Top of the year: What are the best and worst movies of 2022?

Hollywood once again put major blockbusters in theaters this year with pandemic restrictions lifted. Even though audience levels haven’t returned to where they were prior they flocked to see major productions meant to be watched on the big screen.

Others however, despite their star-studded line-ups failed to garner the traction needed to recoup the enormous budgets to make and market them. Here’s a look at which movies topped the charts and which ones flopped in 2022.

Highest grossing movies in 2022

1. ‘Top Gun: Maverick’

Nearly four decades after the original ‘Top Gun’ was released Tom Cruise was back as Maverick in a sequel by the same name as the naval aviator pushing the limits. The second installment, which due to the pandemic was held back for two years “because it is in the Top Gun DNA to be a theatrical experience,” according to director Joseph Kosinski. ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ soared to success grossing nearly $1.5 billion worldwide and over $718 million domestically taking the No. 1 position for 2022.

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2. ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ $427,955,401

‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ roared into theaters 11 November and went on to have the second best opening weekend of the top 10 highest grossing movies domestically with a box office haul of $181.3 million. The second movie in the MCU ‘Black Panther’ franchise raked in a total of close to $428 million domestically, making it number two for 2022.

3. ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’

Marvel dominated the top ten in 2022, with three of the top ten top grossing movies coming out of the MCU. While ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ came in third highest grossing domestically, at $411 million, it had the top opening weekend, with ticket sales topping $187 million.

4. ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’

The only other movie, as of publication, that broke the billion-dollar mark with both domestic and worldwide ticket sales this year was ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’. It’s domestic opening on 10 June brought in $145 million, the third best opening performance of 2022.

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5. ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’

Despite having the second lowest opening weekend of the top ten highest grossing movies of 2022, ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’ came in at fifth just nudging out ‘The Batman’ reboot with over $369 million in domestic box office ticket sales.

The biggest flops of 2022

Some big budge films didn’t have the showing at the box office in 2022 despite being sequels or spin-offs of popular franchises, or the A-list actors in them.

According to Screen Rant the biggest flop of the year was ‘Turning Red’ with a budget of $175 million has only raked in a little over $20 million. Disney released the animated movie simultaneously in theaters and on its Disney+ streaming service which may account for its poor showing. It did however top the Nielsen’s viewing charts with 1.7 billion minutes of viewing time in its first week.

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Similarly, Disney’s ‘Strange World’ failed to draw audiences and came in the second biggest flop of 2022. The studio’s milestone for diversity featuring its first openly LGBTQ lead character, the film has barely recovered a third of its $180 million budget.

Lightyear was another disappointment unable to take advantage of the ‘Toy Story’ brand name. The spin-off failed to take off making just $226 million but cost the studio $200 million coming in fourth on the list.

Name recognition didn’t prove effective in selling tickets for Moonfall, Black Adam and Amsterdam, third, fifth and sixth on the list of Screen Rant’s worst performing movies of 2022.

Here’s their list of the biggest box office bombs: