(Photo by Disney / Courtesy Everett Collection. MOANA 2.)
Here are the top 10 highest-grossing movies released in 2024 at the domestic box office, with theaters Moana 2 and Wicked in their 2nd and 3rd weekends, respectively, moving the duo up the ladder several spots. Movies in bold are playing in theaters.
1. Inside Out 2: $652.9 million
2. Deadpool & Wolverine: $636.7m
3. Despicable Me 4: $361.m
4. Wicked: $320.5m
5. Moana 2: $300.m
6. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: $294m
7. Dune: Part Two: $282.1m
8. Twisters: $267.7m
9. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire: $195.8m
10. Kung Fu Panda 4: $193.5m
November may have had Glicked weekend, but it was an outsider that really made a dynamic duo with Wicked: Disney’s sequel Moana 2. Both debuted in the top 10 at #7 and #8, respectively, knocking Bad Boys: Ride or Die and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes out.
In September, we finally got to wheeze the juice after a 36 year wait for the Beetlejuice sequel. It opened to $111 million and kicked off spooky season real early. October saw no new movies able to quickly jockey for a spot in the top 10, especially after Joker: Folie a Deux disastrous run.
August saw relatively little movement in the annual top 10, as movies like Inside Out 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, Despicable Me 4, and Twisters got further entrenched in their positions.
July continued to build off June’s summer sequels shine with enormous debuts. Despicable Me 4 was first with its $122 million stretch over the July 4th holiday break. Twisters touched down with $81 million and demonstrated long legs (also shoutout to Longlegs, which topped Parasite to become Neon’s highest-grossing film ever). But the inescapable story was Deadpool & Wolverine, which had a bug-eyed, both-hands-on-face debut to the tune of $211 million, the largest opening for an R-rated movie ever. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and IF get knocked out of the top 10.
Okay, it turned people really didn’t want to see Furiosa in theaters. With June, theaters got a much-needed emotional rescue when Inside Out 2 opened to $154 million weekend. And just before that, Bad Boys: Ride or Die gave a preview of tidings to come with its $56 million debut. And more hits to come: A Quiet Place: Day One had a franchise-best open with $52 million.
If we’ve been seeing cracks in box office performances of this strike-affected year, May is when a half-full Kool-Aid Man broke right through the crumbling wall. Calendar shifts led to The Fall Guy being the summer season opener, and while it eventually fell into the top 10, it’s $28 million opening weekend was a far cry from the days of peak MCU and Fast & Furious. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes fared better the week after, and IF found some footing in the family space, but then movies like Furiosa and Garfield are pulling in September-like numbers in what is normally the hottest time at theaters.
With April, the heated Civil War gave A24 its first #1 box office debut, opening to $25.5 million and holding on to the spot for its second weekend, fending off the likes of Abigail, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, and Spy x Family Code: White. Its ascension into the top 10 overall for the year knocks out Night Swim.
March saw sequels open to theater- revitalizing numbers. Dune: Part Two kicked off the month with $82.5m and will be the movie to beat until at least the summer season starts. Kung Fu Panda 4 had DreamWorks rolling in Po with a $58m opening, with a franchise 2nd-best opening. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire‘s opening ($45m) just about matched that of Afterlife‘s, before collapsing the following week. And Godzilla x Kong overperformed ($80m opening) to close out the past 31 days.
February saw a total gross of $361 million at the box office. That extra leap-year day sure did help. The studios positioned Madame Web and Bob Marley: One Love for Valentine’s Day programming, and while the former bombed (enough to even make an appearance on our worst superhero movies list), Marley overperformed to briefly become the new highest-grossing movie of the year over Mean Girls.
In January, movies overall grossed $495 million at the box office. Mean Girls was the top movie of the month, though it’s lagging behind the 2004 original‘s $86 million tally, unadjusted. The Beekeeper also showed tenacity, and is Jason Statham’s highest-grossing starring original since 2018’s The Meg.
Thanks to Box Office Mojo and The Numbers for reference. See below for an expanded guide to the top 10 box office-grossing 2024 movies.
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