The year 2024 couldn’t rival Avatar: The Way of Water as the highest-grossing movie of all time. Yet, it delivered several record-breaking hits. After a disappointing 2023, where Marvel Studios faced its first major flop with The Marvels, the studio made a triumphant return with its sole release this year in Deadpool & Wolverine. This marked Marvel’s first official X-Men movie and is now the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, surpassing 2019’s Joker (whose sequel, unfortunately, underwhelmed this year). Year-Ender 2024: From Rajkummar Rao’s ‘Stree 2’ to Kartik Aaryan’s ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’, 10 Highest-Grossing Bollywood Movies of the Year and Which of Them Are Actual Box Office Hits!

However, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman’s superhero blockbuster didn’t claim the top spot at the box office. That honour went to Disney-Pixar’s Inside Out 2, which became the fastest animated film to surpass the USD 1 billion mark worldwide. Sequels and franchises continued to dominate Hollywood’s box office, with films like Despicable Me 4, Dune: Part Two, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Kung Fu Panda 4, Venom: The Last Dance, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Moana 2, and Bad Boys: Ride or Die securing places among the year’s top 10 highest-grossing movies.

Hollywood’s Highest-Grossing Movies of 2024 (Worldwide Gross)

1. Inside Out 2 – USD 1.70 billion

Budget: USD 200 million

Director: Kelsey Mann

Cast (Voice): Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan, Maya Hawke, Kensington Tallman, Liza Lapira, Tony Hale, Ayo Edebiri, Lilimar, Grace Lu, Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green, Adèle Exarchopoulos, and Paul Walter Hauser.

2. Deadpool & Wolverine – USD 1.34 billion

Budget: USD 200 million

Director: Shawn Levy

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Corrin, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney, Leslie Uggams, Aaron Stanford, Matthew Macfadyen, Chris Evans, Wesley Snipes, Jennifer Garner, Channing Tatum, and Dafne Keen.

3. Despicable Me 4 – USD 970 million

Budget: USD 100 million

Director: Chris Renaud

Cast (Voice): Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Pierre Coffin, Joey King, Miranda Cosgrove, Steve Coogan, Sofía Vergara, Stephen Colbert, Chris Renaud, and Will Ferrell.

4. Dune: Part Two – USD 714 million

Budget: USD 190 million

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Charlotte Rampling, Javier Bardem, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken, and Léa Seydoux.

5. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire – USD 571 million

Budget: USD 150 million

Director: Adam Wingard

Cast: Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns, and Fala Chen.

6. Kung Fu Panda 4 – USD 547 million

Budget: USD 85 million

Director: Mike Mitchell

Cast (Voice): Jack Black, Ian McShane, Dustin Hoffman, James Hong, Bryan Cranston, Awkwafina, Ke Huy Quan, and Viola Davis. Year-Ender 2024: From ‘Kaagaz 2’ To ‘Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2’, Sequels That Didn’t Work at Box Office and Why They Failed!

7. Venom: The Last Dance – USD 468 million

Budget: USD 120 million

Director: Kelly Marcel

Cast: Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Stephen Graham, Peggy Lu, Clark Backo, Alanna Ubach, and Andy Serkis.

8. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice – USD 451 million

Budget: USD 100 million

Director: Tim Burton

Cast: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Justin Theroux, Arthur Conti, Monica Bellucci, Jenna Ortega, and Willem Dafoe.

9. Moana 2 – USD 439 million (and counting)*

Budget: USD 150 million

Director: David Derrick Jr, Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller

Cast (Voice): Auliʻi Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger, Rachel House, and Alan Tudyk.

10. Bad Boys: Ride or Die – USD 404 million

Budget: USD 100 million

Director: Adil & Bilall

Cast: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Joe Pantoliano, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Paola Núñez, Jacob Scipio, John Salley, and DJ Khaled.

As the list shows, the biggest hits of 2024 were all part of established franchises. The top 14 spots at the box office were dominated by sequels and prequels. The lone exception in the top 15 was It Ends with Us, a non-franchise film starring Blake Lively, which grossed USD 351 million worldwide.

Wicked, a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, is currently the 12th highest-grossing Hollywood film of the year with USD 378 million and could climb higher in the rankings, potentially securing a spot in the top 10 by year’s end.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 06, 2024 10:55 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).