The 15 Highest-Grossing Movies Of 2024

As the worldwide box office continues to recover from lingering pandemic effects and compete for attention with streamers, every hit counts for both studios and theater owners. In 2023, the dual attack of "Barbenheimer" led a lot of fans to make movies into a legitimate event again, meaning studios and audiences went into 2024 with a lot of hope.

While we might not have gotten our own "Barbenheimer" in 2024, we did get plenty of big movies. There were long-awaited sequels to beloved family films, big disaster movies, sword and sandal epics, and one of the biggest superhero crossovers of all time. And with films like "Wicked" and "Moana 2" still in theaters, the year's box office continues to climb.

But which film came out on top? In a year that brought us "Inside Out 2," "Deadpool & Wolverine," "Gladiator II," and so much more, any one could be the box office champion. Here are the 15 highest-grossing movies at the worldwide box office in 2024.

• Cast: Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux
• Director: Fede Álvarez
• Rating: R
• Runtime: 119 minutes
• Where to Watch: Hulu

The first new "Alien" film since 2017 and the first "Alien" film since 2007 to be directed by someone other than Ridley Scott, "Alien: Romulus" had the hopes of a franchise riding on it. Everyone was hoping for a return to form much like "Prey" restored the "Predator" franchise, and director Fede Álvarez seemed like the guy to make it happen. Álvarez's resume, which includes horror hits like "Evil Dead" and "Don't Breathe," told audiences that the franchise was definitely going back to its horror roots, and the film's setting between 1979's "Alien" and 1986's "Aliens" suggested an homage-laden piece of sci-fi nostalgia.

That turned out to be a recipe for pretty solid success for "Romulus." After an opening weekend of $42 million in North America, the film went on to gross more than $105 million domestically. The international box office pulled in well more than double that number, adding $245 million for a total box office haul of $350.8 million, including $110 million in China alone. This proved there's still an appetite for "Alien" films, which means there's a good chance we'll be seeing more Xenomorphs on the big screen in the future.

• Cast: Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington
• Director: Ridley Scott
• Rating: R
• Runtime: 148 minutes
• Where to Watch: In theaters

Ridley Scott's "Gladiator" was one of the biggest films of its era. Released at the turn of the millennium, it earned worldwide box office success and eventually won an Oscar for best picture. It made sense that the eventual legacy sequel, "Gladiator II," would have a built-in audience from the start, and that audience only grew with the addition of stars like Oscar-winner Denzel Washington and relative newcomer Paul Mescal in his first major epic.

The stars, combined with Scott's knack for grand-scale historical filmmaking, paid off big time for "Gladiator II." After opening with a solid $55 million in North America, second only to "Wicked" that weekend, the film went on to earn more than $132 million domestically, as of this writing. Throw in the worldwide grosses, and its current total sits at $369.7 million, and it's not done with its box office run yet.

• Cast: Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos
• Director: Lee Isaac Chung
• Rating: PG-13
• Runtime: 122 minutes
• Where to Watch: Peacock

Like its predecessor, the FX-laden 1996 hit "Twister," "Twisters" followed a formula that used a great ensemble cast, two romantic leads, and a whole lot of danger-tinged fun. It's a formula that's tough to replicate, but stars Glen Powell (who's having a major moment right now) and Daisy Edgar-Jones had the chemistry that it took to carry the film, and director Lee Isaac Chung understood how to keep the fun rolling while also telling a story about the inescapable wrath of nature.

Thanks to that sense of fun, plus loads of nostalgic fondness for the original film, "Twisters" opened big in July with an $81 million first weekend in North America, on its way to a $267 million domestic total. Internationally, the film added more than $100 million on top of its North America haul, for a total of nearly $371 million. That's more than enough to wonder if we might be getting "Twisters 2" somewhere down the line.

• Cast: Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand
• Director: Wes Ball
• Rating: PG-13
• Runtime: 145 minutes
• Where to Watch: Hulu

A seven year gap between "Planet of the Apes" films didn't do much to slow down director Wes Ball's "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes." Set generations after "War for the Planet of the Apes," the film delivered a world ruled almost entirely by apes for the first time in the franchise's revamped continuity, and thus delivered a visual effects spectacle unlike anything else we saw this year.

The undeniable power of the film's motion capture technology certainly brought audiences in, but the story did the rest, earning "Kingdom" positive reviews and word-of-mouth buzz which blew the box office away, propelling it to a $58 million opening weekend in May. The film went on to gross $171 million domestically, and significantly more worldwide, reaching $397 million by the end of its box office run.

• Cast: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens
• Director: Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah
• Rating: R
• Runtime: 115 minutes
• Where to Watch: Netflix

The early 2020 release of "Bad Boys for Life" proved that audiences still had plenty of appetite for the adventures of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence's renegade cop best friends. That meant a new film was bound to arrive, and in 2024 we got it with "Bad Boys: Ride or Die," which set Smith and Lawrence on another kill-or-be-killed adventure against some bad guys targeting their families.

It's easy to see why this one was a hit. Smith is now an Oscar-winner in addition to a movie star, and the film marked a major action cinema moment for him, while Lawrence proved that he's still got his comedy chops intact, and their chemistry is unmatched in the genre. Plus, from the moment trailers were released, the action orchestrated by the directing duo was drawing buzz from genre diehards and casual viewers alike. That all added up to a $56 million opening weekend, and eventual worldwide gross of more than $404 million.

• Cast: Jenna Ortega, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder
• Director: Tim Burton
• Rating: PG-13
• Runtime: 104 minutes
• Where to Watch: Max

Fans and filmmakers alike have been talking about a sequel to Tim Burton's dark comedy classic "Beetlejuice" for literal decades now, which meant that when "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" was finally announced, it had lots of pent-up anticipation to help it cruise into the box office. But brand recognition was not enough to make a hit this big.

For that, we have to turn to the cast. The film features the returning duo of Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder, who've both been enjoying career renaissances of late, alongside Catherine O'Hara, whose stardom was renewed by her hit TV series "Schitt's Creek." Then there's Jenna Ortega, who brought the entire "Wednesday" fandom along for the ride, and continued her collaboration with Burton. It was all too much for audiences to resist, and after an opening weekend that brought in more than $111 million, the film went on to earn $451 million worldwide. Maybe "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" is next?

• Cast: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh
• Director: Jon M. Chu
• Rating: PG
• Runtime: 160 minutes
• Where to Watch: In theaters

Some movies are predestined for box office success, not because they're sequels or parts of larger franchises, but because they come from truly beloved, phenomenal source material. That was the case with "Wicked," the first part of a two-part film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical of the same name. Since its launch more than 20 years ago, "Wicked" has been casting a spell on stages around the globe, which left little doubt that audiences would turn out in huge numbers for the Thanksgiving release of "Wicked."

"Wicked" took off like a shot in its November opening weekend, pulling in $112.5 million domestically and besting fellow big release "Gladiator II." But that was just the beginning. As of this writing, "Wicked" has been in theaters for less than a month, and it's already pulled in a whopping $325 million domestically, and more than $460 million worldwide, with plenty of time left to go in its box office run.

• Cast: Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple
• Director: Kelly Marcel
• Rating: PG-13
• Runtime: 110 minutes
• Where to Watch: VOD

Though Sony hasn't had the same luck with its other Spider-Man spinoff films, "Venom" has proven to be a major moneymaker for the studio, and we expected nothing less from the final installment in the trilogy. Featuring Tom Hardy and the alien symbiote who shares his body on one last adventure to save the world from other symbiotes, "Venom: The Last Dance" promised the same strange, violent fun that permeated the first two films, and audiences were here for it.

"The Last Dance" arrived back in October with a $51 million opening weekend on its way to a $139 million domestic box office haul. Internationally, it did even better, taking in $333 million around the world and finishing its run with nearly $473 million. Not a bad way to go for Eddie and Venom.

• Cast: Jack Black, Awkwafina, Viola Davis
• Director: Mike Mitchell and Stephanie Stine
• Rating: PG
• Runtime: 94 minutes
• Where to Watch: Netflix

You just can't stop Po the Panda. Audiences have been turning out in support of the lovable kung fu warrior voiced by Jack Black since 2008, and the films and animated series in the franchise so far remain favorites for many families. That's reason enough to suspect audiences will show up for another volume, but "Kung Fu Panda 4" wasn't just the latest film in the series. It was the first "Kung Fu Panda" film in eight years, the longest gap by far in the franchise. Everyone was ready for this movie, and it got the ticket sales to prove it.

"Kung Fu Panda 4" posted a respectable opening weekend of nearly $58 million back in March, and then proved it had legs to keep earning both domestically and around the world. The film earned $193 million in North America and nearly $355 million internationally, becoming the first film on this list to top half a billion dollars for the year with a total of $547 million.

• Cast: Rebecca Hall, Bryan Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens
• Director: Adam Wingard
• Rating: PG-13
• Runtime: 115 minutes
• Where to Watch: Max

The "Monsterverse" movies that began with Gareth Edwards' "Godzilla" celebrated 10 years in 2024, and they did it with a bang in the form of "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire." The latest installment in the ever-more-ambitious clashes between the "titans" of the world saw the two legendary monsters in an epic fight for the future of Earth, and the sheer scale of the thing made audiences flock to theaters, particularly around the world.

Domestically, "The New Empire" opened to $80 million in March, and went on to pull in $196 million in North America. That's a very respectable total, but it was dwarfed by the film's international haul, which added $375 million on the way to a $571 million total. The Monsterverse is still alive and well, and audiences are clearly hanging on every adventure Godzilla and Kong have left.

• Cast: Auli'i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Rose Matafeo
• Director: David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller
• Rating: PG
• Runtime: 100 minutes
• Where to Watch: In theaters

Some movies are destined to be megahits from the moment they're announced, and "Moana 2" is one of those movies. The sequel to the beloved 2016 film of the same name is second only to "Frozen" in terms of sheer cultural impact for Disney animation over the last two decades or so, and it's been eight years since that first film, which meant audiences were hungry for more Moana.

That hunger, combined with a Thanksgiving release date, propelled the second film in the franchise to a whopping $139 million opening weekend. As of this writing, the film has been in theaters around the world for less than two weeks, and it's already grossed more than $600 million worldwide. That means we shouldn't be surprised to see "Moana 2" hit the billion-dollar mark by the end of its box office run.

• Cast: Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson
• Director: Denis Villeneuve
• Rating: PG-13
• Runtime: 166 minutes
• Where to Watch: Max

Denis Villeneuve's "Dune" was one of the biggest movie events of 2021, so it stands to reason that its sequel would be seen as one of the biggest movie events of its given release year as well. Adding to the anticipation was the fact that the film's stars, Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya, have only risen in profile in the time since the first film was released. With the film's massive ensemble, including the addition of Austin Butler, backing them up, there was no way this film could fail.

And indeed, "Dune: Part Two" lived up to expectations. The film opened to $82 million and came away with an eventual domestic total of $282 million across its run in the spring. With an international haul of more than $400 million, the film topped out at nearly three quarters of a billion worldwide, with the final number coming in at $714 million.

• Cast: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Joey King
• Director: Chris Renaud and Patrick Delage
• Rating: PG
• Runtime: 94 minutes
• Where to Watch: Peacock

Like "Moana" and "Kung Fu Panda," it had been a while since we got a new film in the main "Despicable Me" franchise. But despite the seven years since "Despicable Me 3," the series has only grown in popularity thanks to the "Minions" spinoff films and the generally massive popularity of the Minions as a collection of merchandise. They're everywhere, and they were an even bigger part of the story in "Despicable Me 4."

That, plus the generally beloved previous films in the series, was enough to propel "Despicable Me 4" to box office glory right from the start. It opened to $75 million on July 4th weekend in North America, and went on to earn $361 million domestically. But that's nothing compared to the international total, which topped $600 million. Half a billion dollars even without North American box office was enough to bring the fourth film's total to $969 million worldwide, just shy of a billion. Not bad for a reformed supervillain.

• Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
• Director: Shawn Levy
• Rating: R
• Runtime: 128 minutes
• Where to Watch: Disney+

Not since "Avengers: Endgame" have we seen anticipation for a superhero movie as high as it was for "Deadpool & Wolverine." The arrival of Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was reason enough to get excited, but adding in Hugh Jackman coming out of retirement to play Wolverine again was the master stroke. There was simply no way audiences would miss this one.

And those audiences couldn't wait a second to see the film, which opened to $211 million in July on its way to breaking box office records. By the end of its run, the film had earned $636 million in North America alone, and steamrolled to $1.33 billion worldwide, passing "Joker" to become the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time. That means Deadpool is here to stay, and he's likely far from done shaking up the MCU.

• Cast: Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke, Kensington Tallman
• Director: Kelsey Mann
• Rating: PG
• Runtime: 96 minutes
• Where to Watch: Disney+

It's been nearly a decade since "Inside Out" arrived from Pixar Animation Studios, becoming one of the studio's most beloved and best-reviewed films of its era. You might not necessarily think that film would have the same kind of franchise potential as, say, "Toy Story," but time has been very kind to "Inside Out." Families have spent the last nine years watching it together, growing up with it, and that meant when "Inside Out 2" arrived in the summer of 2024, it was primed for success.

What no one was prepared for, though, was just how big that success would be. After a massive $154 million opening weekend, "Inside Out 2" went on to become the highest-grossing Pixar film ever in North America with nearly $653 million. The international grosses tacked on a billion-plus to that number, and the film eventually earned $1.69 billion worldwide, making it not just the highest-grossing Pixar film ever, but the highest grossing animated film in the history of movies. It was an incredible run, and it's no wonder that the film stands as the highest-grossing of 2024.