Summary
- The success of franchises like the MCU and Fast and Furious is not just limited to box office performance, but also includes merchandising, fan theories, and theme park attractions.
- The Avengers, Star Wars, and Jurassic World proved that capitalizing on iconic franchises can lead to huge box office success, with Avengers: Endgame becoming the highest-grossing film of all time.
- Disney's live-action remakes, such as The Lion King and Frozen II, have been successful at the box office, showcasing the studio's ability to reimagine beloved classics for modern audiences.
The 2010s had some huge box office hits with nearly 40 films making over $1 billion. Popular franchises emerged in the 2010s, none more so than the MCU, which had a dominant spell during the decade. The superhero franchise has proved to be a massive box office success, already having 10 MCU films grossing over $1 billion. Large franchises and sequels played a massive part in making this era of filmmaking so profitable and successful.
It's not just the box office performance that has made these successful films so popular. Merchandising, fan theories, and even theme park attractions have all cemented how remarkably well these movies have done. One of the biggest reasons for their success is how invested fans can get in these franchises and film genres. Of all the mega-hits to come out of the 2010s, here are the ten movies that pulled in the most money at the box office.
10 Black Panther
Black Panther was a massive hit for Marvel that only further proved they didn't need established superheroes to make box office phenomenons. Iron Man was early proof of this, kick-starting the entire MCU and grossing over $500 million. Ten years later, Black Panther came along as one of the few solo Marvel projects to gross over $1 billion. The late Chadwick Boseman put in a career-defining performance, helping the film gross over $1.344 billion and become the 10th highest-grossing film of the 2010s.
9 Avengers: Age Of Ultron
Continuing the theme of Marvel dominance, Avengers: Age of Ultron was the 9th highest-grossing film of the decade after making upwards of $1.403 billion. After the success of the first Avengers film, Marvel capitalized on the team-up concept and made yet another huge financial profit from the sequel. Despite being the lowest-rated and lowest-grossing Avengers movie, Avengers: Age of Ultron still managed to soar at the box office. This confirmed that the Avengers formula was a certified victory for Marvel and helped lay the groundwork for their most financially successful projects.
8 Frozen II
Disney's 2020s box office has been shaky to say the least, however, Frozen was one film that really stood out in the 2010s. Six years later, they struck gold again with Frozen II which became an even bigger triumph than the original. Its box office totaled $1.453 billion, highlighting quite how much people loved the original. With its interesting premise and lovable characters, Frozen II managed to be one of Disney's all-time biggest films. With Frozen 3 officially in the works, it could give Disney the box office boost they need, adding to Avatar: The Way of Water's success and putting the studio back on track.
7 Furious 7
The Fast and Furious franchise has been going strong for over two decades and has released a film as recent as this year with Fast X. While Fast X had mixed box office success, Furious 7 was a record high for the film series. Paul Walker passed away during the film's production, yet the studio was still able to make the movie a massive hit, finishing Furious 7 after Paul Walker's death and turning out the highest-grossing film of the franchise. It grossed over $1.515 billion and was met with positive reviews, perfectly cementing Walker's legacy.
6 The Avengers
The Avengers will go down as one of the most iconic movies of its era. It may not be the most profitable of the series, nor the highest rated, but it certainly holds its place in cinema history. Marvel fans all united in theaters to witness the comic book franchise's most memorable heroes unite on the big screen for the very first time. The movie managed to gross over $1.519 billion - a few million more than Furious 7 - and end Phase 1 of the MCU. It succeeded in becoming the sixth highest-grossing movie of the decade.
5 The Lion King
Considering that The Lion King was once regarded as a classic that perhaps shouldn't be remade, it was easy to see why the 2019 film could have been a disappointment. Grossing around $1.656 billion, The Lion King managed to prove that live-action remakes is a formula that can work. While there are questions around Disney's live-action remake strategy, The Lion King's box office success has shown why Disney continues in this direction. With a stacked cast and a fairly large $260 million budget, Disney banked on The Lion King being a huge hit and it paid off. While their recent Little Mermaid didn't do quite as well as expected, Disney continues to look for their 2020s live-action remake victory.
4 Jurassic World
Much like The Lion King, Jurassic World capitalized on its predecessor to make it a hit. With Jurassic Park being such an iconic and recognizable franchise, cashing in on the name was a no-brainer. The movie proved to do even better at the box office than expected, earning $1.671 billion and making it the 4th highest-grossing movie of the decade. Jurassic World started Chris Pratt's box office domination, becoming his first-ever movie to gross over $1 billion. He has since had four other movies pass the $1 billion mark including Jurassic World's sequel, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which was 13th in the 2010s box office.
3 Avengers: Infinity War
Between 2018 and 2019, Marvel had five movies gross over $1 billion, emphasizing their dominance of the 2010s. They had spent much of the decade building up their cinematic universe and come the end of the 2010s, their movies were quickly becoming must-see entertainment for moviegoers. Avengers: Infinity War was no exception; the movie brought the biggest heroes together and had them face their greatest threat yet. The film grossed over $2 billion in 48 days. Its record-breaking numbers speak for themselves in terms of how much hype there was surrounding it.
2 Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens
The return of one of cinema's biggest franchises did not disappoint financially. When Disney acquired Star Wars, it was only a matter of time before they brought back the franchise, doing so in the form of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Reviving Star Wars was always going to be a huge gamble and many mistakes were made in Star Wars' sequel trilogy. Despite this, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was anything but a disappointment financial-wise. It became the second highest-grossing film of the 2010s, making $2.066 billion which showed that regardless of some negative reception, there was a huge interest in more Star Wars content.
1 Avengers: Endgame
With the success of Avengers: Infinity War just a year prior, its sequel managed to surpass the high box office expectations and become the highest-grossing film of the decade. Earning $2.798 billion, Avengers: Endgame not only dominated the 2010s but became the second highest-grossing movie of all time. The 2010s box office belonged to the MCU, and it is only fitting that the film that culminated 11 years of movies became Marvel's biggest cinematic triumph. While the MCU continues today, Phase 3's final movie wrapped up the Infinity Saga and did so in a big way, metaphorically and financially.