Brie Larson in Captain Marvel Credit: Marvel
Barbie gave Hollywood a billion dollar baby. A tribute to Greta Gerwig and the deconstruction of a Mattel toy blew up the pink ceiling, becoming the first film directed by a woman to surpass $1 billion in ticket sales at the worldwide box office. And it happened in just 17 days – faster than James Cameron's Avatar and Disney's The Lion King.
As you can imagine, the billion dollar club is exclusive. But its membership is also more eclectic than we might think. George Lucas' original Star Wars didn't make the list, earning “only” $775 million.
So is Raiders of the Lost Ark, which costs a lot less than $389 million. Adjust for inflation and the story will obviously be different. However, the facts are that only 53 films have made $1 billion or more, and now Barbie is one of them.
Barbie is a quirky movie and is in good company in that regard. Not all billion dollar films are created equal. Some suffered from critical beatings, but still reformed. Some get there without any recognizable stars (except for Martin Freeman – he does not).
At least one of them was an underrated masterpiece that seemed to come and go without leaving a trace, and at the same time was a huge success. Here are a dozen films that have made a billion without anyone (except accountants) noticing.
1. Captain Marvel
Fans hated it, and Oscar winner Brie Larson looked awkward throughout the campaign. None of this stopped Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's contributions to the Marvel Universe from becoming the 23rd highest-grossing film of all time in 2019.
Part of this was due to clever marketing. The film was released on International Women's Day and really broke new ground by being the first Marvel feature to feature a female lead. Boden also made history as the second woman to direct a billion-dollar hit, although, as with Frozen's Jennifer Lee, she worked alongside a man. Overall, the goodwill was huge and helped Captain Marvel take off.
2. Zootopia
If we think of Zootopia today—and we don't—it's an outsider animation that has taken over the big animation franchises and captivated the hearts of viewers. All this is true. But the film is also a love letter from its director Byron Howard (Bolt) to the underrated 1970s Disney cartoon Robin Hood, which features talking animals.
Zootopia Credit & Copyright: Alami
Byron wanted to update the formula, and while Disney was ditching his original proposals for an animal version of The Three Musketeers, and a movie about a “mad cat doctor… who turned kids into animals” gave Zootopia the green light. More than a green light: Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, J.K. Simmons and Shakira star in this charming tale of a city populated by furry friends whose behavior is loosely controlled by their animal instincts. More is on the way.
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Tim from The Office: Billion Dollar Campaign Hero? It sounds absurd even if you know it's true. But that's exactly what Martin Freeman achieved in 2013, when the first installment of Peter Jackson's three-film adaptation of Tolkien's children's novel went supernova.
> Martin Freeman in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
An Unexpected Journey has had a difficult road to film. Guillermo del Toro was originally hired to direct, but Jackson stepped in at the last minute. Meanwhile, Warner Brothers called on the New Zealand government to ban unions from the film.
However, The Lord of the Rings fans were in a hurry on the opening weekend, and in the first four days it was almost a quarter of the way to that billion figure. If that's what's remembered today, it's the return of Andy Serkis as the enchantingly pathetic Gollum.
4. Alice in Wonderland
Incredibly, this is Tim Burton and Johnny Depp's biggest film ever. It is also widely acknowledged to be one of their worst and a long way from their breathtaking first collaboration, Edward Scissorhands.
So why was he such a success? One factor was that it came about during the post-Avatar 3D movie boom and that this trippy tale of talking caterpillars and Cheshire cats was a perfect fit for a 3D movie theater as a theme park attraction. This was also before Amber Heard, when everyone loved stupid Johnny Depp. And Mia Wasikowska was perfect for the role of the wide-open but resourceful Alice.
5, Aquaman
Johnny Depp's ex-girlfriend Amber Heard is another member with a billion dollar fortune. She played the underwater princess Mera in the OTT adaptation of James Wan's Aquaman. The underwater-breathing, fish-friendly character has been treated as a joke for years: In Entourage, the TV series revolves around plans for an Aquaman movie. But it went from a climax to a platinum hit when DC cast Jason Momoa as the slacker. Part of the reason for its success was its playful tone: Zack Snyder's DC films were about as rowdy as the Wagner triple bill, while the Marvel Universe was getting darker with its Thanos films. Among all those long faces, moviegoers smelled something fishy about Aquman and fell in love with him.
One of those who was surprised by Aquaman himself was Momoa. “I did amazing things that no one sees and no one cares about. You just don't get it.” he told Men's Health: “I don't do something and I don't think, 'Oh, I'm going to make $1 billion on this.' I go and do my job the best I can.”
6. Transformers: Dark of the Moon
The third installment of The Godfather of the Transformers series, The Dark Side of the Moon, was panned by critics who called it “incredibly stupid” and unfavorably compared star Rosie Huntington-Whiteley to her predecessor Megan Fox. Spectators flocked to it nonetheless, drawn by its eye-popping color palette and stunning set design, culminating in the battle in scorched Chicago.
It helped that the movie was a sly homage to Star Trek with Leonard Nimoy. (aka Spock) the voice of the villain Sentinel Prime. He also benefited from the post-Avatar 3D craze when director Michael Bay shot with dedicated 3D cameras. It is one of only two Transformers films to hit a billion rentals, followed by Mark Wahlberg's Transformers: Age of Extinction.
7. Aladdin
Live-action remakes of classic Disney cartoons are often condemned as unimaginative money. My God, they do business at the box office, however. Check out The Lion King by Jon Favreau. See also the 2019 remake of 1992's Aladdin, directed by A-list old guy Guy Ritchie and starring blue-skinned Will Smith as Genie. A post-Oscar slap, it's hard to imagine Smith as anything other than sinister, but just four years ago he was a box office darling and his charm propelled Aladdin into the billionaire league.
Mena Massoud and Will Smith in Aladdin. Credit: Disney 8 The Last Jedi
None of George Lucas' original Star Wars made a billion. But Rian Johnson's supremely stupid contribution to the 2017 saga effortlessly accomplished this Jedi mind trick. Reviewers praised his attempt to do something different with Star Wars, turning Luke Skywalker into a grumpy old man and breaking all the plot threads left by JJ Abrams in The Force Awakens. The return of Mark Hamill as Luke was a huge factor in his success – but he disapproved of Johnson's nihilistic approach to the character, and fans felt the same way – albeit only after they forked out to see the film.
9. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Colin Trevorrow hit a huge hit when Spielberg's classic tale of genetically engineered dinosaurs was relaunched in Jurassic World in 2015. But the novelty factor faded when Spanish director J.A. Bayona took over the reins of the noisy and incoherent Fallen Kingdom. But it still crossed a billion thanks to an impressive menagerie of dinosaurs, including more animatronic monsters than in any previous Jurassic Park movie (it feels like audiences prefer animatronic effects to CGI). Not bad for a movie shot extensively at the Langley Business Center in Slough.
10. Frozen 2
The billion-dollar Hollywood list is full of sequels and spin-offs, like the aforementioned The Last Jedi. However, the fact that Frozen 2 made it into the cut came as a surprise given how much the original overshadows it.
The first Frozen gave the world the indelible power ballad Let It Go. Frozen 2, on the other hand, seemed to come and go without anyone noticing. Its production was also more problematic—in early test screenings, the plot was difficult for children to grasp. Even the song Into The Unknown, which received a big Oscar nomination, wore out quickly and didn't last like Let It Go.
However, Frozen II benefited from a favorable moment. It was released in November 2019, during the initial release period of Wonder Woman 1984 and the Bond film No Time to Die. Both were delayed and then further delayed due to the pandemic, meaning Frozen 2 was a box office success for a whole month.
11. Minions
Adults are often baffled by the popularity of these tiny yellow henchmen featured in 2010's Despicable Me. But children cannot stop admiring them, and the first independent walk of the characters made a splash. The impressive cast is led by Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton and Steve Coogan. But the movie's appeal also comes down to the minions' farcical humor that adults and kids alike enjoy. It transcends language barriers, a feat traditionally inaccessible to Hollywood comedies.
12. Super Mario Bros.
Until April 2023, the history of popular video game adaptations was mixed. This was turned on its head by Super Mario Bros, which had its most successful animated film release yet. This was partly due to an innate love for Mario, Princess Peach, the villainous Bowser, etc. It was also aided by the viral success of Bowser, voiced by Jack Black, and his musical valentine to Peaches, later made into a music video. . It also benefited from a release in a relatively empty April window when competition was thin on the ground.
Are you surprised that the above films have grossed a billion at the box office? Join the conversation in the comments section below
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