Earning one billion dollars at the global box office is cinema’s ultimate benchmark. It means hundreds of millions of people — across dozens of countries, languages, and cultures — paid to watch the same story. As of May 2026, only 60 films in history have crossed this threshold. Here’s a complete breakdown of every movie in the Billion Dollar Club, what the numbers reveal, and why some of these films defy all expectations.
The Numbers at a Glance
- 🎬 60 films have ever crossed $1 billion worldwide
- 💰 5 films have crossed $2 billion — Avatar, Avengers: Endgame, Avatar: The Way of Water, Ne Zha 2, and Titanic
- 🏆 James Cameron is the only director with three films in the all-time top 5
- 🌍 Most billion-dollar films earn the majority of revenue outside the US
- 🇨🇳 Ne Zha 2 (2025) sits at #4 all-time — with 99% of its $2.27B coming from China alone
The Top 3 Highest-Grossing Films of All Time
1. Avatar (2009) — $2,923,710,708
James Cameron’s visual masterpiece remains the undisputed #1 after 15+ years. Set on the alien moon Pandora, Avatar earned 73.1% of its gross internationally — $2.14 billion from outside the US alone. It has been re-released multiple times, each time drawing audiences back to the big screen.
2. Avengers: Endgame (2019) — $2,799,439,100
The conclusion to the Infinity Saga came within $124 million of dethroning Avatar — the closest any film has come to that crown. Endgame grossed $1.94 billion internationally, driven by emotionally charged finale scenes and unprecedented repeat viewings worldwide.
3. Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) — $2,334,484,620
Thirteen years after the original, Cameron returned to Pandora and delivered another $2B+ film — something no other filmmaker has ever done. 70.5% of its gross came from international markets.
All 60 Films in the Billion Dollar Club
Every film that has crossed $1 billion in worldwide theatrical gross, ranked by total earnings (Data: Box Office Mojo, May 9, 2026):
| # | Title | Year | Worldwide Gross | Domestic % | Foreign % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Avatar | 2009 | $2,923,710,708 | 26.9% | 73.1% |
| 2 | Avengers: Endgame | 2019 | $2,799,439,100 | 30.7% | 69.3% |
| 3 | Avatar: The Way of Water | 2022 | $2,334,484,620 | 29.5% | 70.5% |
| 4 | Ne Zha 2 | 2025 | $2,267,446,370 | 1% | 99% |
| 5 | Titanic | 1997 | $2,264,812,968 | 29.8% | 70.2% |
| 6 | Star Wars: The Force Awakens | 2015 | $2,071,310,218 | 45.2% | 54.8% |
| 7 | Avengers: Infinity War | 2018 | $2,052,415,039 | 33.1% | 66.9% |
| 8 | Spider-Man: No Way Home | 2021 | $1,921,426,073 | 42.4% | 57.6% |
| 9 | Zootopia 2 | 2025 | $1,866,647,950 | 22.9% | 77.1% |
| 10 | Inside Out 2 | 2024 | $1,698,863,816 | 38.4% | 61.6% |
| 11 | Jurassic World | 2015 | $1,671,537,444 | 39.1% | 60.9% |
| 12 | The Lion King (2019) | 2019 | $1,662,020,819 | 32.7% | 67.3% |
| 13 | The Avengers | 2012 | $1,520,538,536 | 41% | 59% |
| 14 | Furious 7 | 2015 | $1,515,342,457 | 23.3% | 76.7% |
| 15 | Top Gun: Maverick | 2022 | $1,503,997,086 | 47.8% | 52.2% |
| 16 | Avatar: Fire and Ash | 2025 | $1,485,999,890 | 27.2% | 72.8% |
| 17 | Frozen II | 2019 | $1,453,683,476 | 32.8% | 67.2% |
| 18 | Barbie | 2023 | $1,447,138,421 | 44% | 56% |
| 19 | Avengers: Age of Ultron | 2015 | $1,405,018,048 | 32.7% | 67.3% |
| 20 | The Super Mario Bros. Movie | 2023 | $1,360,783,214 | 42.2% | 57.8% |
| 21 | Black Panther | 2018 | $1,349,926,083 | 51.9% | 48.1% |
| 22 | Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 | 2011 | $1,342,942,050 | 28.4% | 71.6% |
| 23 | Deadpool & Wolverine | 2024 | $1,338,073,645 | 47.6% | 52.4% |
| 24 | Star Wars: The Last Jedi | 2017 | $1,334,407,706 | 46.5% | 53.5% |
| 25 | Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom | 2018 | $1,308,566,455 | 31.9% | 68.1% |
| 26 | Frozen | 2013 | $1,284,879,663 | 31.2% | 68.8% |
| 27 | Beauty and the Beast (2017) | 2017 | $1,266,115,964 | 39.8% | 60.2% |
| 28 | Incredibles 2 | 2018 | $1,243,225,667 | 49% | 51% |
| 29 | The Fate of the Furious | 2017 | $1,236,009,236 | 18.3% | 81.7% |
| 30 | Iron Man 3 | 2013 | $1,215,577,205 | 33.6% | 66.4% |
| 31 | Minions | 2015 | $1,159,457,503 | 29% | 71% |
| 32 | Captain America: Civil War | 2016 | $1,155,046,416 | 35.3% | 64.7% |
| 33 | Aquaman | 2018 | $1,152,028,393 | 29.1% | 70.9% |
| 34 | The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King | 2003 | $1,149,124,517 | 33.7% | 66.3% |
| 35 | Spider-Man: Far from Home | 2019 | $1,132,723,226 | 34.5% | 65.5% |
| 36 | Captain Marvel | 2019 | $1,131,416,446 | 37.7% | 62.3% |
| 37 | Transformers: Dark of the Moon | 2011 | $1,123,794,079 | 31.4% | 68.6% |
| 38 | Skyfall | 2012 | $1,108,594,137 | 27.4% | 72.6% |
| 39 | Transformers: Age of Extinction | 2014 | $1,105,261,713 | 22.2% | 77.8% |
| 40 | Jurassic Park | 1993 | $1,103,110,411 | 36.9% | 63.1% |
| 41 | The Dark Knight Rises | 2012 | $1,085,429,532 | 41.3% | 58.7% |
| 42 | Joker | 2019 | $1,078,958,629 | 31.1% | 68.9% |
| 43 | Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker | 2019 | $1,077,022,372 | 47.8% | 52.2% |
| 44 | Toy Story 4 | 2019 | $1,073,841,394 | 40.4% | 59.6% |
| 45 | Toy Story 3 | 2010 | $1,067,316,101 | 38.9% | 61.1% |
| 46 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest | 2006 | $1,066,179,747 | 39.7% | 60.3% |
| 47 | Moana 2 | 2024 | $1,059,242,164 | 43.5% | 56.5% |
| 48 | Rogue One: A Star Wars Story | 2016 | $1,058,684,742 | 50.4% | 49.6% |
| 49 | Aladdin (2019) | 2019 | $1,054,304,000 | 33.7% | 66.3% |
| 50 | Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides | 2011 | $1,046,721,266 | 23% | 77% |
| 51 | Star Wars: The Phantom Menace | 1999 | $1,046,515,409 | 46.6% | 53.4% |
| 52 | Lilo & Stitch (2025) | 2025 | $1,038,027,526 | 40.8% | 59.2% |
| 53 | Despicable Me 3 | 2017 | $1,034,800,131 | 25.6% | 74.4% |
| 54 | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone | 2001 | $1,029,374,615 | 31.1% | 68.9% |
| 55 | Finding Dory | 2016 | $1,029,266,989 | 47.2% | 52.8% |
| 56 | Zootopia | 2016 | $1,025,521,689 | 33.3% | 66.7% |
| 57 | Alice in Wonderland (2010) | 2010 | $1,025,468,216 | 32.6% | 67.4% |
| 58 | The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey | 2012 | $1,017,453,991 | 29.8% | 70.2% |
| 59 | The Dark Knight | 2008 | $1,008,477,382 | 53% | 47% |
| 60 | Jurassic World: Dominion | 2022 | $1,001,978,080 | 37.6% | 62.4% |
Marvel Dominates the Club
No franchise has placed more films in the billion-dollar club than the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With 12 films crossing $1 billion — from The Avengers (2012) to Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) — Marvel’s consistency is historically unmatched. The MCU essentially redefined what “blockbuster” means in the modern era, proving audiences will return repeatedly for interconnected storytelling at a massive scale.
James Cameron: Cinema’s Billion-Dollar King
James Cameron is the only director in history with three films in the all-time top 5:
- #1 Avatar (2009) — $2.92 billion
- #3 Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) — $2.33 billion
- #5 Titanic (1997) — $2.26 billion
He is also the only filmmaker to have directed two separate $2 billion films. His 2025 entry, Avatar: Fire and Ash, adds a third Avatar film to the club at $1.49 billion, cementing his franchise as cinema’s most commercially powerful ever.
The Rise of Chinese Cinema
One of the most striking developments in recent box office history is the emergence of Chinese-produced films at the very top of the global charts. Ne Zha 2 (2025) now sits at #4 all-time with $2.27 billion — and 99% of that revenue came from Chinese domestic audiences, with just $23 million earned in the US.
This isn’t an isolated case. Other China-produced titles in the top 200 worldwide all-time include:
- The Battle at Lake Changjin (2021) — $902M (100% foreign to US)
- Hi, Mom (2021) — $822M (100% foreign to US)
- Wolf Warrior 2 (2017) — $870M (99.7% foreign to US)
- Detective Chinatown 3 (2021) — $686M (100% foreign to US)
The global box office is no longer a Hollywood monopoly. China’s domestic market is now so large that a film can rank in the all-time top 5 without meaningful US distribution.
The Surprising Entries
Not every billion-dollar film is a superhero spectacle or animated family adventure:
- Joker (2019) — $1.08B: A dark, R-rated psychological character study with no action sequences. It became the highest-grossing R-rated film ever at the time.
- Top Gun: Maverick (2022) — $1.50B: A sequel to a 1986 film arriving 36 years later, which became one of the most crowd-pleasing blockbusters in decades — with 47.8% of its gross coming from the US alone, unusually high for a $1.5B film.
- Barbie (2023) — $1.45B: A live-action film based on a toy that managed to be simultaneously a satire, a cultural event, and a blockbuster.
- Oppenheimer (2023) — $975M: Just missed the $1B club, but a three-hour historical drama competing at this level is extraordinary by any measure.
Animation’s Quiet Power
Disney and Pixar have placed more than 15 animated films in the billion-dollar range. Recent standouts include:
- Zootopia 2 (2025) — $1.87B (77.1% international)
- Inside Out 2 (2024) — $1.70B
- Frozen II (2019) — $1.45B
- Moana 2 (2024) — $1.06B
The animated family formula is uniquely durable: repeat viewings, multigenerational appeal, and Disney’s global marketing reach make these films reliable billion-dollar performers decade after decade.
How Hard Is It to Cross $1 Billion?
- At an average global ticket price of ~$12, a $1B film needed roughly 83 million ticket purchases
- Avatar’s gross translates to approximately 240 million tickets sold — near the entire population of Pakistan
- In most years, fewer than 5 films cross $1 billion worldwide
- Titanic (1997) was the first film to cross $1 billion and stood largely alone for years
- The threshold became more regularly crossed from 2012 onwards, driven by Marvel’s franchise dominance
The billion-dollar club is a map of what humanity chooses to experience together. Superheroes, dinosaurs, animated worlds, galaxies far away — the films that make it share one quality that’s hard to define but impossible to miss: they make audiences feel something enormous.
Whether it’s the spectacle of Pandora, the catharsis of Endgame’s finale, the cultural moment of Barbie, or the shock of Joker — billion-dollar films tap into universal human emotion at a scale only cinema can achieve. The club will keep growing, and every new member tells us something new about what the world wants to see.
Source: All data from Box Office Mojo — Top Lifetime Worldwide Grosses. Data as of May 9, 2026, 12:08 PDT. Figures represent worldwide lifetime theatrical gross and are not adjusted for inflation.