10 Highest-Grossing Movies of 2025, Ranked

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2025 was a mixed year for movies in theaters. Some popular franchises struggled, while others succeeded. While ticket sales are getting closer to pre-pandemic levels, the industry hasn’t fully recovered. As the year ends, it’s time to recognize the films that performed best financially.

Here’s a look at the year’s highest-grossing films, from expected blockbusters to surprising international successes. All figures come from the box office tracking website, The Numbers. While the rankings of some of these films still playing in theaters may change slightly in the coming weeks, the top ten should stay consistent.

Superman Symbolizes the Rebirth of DC

DC Studios recently started a fresh chapter with the release of James Gunn’s Superman, following a period of unsuccessful films. The movie reimagines the iconic character and launches a new DC Cinematic Universe with plans for stories over the next ten years. Superman received excellent reviews and earned $616 million worldwide. Although this was less than the $668 million grossed by 2013’s Man of Steel, it was still considered a major success for DC.

There was huge anticipation for the movie Superman to succeed, because a poor box office result could have ended the new DC Universe before it even got off the ground. Luckily, Warner Bros. and DC Studios were pleased with how the film performed, giving the DCU a strong launch. This means fans can now expect more films in the future, including Man of Tomorrow planned for 2027.

F1 Is the 2025’s Highest-Grossing Non-Franchise Film

Most of Hollywood’s biggest hits these days are part of established franchises. 2025 continues that trend, with sequels, remakes, and adaptations dominating the box office. However, the film F1 is an exception. Unlike other top-grossing movies of the year, it’s a completely original story. Produced by Apple Studios and Warner Bros., and starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris as Formula 1 drivers, F1 earned over $630 million worldwide during its time in theaters.

The strong box office performance of F1 demonstrates that Hollywood can still find success with completely new and original stories. Despite concerns that audiences only want sequels and blockbuster events, many people went to see this sports drama. This should encourage studio executives to take chances on films not based on existing properties—they might just discover the next big hit.

How to Train Your Dragon Is the Perfect Live-Action Reboot

The 2025 film How to Train Your Dragon retells the classic story of Hiccup, a young Viking who becomes friends with Toothless, a Night Fury dragon, even though Vikings and dragons are usually enemies. What makes this remake special is that it’s directed by Dean DeBlois, who also directed the original, ensuring it captures the same heartfelt moments. The film ultimately earned $636 million in theaters.

DreamWorks’ live-action version of How to Train Your Dragon showed that people are interested in seeing more of the studio’s popular animated movies reimagined. A live-action sequel is already planned for 2027, and if it does well, we might see DreamWorks create many more live-action remakes – hopefully staying true to the spirit of the original How to Train Your Dragon.

Avatar: Fire & Ash Is on Its Way Up

The newest installment in James Cameron’s famous Avatar series, Avatar: Fire & Ash, takes audiences back to the world of Pandora. The Sully family faces their biggest challenge yet, battling threats like Colonel Miles Quaritch and the Ash Tribe. They must rally their limited allies to begin the fight for their home. Fire & Ash opened on December 19th and has already grossed over $760 million in its first two weekends.

Avatar: Fire & Ash is performing very well and is expected to climb higher on the list of 2025’s top-grossing films before it leaves theaters. James Cameron’s movies, especially those in the Avatar series, consistently earn money for a long time while in cinemas. The film held up well during its second weekend and is likely to continue doing so in its third. This means the sequel has a good chance of surpassing $1 billion in the next few days, potentially making it one of the year’s three highest-earning films.

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Brings the Anime Back to the Big Screen

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle continues the popular Demon Slayer anime series, picking up right after the events of its fourth season. This film is the first of three planned Demon Slayer movies designed to expand on the show’s story. After receiving rave reviews, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle became a major box office success in 2025, earning nearly $780 million worldwide.

The strong performance of Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle highlights the growing popularity of anime in Western culture. As American movies and TV shows face more competition from international productions – especially from Japan – Demon Slayer‘s huge success in theaters worldwide suggests we’ll likely see even more anime films released in the future.

Jurassic World Rebirth Proved the Thirty-Year-Old Franchise Isn’t Dead Yet

In 2025, Jurassic World Rebirth was the fifth-highest-grossing movie, earning $869 million globally. This fourth installment in the Jurassic World series begins a new story, with a completely different cast and location than the previous films. The movie stars Scarlett Johansson as Zora Bennett, a hired gun whose team is tasked with collecting DNA from the world’s biggest dinosaurs.

The success of Jurassic World Rebirth shows that people are still interested in the Jurassic Park franchise, even thirty years after the original movie directed by Steven Spielberg. However, Rebirth is the first Jurassic World film not to earn $1 billion in theaters. This decrease in revenue suggests that while more Jurassic World movies are planned, the franchise’s popularity likely won’t continue indefinitely.

A Minecraft Movie Overcame Ridicule to Become a Box Office Hit

The movie Minecraft had a rocky start. After the first trailer was released, many people online criticized its low quality and unoriginal story. But the film quickly became a popular joke, and then, surprisingly, audiences started going to see it in large numbers, not even sure if they were enjoying it genuinely or ironically. In the end, Minecraft became the first movie of 2025 to earn over $1 billion worldwide.

The unexpected popularity of A Minecraft Movie likely means we’ll see more films in the series. It also fits a growing pattern in Hollywood: video game movies are becoming increasingly popular. The success of this first movie will be a key test to see if audiences genuinely want more Minecraft films, or if this one was just a special case.

Lilo & Stitch Saved Disney’s Live-Action Reboots

The 2025 live-action version of Lilo & Stitch was a huge summer hit. The film, which revisits the beloved story of a girl and an alien on the run, outperformed other blockbusters like Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. It ultimately earned over $1 billion worldwide, making it the first Hollywood movie of the year to reach that milestone.

Following the disappointing performance of the live-action Snow White film a few months prior, there was speculation that Disney would halt all future live-action remakes that hadn’t begun filming. However, the film’s unexpected success has led Disney to approve a sequel, which will likely be based on the story from Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch.

Zootopia 2 Is the Biggest Domestic Hit of the Year

The sequel to the popular 2016 animated film, Zootopia 2, has quickly become one of 2025’s biggest box office hits. Starring Jason Bateman and Ginnifer Goodwin as Nick Wilde and Officer Judy Hopps, the movie follows their new adventure to find a runaway viper, voiced by Ke Huy Quan. Zootopia 2 was an immediate success, earning $1.4 billion worldwide in its first month and solidifying its position as the year’s second-highest-grossing film.

Despite still being shown in cinemas, Zootopia 2 isn’t expected to climb to the top of the box office charts. However, the film has already been a huge success, becoming the highest-grossing American film of the year and the second-highest-grossing Disney animated film ever, after Frozen 2. With such a strong performance, it’s almost certain that we’ll see more Zootopia movies in the future.

Ne Zha 2 Is the Surprise Winner of the 2025 Movie Season

In a historic first, a film not produced in America earned the most money at the box office worldwide in a single year. The animated Chinese film Ne Zha 2 topped all other releases in 2025, earning an incredible $2.2 billion globally. While most of its earnings came from China, theaters in other countries also contributed to its record-breaking success.

With over $2 billion in box office revenue, Ne Zha 2 is a groundbreaking film – it’s only the seventh movie ever to reach this milestone, and the first animated one. It currently ranks as the fifth-highest-grossing film of all time, when not accounting for inflation. As China’s film market quickly grows and potentially surpasses the United States, the success of Ne Zha 2 may indicate a significant shift in the world of cinema.

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2025-12-30 07:10