Summary Only six movies have made $1 billion worldwide since 2020, compared to nine movies in 2019 alone. The pandemic posed significant obstacles for these releases, but they still achieved tremendous box office success.
Spider-Man: No Way Home , Top Gun: Maverick , The Super Mario Bros. Movie , and Barbie are among the films that crossed the billion-dollar mark since 2020. Each release had unique factors contributing to its success.
While box office performance is not the only measure of a film’s merit, these six movies’ numbers speak for themselves. They attracted large audiences, benefited from marketing strategies, and showcased impressive visuals and storytelling.
Crossing the billion-dollar mark is a huge achievement for a movie, and only six have made $1 billion at the box office since 2020. While reaching the billion-dollar mark is a huge feat, that milestone was becoming increasingly common in the 2010s, thanks to inflation and an increasing number of franchise event releases. 53 movies have grossed over a billion dollars, 39 of which were released between 2010 and 2019. However, only six movies have made $1 billion dollars worldwide since 2020. For comparison, nine movies entered the billion-dollar club in 2019 alone. Nevertheless, these 2020s releases had huge obstacles to overcome.
These billion-dollar releases debuted following the pandemic, something the film industry is still recovering from, as 22% of Barbie’s audience hadn’t visited a movie theater since before the pandemic (via Variety). Thankfully, the movie industry seems to be getting back on track, with more movies crossing the billion-dollar mark. However, the internet is divided on how to rank these post-2020 releases compared to other movies of the decade. Box office performance isn’t everything, and there are more merits to a film than how much it makes globally. Nevertheless, the numbers still speak for themselves, and there’s a reason these six audience-pleasers grossed as much as they did.
6 Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Spider-Man: No Way Home was the first biggest success for the movie industry following the pandemic. The MCU movie made $1.92 billion worldwide (via Box Office Mojo) and became the highest-grossing non-Avengers MCU film. It impressively made almost $800 million more than its predecessor, Spider-Man: Far From Home. The 2021 movie’s box office success was aided by the worst-kept secret in Hollywood: that three Spider-Men would appear on-screen together. Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4 was canceled, as was The Amazing Spider-Man 3, so Spider-Man: No Way Home gave Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parkers the closure they deserved.
Spider-Man: No Way Home didn’t just bring back the previous Spider-Men; it also returned to iconic villains from the prior Spider-Man movies, including Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin. However, the film’s box office performance also benefited from being the first tent pole MCU movie in theaters since 2019. As Black Widow had a day-and-date release on Disney+, Shang-Chi was a mostly unknown character, and Eternals was negatively received, Spider-Man: No Way Home was the event movie MCU fans had been waiting over two years for.
5 Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
While Top Gun: Maverick was always going to do well at the box office, the 2022 release was a shocking phenomenal hit. Through word of mouth, Top Gun: Maverick had record-breaking low drop-offs each weekend at the box office. When it comes to movies’ second weekends, anything between a 50-60% drop-off is totally normal. Top Gun: Maverick dropped a stunning 29%, the smallest ever for a movie with a $100-million-plus opening weekend (via Deadline). Those small drop-offs continued for weeks, and the Top Gun sequel managed to stay in theaters for three months, making $1.495 billion worldwide.
Top Gun: Maverick resonated with older audiences who were fans of the original movie, as well as younger newcomers to the franchise. Top Gun: Maverick had an ingenious marketing campaign, as it completely took over TikTok (via The Social Standard), which made the younger generations interested in the sequel. However, the sheer quality and ambition of the movie should be credited for its success too, as there was nothing more jaw-dropping in summer 2022 than the aerial shots of jets flying under and over each other. Thanks to its box office success, Cruise made $100 million for Top Gun: Maverick.
4 Jurassic World: Dominion (2022)
The Jurassic Park/World franchise is all but guaranteed to add a billion dollars to its total gross with each new movie. Jurassic World: Dominion made almost exactly $1 billion worldwide. However, while any movie making a billion dollars is a success, in this case, the movie likely underperformed in Universal’s eyes. 2015’s Jurassic World made $1.67 billion worldwide, then 2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom slipped to $1.31 billion. Even though Jurassic Park: Dominion brought back the original Jurassic Park cast, the 2022 movie struggled to reach a billion. The series was a perfect example of diminishing returns, with each film making $300 million less than its predecessor.
With a franchise as beloved and iconic as the Jurassic series, there shouldn’t have been any difficulty hitting $1 billion. However, after scathing reviews, being called the worst movie in the series, and receiving a “rotten” 28% on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie was always going to flounder. The movie did face unlikely box office competition, too. Top Gun: Maverick was still playing when Jurassic World: Dominion was released, and there’s no way Universal could have predicted the long legs that the Cruise-led blockbuster had. Without Top Gun: Maverick nipping at its heels, Jurassic Park: Dominion might have earned a little more.
3 Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
2009’s Avatar was the highest-grossing movie of all time, so it’s no surprise that Avatar: The Way of Water was another monumental success. Director James Cameron expressed that Avatar: The Way of Water would be a flop unless it made over a billion dollars, but the movie made more than double that number. The sequel didn’t just pass the billion-dollar mark, but it made $2.32 billion and became the third highest-grossing film of all time. Cameron has set a standard for his movies, and audiences know that his films are absolute spectacles that demand to be experienced in a movie theater.
Even studios knew how much of a splash the 2022 movie was going to make, and they were worried about their own movies being released at the same time. As a result, Warner Bros. changed Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’s release date to avoid competing with the Goliath. That might not have been the only reason for the delay, but it was certainly one of them. That meant that, without any competition whatsoever, Avatar had over a month of being the only must-see movie in theaters. After a 13-year wait, everything the studio put into the movie totally paid off at the box office.
2 The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie made $1.35 billion worldwide and became the highest-grossing movie of 2023. The movie received a mixed reception from critics, scoring 59% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, it was clearly made for fans, as the video game movie was overflowing with fan service and thrilling kart races. Super Mario is one of the most iconic video game mascots ever, and there was no doubt that the animated movie based on the established IP was going to be a hit.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie had a budget of just $100 million, which is relatively low for an animated movie with such impressive visuals. The low budget meant that Illumination earned a much higher net profit than other billion-dollar movies that earned more than the 2023 release at the box office. Now, the movie’s success has led to Nintendo teasing a range of films based on more of its iconic video game characters.
1 Barbie (2023)
Despite being released at the same time as Oppenheimer, Barbie has grossed almost $1.3 billion worldwide, and it could potentially surpass The Super Mario Bros. Movie as the highest-grossing film of 2023. The movie seemingly breaks a new box office record every week. Barbie broke almost 20 records in its opening weekend alone and has gone on to become the highest-grossing movie of all time from a female director. Barbie’s marketing campaign was on another level from, and it was impossible to avoid the film’s promotions, whether they were interviews with the cast on YouTube or various TikTok clips.
As a result, the movie became an event that audiences even dressed up for. However, while Barbie’s marketing was great, the film’s quality can’t go overlooked. Director Greta Gerwig took the Barbie doll and elevated it into a clever feminist comedy about sex and humanity. From the rich costume and set designs to the perfect comedy acting from Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, Barbie was one of the most well-crafted comedies in recent memory. The film deserves to join the other movies that made $1 billion at the box office since 2020.
Sources: Variety, Box Office Mojo, Deadline, The Social Standard, Rotten Tomatoes