2025 has been a turbulent year for movies at the box office, with some major franchises faltering while others finally find their footing. This year marks the closest that theaters have come to seeing a return to post-COVID numbers, but there is still a long way to go. As the year comes to a close, some films deserve their flowers as the biggest financial winners of 2025.
From major blockbusters everyone knew would be billion-dollar hits to surprise international films that dominated the box office, these are the highest-grossing films of the year. All data in this list is compiled from the box office analysis website, The Numbers. Certain of the films below are still in theaters and may fluctuate in placement over the next several weeks, but the ten biggest films of the year should remain the same.
Superman Symbolizes the Rebirth of DC
After a string of box office flops, DC Studios kicked off a new era this summer with James Gunn’s Superman. The film reboots the character as part of the new DC Cinematic Universe, setting up a decade’s worth of stories in the process. After rave reviews, Superman went on to earn $616 million at the worldwide box office. While this was significantly lower than the last Superman-led film, 2013’s Man of Steel, it was enough for Superman to be considered a widespread success.
Before its release, there was a tremendous amount of pressure for Superman to perform well. A financial disappointment most likely would have killed the DCU before it had even fully begun. However, Warner Bros. and DC Studios were both happy with the film’s performance, thus giving the DCU the good start it needed. Now, audiences can look forward to more films on the horizon, including Supergirl next year and Man of Tomorrow in 2027.
F1 Is the 2025’s Highest-Grossing Non-Franchise Film
Unfortunately, most of Hollywood’s most successful movies belong to a major pre-sold franchise. 2025 is no different, with most of its highest-grossing films being sequels, remakes, or adaptations of beloved properties. F1, however, stands out as the only entry of 2025’s highest-grossing films that isn’t connected to any other Hollywood IP. The film is a partnership between Apple Studios and Warner Bros., starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris as Formula 1 racecar drivers. By the end of its theatrical run, F1 had earned over $630 million worldwide.
F1‘s financial success proves that there is still room for fresh, original ideas in Hollywood. While audiences are sometimes accused of sitting out non-franchise films in favor of the next big “event movie,” they turned out in droves for this sports drama. F1‘s success should be a signal to Hollywood executives to take more risks with non-IP-based films–they could just be the next big hit.
How to Train Your Dragon Is the Perfect Live-Action Reboot
Based on the beloved 2010 animated film, 2025’s How to Train Your Dragon tells the timeless tale of Hiccup, a young Viking boy who befriends Toothless, a Nightfury dragon, despite the animosity between their two clans. In an unprecedented movie, the live-action remake brings back original director Dean DeBlois, who guides the new film so that it hits all the right emotional moments of its predecessor. By the end of its theatrical run, the remake had earned $636 million.
As DreamWorks’ first live-action remake, How to Train Your Dragon proved that there is an audience for more retellings of the studio’s iconic animated projects. How to Train Your Dragon 2 is already in the works, with a release date in 2027. If this also proves successful, audiences could see many more live-action remakes from DreamWorks, which will all hopefully be as faithful to the originals as How to Train Your Dragon was.
Avatar: Fire & Ash Is on Its Way Up
The latest entry in James Cameron’s iconic sci-fi saga, Avatar: Fire & Ash returns to Pandora as the Sully family embarks on its most dangerous mission yet. Now faced with multiple threats, including Colonel Miles Quaritch and the Ash Tribe, the Sulleys gather what few allies they have to finally kickstart the war for their beloved homeworld. Fire & Ash premiered on December 19 and has already earned over $760 million from its first two weekends.
Avatar: Fire & Ash is off to a terrific start and will most likely rise several places in the list of 2025’s highest-grossing films by the time it exits theaters. James Cameron’s films (particularly the Avatar franchise) traditionally have great legs at the box office, continuing to earn money well into their theatrical runs. Although Fire & Ash opened below The Way of Water, the film held strong in its second weekend and likely will in its third as well. As such, there is a strong chance that the sequel will almost definitely cross the $1 billion mark in the next few days, which would put it in contention for the top three biggest earners of the year.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Brings the Anime Back to the Big Screen
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle is the continuation of the beloved Demon Slayer anime, serving as a direct sequel to the show’s fourth season. Infinity Castle is the first in a planned trilogy of Demon Slayer films to follow up on the story of the series. After debuting to universal acclaim, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle went on to become one of 2025’s biggest surprise hits, with a worldwide haul of just under $780 million.
The success of Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle comes as anime continues to work its way to the forefront of Western culture. American television and movies are becoming increasingly overshadowed by productions from international markets, including Japan. Demon Slayer‘s massive box office haul both domestically and abroad suggests that audiences may be seeing many more anime productions on the big screen in the years to come.
Jurassic World Rebirth Proved the Thirty-Year-Old Franchise Isn’t Dead Yet
The fifth-highest-grossing film of 2025 is Jurassic World Rebirth. The fourth entry in the revamped Jurassic World franchise looks to kickstart a fresh chapter, leaving behind the story of the previous three films for an entirely new cast and setting. The film stars Scarlett Johansson as Zora Bennett, a mercenary whose team is recruited to harvest DNA samples from the largest dinosaurs on Earth. By the end of its theatrical run, Jurassic World Rebirth had accrued $869 million worldwide.
Jurassic World Rebirth‘s success goes to prove that there is still some interest in the prehistoric franchise over thirty years after its inception with Steven Spielberg’s iconic 1993 movie. However, it isn’t all good news for Universal Pictures. Rebirth is the first of the Jurassic World films not to cross the $1 billion benchmark at the box office. This trend of diminishing returns suggests that, while there may still be a few films left in the pipeline, the allure of Jurassic World won’t last forever.
A Minecraft Movie Overcame Ridicule to Become a Box Office Hit
A Minecraft Movie could have easily been a massive bomb following the film’s first trailer. An adaptation of the beloved open-world video game Minecraft, the film’s early trailers were ridiculed online for seemingly low production value and uninspired storytelling. However, A Minecraft Movie quickly went through the meme life cycle until audiences were so engrossed that they ended up seeing the film en masse, unsure of whether they were doing so ironically or not. Ultimately, the film became the first of 2025 to cross the $1 billion benchmark.
A Minecraft Movie‘s surprise success most likely signals the beginning of a new franchise. It also continues a new trend in Hollywood, as video game adaptations begin to take over as the next big thing. A sequel is already in development, which will prove to be the test as to whether audiences are really hungry for more Minecraft movies or if the first one was simply too unique to replicate.
Lilo & Stitch Saved Disney’s Live-Action Reboots
Lilo & Stitch is the live-action remake of the 2002 film of the same name. Retelling the story of the iconic friendship between a young girl and an alien lifeform on the run from an intergalactic empire, the 2025 remake dominated the summer box office, beating out other major films like Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning. By the end of its theatrical run, Lilo & Stitch managed to eek over the $1 billion benchmark, becoming the first Hollywood film of 2025 to do so.
After the devastating bomb that was Disney’s Snow White several months earlier, rumors had it that Disney would cancel all of its planned live-action remakes that weren’t already in production. Lilo & Stitch seems to have changed this trajectory (for better or for worse). The film’s massive success led Disney to greenlight a sequel, which is expected to adapt the events of Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch.
Zootopia 2 Is the Biggest Domestic Hit of the Year
One of the fastest additions to 2025’s top-earning charts is Zootopia 2. A sequel to the 2016 film, Zootopia 2 reunites audiences with Jason Bateman’s Nick Wilde and Ginnifer Goodwin’s Officer Judy Hopps, as they embark on an adventure to track down a viper (voiced by Ke Huy Quan) on the run. Zootopia 2 was an instant success, managing to earn $1.4 billion at the worldwide box office in just one month, which is enough to secure its place as the second-highest-grossing film of the year.
Zootopia 2 is still playing in theaters, suggesting that its current box office total will be higher by the time it ends its theatrical run. However, given the large gap between the film and the #1 slot, there is no chance that it will overtake its competition. Still, Zootopia 2‘s worldwide haul is an incredible achievement, making it the biggest American-released film of the year and the second-highest-grossing film from Walt Disney Animation Studios, behind only Frozen 2. After the sequel’s unmitigated success, the Zootopia franchise will certainly return for more installments.
Ne Zha 2 Is the Surprise Winner of the 2025 Movie Season
For the first time in history, a non-American film is the highest-grossing release of the year. Ne Zha 2 is an animated Chinese film that completely overtook the box office in 2025 to become the highest-earning theatrical release of the year. The film earned a staggering $2.2 billion worldwide. Although much of its gross came from the Chinese market, domestic cinemas also boosted the worldwide total to make history.
Ne Zha 2 is only the seventh film and the first animated film ever to cross the $2 billion benchmark. It also has the distinction of being the fifth-highest-grossing movie of all time (not adjusting for inflation). As China rapidly threatens to overtake the United States as the world’s biggest movie market, the success of Ne Zha 2 could signal the beginning of a new era for cinema.