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- Barbie led at the box office in 2023, earning $1.4-billion
- It is in the top-20 highest-earners since 1977
- 40% of the top-100 earners are in the action sci-fi genre
Barbie, The Super Mario Brothers Movie and Oppenheimer were the top-performing films at the box office in 2023. Barbie and Super Mario both earned more than $1-billion, putting them in the top-20 highest-earning movies released since 1977.
Barbie has a way to go on her tippy-toes to reach the top earners, Avatar (2009) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), which have earned close to $3-billion each.
There’s a clear pattern in the top 100: 40% are in the action sci-fi genre. Five Avengers films are in the top 20. Star Wars has 2 in the top 20.
Animated movies are also box office favourites – there are 23 in the top 100 – as are adventure fantasies like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Carribbean – there are 22 in the top 100.
Newer films are more likely to earn more revenue for obvious reasons, which makes Titanic, a romantic drama released in 1997, a real outlier at number 4.
— 26 December, 2023Subscribe to the weekly newsletter for more charts like this
