Top 10 Highest-Grossing Movies of 2024: Animated Films Are on the Rise
If one of the key trends in the 2023 film industry was the complete exclusion of Chinese films from the top 10, in 2024, a film from China managed to break through to the 9th spot. Overall, the Top 25 includes as many as five films from the Middle Kingdom. However, the biggest surprise of this year's ranking is the overwhelming presence of animated films at the very top. It seems that audiences have grown somewhat weary of action movies and superhero franchises and are looking for a temporary return to childhood.
As in the previous year, Box Office Mojo does not include films from China, India, and other countries that were not released in U.S. theaters. Therefore, for Asian films, we rely on statistics from The Numbers.
1. Inside Out 2
Country: USA
Box Office: $1,698,772,985
The sequel to the 2015 animated masterpiece not only nearly doubled the box office performance of the first film but also became the highest-grossing animated film in Pixar and Disney history. Moreover, Inside Out 2 soared to the 8th spot on the list of the highest-grossing films of all time (without inflation adjustment) and claimed the top position among animated films, surpassing The Lion King (2019) (considered animation despite being more of a CGI film) and Frozen II (2019).
Given that Pixar's animation production costs have remained relatively stable at around $175-200 million in recent years, Disney has made a solid profit on childhood emotions. However, as noted in our review, Inside Out 2 is far from just a children's film. And the next installment—when, not if, it happens—will likely delve into adult life and its emotional rollercoaster.
2. Deadpool & Wolverine
Country The USA
Box office $1 338 073 645
One of the key trends of 2023, which we noted in a similar article last year, was the failure of films from the fifth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We analyzed the reasons behind Marvel's decline in a separate piece, cautiously hoping that Deadpool & Wolverine would put the franchise back on track. And that’s exactly what happened.
It’s both ironic and symbolic that a misfit hero, in whom no one believed—and who frequently reminds the audience of this throughout the film—ends up saving the entire Marvel multiverse, which had lost its way. Deadpool & Wolverine is essentially a two-hour-and-eight-minute stand-up comedy and fan service extravaganza, but it works! In fact, it arguably handles the multiverse concept better than any other superhero film—except for Sony’s animated Spider-Man series.
While Deadpool & Wolverine is still far from Avengers territory, it currently stands as the sixth highest-grossing MCU film and ranks 20th in the overall box office charts. It is undoubtedly the best film of MCU’s Phase Five. As of now, the score for Phase Five is 2:2—Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels flopped, while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Deadpool & Wolverine performed well.
This year, the MCU is set to release three more films—two concluding Phase Five and the first installment of Phase Six: Captain America: Brave New World – February 14, 2025, Thunderbolts (yes, the asterisk is part of the title) – May 2, 2025, The Fantastic Four: First Steps – July 25, 2025. In fact, the MCU’s release schedule is already planned out through 2027.
3. Despicable Me 4
Country The USA
Box office $969 126 452
Despicable Me 4 is already the sixth film in the Despicable Me media franchise, which has amassed a total box office revenue of $5.6 billion, making it the highest-grossing animated franchise—significantly surpassing Shrek / Puss in Boots and Toy Story.
Although the fourth installment of Gru’s adventures, now with his ever-growing family, earned less than the previous films (except for the very first Despicable Me in 2010), nearly $1 billion is still nearly $1 billion. Especially considering that Illumination typically spends half as much on production as Pixar. That was the case this time as well—the budget for this film was just $100 million.
4. Moana 2
Country The USA
Box office $905 757 963
Another Disney animated film in the top rankings, and once again, nearly $1 billion at the box office—which, with a $150 million budget, is quite impressive. As a reminder, the Ukrainian titles Vaiana instead of Moana are partly due to trademark conflicts in Europe and partly to avoid unwanted associations with Italian adult film actress and politician Moana Pozzi (1961–1994).
Interestingly, a live-action adaptation of Moana is set for release in 2026. Notably, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson will once again play the demigod Maui, making it a rare instance where the same actor voices an animated character and portrays them in a live-action film.
5. Dune: Part Two
Country The USA
Box office $714 444 358
Dune: Part Two is the film that the authors and editors of Mezha mentioned most frequently in their article On the Edge of the New Year: What We Watched in 2024. Denis Villeneuve's latest visual masterpiece impressed both critics and audiences even more than the first installment in 2021, earning nearly twice as much at the box office. However, it’s important to remember that 2021 was still a recovery year after COVID-19, meaning theatrical restrictions were not yet fully lifted worldwide.
We all desperately want someone to finally push beyond Frank Herbert’s first Dune novel, so the strong box office performance of Dune: Part Two is a great sign. With a production budget of $190 million plus marketing costs, the film turned a solid profit—meaning the third installment, based on Dune Messiah, is officially happening! Work on the project has already begun.
While Denis Villeneuve is busy with the next chapter, fans can dive into the Dune universe with the upcoming TV series Dune: Prophecy and revisit the many (including new) video games set in the world of Dune.
6. Wicked
Country The USA
Box office $648 467 515
Wicked is a fantasy musical based on the 2003 Broadway production of the same name, which, in turn, is adapted from Gregory Maguire’s novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995). This book offers a darker, more mature reimagining of L. Frank Baum’s classic children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) and its iconic 1939 Hollywood adaptation.
With a box office gross of nearly $650 million against a $150 million budget, the film performed remarkably well. Its success was driven by the casting of singers Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in the lead roles, alongside established stars such as Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, and Peter Dinklage. Goldblum portrays the Wizard of Oz.
The novel Wicked is the first in The Wicked Years series, which has now expanded to eight books (with sequels emerging after the success of the Broadway musical). Given this rich source material, Universal Pictures has the potential to launch a new franchise.
7. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Country The USA
Box office $571 750 016
While we all know that the best Godzilla film of 2024 is Godzilla Minus One (Gojira Mainasu Wan), the Hollywood version proved to be more successful financially.
Godzilla x Kong marks the 38th installment in the Godzilla franchise, which began in 1954, and the 16th film in the King Kong franchise, which is even older, dating back to 1933. It is also the fifth entry in the Monsterverse, the cinematic universe that Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. have been building since 2014. The franchise now even includes TV series—just like the MCU.
With a production budget of $135–150 million, Godzilla x Kong grossed over $570 million, ensuring that the Monsterverse will continue to expand. The next film in the series is already scheduled for release in 2027.
8. Kung Fu Panda 4
Country The USA
Box office $547 689 492
The Kung Fu Panda franchise may not be breaking any records, but all the films in the series have been profitable, and the fourth installment had a modest production budget of just $85 million. Interestingly, the earnings from the film in China were not particularly high, reaching only $51 million, while its global box office haul reached nearly $550 million.
Despite Kung Fu Panda 4 receiving the lowest ratings in the series from both critics and audiences, a fifth film will likely follow. Quietly, the Kung Fu Panda franchise has already surpassed Madagascar (4 films), Cars (5 films), and many other franchises in terms of total earnings.
9. YOLO / 热辣滚烫
Country PRC
Box office $479 597 304
A Chinese comedic adaptation of the Japanese sports drama 100 Yen Love / 百円の恋 (2014) is quite an unexpected twist!
The film had a relatively substantial budget for a comedy, set at $100 million, but it earned around $479 million at the box office. It was also released internationally, though it only made $7 million outside of China ($2 million in the U.S.).
10. Venom: The Last Dance
Country The USA
Box Office $476 857 448
Following Marvel's example, Sony is building its own Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU), but the results so far have been mixed. For every profitable Venom, there’s a financial disaster like Morbius (2022), Madame Web (2024), or Kraven the Hunter (2024), with the latter barely managing to recoup half of its budget.
However, Venom, the film that kicked off the whole SSU, has generally performed well. Despite Venom: The Last Dance being the lowest-rated film in the series (Metascore 41/100, IMDb – 6/10), it still made its money back. Nearly $500 million on a budget of $110–120 million is solid. While Venom’s storyline seems to have come to a close, Tom Hardy is open to returning to the character—if, of course, the Sony Spider-Man Universe survives Kraven the Hunter.
Here are the films that didn't quite make it into the top 10 of 2024:
- Successor (China) – $469,612,890
- Pegasus 2 (China) – $466,930,272
- Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (USA) – $449,688,728
- Gladiator II (USA) – $437,642,519
- Bad Boys: Ride or Die (USA) – $400,526,237
- Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (USA) – $397,369,969
- Twisters (USA) – $369,748,265
- Mufasa: The Lion King (USA) – $365,000,080
- Alien: Romulus (USA) – $350,865,342
- It Ends With Us (USA) – $349,722,357
- Article 20 (China) – $337,554,287
- The Wild Robot (USA) – $323,638,128
- Boonie Bears: Time Twist (China) – $275,815,986
- A Quiet Place: Day One (USA) – $260,945,840
- The Garfield Movie (USA) – $254,831,947
Ukraine
As for Ukrainian films, this year did not feature any releases on the level of Mavka. The Forest Song or Dovbush, so there were no record-breaking earnings. The highest-grossing Ukrainian film of 2024 was I, "Pobeda," and Berlin, based on a story by Kuzma Skryabin, which earned $1,465,147, or nearly 60 million UAH, slightly surpassing its production budget of $1.3 million. In comparison to Mavka's $18 million earnings, this is modest—Mavka alone grossed over $4 million in Ukraine in 2023.