Only 52 Films Have Earned A Billion Dollars. Here They All Are Ranked From Best To Worst
A billion dollars is a RIDICULOUSLY LARGE amount of money. An amount so large, in fact, that most of us can't even begin to fathom what it looks like. And for many years, Hollywood's filmmakers also got nowhere near earning the astronomical sum of their films. As we neared the 21st century, however, with inflation steadily growing and the age of the franchise blossoming, the threat of the billion-dollar film grew. Now, in 2023, we can't go a year without at least one film making its way into the famed Billion Dollar Club (BDC). In 2022, three films crossed the milestone as the latest films in the Jurassic World, Top Gun, and Avatar franchises hauled in cash at the box office. And to honor all the blue people of the Na'vi in James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water, I figured, why not rank the 52 films that have earned a billion dollars at the international box office?
Before I begin, I'd like to chat quickly about the phenomenon of the billion-dollar film, and the qualifications for this list.
First, I have not adjusted any of the grosses here for inflation. If you start wandering down that rabbit hole, you end up with all kinds of complicated math to do, and I am an English major. So while movies like Gone with the Wind and Star Wars: A New Hope were certainly massive hits, they will not be included here because they were released in eras where ticket prices were not $17.
Second, we are looking at global box office numbers, not just numbers from the US. Unfortunately, with censorship rules in countries like China, and strange distribution plans in others (especially during COVID), there are films, especially a number of recent Marvel hits, that haven't made a billion dollars because they have fewer territories to earn in.
Third, I am counting rereleases. Films like Jurassic Park and The Lion King have appeared in theaters multiple times, and I'm including all those dollars earned. So if they decide to rerelease Death on the Nile every year for the rest of my life and it miraculously makes a billion dollars in 2089, I'll add it to the list.
Fourth, there are plenty of films that you would think have earned a billion dollars that aren't here, and plenty of films on this list that will surprise you. Entering the BDC relies HEAVILY on both 1) opening weekend sales and 2) international sales. So sequels and action-heavy films that are less reliant on knowing English tend to do best. That means that often the first few films in a franchise don't crack a billion dollars, but later more maligned films in a franchise will.
Lastly, this ranking is based on the quality of the film itself separate from how much money it made. I am looking at these films as individual artistic productions and judging them on things such as acting, writing, directing, etc.
And now before we launch into this, let's pay homage to a few honorable mention franchises that never quite made it to the Billion Dollar Club.
- While Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle sits at $955M, and its sequel isn't far behind, neither film crossed the threshold.
- None of the Shrek or Puss in Boots movies have made it to a billion even though the list has plenty of animated films on it.
- While Ice Age has two films in the top 100, none have clawed their way to the billion mark.
- Shockingly, no Hunger Games movies have made a billion dollars, and only Catching Fire is in the top 100 with a worldwide gross of $855M.
- Lastly, my beloved Twilight series, despite being a massive hit, topped out at $848M on its final film.
Now onto the ranking:
52.Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
Box office ranking: 18th
Box office gross: $1,310,466,296
Oscar wins/nominations: none
Thought: Let's start with the BOTTOM of the barrel and a testament to how much people (especially abroad) love dinosaurs. Jurassic World is a franchise made of three objectively bad films, and yet somehow, even with diminishing critical acclaim, all three crossed the billion-dollar marker. This, the middle film in the new trilogy, starts with a depressing first half in which countless dinosaurs are killed by a volcano, before transitioning to a weird haunted house/cloning plot in the back end. It feels like two completely different films smashed together, and neither adequately builds on its predecessor nor sets up its sequel. The whole film is messy and it's on this list riding the coattails of the masterful Jurassic Park. Plus, with a 47% on Rotten Tomatoes, it's one of the lowest scorers on this list.
51.Jurassic World (2015)
Box office ranking: 8th
Box office gross: $1,671,537,444
Oscar wins/nominations: none
Thought: Only one slot higher, we have Fallen Kingdom's predecessor, which velociraptor jumped its way into the Billion Dollar Club using nostalgic mediocrity and CGI. While Jurassic World is certainly more tonally cohesive than its sequel, it's doing little more than copy/pasting the original with less charismatic stars and a weaker plot. The "what if Jurassic Park opened?" premise is fun to watch for a bit, but the whole film is haunted by the nagging sense of "I've seen this before and it was better." Bryce Dallas Howard's girlboss stock character, the pair of annoying brothers, and Chris Pratt's cloying bravado don't help. Plus, comparing the rampant CGI feels a bit cheap (especially in the laughable scene where dinosaurs play catch with Howard's assistant). While I'm not surprised this made as much money as it did, given the original's success, I am shocked that it spawned a trilogy as lucrative as it did.
50.The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Box office ranking: 50th
Box office gross: $1,017,030,651
Oscar wins/nominations: 0 wins/ 3 nominations (Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects)
Thought: Like Jurassic World, the first of The Hobbit trilogy opened a spinoff based on an existing hit trilogy. However, unlike Jurassic World, An Unexpected Journey seems to have been just bad enough to tank its sequels with both The Battle of the Five Armies and Desolation of Smaug missing out on the BDC. The two biggest knocks on An Unexpected Journey and the trilogy, in general, are 1) the over-reliance on, often cartoonish, CGI and 2) the cash-grabby decision to split the novel into three films. The visual effects failed to capture the majesty of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings series (more on that later), but the choice to chop the narrative arc into not two, but three films, is baffling. The Hobbit is a nearly perfect, beloved novel with a textbook Greek plotline journey at its center. Cutting it into thirds leaves each film without its own cohesive plot, but more importantly, doesn't leave each film with enough action to fill it. Thus Jackson had to pump in a plethora of background from J.R.R. Tolkien's ancillary works which just make the series feel cluttered and dull. Just because I'll eat a third breakfast doesn't mean I need a third Hobbit.
49.Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
Box office ranking: 30th
Box office gross: $1,123,794,079
Oscar wins/nominations: 0 wins/3 nominations (Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects)
Thought: The monetary trajectory of a series, as we will see over and over again, is on a bit of a delay. Without an established audience, especially overseas, it's incredibly difficult for even the best films to crack a billion dollars, which is why this list is full of sequels. But, inversely, even once the series begins to go downhill, it takes a while for the films to taper off financially, again especially overseas. Thus, neither of the first two Transformers films starring Shia LeBeouf and Megan Fox are on this list, but the oft-maligned third film is here. Dark of the Moon, which revolves around a "What if NASA faked the moon landing because of Transformers?" plot, is almost so-bad-it's-good but ends up just being awful. LeBeouf's Sam and his new girlfriend Carly (Rosie Huntington-Whitely showcased in plenty of leering, up-the-skirt, ass-shots) have barely anything to do, it's hard to keep the 900 robots separate in your mind, and Chicago's Trump Tower is an integral part of the plot. The only saving grace is Frances McDormand, who inexplicably appears as a government bureaucrat here. She's great, as always, but is almost a detriment to the film as she makes everyone else look even hackier.
48.Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014)
Box office ranking: 33rd
Box office gross: $1,104,054,072
Oscar wins/nominations: none
Thought: Thankfully this is the last Transformers film you will see on this list. Another victim of the delayed box office return, the fourth Mark Wahlberg-helmed Transformers joined the BDC. The movie is one of the worst out there and includes a VERY VERY VERY strange subplot in which Nicola Peltz's Tessa, a 17-year-old, is dating Shane, a British racecar driver in his twenties played by Jack Reynor. The film then goes out of its way multiple times to explain how this is not technically statutory rape, but perfectly legal and covered by the "Romeo and Juliet laws" because they were dating when Shane was younger (and they have a laminated card to prove it). Aside from that weirdly unnecessary TMI narrative, the film is about robot dinosaurs and how they're going to help the good transformers beat the bad ones. I moved this slightly higher than Age of Extinction because I do think there is a smart twist regarding Megatron, and the cast as a whole is better utilized here than in Dark of the Moon.
47.Frozen II (2019)
Box office ranking: 13th
Box office gross: $1,453,683,476
Oscar wins/nominations: 0 wins/1 nomination (Best Original Song — "Into the Unknown)
Thought: While Frozen II's 77% on Rotten Tomatoes seems like it should save this film from such a low slot, I defy anyone to succinctly tell me the plot of this film. Never has there been such a convoluted, bewilderingly complicated movie written for adults, let alone children. There was a dam built, but then there was a fight, and then the spirits of the forest got mad, so then there was mist, and the mist trapped people in the forest, but then there was a voice in the mist, and then the spirits awaken, and oh look there's a rock troll for some reason, and now there's a wrecked ship, and I could go on for another forty minutes and still have no idea what is happening. The Wikipedia summary is inscrutable, and "Into the Unknown" isn't enough to cover this excruciatingly bad script. Without the songs, this is borderline unwatchable.
46.Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
Box office ranking: 43rd
Box office gross: $1,046,721,266
Oscar wins/nominations: none
Thought: Another example of the delayed blockbuster effect is the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, in which the series' maligned fourth film, without much of the cast from the original trilogy, somehow broke a billion dollars when neither the first or third installment was able to. (Mercifully its sequel, Dead Men Tell No Tales, didn't either). This high seas adventure revolves around finding the Fountain of Youth with Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane joining as Blackbeard and his daughter. While Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow antics were tired out by this film, Cruz and McShane are able to prop up the movie enough to bump it a few spots up the list. This is, however, yet another tired, pointless, ill-advised sequel, which has been the story of this entire list so far.
45.Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
Box office ranking: 35th
Box office gross: $1,077,022,372
Oscar wins/nominations: 0 wins/3 nominations (Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Visual Effects)
Thought: Star Wars has entered the chat. This is one of five Star Wars films to make this list, and by far the worst of them. MUCH discussion has been made over the eleven Star Wars films, with the passionate fandom frequently getting into online brawls about which films are good, and which parties are responsible for the bad ones. The "sequel trilogy" is a strange trio of films as no one seems to have mapped out a general outline for the narrative even though it was obviously going to be a highly publicized, massively successful franchise no matter how poorly it was received. We, therefore, had J.J. Abrams's The Force Awakens closely mimicking A New Hope, before Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi took some big swings. In a weird move that undercut both films, Abrams then returned to try and wrap up the franchise in a way that left few people happy. Some characters were completely sidelined, the Emperor was dug out of his crypt and propped up as the villain, and due to Carrie Fisher's death, a CGI Princess Leia is shoehorned in. All in all, this film just feels so chaotic and is not the way to conclude a nine-film mega-franchise to anyone's satisfaction.
44.Jurassic World Dominion (2022)
Box office ranking: 52nd
Box office gross: $1,001,978,080
Oscar wins/nominations: none
Thought: Finishing up the Jurassic World franchise, we have the third installment which BARELY crept over the line to a billion dollars. While this film did both worse with the critics and at the box office, I think that's because the film is the least like Jurassic Park. Rather than focusing entirely on dinosaurs, much of Dominion is spent trying to stop a Monsanto-esque agrochemical company from destroying crops with genetically engineered locusts. The film has Michael Clayton energy, which I enjoyed after the deja vu of the dinosaur fights in the first two World movies and no matter how you slice it, Laura Dern makes a movie better. None of these films are getting anywhere close to great, but at least this one was making a move to do something interesting.
43.Minions (2015)
Box office ranking: 24th
Box office gross: $1,159,444,662
Oscar wins/nominations: none
Thought: While we're tromping through these bad sequels and spinoffs, we might as well hit both of the late-stage Despicable Me sequels that arrived on this list. While the original and Despicable Me 2 are both lovely, by the time we got to the Gru-less spinoff about three minions getting involved with Queen Elizabeth II and the crown jewels, we had perhaps jumped the shark. Without the humans, and upgrading the minions from fun side characters to protagonists, makes all 90 minutes of this film agonizing. Thank goodness Rise of Gru didn't hit a billion so I didn't have to watch it.
42.Despicable Me 3 (2017)
Box office ranking: 44th
Box office gross: $1,034,800,131
Oscar wins/nominations: none
Thought: Only slightly better is Despicable Me 3, which is helped by the human cast, but hurt by a ludicrous, yet somehow boring, plot featuring Gru's brother Dru. While I did enjoy the villain being a failed child actor dead set on destroying Hollywood, the film suffers from an over-reliance on the minions. While the first two films were clever and heartfelt, this one is much more of a "the kids will laugh at fart jokes" movie.
41.Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Box office ranking: 14th
Box office gross: $1,405,018,048
Oscar wins/nominations: none
Thought: With ten films on this list, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) will get plenty of airtime (and we could potentially see more additions as China finally screens the last batch of MCU films there after several years of barring them). The second Avengers movie isn't so much bad as it is forgettable, and with now 30 films in the franchise, there are bound to be some duds. Age of Ultron, for those of you who forgot, is about the Avengers taking on an AI system Tony Stark created that is trying to eradicate the world of humans. It takes place in a fake country called Sokovia (more on that later) and introduces Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda with a thick Russian accent (that she will soon lose). The whole thing is just a bit meh.
40.Aquaman (2018)
Box office ranking: 26th
Box office gross: $1,148,528,393
Oscar wins/nominations: none
Thought: While there are several movies based on DC Comics that will appear on this list later, the one and only representative of the DC Extended Universe is (somewhat surprisingly) Aquaman. The Jason Mamoa-helmed story about a half-human, half-fishman superhero did extremely well overseas nearly tripling its box office numbers in the US. Like Ultron, the film feels very run-of-the-mill in the grand scheme of the superhero genre, something we all know well by this point. Nicole Kidman, Willem Dafoe, and Patrick Wilson all provide fun turns here, and some of the CGI-laden underwater action scenes are exciting. The main problem here is that while Mamoa is certainly a strong action star, he's a very average actor, and so the emotional tide of the film never really hits its high point.
39.Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Box office ranking: 20th
Box office gross: $1,266,115,964
Oscar wins/nominations: 0 wins/2 nominations (Best Costume Design, Best Production Design)
Thought: There is nothing quite as soulless as Disney's recent collection of "live-action" remakes of their animated classics. Drowning in CGI and starved for the magic of the originals, these hollow shells are at best, dead-eyed clones and at worst mutilations that fail to understand what made the animated film so wonderful. While the worst of them (Lady and the Tramp, Mulan, Pinocchio) have been dumped on Disney+, the beloved IP that has made it to theaters has done well given the international and family appeal. And with several billion-dollar hauls, it makes sense that they'd have 16 more in production. The worst of the BDC Disney live-action films is the Beauty and the Beast remake which suffers mostly from a cast that doesn't have the necessary singing chops to pull off the songs. The weak singing is not helped by the fact that the "live-action" element of the film sucks out some of the fantastical fun of numbers like "Be Our Guest". I just don't understand why anyone would voluntarily choose to watch this when the superb original is sitting right next to it on Disney+.
38.Aladdin (2019)
Box office ranking: 42nd
Box office gross: $1,054,304,000
Oscar wins/nominations: none
Thought: Aladdin suffers from all the same problems as Beauty and the Beast, and only nudges itself one slot higher because of a few Nasim Pedrad one-liners and an awkward ad-lib about jams. Again, this remake isn't really expanding on the story in any real way, and every single scene is worse than its counterpart in the original. None of the cast can sing as well, Will Smith's genie pales in comparison to Robin Williams's, and the whole thing reeks of green screen. The whole thing is built upon the storyline of a great film, which is something the Jurassic World franchise and Rise of Skywalker can't claim, but the whole film is mildly depressing.
37.The Lion King (2019)
Box office ranking: 9th
Box office gross: $1,663,075,401
Oscar wins/nominations: 0 wins/1 nomination (Best Visual Effects)
Thought: Rounding out our trio of the Disney "live-action" remakes, we have the Lion King remake that is still 99% animation, but just more realistic animation than the original. All of the same problems crop up here, and in some ways, the film is worse because the lack of magic weighs the musical numbers down even more ("I Just Can't Wait to Be King" is just lions rolling around in dirt). The cast, however, is stronger and can sing (Beyonce is singing "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"), plus the visuals are stunning and less jarring given that there are no real people on the screen. Also, this film gave us The Gift, Beyonce's companion album and Black Is King, the visual counterpart, both of which are exquisite.
36.Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
Box office ranking: 16th
Box office gross: $1,342,359,942
Oscar wins/nominations: 0 wins/3 nominations (Best Art Direction, Best Makeup, Best Visual Effects)
Thought: Harry Potter is one of the oddest franchises when it comes to box office numbers. Of the original eight films (sorry Fantastic Beasts), only two have made a billion dollars, but the other six are all within the top 100 highest-grossing films of all time (and several could make the BDC if they were rereleased again). The franchise has its ups and downs, but the final film is one of my least favorites. Not to be a "the book was better" person, but the final battle in the books (and the point of the whole franchise) is all about the power of love and friendship triumphing over hatred, and not about a wrestling match on the castle roof. Plus there's Voldemort's awkward hug, lots of not-great acting from the kids, and shoehorned romance plots. Am I perhaps biased in putting this so low? Yes. But also do I feel bad about it given J.K. Rowling's recent behavior? Not really.
35.Toy Story 4 (2019)
Box office ranking: 37th
Box office gross: $1,073,841,394
Oscar wins/nominations: 1 win/2 nominations (win: Best Animated Feature; nomination: Best Original Song — "I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away")
Thought: We've reached the first Oscar winner on the list, and it makes sense given the pedigree of Pixar and the Toy Story films in general. Pixar has four films on this list, and Finding Nemo, Inside Out, and Coco are in the top 100. Unfortunately, Toy Story 4 is by far the weakest film in its franchise and made a billion dollars on the back of its three extremely successful predecessors. While the addition of Forky was genius, Toy Story 4 inexplicably splits up the dynamic duo of Woody and Buzz and spends way too much time focused on new characters to the detriment of old stalwarts. It's not necessarily a bad movie, but it is a little forgettable, and definitely wasn't needed.
34.Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Box office ranking: 6th
Box office gross: $2,052,415,039
Oscar wins/nominations: 0 wins/1 nomination (Best Visual Effects)
Thought: Circling back to some more MCU films, here is the first part of the two-part Avengers finale, which like Age of Ultron, isn't so much bad as it is purely functional. Infinity War is basically a race between the Marvel stable and Thanos to secure the Infinity Stones, and (spoiler alert), Thanos gets them and wipes out half the world's population at the end of the film. It is, therefore, a downer, and unique in being one of the few MCU films where the villain wins. There's a lot of exposition here as we set up the Infinity Stones, and since half of the cast will be snapped and eliminated from the majority of Endgame, Infinity War spends most of its time focused on the B-Tier who will evaporate. Not that I am desperate to see more Captain America and Black Widow, but it is sort of weird to have them sidelined for most of this film.
33.Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Box office ranking: 25th
Box office gross: $1,155,046,416
Oscar wins/nominations: none
Thought: Civil War, which is basically an Avengers film masquerading as a Captain America film, is another solid MCU film with a few issues. While this one does spend more time focused on our core six, the plot largely revolves around a somewhat irrelevant political argument as to whether government entities had to approve the Avengers attacking bad guys or not. It is a fun chance to see some Avenger v. Avenger matchup, but ultimately it doesn't go much of anywhere, and the final villain is a bit snoozy. The MCU can do better.
32.Iron Man 3 (2013)
Box office ranking: 23rd
Box office gross: $1,215,577,205
Oscar wins/nominations: 0 wins/1 nomination (Best Visual Effects)
Thought: Just a smidge better is Iron Man 3, which covers a multitude of its sins with the brilliant Mandarin twist in which Ben Kingsley's menacing terrorist turns out to be nothing more than an acting gig for the doofy Trevor Slattery. The back half of the film, which involves Gwyneth Paltrow on fire, and the late-breaking army of Iron Man suits, is pretty standard fare, but the move to market the whole film around the Mandarin only to pull the rug out from under the audience was genius. I wish films, especially those with a built-in audience like Marvel's, tried this more often.
31.Finding Dory (2016)
Box office ranking: 45th
Box office gross: $1,029,266,989
Oscar wins/nominations: none
Thought: It's downright shocking that Finding Dory made over a billion dollars (with nearly half its haul coming from the US), because this movie has absolutely no cultural footprint whatsoever. I don't think most people even remember that this movie was released let alone what it's about. I, who did see it and remembered enjoying it, could only remember that Kaitlin Olsen played a blind shark. I thought it was charming again on the rewatch, but it feels a bit irrelevant and slight, especially up against the films higher on this list that pack a wallop when it comes to cultural impact.
30.Joker (2019)
Box office ranking: 36th
Box office gross: $1,074,458,282
Oscar wins/nominations: 2 wins/11 nominations (wins: Best Actor — Joaquin Phoenix, Best Original Score; nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing)
Thought: Ugh. Joker. A movie I truly despise more than words can say. There is nothing quite so horrifying as watching a mentally ill man be radicalized in a violent alt-right way in slow motion on the big screen. While I have no desire to ever see this film again (and am praying to God that Lady Gaga can make the sequel more campy), I can acknowledge that in many regards, this film is head and shoulders above much of this list. The crafts and filmmaking are gorgeous, the performances, especially that of Joaquin Phoenix, are tremendous, and for as ill-conceived as the movie is in its political message, I think it does execute itself well. Did we need a movie that seemed to be a rallying cry for disenfranchised white men losing power? No, but if we had to have one, at least Joker is well-made. Also, while still attached to IP, it should be noted that this is the first film that's not a direct sequel or remake to appear on this list, which is a testament to how successful this film was.
29.Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Box office ranking: 48th
Box office gross: $1,025,468,216
Oscar wins/nominations: 2 wins/3 nominations (wins: Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design; nomination: Best Visual Effects)
Thought: As with Finding Dory, this is another film that is a bit lost to time. Unlike the other live-action Disney remakes, Alice in Wonderland completely reinvented the story, making the film much darker and more interesting. It reached the billion dollar mark largely on the back of Johnny Depp, who was extremely popular post-Pirates of the Caribbean, especially overseas. While technically a remake and adapted from the classic book, this feels like one of the more original films in the BDC, and I was pleasantly surprised to see it here. My beloved Anne Hathaway is fun as the bizarrely accented White Queen, and the whole cast seems to be having fun in this romp of ridiculousness. The box office numbers also explain the existence of the much worse sequel.
28.Captain Marvel (2019)
Box office ranking: 29th
Box office gross: $1,131,416,446
Oscar wins/nominations: none
Thought: What do you say we knock off another round of MCU films? While the previous four films on the list all had obvious setbacks and struggled to stand out in a major way among the sea of superhero films, this trio are all solid, enjoyable films if they don't reach the greatness we'll see later. Captain Marvel endured lots of backlash, mostly from male audiences who had semi-sexist qualms with a leading lady, but its '90s setting and Carol Danvers/Nick Fury body cop routine make it a lot of fun. Lashana Lynch is great as Brie Larson's bestie, Ben Mendelsohn is incredible in everything he does, and the Boden & Fleck script and direction give the film an Earthiness that MCU movies don't often convey. Plus its box office success helped open the door for more female representation in the series as a whole.
27.The Avengers (2012)
Box office ranking: 10th
Box office gross: $1,520,538,536
Oscar wins/nominations: 0 wins/1 nomination (Best Visual Effects)
Thought: While the original Avengers film may seem a bit blasé now, the idea of bringing a squad of superheroes from their own individual movies and making them a supergroup was unheard of in the aughts. The Avengers is in some ways the perfect example of a solid superhero film. The stars are charismatic. Loki is an excellent villain to root against. There are exciting action scenes, and the quippy banter we've come to love in MCU films is all here. There is not necessarily anything tremendously Earth-shattering here aside from its uniting of heroes, but it's all extremely well-executed and watchable. The bad films on this list are behind us, and we've moved into a category of generally solid flicks.
26.Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
Box office ranking: 28th
Box office gross: $1,131,927,996
Oscar wins/nominations: none
Thought: Shockingly, this is the first Spider-man film to cross the billion-dollar mark. Even though the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield films did well, they somehow never managed to crack a billion, and oddly Venom earned more money than Tom Holland's Spider-Man: Homecoming. Riding the high of Endgame, however, the study abroad-themed sequel soared into the BDC. The joy of Far From Home is the human element of the film, with the class trip antics remixing The Lizzie McGuire Movie before we even get to the superhero plot. The set pieces housed around some of Europe's most photogenic cities were fun, and Jake Gyllenhaal is an incredible baddie. Plus all of Zendaya and Holland's awkward romance scenes are charmingly cringe. This is basically a road trip comedy with some action scenes tacked on, and I loved every second of it.
25.Incredibles 2 (2018)
Box office ranking: 21st
Box office gross: $1,243,225,667
Oscar wins/nominations: 0 wins/1 nomination (Best Animated Feature)
Thought: The Incredibles 2 probably didn't need to happen. It arrived in the middle of Pixar's sequel obsession, and while it was a ton of fun to see the Parrs back on our screen, the movie felt a little unnecessary. That being said, even a lesser version of The Incredibles is better than 75% of films. The one, which centers on Elastagirl and leaves Mr. Incredible attempting to parent at home, has plenty of inventive action sequences and witty one-liners. Plus, Edna Mode is back and who doesn't want more of her in your life?
24.Avatar (2009)
Box office ranking: 1st
Box office gross: $2,923,706,026
Oscar wins/nominations: 3 wins/9 nominations (wins: Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects; nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing)
Thought: Avatar is a ridiculous outlier on this list in so many ways. Not only is it the highest-grossing film in history, but it is also one of the rare movies that isn't based on IP to crack this list. James Cameron's visual spectacle was a one-of-a-kind experience when it debuted back in 2009 and still holds up against today's visual effects over a decade later. There is no denying the artistry of this film and its technical prowess. The major knock against Avatar is its script, which many have said is basically a ripped-off version of Pocahontas. The narrative here keeps it from moving any higher on this list, but this is one of the most tremendous films ever made and deserves its spot in history.
23.Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
Box office ranking: 4th (for now)
Box office gross: $2,129,714,940
Oscar wins/nominations: TBD wins/4 nominations (Best Picture, Best Sound, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects)
Thought: This year's Avatar sequel, which is still in theaters and climbing its way up the leaderboard (it recently passed Infinity War and The Force Awakens) is very similar to its predecessor. While the ever advancing technology has made the visuals even more stunning, the technical achievements of Way of Water far outweigh its accomplishments as a narrative. The script here is a bit more original and that's why I bumped it above Avatar, but because it's setting up a sequel, there are a number of loose ends dangling about. Also Cameron seems a bit infatuated with his own world, and so the film is longer than it needs to be. A feast for the eyes for sure, but there are movies on this list that feel more well rounded.
22.Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
Box office ranking: 5th
Box office gross: $2,071,310,218
Oscar wins/nominations: 0 wins/5 nominations (Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects)
Thought: The Force Awakens is basically an elevated Disney live-action remake of A New Hope. Darth Vader was subbed out for Kylo Ren, Tatooine is now Jakku, Luke is Rei, and of course, the Death Star has been rebuilt as Starkiller Base. The film is dripping in nostalgia, which partially works, and its exciting to see all the OG Star Wars characters back at it, but you can't help but feel that the whole film is lacking originality. It's much tighter than Rise of Skywalker and has more soul than the Lion King and Aladdin remakes, but the film is heavily relying on the power of a superior original, and I'm docking it points for that.
21.Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
Box office ranking: 17th
Box office gross: $1,334,407,706
Oscar wins/nominations: 0 wins/4 nominations (Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects)
Thought: Ranking The Last Jedi one slot higher just to piss everyone off. While Rian Johnson's ballsy sequel has several big misses (the casino planet, Laura Dern), of the sequel trilogy, it's the only film with that wild west, guns-blazing originality that we loved so much about the episodes four, five, and six. It pays homage to The Empire Strikes Back without imitating it, it allows the characters to grow and develop nicely, and it's got the inventive action sequences that the franchise is known for. The Crait sequence is incredibly beautiful, the lightspeed ship bisection is lux as hell, and the Praetorian Guard action sequence is an incredible lightsaber duel. I wish this whole trilogy had taken more big swings, but alas, it will always be a slight disappointment.
20.Furious 7 (2015)
Box office ranking: 11th
Box office gross: $1,515,341,399
Oscar wins/nominations: none
Thought: Welcoming The Fast and the Furious franchise to the list. While the Vin Diesel-helmed series has had 10 installments now, only two have crossed the billion-dollar line thanks to a slow build early in the franchise and COVID cutting the numbers of the two most recent films. Furious 7, Paul Walker's final film, is an incredibly emotional one, perfectly combining the campy action scenes that the franchise is known for with a level of seriousness and heart that it had previously lacked. The arrival of Jason Statham as Deckard Shaw breathes some new life into the franchise, and both the airdrop into the Caucasus Mountains and the building jumping in Abu Dhabi are incredible set pieces. I think the final Los Angeles chase suffers a bit by comparison, but the film's final sequence and tribute to Paul Walker send it off nicely. Also, it should be said that the Charlie Puth/Wiz Khalifa song, "See You Again", should have won the Oscar that year. We're finally in the territory of films that actually deserve their billion-dollar earnings.
19.The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Box office ranking: 34th
Box office gross: $1,081,169,825
Oscar wins/nominations: none
Thought: The Dark Knight Rises gets a bit of a bad wrap because it can't quite live up to the Heath Ledger performance in The Dark Knight, but I think it's unjustly maligned. While it never reaches the highs of The Dark Knight, from its A Tale of Two Cities overlays to the fun performances by Anne Hathaway as Catwoman and Tom Hardy as Bane, the film is delivering a lot to love. Maggie Gyllenhaal's whiney Rachel is gone, Cillian Murphy returns as Scarecrow, and the old stalwarts are all giving wonderful performances. It's a satisfying end to a brilliant trilogy, and the cringy Robin reveal and bad Bane impressions by every boy in your high school aren't enough to convince me it's weak.
18.The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Box office ranking: 27th
Box office gross: $1,146,457,748
Oscar wins/nominations: 11 wins/11 nominations (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup, Best Original Score, Best Original Song — "Into the West", Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects
Thought: While the first two installments of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy just missed the billion-dollar mark (coming in at 70 and 61 on the box office ranking), the grand finale managed to comfortably enter the BDC. While The Return of the King is one of the most lauded films on the list and ends what will forever be seen as one of the best book-to-film adaptations of all time, I think the final film, on its own, is a bit long and meandering. With all the characters split apart from one another, there's a lot going on, and I feel like the camaraderie of the on-the-road journey of Fellowship and the Helms Deep battle in Two Towers both soar higher than the journey/battle counterparts in Return of the King. Certainly a tremendous achievement, but if you're not a diehard LOTR fan, this movie can be a bit snoozy.
17.Frozen (2013)
Box office ranking: 19th
Box office gross: $1,284,540,518
Oscar wins/nominations: 2 wins/2 nominations (Best Animated Feature, Best Original Song — "Let it Go")
Thought: While Frozen is certainly backed by the massive Disney apparatus, it is, like Avatar, a completely original film that reached the billion-dollar mark entirely on its own merit. Unlike Frozen II, the story is straightforward yet entirely effective. The songs are catchy, the art design is beautiful, and the voice cast is firing on all cylinders. The fact that Encanto, Tangled, and Moana are not on this list, speaks to the difficulty of hitting a billion dollars even for Disney, and while "Let It Go" may now make you want to freeze your head in a block of ice, you can't deny how much of an earworm that is.
16.Zootopia (2016)
Box office ranking: 47th
Box office gross: $1,025,521,689
Oscar wins/nominations: 1 win/1 nomination (Best Animated Feature)
Thought: Zootopia, while not a musical, is similar to Frozen in many ways in that it's entirely original IP that was so successful with families the world over that it outearned many of its animated counterparts. The concept here is incredibly fresh, and the numerous clever ways it plays on animal stereotypes (from the DMV sloths to the slick fox) are so satisfying to watch. The writing is whip-sharp, the social commentary is tight, and the voice acting is again top-notch. I moved this a slot ahead of Frozen as it feels new in a way that the princess narrative doesn't, but Zootopia certainly isn't quite as zeitgeisty. Stuff later on the list may feel bigger than Zootopia, but the fact this movie scratched and clawed its way into this ranking at all is a testament to its brilliance.
15.The Fate of the Furious (2017)
Box office ranking: 22nd
Box office gross: $1,236,005,118
Oscar wins/nominations: none
Thought: While Furious 7 does have an emotional resonance due to Paul Walker's death that its sequel does not, I think the 8th film in the franchise is stronger as a whole. Charlize Theron bursts onto the scene as perhaps the baddest villain of the series and blackmails Vin Diesel's Dom into working against his entire team. The Dom vs. family plot brings a new level of excitement to the action battles, and all three set pieces, in Cuba, New York, and Siberia are original and fun to watch. Forcing the Rock and Jason Statham into the pairing which would eventually lead to Hobbes and Shaw was smart, and the Helen Mirren gag casting is genius. F9 didn't quite get back to this level, so here's hoping the tenth installment circles back to this energy.
14.Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Box office ranking: 12th
Box office gross: $1,488,732,821
Oscar wins/nominations: TBD wins/6 nominations (Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Song - "Hold My Hand", Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects)
Thought: This year's surprise box office juggernaut was the sequel to Tom Cruise's 1986 film about fighter pilots. Cruise returns to the titular school as an instructor, but can't help but jump on in and some fly some missions of his own. The entire script, from the nameless enemies to the shirtless volleyball scene, seems to have been manufactured in a lab and calibrated exactly to the specifications of "perfect action movie." It's a film that hits every beat satisfyingly and delivers what it needs to at every turn, and while it's cheesy at points and unbelievable at others, Top Gun is built sturdy. After watching, it almost feels as if the movie was too perfect, lacking much grit or originality, but perhaps you don't really need it if you turn out a product so unimpeachable. Also, there's a great Lady Gaga song involved, so how could I hate it?
13.Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Box office ranking: 41st
Box office gross: $1,058,682,142
Oscar wins/nominations: 0 wins/2 nominations (Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects)
Thought: Amid the clusterfuck that was the sequel series, the powers that be at Star Wars decided to gift us with this odd little one-off story set immediately before A New Hope. In it, a series of rebels go through hell and high water in order to secure the plans for the Death Star that Luke Skywalker will ultimately use to vanquish the Sith's attempt at planet-exploding desolation. With a solid endpoint to work towards, the film knows exactly where it is headed and dishes up some solid action sequences along the way. The conclusion, free of cop-outs and complete with a brutal Darth Vader fight scene, is incredible and far surpasses most of the Star Wars franchise.
12.Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Box office ranking: 7th
Box office gross: $1,921,847,111
Oscar wins/nominations: 0 wins/1 nomination (Best Visual Effects)
Thought: Getting back to the MCU films on the list, we have the latest Spider-Man film, a multiverse adventure in which both previous Spider-Man actors and a whole slew of iconic villains return for one massive Spidey romp. This is the perfect example of what the MCU can do when it's at its best, pulling together multiple storylines satisfyingly, whipping out snarky dialogue, and working with a budget and influence powerful enough to recruit all of the actors necessary to complete the vision. While easily one of the saddest MCU films, it also seamlessly ties together a number of narratives and includes brilliant performances by Marisa Tomei and Willem Dafoe among others. If only Kirsten Dunst and Emma Stone had made appearances. Then this would be ranked at number one.
11.Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
Box office ranking: 39th
Box office gross: $1,066,179,747
Oscar wins/nominations: 1 win/4 nominations (win: Best Visual Effects; nominations: Best Art Direction, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing)
Thought: While the original Pirates of the Caribbean film is far and away the best, its sequel traffics in much of the same antics with only a slight depreciation before the tumble into the bloated third movie and ensuing rabble. The jungle chase sequence, Bill Nighy's Davy Jones, and more Jack Sparrow shenanigans are hard not to enjoy. This was the peak of Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Keira Knightley, the at-sea hijinks are inventive stunt work, and the humor-infused action that Pirates utilized so masterfully here and in the original would become a staple in Marvel shortly thereafter. If only the series (and Depp) hadn't crashed and burned so spectacularly.
10.Skyfall (2012)
Box office ranking: 32nd
Box office gross: $1,108,569,499
Oscar wins/nominations: 2 wins/5 nominations (wins: Best Original Song — "Skyfall", Best Sound Editing; nominations: Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Sound Mixing)
Thought: We're in the top ten! And perhaps shockingly, the only Bond film to make a billion dollars was the third Daniel Craig outing as 007. Spectre was close, coming in at 75 on the highest-grossing list and No Time to Die was undermined by a COVID release. The return to Bond's childhood home with an examination of his past and a Home Alone-style showdown that involved Judi Dench helped this Bond outing to differentiate itself from the pack. It's the first Sam Mendes-directed Bond film, introduces both Q (Ben Whishaw) and Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), both of whom would become fan favorites, and features the incredible Adele opening credit song. Skyfall is one of (if not) the best James Bond films, and it rightfully earned every cent it brought in.
9.Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999)
Box office ranking: 46th
Box office gross: $1,027,082,707
Oscar wins/nominations: 0 wins/3 nominations (Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound)
Thought: Loving The Phantom Menace is always my most controversial opinion, but I'd like to start by saying that much of the backlash against the first Star Wars film (chronologically) came in the years following its release, and it initially did well with critics as well as at the box office. A re-release with early CGI technology that wasn't great is part of how it surpassed the billion-dollar mark despite being significantly older than most of its competitors, and I think in the intervening years it became cool to dunk on The Phantom Menace. It is, however, one of my favorites, and I think breaking it down into its component parts bares out how strong of a film it is. To begin, it includes easily the best lightsaber duel of the franchise (sorry CGI Yoda), and the action-packed pod racer sequence, something the series has never gone back to for some reason. Also, like A New Hope and Rogue One, it keeps its cast together for much of the movie which creates a less disjointed film and allows the main characters to interact with one another. Naboo and Coruscant are two of the best planets of the series, Darth Maul is a tremendous villain, and the costuming on Queen Amidala is breathtaking. People who harp on the film complain about 1) Jar Jar Binks, 2) Jake Lloyd's acting, and 3) the plot minutia regarding the trade economy. I don't mind Jar Jar and think that when you watch the film through the Darth Jar Jar theory, it all of a sudden becomes much more compelling. Jake Lloyd is a child, and lots of films have not-great actors in them without being this maligned, and you have to understand that the Emperor is a genius and is setting up a brilliant coup of the Republic. It's not that hard to understand, and as I said earlier, this film has some of the best action sequences in the franchise, so it's not missing that. I think this is a tremendous opening to the Prequel trilogy which sets up many of the franchise's most beloved characters expertly. Hate all you want, but it's better than The Force Awakens and you can't dissuade me.
8.Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
Box office ranking: 49th
Box office gross: $1,023,842,938
Oscar wins/nominations: 0 wins/3 nominations (Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score)
Thought: The Sorcerer's Stone is another early film that crossed the billion-dollar mark on the back of a rerelease. As I said in the opening, inflation has made it MUCH easier for films to hit this mark and so the first Harry Potter movie being anywhere within striking distance is a testament to the power that the books had leading into this film's release. The first Harry Potter film is really a perfect book-to-film adaptation. The casting is spot on, it sticks rather closely to the books, and watching the magic of Hogwarts unfold before your eyes is enchanting. While the three leads become a bit awkward in some of the later films, they are charming here. Richard Harris is an incredible Dumbledore in the first two films, we get the iconic "Not me. Not Hermione. You." line, and all of the iconic sets from Diagon Alley to the Great Hall to the Quidditch stadium premiere here. You're a wizard, Harry, and you're in the top ten.
7.Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Box office ranking: 2nd
Box office gross: $2,799,439,100
Oscar wins/nominations: 0 wins/1 nomination (Best Visual Effects)
Thought: Endgame is a ridiculously great film that really has no business being anywhere as good as it is. The fact that it's the 22nd film in a series, that it's tasked with tying together dozens of storylines, that it is the climax of a decade's worth of movies, and yet somehow (with one exception which we will get to shortly) is the best film of the entire season is nearly unfathomable. Part of the genius of the blip is that it allows Endgame to mostly focus on its core group of six Avengers, so the character development is strong despite the big cast. Plus, their Horcrux-esque plot which involves time traveling to collect the six Infinity Stones provides a fun framework that both creates a compelling, contained arc of the film, but also allows for a bit of nostalgia as we revisit the high points of the previous films. The battle sequence against Thanos gets me weepy every time I watch it (and that includes the Joe Biden version). To cap off such a massive series with such a fantastic film is a nearly impossible task (just look at all the other horrific series enders on this list). The degree of difficulty here is astronomical, and I don't think the MCU will ever reach this level of success again.
6.Toy Story 3 (2010)
Box office ranking: 38th
Box office gross: $1,067,316,101
Oscar wins/nominations: 2 wins/5 nominations (wins: Best Animated Feature, Best Original Song — "We Belong Together"; nominations: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sound Editing)
Thought: Prior to the release of Toy Story 4, Toy Story was also a franchise with a perfect ending. The third installment, which came out a decade after the first two films, is the perfect ode to growing up as Andy, the beloved owner of Buzz, Woody, Mr. Potato Head, and co., is heading off to college and trying to figure out what to do with his old toys. Their adventures, which involve a sinister daycare and a landfill incinerator, are weighted with emotion, and I defy someone to watch the last twenty minutes without bawling their eyes out. Every character is pitch-perfect, the script is genius, and if feels like an important and necessary sequel, something that cannot be said about Toy Story 4. So let's all just pretend like this is the end of a perfect trilogy.
5.The Lion King (1994)
Box office ranking: 40th
Box office gross: $1,063,611,805
Oscar wins/nominations: 2 wins/4 nominations (wins: Best Original Score, Best Original Song — "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"; nominations: Best Original Song – "Hakuna Matata", Best Original Song — "Circle of Life")
Thought: The original Lion King may or may not have crossed the billion-dollar mark depending on who you ask given its insane number of rereleases over the past thirty years and exactly what you count towards its box office haul. I, however, am choosing to include it as it is easily one of Disney's most successful titles. Between the Broadway show, several sequels, the live-action remake, and even some television spinoffs, the film is synonymous with the Disney brand. You'd be hard-pressed to find a person who couldn't sing "Hakuna Matata", Pride Rock is instantly identifiable, and the whole thing is secretly based on "Hamlet" which means it has Shakespearean energy. The live-action remake doesn't come anywhere close to the heart and soul this film has, and be prepared for it to climb up the box office leaderboard as it is rereleased until the end of time.
4.The Dark Knight (2008)
Box office ranking: 51st
Box office gross: $1,006,234,167
Oscar wins/nominations: 2 wins/8 nominations (wins: Best Supporting Actor — Heath Ledger, Best Sound Editing; nominations: Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup, Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects)
Thought: Some people would stick The Dark Knight at the very top of this list, and they wouldn't be wrong to do so. The film became an instant favorite for many as it reset the tone of superhero movies, pushing them into a darker, more gritty direction. The Dark Knight's Best Picture snub at the Oscars is also largely regarded as the impetus to expand the category to ten films. Christian Bale is the definitive Batman. Heath Ledger is the definitive Joker (and perhaps the best superhero villain of all time). Plus, the pool cue scene, the opening robbery, and "I can make this pencil disappear" are all tattooed into my mind. For me, the non-Joker aspects of the movie (including Maggie Gyllenhaal's Rachel) leave a bit to be desired, so I'm not bumping it into the top three, but the film is a masterpiece and out of respect for it, we should stop making films about the Joker.
3.Jurassic Park (1993)
Box office ranking: 31st
Box office gross: $1,109,802,321
Oscar wins/nominations: 3 wins/3 nominations (Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Sound, Best Visual Effects)
Thought: To date, the oldest film to cross the billion-dollar mark is Jurassic Park, and unless E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial or A New Hope can earn another $250 million dollars, it's likely to keep that title for quite some time. Steven Spielberg's dinosaur park-gone-wrong sci-fi adventure is so darn amazing, that it's managed to drag three objectively bad films into the BDC. From the epic John Williams score to the incredible practical effects to the brilliantly paced script, the film is a masterpiece from start to finish. Laura Dern, Sam Neill, and Jeff Goldblum are perfectly cast as the leads with the supporting cast turning out great work as well. The raptors in the kitchen are terrifying. The t-rex chase scene is one of the best action sequences in film history. This is a perfect film. Truly no notes. I'll be quoting, "when you gotta go, you gotta go" until the end of time.
2.Black Panther (2018)
Box office ranking: 15th
Box office gross: $1,349,926,083
Oscar wins/nominations: 3 wins/7 nominations (wins: Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, Best Production Design; nominations: Best Picture, Best Original Song — "All the Stars", Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing)
Thought: The best MCU film and the second best film on this list is the revolutionary Black Panther. While its sequel has yet to make a billion dollars due to it not being released in China, the original sailed past the billion dollar mark, becoming the first (and if you don't count the voice-only cast of The Lion King, only) film with a predominantly Black cast to earn this accolade. (Aladdin is the only other non-white film on the list). Black Panther was more than just an incredible film. It was a cultural moment unlike almost anything else. After years of hearing "a movie with an all-Black cast won't make money" from Hollywood executives, the MCU film definitively proved that was not the case. An all-star cast including Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Daniel Kaluuya, and Angela Bassett among others, deliver performances so good they have no business being in a Marvel film. Ryan Coogler's script and direction are unparalleled, and its slew of Oscar nominations and wins set it apart from other Marvel films. Boseman's untimely death robbed us of his ascendancy as the greatest Marvel superhero of all time, but the film lives on as the perfect testament to his legacy.
1.Titanic (1997)
Box office ranking: 3rd
Box office gross: $2,194,690,964
Oscar wins/nominations: 11 wins/14 nominations (wins: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Original Dramatic Score, Best Original Song — "My Heart Will Go On", Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Visual Effects; nominations: Best Actress — Kate Winslet, Best Supporting Actress — Gloria Stuart, Best Makeup)
Thought: Titanic is not only the best film on this list. It very well might be the best film of all time. In 1998, well before the heyday of the billion-dollar film, Titanic became the first film to ever cross the billion-dollar mark. It was number one at the box office for an astonishing 15 consecutive weeks and stayed in theaters for 10 months. During its subsequent rereleases, it crossed the $2 billion dollar marker, something that only six films (three of which were directed by James Cameron) have ever done. From the Celine Dion song to "I'm king of the world" to "Paint me like one of your French girls" to the car sex scene, the film is jam-packed with iconic moments. And not only is it a sweeping, epic historical romance, it's also an incredible action film as Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet (two of the greatest living actors) scramble to escape the sinking ship. It's one of the most well-paced, well-scripted films of all time, and I don't know if it is possible for a film in today's world to have such a chokehold on pop culture as this one did in 1997. Even my Christian summer camp was completely Titanic-themed in 1998. The film holds up to a rewatch (which you can do now in celebration of its 25th anniversary), and will forever be legendary.
