While 2014 has given us some brilliant movies (Guardians of the Galaxy, The LEGO Movie, Boyhood, Nightcrawler, Edge of Tomorrow, to name a few), the box office numbers have not reflected the quality.
In terms of domestic growth, the top four movies of last year (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Iron Man 3, Frozen and Despicable Me 2) out-grossed 2014’s number one Guardians of the Galaxy. As for worldwide figures, only one movie passed the billion dollar mark, compared to two last year (Frozen and Iron Man 3) and four the year previous (The Avengers, Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey).
But which movies topped the highest grossing lists of 2014?
US:
| |Title| | |Studio| | |Total| | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guardians of the Galaxy | Disney | $332.7 million |
| 2 | The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 | Lionsgate | $306.6 million |
| 3 | Captain America: The Winter Soldier | Disney | $259.7 million |
| 4 | The LEGO Movie | Warner Bros. | $257.7 million |
| 5 | Transformers: Age of Extinction | Paramount | $245.4 million |
| 6 | Maleficent | Disney | $241.4 million |
| 7 | X-Men: Days of Future Past | 20th Century Fox | $233.9 million |
| 8 | Dawn of the Planet of the Apes | 20th Century Fox | $208.5 million |
| 9 | The Amazing Spider-Man 2 | Sony | $202.8 million |
| 10 | Godzilla | Warner Bros. | $200.6 million |
Last Year – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ($424.6 million)
UK:
| |Title| | |Studio| | |Total| | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The LEGO Movie | Warner Bros. | $56.8 million |
| 2 | The Inbetweeners 2 | Film4 | $55.6 million |
| 3 | Dawn of the Planet of the Apes | 20th Century Fox | $55.1 million |
| 4 | Guardians of the Galaxy | Disney | $47.3 million |
| 5 | X-Men: Days of Future Past | 20th Century Fox | $45.5 million |
| 6 | The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 | Lionsgate | $42.8 million |
| 7 | How to Train Your Dragon 2 | 20th Centry Fox | $41.5 million |
| 8 | The Amazing Spider-Man 2 | Sony | $40.4 million |
| 9 | The Wolf of Wall Street | UPI | $37.4 million |
| 10 | Gone Girl | 20th Century Fox | $34.6 million |
Last Year – Despicable Me 2 ($72.2 million)
Worldwide:
| |Title| | |Studio| | |Total| | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Transformers: Age of Extinction | Paramount | $1.08 billion |
| 2 | Guardians of the Galaxy | Disney | $772.3 million |
| 3 | Maleficent | Disney | $757.8 million |
| 4 | X-Men: Days of Future Past | 20th Century Fox | $746 million |
| 5 | Captain America: The Winter Soldier | Disney | $714.1 million |
| 6 | The Amazing Spider-Man 2 | Sony | $709 million |
| 7 | Dawn of the Planet of the Apes | 20th Century Fox | $708.3 million |
| 8 | The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 | Lionsgate | $669.7 million |
| 9 | Interstellar | Warner Bros. | $641.3 million |
| 10 | How to Train Your Dragon 2 | 20th Century Fox | $618.9 million |
Last Year – Frozen ($1.2 billion)
So what can we expect from next year? Well, one would assume that the box office numbers should increase as Avengers: Age of Ultron and Star Wars: The Force Awakens will likely pass the billion dollar mark based on the franchise name, but there are some other big releases like SPECTRE, Jurassic World, Terminator: Genisys an Insurgent that are also bound to do well.
Originally published December 29, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
