JANUARY 2, 2025 — While 2023 was the best year at the box office since the pandemic, unfortunately, the Hollywood strikes of that year took their toll on 2024, which essentially matched the overall box office numbers of 2023, give or take $50 million. That’s not bad, considering there was no Taylor Swift to save the year. The 2023 lessons of Barbie and Oppenheimer had not yet taken hold, either, so the entire top ten is nothing but sequels, prequels, spin-offs, and reboots, but a few filmmakers (Barry Jenkins and Lee Isaac Chung, in particular) took some risks that paid off both in terms of creativity and box-office.

Here are the year’s top-grossing films:

Mufasa: Lion King — Disney has not had a great couple of years, and audiences have grown weary of live-action remakes. Nevertheless, audiences flocked over the holidays to see the prequel to a live-action remake directed by none other than Barry Jenkins, who gave the picture a huge heart to go along with big laughs provided by the voices of Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner. The studio may have some ups and downs, but at the end of the day, Disney is gonna Disney. (Domestic: $365 million; Worldwide; $1.3 billion)

Despicable Me 4 — We almost hate to see the 6th film in a tired franchise finish so high at the year’s box office, but the kids never tire of Gru and Co., which kept kids in theaters around the world during the hot summer months of July and August. It was a fine movie; adults could tolerate it, and it was a real crowd-pleaser for those under 9. There are worse things (see, e.g. Ryan Reynolds’ imaginary friend flick, If). (Domestic: $350 million; Worldwide: $1.1 billion)

Twisters — Sliding into the same weekend as last year’s Barbie and Oppenheimer, Lee Isaac Chung’s (Minari) Twister sequel had the scale of a giant blockbuster but the heavy themes of an eco-thriller, which hit particularly hard this year in the midst of the hottest summer on record. No one, however, was hotter than Glen Powell, who finally broke into the A-list by starring in the unexpected blockbuster hit of the year. (Domestic: $300 million; Global: $850 million)

Inside Out 2 — Pixar smartly limited itself to one release in 2024, which just happened to be a sequel to one of the studio’s three best films. Kelsey Mann, in his feature debut, managed to capture most of the magic of the original (despite the lack of Bing Bong, or the voices of Bill Hader and Mindy Kaling). It’s hard to know what it means for the future of Pixar, but Inside Out 2 recaptured some of its lost mojo. (Domestic: $287 million; Worldwide: $789 million)

Fall Guy — Building on the success of Barbie, Ryan Gosling joined forces with Emily Blunt and director David Leitch (John Wick) to give us a much-needed old-school action comedy that succeeded less because of the IP (no one even remembers the Fall Guy TV series) and more because of old-fashioned star power, a very funny script, and some spectacular action sequences. (Domestic: $320 million; Global: $785 million)

Deadpool 3 — Save for Sony’s extended Spider-Man universe, superhero films largely took a break in 2024, proving to be a boon for Deadpool 3, which teamed Ryan Reynolds with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. Yes, it was too self-referential and a little too overstuffed with inside jokes, but the cameos were fun as hell, and the film itself was a blast. It did not leave an indelible mark or change the superhero genre for the better in any meaningful way, but it was wildly entertaining. (Domestic: $265 million; Worldwide: $732 million)

Gladiator 2 — There was a huge question mark about whether audiences would show up for a swords-and-sandals sequel to a 24-year-old film starring an actor (Paul Mescal) little-known outside of indie films coming from a prolific 87-year-old director whose better days were perhaps behind him, but hell if Ridley Scott didn’t pull it off. It helps to have Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington join the cast, but it was also a great film, and every dad in America answered its siren call. (Domestic: $230 million; Global: $510 million).

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga — The Fury Road prequel did not quite match the intensity of the Charlize Theron entry, but never count out George Miller, who still provided audiences with a lot of huge thrills, some outstanding visuals, and an ending we will not soon forget. It won’t go down as one of the ten best movies of the decade, but it did manage to outgross its predecessor. (Domestic: $175 million; Global: $450 million).

Ballerina — You’d think that audiences might tire of the John Wick franchise, but Ballerina managed to freshen up the film franchise by turning its focus on a new character played by Ana de Armas, a welcome addition, although Len Wiseman’s direction often left something to be desired. (Domestic: $187 million; Worldwide: $440 million).

Beetlejuice 2 — While Gladiator had twenty-four years between sequels, Beetlejuice really upped that gap with 36 years in between. Tim Burton has lost his touch, and the film was something of a mediocre mess, but Jenna Ortega brought in a young audience while older folks returned to see Michael Keaton reprise his role and also to see how bloody fantastic Winona Ryder looks all these years later. (Domestic: $155 million; Worldwide: $400 million)

Flops

Ghostbusters: Frozen — Jason Reitman’s Ghostbusters: Afterworld was better than most expected, and it was fun to bring the old gang back for an extended cameo, but no one asked for this. There was actually too much of the original cast, and it was another one of those “What are you doing, Carrie Coon?” roles. It was a terrible movie (27 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) that not even Paul Rudd and Ernie Hudson’s combined charm could save. (Domestic: $74 million; Worldwide: $201 million)

Madame Web — Before the superhero genre could rebound from its terrible 2023, it first had to hit bottom. Madame Web was the bottom. Kraven the Hunter was better (and Venom 3 was pushed to 2025), but Madame Web was Morbius levels of bad, and it wasn’t even funny to hate it. (Domestic: $59 million; Worldwide: $121 million)

Horizon: An American Saga — Warner Brothers took a big risk on Kevin Costner’s costly two-part Western, and boy did it backfire. People love to see Kevin Costner in Westerns on TV, but trying to lure dads out of their houses to see not one but two films in a six-week span was too much to ask. Everyone always complains about what a bomb Waterworld was, but that film actually made money. These two films — which cost $200 million combined — decidedly did not, in part because there was no global audience for it. (Horizon: An American Saga Part I: Domestic: $39 million; $51 million worldwide; Part I1: Domestic: $22 million; Worldwide: $34 million).

Transformers One — The live-action franchise had already run out of steam after seven Transformers films, and no one was asking for an animated prequel, even one voiced by actors Channing Tatum, Brian Tyree Henry, Scarlett Johansson, and Jon Hamm. It didn’t help that the script was uninspired and the animation was boring. (Domestic: $47 million; Worldwide: $112 million).

Wicked — Musicals had a small comeback at the end of 2023 with The Color Purple and in January with Mean Girls ($127 million domestic), but the audience for John Chu’s big-budget theatrical release of Wicked did not materialize. Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater’s break-up didn’t help matters, but the biggest problem with the film is that it just wasn’t that good. I can’t believe there’s still a part two to come next year. (Domestic: $54 million; Worldwide: $178 million).