The 30 highest-grossing films in cinema history

What are the highest-grossing films in cinema history? Despite the recent crisis in movie theaters, which have been hindered by the advent of streaming platforms, the film industry continues to generate excellent box office revenue in many cases.

Before looking in detail at the ranking of the highest-grossing films at the box office, a few clarifications are in order. The first, of course, concerns the methodology, as the figures reported have not been adjusted for current inflation.

This means that perhaps a film from the 1960s, seen at the theater by many more people than a more recent film, will inevitably not be included in this special ranking simply because it cost less at the time.

A film that has grossed a lot doesn’t necessarily mean it’s one of the best in the history of the big screen, but simply that it managed to draw a very high number of people to the theaters.

These figures only take into account theatrical box office receipts and not those from other types of film distribution.

The 30 highest-grossing films in cinema history

With the necessary background, let’s take a detailed look at the 30 highest-grossing films in cinema history.

• 1 Avatar - $2,923,710,708 (2009)
• 2 Avengers: Endgame - $2,799,439,100 (2019)
• 3 Avatar: The Way of Water - $2,320,250,281 (2022)
• 4 Titanic - $2,264,812,968 (1997)
• 5 Star Wars: Episode VII: $2,071,310,218 (2015)
• 6 Avengers: Infinity War - $2,052,415,039 (2018)
• 7 Spider-Man: No Way Home - $1,921,426,073 (2021)
• 8 Ne Zha II - $1,899,867,631 (2025)
• 9 Inside Out 2 - $1,698,863,816 (2024)
• 10 Jurassic World - $1,671,537,444 (2015)
• 11 The Lion King - $1,662,020,819 (2019)
• 12 The Avengers - $1,520,538,536 (2012)
• 13 Furious 7 - $1,515,342,457 (2015)
• 14 Top Gun: Maverick - $1,495,696,292 (2022)
• 15 Frozen II - $1,453,683,476 (2019)
• 16 Barbies - $1,447,038,421 (2023)
• 17 Avengers: Age of Ultron - $1,405,018,048 (2015)
• 18 The Super Mario Bros. Movie - $1,360,847,665 (2023)
• 19 Black Panther - $1,349,926,083 (2018)
• 20 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 - $1,342,505,340 (2011)
• 21 Deadpool & Wolverine - $1,338,073,645 (2024)
• 22 Star Wars: Episode VIII - $1,334,407,706 (2017)
• 23 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - $1,310,469,037 (2018)
• 24 Frozen - $1,286,319,131 (2013)
• 25 Beauty and the Beast - $1,266,115,964 (2017)
• 26 Incredibles 2 - $1,243,225,667 (2018)
• 27 The Fate of the Furious - $1,236,009,236 (2017)
• 28 Iron Man 3 - $1,215,577,205 (2013)
• 29 Minions - $1,159,457,503 (2015)
• 30 Captain America: Civil War - $1,155,046,416 (2016)

With nearly $3 billion in worldwide box office, the highest-grossing film of all time is Avatar, with The third installment of the saga, which is now due out in December, could shake up this ranking.

In a true Hollywood dominance, it’s worth noting the presence in eighth place of Ne Zha 2, a film distributed essentially only in China and which managed to gross over $1.8 billion in 2025, although there are some criticisms regarding this figure.

Original article published on Money.it Italy. Original title: I 30 film con i maggiori incassi nella storia del cinema