In a sea of cinematic universes, it’s hard to spot movies that are one-and-done on the list of the highest grossing movies of all time. This is generally because if a movie is so successful that it makes hundreds of millions of dollars, it only makes sense for studios to develop a sequel.
However, whether it’s a biopic where it’s literally impossible to follow up, animated movies with extremely unique concepts, or disaster movies where the whole Earth gets obliterated, standalone billion dollar movies do in fact exist. All of these movies’ box office grosses are according to Box Office Mojo, and of these billion dollar standalone flicks, some may actually deserve a sequel, too.
10 2012 (2009) - $791 Million
Coming from the godfather of disaster movies, Roland Emmerich, 2012’s success is mostly based on the fact that the movie makes use of the 2012 phenomenon, a theory that stated that the world was going to come to an end in the titular year. The movie was an event more than anything, and that shows in its critic reviews and audience receptions. 2012 is widely considered as one of the worst disaster movies ever made, but it still managed to make almost $800 million, and it even hilariously got a surge in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
9 E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982) - $792 Million
Most of the highest-grossing standalone movies are fairly new, as almost all of them are from 2010 and onwards. This is because of inflation, and though a film from 40 years ago may have made much less than a movie from five years ago, the 40 year old movie could still have made more money. If E.T. was released today and made almost $800 million, it’d be one of the biggest successes ever, but as it was released almost 40 years ago, what that money is worth today is unbelievable. Adjusted for inflation, that same amount would be $2.15 billion today.
8 Coco (2017) - $807 Million
Coco was one of the most expensive Pixar movies to make, but it massively paid off, as outside of the Toy Story and Incredibles series, Coco is one of the highest-grossing Pixar films ever.
The movie was a perfect blend of music and Day of the Dead imagery, as well as being a beautiful story about a boy’s relationship with his family. The visuals are stunning too, arguably the best Pixar has ever made. The afterlife is absorbing and breathtaking, and audiences loved it.
7 Hi, Mom (2021) - $822 Million
Many people might not have seen or even heard of Hi, Mom, but the Chinese comedy is something of a phenomenon, as it was only released three months ago and has continued to find success through sheer word of mouth. It is now the second-highest non-English speaking movie of all time, just behind Wolf Warrior. Hi, Mom could still easily surpass it, as the foreign movie hasn’t even had a full global release yet.
6 Inception (2010) - $836 Million
Inception isn’t tied to any cinematic universe, it isn’t an animated movie, and it isn’t any kind of adaptation, but it’s an original story from the genius mind of Christopher Nolan. Because of this, Inception became the highest-grossing original movie of the 2010s, proving that general audiences don’t need to be talked down to and that clever, well-thought-out movies can actually be really successful. And it was so good that Batman fans didn’t mind waiting an extra couple of years for the next installment of the Dark Knight trilogy.
5 Inside Out (2015) - $858 Million
It’s amazing that a movie with such a dense concept like Inside Out can pull in such a huge figure like that, and it’s a testament to how influential Pixar is. The concept could have easily tripped over its own feet, being based entirely inside a child’s mind where her emotions are the main characters, but it was expertly told, highly entertaining, and an emotional rollercoaster. It had lessons not just for children, but for adults too, which made it the best Pixar movie of the 2010s according to Metacritic, and brought in boatloads of cash too.
4 Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) - $905 Million
Bohemian Rhapsody’s success was another huge surprise, as the music biopic was making the kind of numbers that Marvel and DC movies make, and the final intake of the Queen movie beat a good handful of those superhero movies.
Bohemian Rhapsody isn’t the most realistic biopic of all time, as it takes some liberties with the band’s history, but the heart and joyfulness of the film was irresistible to general audiences. The movie was a perfect storm, as it features a classy cameo from Mike Myers, and Rami Malek did an incredible job at depicting flamboyant frontman Freddie Mercury. And in the hands of a lesser actor, that could have totally ruined the movie.
3 Zootopia (2016) - $1.023 Billion
Given that Disney owns Marvel and Pixar, the bulk of the highest-grossing movies of all time belong to the conglomerate, but Zootopia is one of the most creative movies to come straight from Disney itself. Having grossed over a billion dollars and set in a world with so many fascinating characters, it’s strange that Disney hasn’t made a sequel yet.
The movie is being adapted into a Disney+ series instead, but the details of the series are still fairly unknown. Though a movie sequel would have been more than welcome, the episode format might suit the property better. As there’s such a huge cast of characters in the world, a series could give more time to the lovable recurring characters that don’t have much screen time in the movie.
2 Joker (2019) - $1.075 Billion
Even despite having ties to Batman, the success of Joker was a shock to pretty much everybody involved in the making of the Academy Award winning film. Compared to other movies of its kind, Joker had a minuscule budget, which made it a surprise when it became one of the highest-grossing movies ever made.
The movie definitely deserves a sequel, and given that the movie was left open-ended, leaving viewers to imagine Arthur Fleck’s rise to becoming the Clown Prince of Crime, it could be one of the most epic villain-led movies ever.
1 Titanic (1997) - $2.195 Billion
It might come as a shock, but Titanic does actually have a sequel, though it is unofficial and is essentially a sequel in name only. Titanic 2 is a b-movie style disaster movie set in the modern day, but besides that, Titanic is very much a standalone movie. Unlike other high-grossing movies that don’t have sequels, a Titanic sequel makes the least sense out of all of them, but it has undoubtedly crossed the mind of at least one studio head in the past, considering how the film has made well over $2 billion.
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