Doing big numbers at the box office isn’t always a sign of how well-loved a film is, but it is a huge indicator of general success. 2022 was a year when the box office began to truly bounce back post-COVID, and multiple films managed to cross the coveted one billion mark at the worldwide box office.
Using the stats from Box Office Mojo, the films that have managed to earn the most at the box office across the world have been collated below. From the biggest blockbusters and the MCU to some films that never even appeared in American cinemas, the box office has been changing drastically in 2022.
10 Moon Man ($460,237,662)
It is surprising to many to see Chinese-made films, and indeed a Chinese-language film finds itself in the top ten highest-grossing films of the year. However, despite never finding a release in US cinemas, Moon Man managed to gross easily over $400 million as the Chinese box office powerhouse continues to become more of a figure on the world stage.
Moon Man is about a man who thinks himself the last person left alive in the universe after an asteroid wipes out most of the Earth. Trapped, alone, on the moon, he tries to make it home with his red kangaroo companion as the people of Earth left in bunkers try to use his survival to bring new hope to the world.
9 Water Gate Bridge ($626,571,697)
While it received less than favorable reviews among many, Water Gate Bridge or The Battle At Lake Changjin II is another Chinese film that comes in as the ninth highest-grossing of 2022. This war film tells a fictionalized version of the story behind the fighting at Funchilin Pass during the Korean War.
The film is a Chinese Communist Party-commissioned sequel to The Battle At Lake Changjin and was released on Chinese New Year. It grossed over $600 million in China and was a roaring success despite it being heavily described by many foreign critics as propaganda.
8 Thor: Love And Thunder ($760,928,081)
The lowest-earning of the three MCU releases this year, Thor: Love And Thunder still crossed three-quarters of a billion at the worldwide box office. Critically, the story of Thor reigniting his old relationship with Jane Foster and fighting Gorr the God Butcher has been received in a much more mixed way than Thor: Ragnarök, its direct predecessor.
Despite a new Thor, an intriguing villain in Christian Bale’s Gorr, and other MCU additions like Russell Crowe as Zeus, the film was a brightly colored but inconsistent blockbuster that landed a little flat among even some long-time MCU fans.
7 The Batman ($770,836,163)
Despite many claiming that the golden age of the superhero genre is coming to an end, even films like Matt Reeves reboot of the Batman character have managed to gross huge numbers. Robert Pattinson stars as another dark take on the character, as Bruce Wayne engages in an investigation around the crimes of the Riddler.
The Batman is a bold new style of superhero film, which can almost be considered an epic in length. The characters introduced and the cinematography has helped it to become one of the best-reviewed superhero films in years, even drawing comparisons to The Dark Knight.
6 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ($820,145,653)
Ryan Coogler’s ideal Black Panther sequel included Chadwick Boseman as the titular character, but after his unfortunate passing, the film had to be changed, and the focus shifted to the characters left behind after the passing of the King.
With Shuri coming into her own as a hero, the stunning cinematography of the underwater kingdom of Talokan and the genuinely anti-heroic actions of Namor, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever makes for a great addition to the MCU and was much more well-reviewed by fans and critics alike than much of the fourth phase of that cinematic universe.
5 Minions: The Rise Of Gru ($939,628,210)
Despite not being the best-reviewed animated movie of the year, the name brand of Despicable Me carried huge weight at the box office as the adventures of young Gru and his minions managed to gross close to a billion at the worldwide box office.
A classic origin story as Gru first worships and then overtakes his idol, the villainous Wild Knuckles. Gru dreams of using his new workers, the minions, to try and become a member of the evildoer group The Vicious Six, but ends up at odds with them instead in the highest-grossing animated movie of 2022.
4 Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness ($955,775,804)
The Doctor Strange sequel followed up on the consequences of Spider-Man: No Way Home, and for that reason, the return of Sam Raimi to superhero films and the intriguing mystery surrounding more major cameos like those of Patrick Stewart and John Krasinski, Multiverse of Madness managed to become the highest-grossing MCU film of the year.
Doctor Strange goes head-to-head with Wanda Maximoff as she becomes the Scarlet Witch and tries to capture a powered child that she can use to traverse universes and find one where the children she created for herself are alive. The film is heavy for the MCU, a Raimi film through and through, and nearly made a billion worldwide.
3 Jurassic World: Dominion ($1,001,978,080)
Despite being another blockbuster that was hit with very mixed reviews from critics, Jurassic World: Dominion brought together the old and the new with Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum returning to the franchise alongside Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard.
As an evil corporation tries to take control of the world’s food supply using locusts, Owen Grady and Claire Dearing go on a rescue mission to save their adopted daughter, Maisie Lockwood. The film was criticized for the screenplay and the plot, which was said by many to be too ridiculous for belief, even in a franchise filled with modern-day dinosaurs.
2 Avatar: The Way Of Water ($1,401,317,914)
Despite only being released two weeks before the end of the year, Avatar: The Way of Water managed quickly to rise through the ranks and become the second-highest-grossing film of 2022. The long-awaited sequel used stunning cinematography and new technology to tell another story on Pandora.
Jake Sully and his family take part in a renewed battle with the humans, who return to Pandora because the Earth is dying. While the sequel was praised for the visuals, the plot and length were considered downsides by many critics.
1 Top Gun: Maverick ($1,488,732,821)
Another long-awaited sequel,Top Gun: Maverick combined a long post-production and several delays along with the returning Tom Cruise as Pete Maverick in order to create a legendary blockbuster that is generating awards season buzz as one of the best films of the year, all while managing to also become the highest-grossing worldwide film of 2022.
Maverick returns to the Top Gun Academy as an instructor to help expert pilots become even better as they prepare for a near-impossible mission. The film is action-packed, poignant, and the complete package as both a film and a spectacle.