10 Worst Movies That Grossed $1 Billion, Ranked

For many audiences, there is no barrier to success greater than that of box office earnings, with some of the most widely beloved and acclaimed movies of all time making obscene amounts of profits and success while in the theatrical venue. Especially with inflation that has spanned decades, it has become that much more common for the biggest blockbusters of the year to break into the exclusive billion-dollar club, grossing more than a billion dollars at the worldwide box office. While one would assume that any film that manages to earn $1 billion at the box office would reflect a similar high quality, this unfortunately is far from the truth.

A modern film’s ability to garner interest and hype does not always equate to said perceived high quality reflected in the final product, yet some franchises and movies, even despite their low quality, still find a niche and work their magic for wider audiences. Financial success is far from the only methodology for considering a film’s quality, as a select few films have proven that they can achieve widespread success despite seemingly being hated by critics and audiences alike. While the studios themselves may only worry about profit at the end of the day, the legacy of these films is severely lowered by a lack of quality, no matter how much money they earn.

10 ‘Alice in Wonderland’ (2010)

Worldwide Box Office: $1.025 Billion

While Tim Burton‘s gothic remake of the Disney animated classic, Alice in Wonderland, was widely beloved and revolutionary upon release, time has not been kind to the first of Disney’s modern-day live-action remakes. Instead of other remakes that directly adapt the story of the original film, Alice in Wonderland acts as a pseudo-sequel to the original animated film, seeing a much older young adult Alice returning to a war-torn Wonderland that isn’t nearly as wonderful as her childhood imagination made it out to be. However, she will have to tap into said childhood imagination if she wants to stand a chance against the vicious Red Queen and save the kingdom from her tyranny.

The combination of Burton’s signature style and the whimsy of one of Disney’s most beloved animated classics seems as though it would be a match made in heaven, and while it was certainly enough for worldwide audiences, it simply falls short of Burton’s exemplary legacy up until that point. However, despite its many flaws, the film ended up earning $1.025 billion at the worldwide box office, ushering in a massive wave of live-action Disney remakes that still haven’t stopped 15 years later.

9 ‘Beauty and the Beast’ (2017)

Worldwide Box Office: $1.268 Billion

A Disney live-action remake that more closely parallels the original film, Beauty and the Beast sought to transform one of the most critically acclaimed and beloved films of Disney’s Renaissance era into live-action. From a structural and primary story standpoint, the film doesn’t stray far away from the original, following the story of headstrong Belle who finds herself imprisoned by the powerful and mysterious Beast in exchange for her father’s freedom. However, as she spends more time with Beast and the living objects that occupy his castle, she starts to grow a soft spot for his inner beauty and begins to fall in love with him.

This live-action remake simply doesn’t have the inherent magic or charm of the original; instead, it is plagued by a corporate tone and watering down the theming and messaging of the original. It certainly doesn’t help matters that the more realistic designs for cartoonish characters like Lumiere and Cogsworth actively take away from the realism that this film is attempting to create, being too ridiculous and comical to take seriously.

8 ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ (2011)

Worldwide Box Office: $1.045 Billion

While each film in the original Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy was widely beloved and memorable in its own right, the fourth film in the franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, saw a major downward shift in quality. The film sees Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) crossing paths with Angelica (Penélope Cruz), a woman from his past who enlists his help to find the legendary fountain of youth. Their quest has them boarding the ship of the legendary Blackbeard (Ian McShane) as they embark on a chaotic journey where each party is constantly at each other’s throats.

Whether it be the fact that Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End was an already great finale to the franchise, series director Gore Verbinski not returning for the film, or an overall lack of enthusiasm, On Stranger Tides doesn’t come close to the magic and excitement of the original. It’s very clear throughout the film that the series was always meant to end with At World’s End, with On Stranger Tides just aimlessly attempting to find any reason to even exist during its runtime. It continued the sad truth of the series getting worse with each entry, yet the fact that this is the highest-grossing film in the franchise worldwide is a testament that a high box-office number isn’t everything.

7 ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’ (2011)

Worldwide Box Office: $1.123 Billion

The third film in Michael Bay‘s live-action Transformers franchise, Transformers: Dark of the Moon is the quintessential example of a loud, obnoxious, yet crowd-pleasing blockbuster tailor-made to appeal to wider audiences instead of critics. The film sees the Autobots continuing their partnership and collaboration with the U.S. government following the previous entries, yet said partnership is put into question following their discovery of a strange artifact on a mission in Chernobyl. As Optimus Prime learns the true nature of the government’s relationship and thoughts towards the Autobots, everything that they have worked for is brought into question.

From a critical, objective standpoint, it’s easy to look at Dark of the Moon and point out its myriad of issues, from mindless, explosion-driven action sequences that are difficult to follow to painfully unfunny comic relief characters to every other obnoxious trend that defines the series. Still, by this third film in the franchise, it was wildly apparent that the excitement had not worn off for general audiences yet, made even more apparent by the film’s substantial success in international markets.

6 ‘Despicable Me 3’ (2017)

Worldwide Box Office: $1.032 Billion

Illumination has made a name for itself as the premiere animation studio for films that are widely successful and popular, yet are not nearly as high quality as other animation studios like Pixar and Dreamworks, with Despicable Me 3 being the perfect example of such lacking quality. The film sees Gru having his life completely thrown for a loop after he and Lucy are fired from the AVL, yet they find an unexpected refuge in the form of Gru’s long-lost twin brother, Dru. Now teamed up with his brother, Gru will have to tap back into his villainous side if he wants to take down the vicious Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker) and earn his job at the AVL back.

Animated movies that earned over $1 billion are a large rarity among the standard affairs of live-action blockbusters, yet when compared to these other titans of animation, Despicable Me 3 is of considerably lower quality, even compared to other Illumination films. By this point in the franchise, it had completely abandoned any semblance of telling an interesting or compelling storyline, instead simply having an array of below-average gags and jokes stitched together with minimal effort.

5 ‘The Lion King’ (2019)

Worldwide Box Office: $1.661 Billion

While it may stand as one of the top 10 highest-grossing films of all time, the 2019 remake of The Lion King does not have nearly the high quality that such high profits would have one believe. The film for the most part follows the same story of the original animated classic, seeing Simba’s youthful years as a young cub and seeing him transform into a conscious and kind-hearted adult before he returns to Pride Rock to face the pain of his childhood. The primary difference with the film is its visual style, which while still entirely animated, makes a point to feel near-lifelike and deeply realistic.

The realistic designs for The Lion King are the type of thing that seems like a fun idea at first, yet it quickly becomes apparent that this change severely detracts from the original story and heart of The Lion King. In the process of making its animal characters as realistic-looking as possible, they are simply unable to provide emotion on their animal faces, making each line much less impactful and boring to watch unfold. It doesn’t help matters that the new voice cast pales in comparison to the original, despite some few standouts like Beyoncé as Nala.

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4 ‘The Fate of the Furious’ (2017)

Worldwide Box Office: $1.235 Billion

Furious 7 was such a surprising uptick in quality and emotional weight when it came to the largely comedic and absurd Fast and Furious franchise, on top of being a perfect ending to the decade-long series. However, billions of dollars were still able to be earned, so this heartwrenching ending was quickly downplayed and diminished by the very existence of The Fate of the Furious. The film sees Dom having to turn on those closest to him after being seduced by a mysterious woman, forcing the crew to face new trials that test them as a team more than ever before.

All the emotional weight and power mixed with effective action that made Furious 7 such a standout entry in the franchise is completely missing from The Fate of the Furious. The film is that much more egregious with its writing, that much more unbelievable with its action, and simply that much more annoying to watch unfold. A great deal of its success can be attributed not to its domestic earnings, but the massive success that it found in international markets, being one of the few billion-dollar films to earn more overseas than in the U.S.

3 ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ (2022)

Worldwide Box Office: $1.004 Billion

The self-touted final film to not only the Jurassic World trilogy but the entire Jurassic Park franchise, Jurassic World: Dominion shows exactly how not to end a multi-billion dollar franchise. The film takes place four years after the previous film, with dinosaurs now living and hunting alongside humanity all over the world. This massive change has had massive implications, with humanity’s ability to keep a stable balance with the prehistoric creatures proving to be highly difficult as they attempt to maintain their status as apex predators.

Jurassic World: Dominion takes a lot of steps and ideas from other massive finale-style franchise films, bringing back everyone through the franchise’s history to tell a true finale story that resolves everything. However, in execution, the film ends up completely missing the point of what made Jurassic Park movies effective in the first place, even actively changing the major threat of the film from Dinosaurs to locusts. The film only just barely crossed the $1 billion mark worldwide, as it was largely maligned by critics and audiences alike.

2 ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ (2019)

Worldwide Box Office: $1.069 Billion

Acting as the climactic finale for over 40 years of sci-fi action filmmaking, few films have had as much inherent hype and excitement around them as Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The film sees the few remaining members of the Resistance having to face off against the First Order once again, as Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron travel across the galaxy in search of a secret to lead them to the location of the newly arisen Emperor Palpatine.

Considering both previous entries in this rebooted trilogy had earned well over a billion dollars, The Rise of Skywalker was always going to make a high amount of money at the box office, yet it only barely reached a billion. The film is easily in contention for the most disappointing movie sequel of all time, actively going against what was set up in The Last Jedi to play it safe and repeat what worked in previous films. The result is a monotonous slog that has nothing original going for it, only achieving its high box-office returns due to name recognition alone.

1 ‘Transformers: Age of Extinction’ (2014)

Worldwide Box Office: $1.104 Billion

No film has quite blatantly and notoriously built itself from the ground up to appeal to widespread global box office like Transformers: Age of Extinction, one of the most dire and underwhelming blockbusters of the 21st century. The film follows a new cast of human characters picking up the pieces after the events of the previous films, while a powerful new threat has the Earth in its sight. Optimus Prime ends up teaming up with Cade Yaegar (Mark Wahlberg) to take down their most dangerous threat yet.

The previous Transformers films were already egregious enough with their obnoxious filmmaking style, yet Age of Extinctiongoes above and beyond in amplifying the franchise’s worst aspects. Egregious product placement, abrasive and uncomfortable sexualization of its barely legal female characters, and a jumbled mess of robotic CGI made the film a complete critical disaster. It’s easy to see why the film made such an earning across the world, as the film quite literally moves its third act into mainland China to better appeal to the rising Chinese box-office market.

NEXT: The 20 Best Movies to Gross Over $1 Billion, Ranked