trilogy a complete fiasco. That, however, did not prevent him from seeping into the club of billionaires. The magic of Star Wars was stronger than the disappointment of the public. Starring Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac and Adam Driver.

Fact: The creators of the tape planned that Carrie Fisher would have a large and significant role in the film, but the script had to be rewritten when the actress died in December 2016, a year after the start of work on the picture.

 

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33. Joker (2019)

Country – USA | Directed by Todd Phillips | Duration – 122 minutes | Fees – 1.074 billion dollars

What it’s about: A failed clown slowly goes insane and turns into a killer whose crimes inspire street protests.

Critics have repeatedly noted that Batman films are as strong as their villains are colorful and interesting. Does this mean that a movie from the Batman universe can conquer the audience if the hero does not appear in the frame? Studio Warner Bros. and director Todd Phillips set out to test this hypothesis by releasing a mid-budget film about the transformation of an ordinary loser into the Joker, Batman’s most famous adversary. Inspired by Taxi Driver and other classic Martin Scorsese dramas, Joker was made as a provocative and exceptionally dark art-house film with almost no action scenes, which did not prevent it from earning as a full-fledged blockbuster. It turned out that the main character’s severe depression rhymed perfectly with the feelings of viewers around the world, and “Joker” became a popular source of Internet memes. Joaquin Phoenix played the title role.

Fact: In DC Comics, the Joker does not have a “canon” backstory. It is believed that this mysterious character only benefits from the fact that readers do not know for sure how he became a crazy clown.

 

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Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

32 The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Country – USA | Directed by Christopher Nolan | Duration – 165 minutes | Fees – 1.081 billion dollars

About what: After a long break, Bruce Wayne once again puts on his Batman costume to clash with the supervillain Bane, who is trying to destroy Gotham

Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight has been hailed as the best Batman blockbuster in film history, and this success set the bar extremely high for the director. The audience was waiting for a new impeccable masterpiece, and it was difficult for them to accept The Revival of the Legend – a spectacular, memorable, dramatic and unpredictable movie, but not up to its predecessor. Still, Bane, both in the comics and on the screen, has always been a second-rate villain compared to the Joker. In turn, the introduction of Catwoman into the narrative overcomplicated the picture rather than enhanced it. However, interest in Rise of the Legend was such that it became the most commercially successful movie about the midnight superhero. Starring Christian Bale, Tom Hardy and Anne Hathaway.

Fact: Unlike Christopher Nolan’s first two Batman films, Rise of the Legend was not filmed in Chicago, but in Pittsburgh. This was due to the fact that Chicago ran out of picturesque corners that Nolan wanted to capture on film.

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31 Jurassic Park (1993)

Country – USA | Directed by Steven Spielberg | Duration – 128 minutes | Fees – 1.099 billion dollars

What it’s about: Genetic scientists recreate dinosaurs for an amusement park, and ancient monsters break free when a corrupt employee disables the security system.

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The highest-grossing film in Steven Spielberg’s filmography was a great gift for all lovers of paleontology. Jurassic Park was the first dinosaur blockbuster to be made with heavy use of photorealistic computer graphics. Innovative special effects liberated the authors of the tape and allowed them to make a gripping and exciting fantasy thriller about scientists and children caught off guard on an island with Jurassic Park. As we now know, the dinosaurs depicted in the film were shown inaccurately, out of proportion and without the feathers they actually had. But for its time it was an epoch-making hit, which for a while became the highest grossing blockbuster in the world. The Park starred Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum.

Fact: Steven Spielberg read Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park while working with the writer on a film about ER doctors. The Park impressed the director so much that he abandoned the previous project for the sake of its adaptation. But in the future, Spielberg helped Crichton create the hit series ER.

 

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30. Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)

Country – USA | Directed by Michael Bay | Duration – 165 minutes | Fees – 1.104 billion dollars

About what: A Texas mechanic and his family are accidentally involved in a war of sentient robots .

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After three successful blockbusters from the Transformers cycle starring Shia LaBeouf, the producers of the franchise decided to diversify and introduce a new central character into the plot – not a young guy, but the father of an adult daughter. The fact is that “Transformers” was born in the 1980s, and their most devoted fans by the time the film version was released were much older than Shabaf’s hero. Also, the fourth series of the franchise was noticeably more critical of the American army and the CIA, and Chinese star Li Bingbing played one of the supporting roles, which was apparently an attempt by Hollywood to gain a foothold in the Chinese film market. After such changes, the “Age of Extermination” could not set the rolling record of the epic, but it just fell short of it. Starring Mark Wahlberg and Nicola Peltz.

Fact: Before casting Mark Wahlberg in the lead role, the film’s producers tried to negotiate with Dwayne Johnson. However, he chose to star in Hercules.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

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29. Skyfall (2012)

Countries – UK, USA | Directed by Sam Mendes | Duration – 154 minutes | Fees – 1.109 billion dollars

About what: British superspy James Bond confronts a cyberterrorist who himself served in the past in MI6

In 2010, the MGM studio went bankrupt and rebooted. After that, she urgently needed to demonstrate that financial problems did not affect her ability to create international blockbusters, and the next Bond movie was excellent proof. The third film starring Daniel Craig as Bond, Skyfall continued the line begun in Casino Royale to humanize the superspy – turning him into an imperfect hero who is capable of making mistakes, truly falling in love, doubting his mission … And at the same time continue to fight with villains, no matter what the cost. Skyfall also showed Bond for the first time in his native land, on the Scottish estate where the hero was born and raised.

Fact: Pop star Adele was pregnant when she recorded the song “Skyfall” for the film. According to the singer, this made her voice lower than usual, and the recording turned out to be unique and inimitable.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

28. Transformers: Dark side of the Moon (2011)

Country – USA | Directed by Michael Bay | Duration – 154 minutes | Fees – 1.124 billion dollars

About what: Decepticon alien robots are trying to work the Earth in order to use its resources to restore their home world

Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon was a triumph for the Transformers brand and director Michael Bay’s proverbial “explosive” approach to bringing it to the screen. After the criticism that hit the previous blockbuster of the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen cycle, one could assume that the new picture would perform poorly at the box office. Moreover, the cycle lost the beauty of Megan Fox, who adorned those frames of the epic where there were no dizzying special effects. However, “Transformers 3” put the skeptics to shame. Viewers paid more than a billion dollars to get the third portion of the war for the fate of the world between humans and robots, as well as admire the British supermodel Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, who replaced Fox. The main character of the film was played by Shia LaBeouf.

Fact: While Transformers 3 was being filmed, the female lead Rosie Huntington-Whiteley became the girlfriend of action hero Jason Statham. They are now married and have two children.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

27. Captain Marvel (2019)

Country – USA | Directed by Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck | Duration – 124 minutes | Fees – 1.128 billion dollars

About what: a dugout with superpowers who lives in space and has lost her memory finds herself on Earth and begins to remember her past

It is believed that the relatively modest participation of Captain Marvel in the “combined” blockbuster “Avengers: Endgame” was due to the fact that the “solo” film of the heroine was not received as enthusiastically as Marvel Studios had hoped. Although Brie Larson in the title role looked cool and superheroic, her character seemed more like a biorobot than a feeling and experiencing person. The film as a whole was not exciting enough to make up for it. However, it was an MCU blockbuster and grossed over a billion dollars simply because fans of the series didn’t want to miss a single storyline between the epic Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Together with Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn and Jude Law starred in the film.

Fact: In Marvel comics, the superheroine Carol Danvers originally went by the superhero name “Ms. Marvel”. She received the name “Captain Marvel” in 2012, inheriting it from several other Marvel characters, mostly aliens.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

26. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)

Country – USA | Directed by John Watts | Duration – 129 minutes | Fees – 1.132 billion dollars

About what: Peter Parker, along with classmates, goes on a trip to Europe and runs into an invasion of monsters from a parallel universe

Of all the Tom Holland-starring Spider-Man movies to date, Far From Home has been arguably the weakest and least exciting. In fact, it turned out to be just a two-hour plot strip between the much more successful and intriguing blockbusters Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: No Way Home. However, the strength of the Marvel brand, a powerful advertising campaign, and the audience’s love for Spider-Man and Holland took their toll. Far From Home greatly outperformed Spider-Man: Homecoming and became Holland’s first solo film in the Billionaire Club. Zendaya, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jacob Batalon and Samuel L. Jackson also played in the film.

Fact: Spider-Man: Far From Home was the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film without Stan Lee’s godfather. The creator of Spider-Man passed away in 2018.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

25. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Country – USA | Directed by Peter Jackson | Duration – 201 minutes | Fees – 1.146 billion dollars

What: While the hobbits Frodo and Sam make their way to Mordor, their friends defend Gondor from the hordes of Sauron

The film epic “The Lord of the Rings” debuted strongly and finished powerfully. The Fellowship of the Ring earned $897 million at the box office, The Two Towers earned $936 million, and The Return of the King made it into the billionaire club and won 11 Oscars, which became the award for the entire trilogy. Over the years, the fame of The Lord of the Rings has only grown and strengthened. The more big-budget films and TV shows that tried to become a new word in the world of screen fantasy, it became clearer what kind of masterpiece Peter Jackson and his team created, and how difficult it is for other creators to even come close to achieving them, not to mention surpass. The trilogy struck on the spot with its pathos and scope, and at the same time was a poignant story about memorable characters, and not a soulless parade of special effects. In essence, it was “War and Peace” from the fantasy world, comparable to the classic Soviet adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s novel. The main roles in the epic were played by Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen and Ian McKellen.

Fact: Director Peter Jackson has a fear of spiders, and Shelob’s design for the giant spider in the film was based on those spiders that the director fears the most.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

24. Aquaman (2018)

Country – USA | Directed by James Wan | Duration – 143 minutes | Fees – 1.149 billion dollars

About what: Underwater superhero Aquaman confronts his half-brother, the king of the underwater world, who wants to declare war on humanity

The most positive, outrageous and enchanting superhero blockbuster from the DCEU, “Aquaman” naturally won the fight for the title of the most successful film of this cycle, despite the resistance of very strong and better-known competitors. However, it’s possible that the title character’s lesser fame compared to some of the other DC Comics characters played into Aquaman’s hands, as viewers were eager to get to know the charismatic ocean superhero played by Hawaiian actor Jason Momoa, the hero of the first season of Game of Thrones. Whatever the case, Aquaman has set the bar high and its record will not be easy to beat. In addition to Momoa, the film stars Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe and Patrick Wilson.

Fact: Director James Wan had a choice between making an Aquaman blockbuster and a Flash superhero blockbuster. The director chose Aquaman because he was a lesser-known character and Wan found it more of a challenge to make a film about him.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

23. Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Country – USA | Directed by Anthony Russo, Joe Russo | Duration – 147 minutes | Fees – 1.153 billion dollars

About what: The UN decides to take superheroes under control, and the Avengers are divided into supporters and opponents of this law

Unlike other blockbusters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America: Civil War does not have a main antagonist. The film’s leading villain turns out to be not the main opponent of the heroes, but the catalyst for their conflict, and the film’s most spectacular action scenes are the battles of superheroes with each other. This made Civil War the most tragic in the Marvel franchise, as nothing is sadder than seeing friends and former allies become enemies, even if only for the duration of one film. It is also the most unpredictable Marvel blockbuster, since either side of the conflict could win in the final. The film stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan and Tom Holland, who debuted as Spider-Man.

Fact: In fact, “Confrontation” belongs to the “Avengers” series, but is named after Captain America, as a much more modest tape was originally planned, built around the characters of Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

22. Minions (2015)

Country – USA | Directed by Pierre Coffin, Kyle Balda | Duration – 91 minutes | Fees – 1.159 billion dollars

About what: Yellow baby minions, obsessed with a thirst to serve villains, become minions of a supervillain from America in the 1960s.

The goofy yellow minions first appeared in the Illumination comedy cartoon Despicable Me and quickly became extremely popular. While the cartoon itself parodied spy and superhero films and mainly focused on older viewers, the minions of the main villain entertained the kids with their funny antics and made the tape a truly family movie. As a result, minion-shaped toys became the hottest Despicable Me merchandise, and Illumination, along with its partners at Universal Studios, decided to try to capitalize on minions as the central characters of a captivating and hilarious cartoon. The result exceeded expectations. If “Despicable Me 2” was a little short of billions, then “Minions” set a cycle record and proved the value of minions as an independent brand.

Fact: Minions became the first non-Walt Disney cartoon to break the $1 billion mark in global grosses.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

21. Iron Man 3 (2013)

Country – USA | Directed by Shane Black | Duration – 130 minutes | Fees – 1.215 billion dollars

About what: Tony Stark is fighting a terrorist organization that turns people into super soldiers

After an epic battle with aliens from space in The Avengers, the producers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe decided to return Iron Man to sinful earth and once again pit the superhero against a relatively believable opponent without galactic ambitions and divine abilities. It was important for them not to lose sight of the humanity and vulnerability of Tony Stark, which makes him a truly magnetic character. Therefore, the producers wanted to remind viewers that even an ordinary person can make Iron Man sweat and almost say goodbye to life. Along the way, “Iron Man 3” made Pepper Potts more significant to the plot than in previous tapes, and even turned her into a superheroine for a while. The audience received the new film about the popular hero very well, and the tape became the most successful solo album by Tony Stark. The film stars Robert Downey Jr.

Fact: After the huge financial success of The Avengers, the producers increased the planned budget for Iron Man 3 from $140 million to $200 million to ensure that director Shane Black could not deny himself anything and made the most effective blockbuster.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

20. The Fate of the Furious (2017)

Country – USA | Directed by F. Gary Gray | Duration – 136 minutes | Fees – 1.236 billion dollars

About what: a female cyberterrorist forces Dominic Toretto to steal a nuclear weapons control system for her

Although many critics and viewers considered “Fast and Furious 7” a worthy conclusion to the epic, “Fast and the Furious” grossed too much at the box office for investors to refuse to shoot new car blockbusters. Therefore, even before the release of Fast and Furious 7, Universal Pictures announced that it plans to release at least three more films, and Fast and Furious 8 appeared two years later. Its plot uniqueness consisted in the fact that Dominic was forced to be on the side of the villains, and his comrades had to act against him, and not under his command. However, by that time there were so many masters of their craft in the Toretto team that, as they say, “the detachment did not notice the loss of a fighter.” The film stars Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham and Charlize Theron.

Fact: Fast & Furious 8 was the first Hollywood blockbuster filmed in Cuba since Fidel Castro came to power.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

19. The Incredibles 2 (2018)

Country – USA | Directed by Brad Bird | Duration – 118 minutes | Fees – 1.243 billion dollars

About what: A family of superheroes confronts a villain who uses hypnosis to discredit the heroes in the eyes of people

Released in 2004, The Incredibles was a great superhero action comedy and Pixar’s first feature-length animated film to have human protagonists. Since The Incredibles, its creator Brad Bird has taken on other noteworthy projects, but has hinted that he has plans for a sequel, and that The Incredibles 2 could someday come out if the story puzzle fits in his head. Ten years later, Bird came up with a new script, and four years later, we got the second exciting superhero film from Pixar, which continued to explore in a fiery theme the responsibility of supermen for the consequences of their exploits. Thanks to the popularity of the previous tape and the Incredibles 2’s own merits, the picture doubled the box office of the 2004 film and made its way into the club of billionaires.

Fact: The flamboyant supersuit designer Edna Maud is inspired by legendary Hollywood designer Edith Head, who has won 7 Oscars and garnered 27 nominations for best costume statuettes. Also, some of Edna’s features are borrowed from the Hollywood costume designer Edna Taylor.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

18. Beauty and the Beast / Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Country – USA | Directed by Bill Condon | Duration – 129 minutes | Fees – 1.274 billion dollars

About what: a dreamy girl becomes a prisoner of a selfish prince, whom the sorceress turned into a monster

If The Lion King was the best Disney cartoon of the 1990s, then Beauty and the Beast was the studio’s second most important masterpiece of that era. Luxuriously drawn and superbly animated, the fairy tale musical, with superb songs by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, was the first cartoon to be nominated for an Oscar in the Best Picture category (there was no Best Animated Feature category at the time). A quarter of a century later, Walt Disney Studios turned the classic into a playable blockbuster starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens and broke the bank again, although many critics and viewers considered Bill Condon’s picture not as successful as the previous painting.

Fact: Ryan Gosling turned down a role in Beauty and the Beast to star in the musical La La Land. In turn, Emma Watson turned down the lead role in La La Land to star in Beauty and the Beast.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

17. Frozen (2013)

Country – USA | Directed by Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee | Duration – 102 minutes | Fees – 1.282 billion dollars

About what: Princess Elsa, who has been hiding her magical gift to control the cold since childhood, loses her temper in a quarrel with her younger sister and turns summer into winter

According to the numbers, Frozen is Walt Disney Animation Studios’ best original computer-animated cartoon. No other film from this cohort could come close to the musical tale of two princesses in terms of collections. Is Frozen really the best of the best? The answer is not obvious, since the tape has several strong competitors that are just as beautiful, captivating and effective. But only “Frozen” can boast of such a brilliant hit as “Let It Go”, and even the most frosty spectator soul cannot resist the charming duet of the main characters. Also, “Frozen” stands out against the general background of Disney films with romantic motives in that in the center of the story are kindred, not love feelings. Originality always comes in handy in such a traditional genre as a fairy tale.

Fact: The producers of Walt Disney Animation Studios brought a reindeer to the studio so that the animators could thoroughly study its movements and convincingly “animate” Sven the reindeer.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

16. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

Country – USA | Directed by J. A. Baiona | Duration – 128 minutes | Fees – 1.310 billion dollars

About what: the heroes of the first “Jurassic World” return to the island of dinosaurs to save monsters from an impending volcanic eruption

The films of the Jurassic Park cycle have always carried the grain of contradiction. On the one hand, they invited the public to admire the monsters from the past, and, on the other hand, they showed dinosaurs as frightening monsters from which you need to run as fast as you can. In the last tape of the cycle to date, its creators have relied on an environmental message, and the characters of Jurassic World 2 are much more likely to save and protect dinosaurs from the forces of nature and greedy people than run away from monsters already familiar to viewers and a new genetic chimera called indoraptor . The plot of the tape, due to such an ideological somersault, turned out to be confusing and not very logical, but the huge success of Jurassic World helped its sequel also make a top science fiction blockbuster at the box office.

Fact: While one might assume that by 2018 the Jurassic Park series would only use computer-generated dinosaurs, World 2 made heavy use of high-end animatronic monster models because it was easier for the actors to interact with them on-screen.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

15. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

Country – USA | Directed by Rian Johnson | Duration – 152 minutes | Fees – 1.333 billion dollars

About what: the surviving warriors of the Resistance are fleeing from the forces of the First Order, which established a military dictatorship in the galaxy

The most popular complaint about the seventh Star Wars series was that The Force Awakens mimicked A New Hope and offered nothing fundamentally new and surprising to viewers. Therefore, the director and screenwriter Rian Johnson, known for his non-standard ideas and willingness to rethink the canons in an original way, was involved in the creation of the sequel. Johnson did create a blockbuster that, while following the plot of The Empire Strikes Back, surprised and at times shocked at every turn and delivered ideas that some Wars fans found amazing and others found offensive. Perhaps no other film in the series has caused as many conflicting emotions as The Last Jedi. Starring Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Mark Hamill and Kelly Marie Tran.

Fact: Kelly Marie Tran kept her Star Wars filming so secretive from her loved ones that she once got hold of Canadian maple syrup to tell her family she brought it back from an independent film shoot in Canada (in fact, the actress traveled to England to shoot).

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

14. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

Countries – UK, USA | Directed by David Yates | Duration – 130 minutes | Fees – 1.342 billion dollars

About what: the young wizard Harry Potter and his friends enter the final battle with the army of the villain Voldemort

By the time of the release of the eighth and final film of the Harry Potter fantasy epic, fans have long known from the books of J.K. Rowling that the second series of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be the most dramatic, tense and epic part of the series, with a grand final confrontation. Fans of screen magic could not miss this magnificent spectacle, and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Part 2″ became the most successful blockbuster based on Rowling’s novels, far ahead of even the first series of “Deathly Hallows”. The end of the epic was indeed its crowning achievement, and overtaking the only frequently expressed complaint about the tape was the usual problem of the “Potterian” – the need to fit many events and characters from a voluminous volume into a two-hour movie. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson.

Fact: Daniel Radcliffe broke more than eighty fake wands during the filming of “Potter” because he constantly used them as drumsticks.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

13. Black Panther (2018)

Country – USA | Directed by Ryan Coogler | Duration – 134 minutes | Fees – 1.348 billion dollars

Plot: An African superhero king battles his cousin who wants to take over their country of Wakanda

In 2016, the superhero king T’Challa was introduced to the audience in the Marvel blockbuster Captain America: Civil War, and two years later, the public received a “solo” picture about the Black Panther and a story about the fictional country of Wakanda, in which archaic African traditions are intertwined with futuristic technologies. The picture caused a huge resonance and provoked a heated discussion about how to portray black Africa and its heroes and villains in the context of superhero fiction. However, in general, Black Panther was received with enthusiasm, and it was repeatedly called one of the best blockbusters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, although the final audience ratings were more modest. The film was nominated for seven Oscars and received three minor statuettes. The film stars Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan and Martin Freeman.

Fact: Wakanda is a fictional country, but its inhabitants speak the real Xhosa South African language. Xhosa was chosen because it is the native language of South African actor John Kani, who played T’Challa’s father.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

12. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Country – USA | Directed by Joss Whedon | Duration – 141 minutes | Fees – 1.403 billion dollars

What it’s about: A superhero squad battles an artificial intelligence called Ultron who believes the best way to save Earth is to destroy humanity.

After the huge success of The Avengers, director Joss Whedon immediately set to work on the sequel. To raise the level of drama, the creators of the tape made the main villain of the “Age of Ultron” the creation of Tony Stark – an artificial creation, designed with the best of intentions, but out of control of Iron Man. The theme of superheroes being held accountable for how they use their talents was key to the film, and allowed it to be a deeper story than 2012’s The Avengers. However, in the first place, the picture was still an enchanting fantasy action movie, and its huge fees were the fees of a spectacular blockbuster, and not a philosophical canvas. Age of Ultron stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner.

Fact: Scarlett Johansson was filmed while pregnant, so most of her scenes were created when the condition of the star was not yet obvious. Also, the authors of the film resorted to the services of understudies and computer effects.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

11. Frozen II (2019)

Country – USA | Directed by Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee | Duration – 103 minutes | Fees – 1.45 billion dollars

About what: Queen Elsa, Princess Anna and their friends go to the magical forest to pacify its raging spirits

Walt Disney Animation Studios is known for almost never releasing big-budget sequels to its hand-drawn blockbusters, and prefers to build new brands rather than exploit old ones. However, “Frozen” was such a resounding success that WDAS stepped on the song’s throat, and filmmakers Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee received $150 million for a bombastic sequel that offered new adventures for Elsa and Anna and also told the backstory of the royal family. While the first Heart was primarily a family and romantic musical, the sequel emulated Hayao Miyazaki’s classic films with their political, mystical and environmental overtones. Such a radical change of course was not to everyone’s liking,

Fact: While working on the film, director Jennifer Lee began a relationship with actor Alfred Molina, who voiced the father of the main characters. In 2021, Lee and Molina got married.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

10. Furious 7 (2015)

Country – USA | Directed by James Wan | Duration – 137 minutes | Fees – 1.515 billion dollars

About what: after the bandit Owen Shaw falls into a coma due to the fault of Dominic Toretto’s team, his older brother Deckard Shaw tries to take revenge on the offenders

Fast & Furious 7 was a special chapter in the most popular cycle of automotive action thrillers. The leading actor of the epic “Fast and the Furious” Paul Walker died while working on the film, and the tape became a monument to the charming artist. The intrusion of real life into the enchanting adventures of the Toretto team endowed Fast and Furious 7 with an unintended drama and attracted the attention of old and new Fast and Furious fans who came to the cinema to pay tribute to the untimely departed star. Fast & Furious 7 also attracted the public with the appearance of the charismatic British action hero Jason Statham in the villainous role of Deckard Shaw. Statham so successfully fit into the world of “Fast and the Furious” that he later became one of his heroes. Vin Diesel played the main role in the film.

Fact: In scenes featuring Paul Walker’s character that were filmed after the actor’s death, his brothers Caleb and Cody were stunt doubles. They got Paul’s face thanks to the masters of computer graphics.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

9. The Avengers (2012)

Country – USA | Directed by Jocc Whedon | Duration – 142 minutes | Fees – 1.519 billion dollars

About what: Earth’s superheroes unite to resist an alien invasion

Almost from the very beginning of the release of films from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the studio said that it was creating “solo” films about comic book superheroes in the expectation that in the future these characters would fight together. And now, after the release of five films in the cycle, cult director Joss Whedon created the first “group” superhero film Marvel, which brought together Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye and Black Widow. The plot of the tape was not very successful, but the introduction and interaction of bright superheroes, coupled with powerful action scenes and funny jokes, made The Avengers a full-fledged worldwide hit and a big success for Marvel, paving the way for further joint adventures of superheroes. The film stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson.

Fact: Captain America doesn’t eat at the diner in the film’s final scene because actor Chris Evans had grown a beard for Snowpiercer by the time the scene was filmed. The Avengers make-up artists gave him an artificial shaved chin, but he was not allowed to eat with him.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

8 The Lion King (2019)

Country – USA | Directed by Jon Favreau | Duration – 118 minutes | Fees – 1.663 billion dollars

About what: the heir to the lion kingdom in the African savanna loses his father early and becomes an outcast until he challenges the usurper

The triumph of The Lion King, released in 2019, was the best proof of the audience’s devoted love for the main cartoon hit of the 1990s – The Lion King (1994). Although the new film was just an exceptionally expensive remake of the previous film, completely redrawn with photorealistic computer graphics and ambiguously received by critics, viewers around the world readily paid for tickets to see the adventures of Simba the lion cub again and hear the musical hits of the former Lion King in new performance. Indeed, how could one deny oneself the pleasure of recalling the excellent film of the “Silver Age” of Disney animation and seeing how it was graphically rethought by contemporary artists?

Fact: After Benedict Cumberbatch refused to voice the villainous lion Scar, the role was taken over by another British actor, Chiwetel Ejiofor. He got it because he brilliantly played the villain in Doctor Strange, where Cumberbatch had the title role.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

7. Jurassic World (2015)

Country – USA | Directed by Colin Trevorrow | Duration – 125 minutes | Fees – 1.672 billion dollars

What: Two decades after the events of Jurassic Park, a new amusement park opens on Dinosaur Island, and its main genetically enhanced monster breaks free

What could be scarier than real monsters from the past, revived today? The creators of the fourth film from the Jurassic Park series decided that the fictional Indominus Rex, constructed from the DNA of the most dangerous dinosaurs, will become the crown monster of their tape. To the nightmarish monster, the authors of the tape applied the latest special effects, a grandiose staging according to all the laws of disaster films, references to the famous first picture of the cycle, the charisma of the leading actors Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, and several plot surprises. As a result, Colin Trevorrow’s debut in the blockbuster world became one of the biggest hits of all time.

Fact: Actress Bryce Dallas Howard had to train specifically to run around in high heels for the entire film.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

6. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Country – USA | Directed by John Watts | Duration – 148 minutes | Fees – 1.852 billion dollars

About what: an unmasked Spider-Man asks Doctor Strange to erase his real name from the memory of people, and the spell breaks the border between parallel realities

To understand who the most popular superhero in the world is, just look at the fees of the latest blockbuster about Spider-Man. Even despite the pandemic, Spider-Man: No Way Home was the highest-grossing film of the year and fell short of the all-Star superhero hits at the box office. However, “No Way Home” itself was a parade-alle of its cycle, since the introduction of parallel realities into the plot made it possible to collect on the screen all three performers of the role of Peter Parker over the past decades – Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. Also, villains from previous films, led by Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus and Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin, penetrated Holland’s “reality”.

Fact: The film was the most successful release in the history of Sony, which owns the rights to the Spider-Man films and is partnering with Marvel to fit the superhero into its MCU.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

5. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Country – USA | Directed by Anthony Russo, Joe Russo | Duration – 149 minutes | Fees – 2.048 billion dollars

About what: the supervillain Thanos collects the Infinity Stones to become the most powerful being in the universe

After telling the story of the Avengers and other superhero teams over the course of 18 blockbusters, Marvel and Walt Disney Studios decided to end the semicolon by releasing a climactic dulogy with events on Earth and in space so grand that all the famous heroes can take in them. participation. The honor to shoot this landmark movie was entrusted to the Russo brothers, and they fully justified the trust of the producers and the audience, starting the dilogy with perhaps the most dramatic blockbuster of the cycle. To raise the stakes as high as possible, the Russo allowed the legendary heroes to lose battles with Thanos and lose comrades in the confrontation with the villain, who became stronger and more invulnerable with each stone obtained. It was a real clash of the titans, and only a few fans of spectator cinema decided to miss it.

Fact: The name of the main villain Thanos is an abbreviation for the Greek word “thanatos”, which translates as “death”. Also “Thanatos” is the name of the god of death in Greek mythology.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

4. Star Wars: The Force Awakens / Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Country – USA | Directed by JJ Abrams | Duration – 136 minutes | Fees – 2.07 billion dollars

What: A few decades after the defeat of the Galactic Empire, a war breaks out between the former Imperials and the heirs of the Rebel Alliance.

The seventh series of Star Wars has been one of the most anticipated films in history. Ever since Star Wars came out in 1983. Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, fans of the cycle could only imagine how events unfolded after the death of the Emperor and the victory of the rebels. They hoped that someday there would be a new blockbuster that would continue the story of Luke, Leia, Han and other famous space heroes, and when Walt Disney released it after a hiatus of more than thirty years, fans flocked to theaters with their children, otherwise and grandchildren. Far from all the expectations of the public then came true, but now we know that The Force Awakens was the best film of the third Wars trilogy and the closest in spirit and content to those exciting Wars that became the legends of world cinema.

Fact: Director J. J. Abrams entrusted the leading roles to relatively unknown actors because he did not want the audience to associate them with other screen characters. The director followed in the footsteps of George Lucas, who in the same way once assembled the troupe of the first “Wars”.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

3. Titanic (1997)

Country – USA | Directed by James Cameron | Duration – 195 minutes | Fees – 2.202 billion dollars

About what: an elderly lady who once survived the Titanic disaster tells her story

One of the best disaster films of all time, Titanic was a stunning artistic achievement by the standards of spectacular cinema. He immersed the audience headlong into the atmosphere of a bygone era, painted a vivid portrait of Western society at the beginning of the 20th century, depicted the life and death of an ocean liner with a truly Hollywood scale of scenery and special effects – and placed at the epicenter of events a charming couple in love, whose tragedy helped the public understand that felt by those who were on board the unfortunate ship. Unlike many American hits, “Titanic” was equally a picture for men and women, because each viewer could find something of their own in it and feel their involvement in the events of almost a century ago. Not surprisingly, at the Oscar ceremony, the creators of Titanic were awarded a record 11 statuettes in 14 categories.

Fact: Leonardo DiCaprio got the lead role in the film because he attracted the attention of all the girls and women in the studio office when he came to audition. The director immediately realized that an actor with such charisma would become an adornment of the Titanic.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

2. Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Country – USA | Directed by Anthony Russo, Joe Russo | Duration – 181 minutes | Fees – 2.798 billion dollars

About what: after the destruction of half of all life in the universe, the surviving superheroes go back in time to rewrite history

After the blockbuster “Avengers: Infinity War” ended at the most interesting place, the success of its sequel was guaranteed. And Avengers: Endgame not only lived up to expectations, but exceeded them. Judging by its collection, both those who saw the “War” in the cinema and those who watched it at home and did not want to wait for the release of the continuation on video came to the cinema to find out how the Avengers won the lost war with the supervillain Thanos, their own most dangerous enemy. It was an epic movie with a cleverly twisted script, and it had a place for all the heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe who were presented to the public by the time the film was released. For some of them, “Endgame” was the last appearance in the cycle, and the Avengers team itself, in its former form, ceased to exist by the end of the tape. This made the climax of the picture not only sweeping, but also emotional, truly heartfelt completion of the epic – and the beginning of its rebirth. The film stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner.

Fact: Robert Downey Jr. was the only actor in the film who was allowed to read the entire script. The rest of the stars were shown only those episodes where they were supposed to be filmed.

 

Top 50 Highest Grossing Movies in the World - Editors' Choice

1. Avatar (2009)

Country – USA | Directed by James Cameron | Duration – 162 minutes | Fees – $2.847 billion

About what: an earthly corporation colonizes the planet Pandora, a few light years from the Sun, and goes to war with the natives, three-meter blue-skinned humanoids

For 13 years now, Avatar, James Cameron’s epic science fiction action movie, has been the highest-grossing film ever. What is the secret of his success? First of all, in the superb 3D visual effects, which were new at the time, and which allowed theaters to sell expensive tickets to an amazing spectacle that was not available to home theater owners. “Avatar” took viewers to a bewitchingly beautiful alien world, introduced the unique civilization of the Na’vi people and invited the public to cheer on aliens with bows and spears fighting off earthly invaders with starships and futuristic weapons. The spectators’ guide to Pandora was a semi-paralyzed ex-Marine, who, with the help of a remote-controlled “avatar” homunculus, made in the image and likeness of a Na’vi, joined an alien tribe and took his side in the war with the colonialists. It was a simple, understandable story, and it conquered the whole world, becoming a new milestone in the development of epic spectacular cinema. The film stars Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver and Zoe Saldana.

Fact: Director James Cameron began developing Avatar in the mid-1990s, but at that time the technology needed to make the film was just beginning to emerge, and the director waited ten years until it matured enough to be usable.

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