As 2024 draws to a close, the movie industry can breathe a sigh of relief. This year saw a resurgence of theatres worldwide, as more films succeeded at the box office than in previous years. The overall box office tickets and footfalls saw an upswing in most major markets, and as many as seven films earned more than half a billion dollars worldwide. One of these went on to gross $1.7 billion worldwide, entering the top 10 highest-grossing films of all time, and it is not one of the usual suspects.
Highest grossing film of 2024
At the beginning of year, it was speculated that a film like Joker: Folie à Deux, The Gladiator 2, Dune Part Two, or Deadpool & Wolverine would be the top-grosser of the year. Each was a legacy sequel of a blockbuster and was heavily anticipated. Except Joker 2, each of these films did succeed. Deadpool & Wolverine even crossed a billion dollars, becoming the highest-grossing live-action film of the year. And yet, it was beaten by an animated feature from Pixar – Inside Out 2. Kelsey Mann’s directorial debut was a smash hit, raking $1.698 billion globally. It is not just the highest-grossing film of 2024 but also the highest-grossing animated film ever, breaking The Lion King’s record. The film boasts of a modest voice cast, featuring Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke, Kensington Tallman, Liza Lapira, Tony Hale, Ayo Edebiri, Lilimar, Grace Lu, Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green, Adèle Exarchopoulos, and Paul Walter Hauser.
The superheroes and intergalactic sagas that Inside Out 2 beat
Marvel-Sony produced their strongest films this year in Deadpool & Wolverine and Venom: The Last Dance. Deadpool 3 was a blockbuster, earning $1.338 billion worldwide, while Venom 3 settled for $475 million. In between were Chinese hit, YOLO ($480 million), monsterverse’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire ($571 million), The Wizard of Oz spinoff Wicked ($585 million), and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two ($714 million). Three other animated feature films also made the list – Kung Fu Panda 4 ($547 million), Moana 2 ($821 million and counting), and Despicable Me 4 ($969 million).
Incidentally, all the year’s top-ten highest-grossing films were sequels, remakes, or spinoffs of some older titles. It was truly a year of the franchises. The highest-grossing Indian film of the year – Pushpa 2: The Rule – did not make the top 10 or even the top 20. The Alu Arjun-starrer has grossed just over $200 million so far, meaning it sits at the 21st spot, just behind Joker: Folie à Deux ($206 million) and The Garfield Movie ($234 million).
