The highest-grossing films of the 21st century by year

Yes, this nightmarish vision of a Christmas movie was the highest-grossing domestic film of 2000. Ron Howard is usually a steady, arguably boring, hand at director, and Jim Carrey was a huge star in 2000. Now, they couldn’t overcome the creepy makeup, but that makeup didn’t stop people from coming out in droves to see this Dr. Seuss adaptation, which brought in $260 million domestically.

There was a battle here between two franchise starters. In one corner is the first Harry Potter movie. The other is Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Both began huge franchises, but in terms of 2001 films, the wizards won. Sorcerer’s Stone made $317.6 million to Frodo and Co.’s $313.4 million.

This is the film that really birthed the rise of the comic book movie as it is today. Batman was huge, but it didn’t foster as many imitators and duplicators. X-Men also got there just before Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man. Ultimately, this is the one that really grabbed the zeitgeist and set the stage for the next two decades. Tobey Maguire’s first turn as Peter Parker brought in $403.7 million.

Return of the King finished off this trilogy with gusto. It won a record-tying 11 Oscars, including Best Picture. On top of that, it won at the box office. In its initial run, Return of the King made $377 million. Interestingly, that makes this the first entry with a total lower than the previous year's winner.

Shrek has become a meme and something of a joke, but you can’t argue with how hard it hit. While the first film didn’t top the box office, its sequel did. Shrek 2 beat out Spider-Man 2, as the second film featuring the Scottish-sounding ogre totaled $441.2 million.

Critically speaking, people weren’t happy with the prequels. That doesn’t mean filmgoers didn’t show up in droves. At the time, the expectation was this would be the last Star Wars movie. It was the final one from George Lucas. Even with the lukewarm reception, Revenge of the Sith brought in $380.3 million domestically.

It’s easy to forget Pirates of the Caribbean is among the most successful film franchises in history. These movies have raked in a ton of cash, though. Dead Man’s Chest was the first sequel, so people were not yet burnt out on Jack Sparrow. It made $423.3 million, meaning Shrek 2 still reigns supreme on this list.

Revenge! In 2004, Shrek 2 beat out Spider-Man 2. In 2007, things flipped. Spider-Man 3, the final film of the Raimi/Maguire era, eked past Shrek the Third to win the 2007 box office. However, Spider-Man 3 did that at $336.5 million, indicating a down year at the movies domestically.

Finishing second at the domestic box office was Iron Man, which began the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That being said, The Dark Knight absolutely throttled the competition. This movie gave Christopher Nolan carte blanche and won the late Heath Ledger an Oscar. The Dark Knight brought in a staggering $533.3 million, reshaping the conception of the box office.

James Cameron saw The Dark Knight cross the $500 million mark and thought to himself, “That’s cute.” You simply don’t mess with “Big Jim” at the box office. Cameron bested himself in terms of the highest-grossing movie of all time when Avatar beat Titanic. Built on the back of the return of 3D, Avatar made $749.8 million domestically. That’s almost unfathomable.

A drop was inevitable after Avatar managed to rewrite the record books. Toy Story 3 was the top film domestically, with “only” $415 million. In 1995, Toy Story changed animation and finished first at the box office. That’s a long time for a franchise to remain so well-received.

The lesson is clear: Bring a popular franchise to a close if you want to win the box office. This is the last of the Harry Potter  movies, and it managed to take down the competition in 2011. The once-and-future Weird Al, Daniel Radcliffe, brought in $381 million in his final turn as The Boy Who Lived.

This is not the first MCU movie. However, it’s the one that made it clear Marvel wasn’t going anywhere and this world-building plan would work out. The Avengers were assembled, and this movie made $623.6 million in the process. Marking a sea change, the film that finished second to The Avengers was The Dark Knight Rises.

The box office was on fire in 2013. Three films made at least $400 million. Only one of them could top the list, and that’s the second Hunger Games movie. Catching Fire beat out Iron Man 3 and Frozen by making $424.7 million domestically.

This is, by far, the strangest box-office winner. As you have undoubtedly noticed, this is a list laden with sequels and adaptations of previously popular properties. The only one that isn’t is Avatar, built on Cameron's back and 3D entering the zeitgeist. Then, there’s American Sniper . It’s a biopic about Chris Kyle, a real-life military sniper with a complicated personal history. Somehow, it resonated with audiences. Well, specific audiences — the kind who really enjoy Clint Eastwood movies. This was also, to be fair, a down year at the box office. American Sniper won at $350.1 million.

Even without George Lucas, the return of Star Wars was greeted with a lot of fanfare and enthusiasm. The Force Awakens didn’t make everybody happy. What movie does? But it was a landscape-changing hit. How psyched were people to see a new Star Wars film? It made $936.7 million domestically. Yes, more than Avatar. In fact, more than any other film in the history of the domestic box office. Avatar has made more worldwide, but no film beats The Force Awakens domestically. Seriously. Almost $1 billion bucks!

We’d call this the best modern Star Wars movie (and we also dug Andor while we’re at it). This immediate prequel to Star Wars rode the wave of fervor and Force Awakens love to the top of the box office in 2016. It was still a step down. Rogue One made $532.2 million. Nothing to sneeze at, to be sure.

The least controversial movie ever made. We’re joking. There was a lot of discourse, civil and otherwise, about The Last Jedi . All we’ll say is that if you want to complain about a Rian Johnson movie, his one misstep as a director is Looper, not this movie. Owing in part to this being the third year in a row with a Star Wars movie and not the end of a decade-plus drought, The Last Jedi landed at $620.2 million domestically — over $300 million less than its predecessor.

Black Panther grabbed the zeitgeist with both hands. It resonated with a lot of people. Black Panther was such a massive hit that they made a sequel even in the wake of the tragic death of Chadwick Boseman, who played Black Panther. In a time of significant box-office returns, three movies made over $600 million in 2018. Black Panther made it to a clean $700.1 million.

The culmination of over a decade of storytelling. Perhaps the biggest movie event…ever? That may not be hyperbole! Endgame was a massive event in the MCU, and the fervent fan base came out in droves. This movie made $858.4 million domestically en route to briefly becoming the highest-grossing movie worldwide for a bit. (Avatar took the crown back because “Big Jim” doesn’t mess around.) Not quite on the level of The Force Awakens, but a worthy silver medal at the all-time domestic box office.

The asterisk to end all asterisks: 2020 was the year the box office was devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Theaters were closed. Massive movies were released digitally without ever hitting cinemas. Bad Boys for Life was released on January 17 and was likely going to come and go and not finish in the top 10. Instead, it made $206.3 million to finish atop the domestic box office. That’s just a bummer to see.

This was a huge movie event, sure. However, it was also sort of the “We’re going back to the movies!” film. Released in December, there was a chance for the COVID-19 pandemic to dissipate a bit and for people to get vaccinated. It felt like many people wanted to give themselves one more to see in theaters, and that movie was No Way Home. No other movie made more than $224.5 million. This movie made $804.8 million. That’s dominating the box office.

If Avatar: The Way of Water really hits, this could change. For now, Top Gun: Maverick seems likely to go down domestically as the biggest hit of 2022. This was not expected, even if it is a little weird to call a sequel movie starring Tom Cruise an “underdog” or “feel-good story.” That being said, Maverick really captured the zeitgeist, making $718.5 million domestically and earning a lot of “way better than the original!” talk.