The box office game is not always so straightforward, andmany popular actors' highest-grossing movies would surprise their fans.Thereasons thatFuriosa: A Mad Max Sagafloppedillustrate bigger challenges than ever for movies hoping for a traditional theatrical release, especially in the age of swift streaming releases. What makes a movie a financial success is a complex combination of timing, widespread appeal, industry tastes, and some luck.
Beloved 2000s movies that floppeddemonstratethe phenomenon of the cult classic, where what now is regarded as an actor’s best movie probably wasn’t a hit at the box office.Sci-fi and fantasy are the genres with the greatest potential for massive movie events, but the existence ofgreat fantasy movies that floppedproves that even good movies of these genres aren’t guaranteed profits. With many moving pieces, an actor’s most famous or best movie might not be their most financially successful one, misdirecting movie enthusiasts who assume so.
All box office information contained in this list is according toboxofficemojo.com.
Highest Grossing Movie: World War Z
TheWorld War Zmovie changed the endingfor a more uplifting conclusion, drastically altering the book’s subversion of the zombie apocalypse genre. Although this ending is widely criticized, Brad Pitt’s star power and the novel’s acclaim combined still managed to makeWorld War Za box office hit.World War Z’s different ending at least contributed to an ongoing discussion about how the proposed sequel might have gotten the story back on track,returning to the exploration of global politics amid a zombie outbreak.
Release date
2013
$540,455,876
2004
$497,409,852
2005
$487,287,646
2001
$450,717,150
2019
$392,105,159
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YetPitt is a massive Hollywood star remembered for various enjoyable blockbusters— and not just his highest-grossing movie, but his two highest-grossing movies are both disappointing.World War ZandTroyare the most typical blockbusters of Pitt’s career, with big action sequences and allegedly bigger themes.Mr. & Mrs. Smithis more of an at-home watch, whileOcean’s ElevenandOnce Upon a Time in Hollywoodare less typical hits. However, the margins between all these movies' earnings aren’t that big.
9Timothy Spall
Highest Grossing Movie: Alice In Wonderland
The cast of theHarry Pottermovies are in the same situation as anyone who appeared inAvengers: Endgame, where it is a safe bet as to what the highest-grossing movie of their career is. Indeed,Timothy Spall’s list of highest-grossing movies is dominated by theHarry Potterinstallments in which he appears,completely overshadowing the rest of his career. Unlike just about every other member of the cast,Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2isn’t technically his biggest earner.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2(credit only)
2011
$1,342,480,797
2010
$1,025,468,216
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
$960,897,696
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
$941,055,851
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Peter Pettigrew/Wormtail
$897,468,952
Spall only appears in archive footage in the lastHarry Pottermovie and is credited as an honorable mention with the rest of the recurring cast for the last movie.Amazingly,Alice in Wonderlandoutperformed all the otherHarry Pottermoviesto be one of thehighest-grossing fantasy movies of all time. This can perhaps be attributed toHarry Potterbeing an ongoing saga andAlice in Wonderlandbeing a standalone adventure. Meanwhile, Spall’s other famous titles, such asThe King’s SpeechandEnchanted, follow his otherHarry Pottermovies.
The lifetime grosses of theHarry Pottermovies are inflated slightly by re-releases, but not by enough to out-earn any of Spall’s other movies.
8Mila Kunis
Highest Grossing Movie: Ted
Mila Kunis seems like she has been in more box office hits than she actually has, a byproduct of her career being a mix of movies and TV. Possibly the respective critical and financial struggles ofOz the Great and PowerfulandJupiter Ascendingturned her away from potential high earners; unfortunately, she is one of the best parts of both these movies.Kunis' best movie would be the Oscar-nominatedBlack Swan,making for a safe guess as to her highest-grossing title when the rest of her movie career comprises goofy rom-coms.
Then again, many people know Kunis from her TV work, overshadowing her failed movies.
2012
$549,368,315
Oz the Great and Powerful
$493,311,825
$329,398,046
2015
$184,287,723
2016
Amy
$183,936,074
However,Kunis' highest-grossing movie remains 2012’s extra-goofy comedyTed,about a teddy bear who comes to life and steals his best friend’s girlfriend (Kunis). WhileTedaccomplished its own splurge of popularity, it still seems like Kunis' highest-grossing movie should be one of the ones that has more spectacle and at least takes itself seriously. Then again, many people know Kunis from her TV work, overshadowing her failed movies.
7Tom Cruise
Highest Grossing Movie: Top Gun: Maverick
Tom Cruise is a veteran action movie star who continuously returns to high-speed chase sequences and death-defying heights, committed to performing his own stunts.Top Gun: Maverickbecame asurprise massive box office success, going far beyond any of Cruise’s other famous titles. For those who aren’t always checking the numbers and feel like all of Cruise’s action movies blur together,Mission: Impossibleat least being close toTop Gunmight seem like a fair assumption.However, this could not be more untrue.
2022
$1,495,696,292
2018
$791,658,205
$694,713,380
$682,716,636
War of the Worlds
Ray Ferier
$603,873,504
It is natural to categorizeTop Gunand theMission: Impossiblemovies together as"blockbuster movies starring Tom Cruise,“butthe acclaimed legacy sequel earned almost double what the highest earners of theMission: Impossiblefranchise did.Meanwhile, Cruise’s other action movies are left in Ethan Hunt’s dust as he lags far behind Maverick. As time goes on andTop Gun: Mavericksettles into history as such a huge box office hit, more people are likely to become aware of how it stands out.
6Wendie Malick
Highest Grossing Movie: Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Wendie Malick is something of a dark horse in TV, turning up in various shows and always delivering sharp performances. Fans ofThe Owl Houseknow she is just as clever and funny as a voice actress, bringing to life the self-declared"bad girl"witch and brilliant mentor, Eda the Owl Lady. Malick’s voice-acting talents transfer over to film with her minor role inThe Emperor’s New GrooveandKronk’s New Groove. In two movies brimming with hilarious voice performances,Malick still holds her own as Pacha’s no-nonsense wife Chicha.
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
2009
$443,140,005
2000
$169,704,994
Confessions of a Shopaholic
$108,394,089
1995
$107,879,496
Clara Dalrymple
$90,754,475
The Emperor’s New Grooveshould be Malick’s highest-grossing movie,but it is famously a beloved Disney title that underperformed at the box office. This means that her highest-grossing movie is, sadly,Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, in which she plays the high school principal who is a secret Chipmunks fan. Admittedly, Malick’s career is mostly in TV and the box office flop ofThe Emperor’s New Grooveis still her second highest-grossing movie. This is still a disappointing revelation for her fans, who know her top movie should be something better.
5Keanu Reeves
Highest Grossing Movie: Toy Story 4
The lead of two major 21st-century genre-defining action movies, the logical conclusion is that one of theMatrixorJohn Wickmovies would be the highest-grossing title of Keanu Reeves' career. However, similar to theAvengers: Endgamesituation,Toy Storyis its own cultural phenomenon of another class.Anyone even minimally involved withToy Story 4is automatically a part of one of the highest-grossing animated movies ever,which is going to easily beat out the rest of their career.
$1,073,841,394
2003
$739, 412, 035
1999
$463, 517, 383
2023
$440,180,275
$427,344,325
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Pixar’s five highest-grossing movies owe their financial success to strong storytelling, marketable casts, and hype surrounding them being sequels.
Additionally, it is easy to forget that Reeves is inToy Story 4behind the animated medium in a role drastically different from Neo and John Wick.The rest of Reeves' highest-grossing movies are predictably allMatrixandJohn Wick,showcasing the rise and fall of the former and the slow build of the latter. However, the matter is complicated by re-releases and inflation, but Reeves' fans can’t deny that it is astounding how dominantToy Storyis in his career.
Accounting for inflation,The Matrix Reloaded’s gross at the time of its original release was worth approximately $1.3 billion in 2019, beating outToy Story 4.
4Diane Keaton
Highest Grossing Movie: Finding Dory
The Godfatherwas never the type of movie to break box office records, not even with its lifetime gross ($250,342,198).Diane Keaton’s other pre-21st-century classic isAnnie Hall,which was also, unsurprisingly, a sleeper hit. The rest of her career comprises some feel-good rom-coms and slice-of-life movies, which saw varying levels of success. Keaton’s most successful movie people would likely think is more representative of the type of movie she generally makes isSomething’s Gotta Give, which barely crossed $260 million and still made more thanThe Godfather.
$1,029,266,989
$265,328,738
1972
$243,862,778
1996
$181,489,203
Diane
$104,438,188
Keaton’s highest-grossing movie to date by a landslide isFinding Dory,which reaped all the benefits of being a highly-anticipated legacy sequel to one of Pixar’s best movies. After more than a decade of Ellen DeGeneres begging for the movie to be made, Pixar pulled out all the stops forFinding Dory, recruiting a veritable roster of stars to voice supporting characters. In addition to Keaton, this includes Ty Burrell, Ed O’Neil, Idris Elba, Dominic West, Kate McKinnon, and Sigourney Weaver.
3James Earl Jones
Highest Grossing Movie: The Lion King
Based on several technicalities, James Earl Jones' big franchise isn’t his biggest earner. Most of the live-action Disney remakes have been runaway box office hits, butThe Lion Kingoutperformed them all.With a stacked cast of musical icons performing the legendary songs, plus Jones reprising his role as Mufasa,The Lion Kingsaw an impressive turnout,despite any misgivings about the new medium. Unsurprisingly, multipleStar Warsmovies and the originalLion Kingare right behind it.
$1,662,020,819
$1,077,022,372
$1,058,684,742
1994
$981,586,438
1988
King Jaffe Joffer
$288,752,301
Jones had a stellar career that encompassed many amazing movies, but none reached the heights or cultural impact ofStar WarsorThe Lion King. Yet how the firstStar Warsmovies rank among the highest-grossing movies of all time is affected by the price of movie tickets when they came out.Adjusted for inflation, the originalStar Warscurrently ranks as the fourth highest-grossing movie of all time,afterTitanic, Avatar,andGone with the Wind.
The originalStar Warstrilogy’s box office earnings are all inflated by many re-releases over the years. The lifetime gross ofStar Wars: A New Hopeis $775,398,507. Its worldwide gross for its original release is $307,263,857, worth approximately $1.6 billion today.
2Michelle Yeoh
Highest Grossing Movie: Minions: The Rise Of Gru
Michelle Yeoh’s list of highest-grossing movies does not reflect the best of her careerwhen these movies are mostly indies and cult classics. Still, her fans might guess thatCrazy Rich Asiansis her highest-grossing movie, perhaps forgetting about her brief roles in the MCU. Picking up some voice acting roles in widely appealing family movies likeKung Fu Panda 2and a cameo inGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, these movies overtake her list.
However, Yeoh likely has a high earner with Wicked, expected in November 2024.
$940,203,765
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
2017
$863,756,903
$665,692,281
$438,966,392
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
2021
Jiang Nan
$432,243,292
The most beloved movies of Yeoh’s career, includingEverything Everywhere All at OnceandCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,aren’t even in her top five. Her highest-grossing movie should definitely not be another unnecessaryDespicable Mespinoff. However, Yeoh likely has a high earner withWicked, expected in November 2024. With plenty of magic and spectacle and more than enough great starts,Wickedmight at least take the top spot away fromMinions: The Rise of Gru.
1Alan Tudyk
Highest Grossing Movie: Frozen II
Comedy star Alan Tudyk has a strong rapport with Disney, with the executives always happy to give him a small comedic role in their animated movies. However, it’s still a natural assumption that anyone involved in aStar Warsmovie would see that movie become their highest earner. YetRogue One: A Star Warsstory, in whichTudyk gets to show off all his comedic talent as the wise-cracking droid K-2SO,is barely in his top five. Those who remember that Tudyk voiced the Duke of Weselton would probably guessFrozennext.
$1,453,683,476
$1,306,000,529
$1,123,794,079
$1,054,304,000
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Since 1927, Disney has consistently put out truly iconic Hollywood films, and nowadays, they represent some of the highest-grossing movies ever made.
However, Tudyk tricks everyone by sneaking his way intoFrozen II. With the duke mostly written out of the story,Frozen IIallowed Tudyk some other voice cameos in the form of multiple characters.WhenFrozen IIout-earned its predecessor, despite the former’s status as a memorable cultural phenomenon, it became Tudyk’s highest-grossing movie to date. Many actors' careers are full of surprises like this, either because of unexpected box office successes or because people just forget some movies that they were in.
