Home

 › 

Entertainment

 › 

Featured

 › 

Movies

 › 

The Biggest Box Office Hits Since 2000

The Biggest Box Office Hits Since 2000

If you want to produce a top-grossing film nowadays, make it animated and about superheroes, wizards, vampires, and pirates doing battle in the dystopian future in Middle Earth in a galaxy far, far away. That would seem to be a winning combination of ingredients, in any case, if you look at the 100 biggest box office hits since 2000.

The roster of top box office earners over the past two decades is dominated by animated films, superhero flicks, and sequel-churning movie franchises such as “Harry Potter,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Twilight,” “The Hunger Games,” “The Lord of the Rings,” “Star Wars,” and various corners of the Marvel universe. These are the best movie franchises to marathon from home.

Spending money to make money is a big part of the recipe for success. Big-budget blockbusters obviously rule the day, as only three of the top 100 films had production budgets lower than $50 million, and more than three-quarters of the movies on the list cost at least $100 million. See which movies that made the most money with the fewest dollars.

24/7 Tempo has compiled a list of the top 100 domestic box office hit films of the 21st century thus far. Information on production budget, domestic and worldwide gross, and domestic box office was sourced from The Numbers, an online movie database owned by consulting firm Nash Information Services. When unavailable from that source, domestic box office figures were taken from IMDb, an online movie database owned by Amazon, or from Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie and TV review aggregator. Casting information comes from IMDb.

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures Corporation

40. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
> Domestic box office: $373.5 million
> Production budget: $200.0 million
> Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Alfred Molina

Source: Courtesy of New Line Cinema

39. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
> Domestic box office: $377.8 million
> Production budget: $94.0 million
> Starring: Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen

Source: Courtesy of 20th Century Studios

38. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)
> Domestic box office: $380.3 million
> Production budget: $115.0 million
> Starring: Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor

Source: Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures

37. Finding Nemo (2003)
> Domestic box office: $380.5 million
> Production budget: $94.0 million
> Starring: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

36. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
> Domestic box office: $381.2 million
> Production budget: $125.0 million
> Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

35. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
> Domestic box office: $389.8 million
> Production budget: $200.0 million
> Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

34. Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019)
> Domestic box office: $390.5 million
> Production budget: $160.0 million
> Starring: Tom Holland, Samuel L. Jackson, Jake Gyllenhaal

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

33. Frozen (2013)
> Domestic box office: $401.0 million
> Production budget: $150.0 million
> Starring: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff

Source: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

32. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
> Domestic box office: $402.1 million
> Production budget: $210.0 million
> Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

31. Spider-Man (2002)
> Domestic box office: $403.7 million
> Production budget: $139.0 million
> Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Willem Dafoe

Source: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

30. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
> Domestic box office: $404.5 million
> Production budget: $90.0 million
> Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart

Source: Courtesy of Lionsgate

29. The Hunger Games (2012)
> Domestic box office: $408.0 million
> Production budget: $80.0 million
> Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

28. Captain America: Civil War (2016)
> Domestic box office: $408.1 million
> Production budget: $250.0 million
> Starring: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

27. Iron Man Three (2013)
> Domestic box office: $409.0 million
> Production budget: $200.0 million
> Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

26. Wonder Woman (2017)
> Domestic box office: $412.6 million
> Production budget: $150.0 million
> Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

25. Toy Story 3 (2010)
> Domestic box office: $415.0 million
> Production budget: $200.0 million
> Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack

Source: Courtesy of Universal Pictures

24. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
> Domestic box office: $417.7 million
> Production budget: $170.0 million
> Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rafe Spall

Source: Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures

23. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)
> Domestic box office: $423.3 million
> Production budget: $225.0 million
> Starring: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley

Source: Courtesy of Lionsgate

22. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
> Domestic box office: $424.7 million
> Production budget: $130.0 million
> Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

21. Captain Marvel (2019)
> Domestic box office: $426.8 million
> Production budget: $175.0 million
> Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

20. Toy Story 4 (2019)
> Domestic box office: $434.0 million
> Production budget: $200.0 million
> Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts

Source: Courtesy of DreamWorks Distribution

19. Shrek 2 (2004)
> Domestic box office: $441.2 million
> Production budget: $70.0 million
> Starring: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

18. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
> Domestic box office: $448.1 million
> Production budget: $230.0 million
> Starring: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

17. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
> Domestic box office: $459.0 million
> Production budget: $365.0 million
> Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

16. Frozen II (2019)
> Domestic box office: $477.4 million
> Production budget: $150.0 million
> Starring: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

15. Finding Dory (2016)
> Domestic box office: $486.3 million
> Production budget: $200.0 million
> Starring: Ellen DeGeneres, Albert Brooks, Ed O’Neill

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

14. Beauty and the Beast (2017)
> Domestic box office: $504.0 million
> Production budget: $160.0 million
> Starring: Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

13. Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (2019)
> Domestic box office: $515.2 million
> Production budget: $275.0 million
> Starring: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

12. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
> Domestic box office: $532.2 million
> Production budget: $200.0 million
> Starring: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk

Source: Courtesy of Warner Bros.

11. The Dark Knight (2008)
> Domestic box office: $533.7 million
> Production budget: $185.0 million
> Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

10. The Lion King (2019)
> Domestic box office: $543.6 million
> Production budget: $260.0 million
> Starring: Donald Glover, Beyoncé, Seth Rogen

Source: GiorgioMorara / Getty Images

9. Incredibles 2 (2018)
> Domestic box office: $608.6 million
> Production budget: $200.0 million
> Starring: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

8. Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017)
> Domestic box office: $620.2 million
> Production budget: $200.0 million
> Starring: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Mark Hamill

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

7. The Avengers (2012)
> Domestic box office: $623.4 million
> Production budget: $225.0 million
> Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson

Source: Courtesy of Universal Pictures

6. Jurassic World (2015)
> Domestic box office: $652.3 million
> Production budget: $215.0 million
> Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

5. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
> Domestic box office: $678.8 million
> Production budget: $300.0 million
> Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

4. Black Panther (2018)
> Domestic box office: $700.1 million
> Production budget: $200.0 million
> Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o

Source: Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

3. Avatar (2009)
> Domestic box office: $760.5 million
> Production budget: $237.0 million
> Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

2. Avengers: Endgame (2019)
> Domestic box office: $858.4 million
> Production budget: $400.0 million
> Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo

Source: Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

1. Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015)
> Domestic box office: $936.7 million
> Production budget: $306.0 million
> Starring: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac

To top