2010s in film explained

The decade of the 2010s in film involved many significant developments in the motion picture industry as Disney towered all over its competitors. The studio's titles occupy exactly half of the top 50 highest-grossing movies at the worldwide box office of these ten years with solely one of those entries not reaching a billion dollars and the only three features on the entire list to cross the $2 billion mark, while Universal and Warner Bros. share the distant second place at eight titles each. Furthermore, non-Disney films managed to become the top-grosser of a year merely twice during the decade. This domination culminated in the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney.

Trends

• Major film studios attempted to replicate the box office dominance of Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe (which also had a few releases by Paramount, Universal, and Sony) through establishing their own blockbuster shared universe franchises. Despite not being as lucrative on average, Warner Bros. was able to build multiple such franchises with the likes of the DC Extended Universe, MonsterVerse (co-owned by Legendary), and Wizarding World; while 20th Century Fox's X-Men franchise transitioned into being a shared world and Sony's Spider-Man Universe got off to a promising start. However, some other attempts such as Universal's Dark Universe were immediately unsuccessful or ultimately went unproduced. Overall, this movement especially led the superhero film subgenre to attain monumental heights of prosperity.
• Disney capitalized on nostalgia by producing several live action or photorealistic remakes/re-adaptations of its famous hand-drawn animated films: Alice in Wonderland (2010), Maleficent (2014), Cinderella (2015), The Jungle Book (2016), Beauty and the Beast (2017), Aladdin (2019), The Lion King (2019), et cetera.
• Film series adaptations of popular young adult fiction novels became more prevalent (three of which were distributed or acquired by Lionsgate, and two by 20th Century Fox). After the Harry Potter, Twilight, and Percy Jackson series ended in the early years of the decade, the trend's focus switched from the fantasy genre to dystopian sci-fi with the Hunger Games, Divergent, and Maze Runner series. Other efforts of this kind failed to generate any sequels except for DreamWorks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon series, which took an alternative path by being a non-live action project that was just very loosely based on its source materials and had longer intervals between feature releases (though supported by the likes of short films and TV shows set in the same canon).

Highest-grossing films

See also: Lists of highest-grossing films. The list has more 2019 films in the top 50 than any other year, with nine in total (seven by Disney). It is then followed by 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 with six; 2012 with five; 2013 with four; 2010 and 2011 with three; and 2014 with two (the only year in which Disney did not have a billion dollar grosser and failed to make the list). All but three films (two animated and one biopic) are based on another property. Figures are given in United States dollars.

List of worldwide highest-grossing films

Rank	Title	Distributor(s)	Worldwide gross	Year	Ref.
1		Disney	$2,797,800,564	2019	^[1]
2			$2,068,223,624	2015	^[2]
3				$2,048,359,754	2018	^[3]
4	Jurassic World	Universal	$1,671,713,208	2015	^[4]
5	The Lion King	Disney	$1,656,943,394	2019	^[5]
6	The Avengers		$1,518,812,988	2012	^[6]
7	Furious 7	Universal	$1,516,045,911	2015	^[7]
8	Frozen II	Disney	$1,450,026,933	2019	^[8]
9			$1,405,403,694	2015	^[9]
10	Black Panther		$1,346,913,161	2018	^[10]
11	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2	Warner Bros.	$1,341,511,219	2011	^[11]
12		Disney	$1,332,539,889	2017	^[12]
13		Universal	$1,309,484,461	2018	^[13]
14	Frozen	Disney	$1,290,000,000	2013	^[14]
15	Beauty and the Beast		$1,263,521,126	2017	^[15]
16	Incredibles 2		$1,242,808,192	2018	^[16]
17	The Fate of the Furious	Universal	$1,236,005,118	2017	^[17]
18	Iron Man 3	Disney	$1,214,811,252	2013	^[18]
19	Minions	Universal	$1,159,398,397	2015	^[19]
20		Disney	$1,153,304,495	2016	^[20]
21	Aquaman	Warner Bros.	$1,147,661,807	2018	^[21]
22		Sony	$1,131,927,996	2019	^[22]
23	Captain Marvel	Disney	$1,128,274,794	2019	^[23]
24		Paramount	$1,123,794,079	2011	^[24]
25	Skyfall	Sony / MGM	$1,108,561,013	2012	^[25]
26		Paramount	$1,104,054,072	2014	^[26]
27	The Dark Knight Rises	Warner Bros.	$1,084,939,099	2012	^[27]
28	Toy Story 4	Disney	$1,073,394,593	2019	^[28]
29	Joker	Warner Bros.	$1,072,651,773	2019	^[29]
30	Toy Story 3	Disney	$1,066,969,703	2010	^[30]
31			$1,065,837,407	2019	^[31]
32			$1,056,057,273	2016	^[32]
33	Aladdin		$1,050,693,953	2019	^[33]
34			$1,045,713,802	2011	^[34]
35	Despicable Me 3	Universal	$1,034,799,409	2017	^[35]
36	Finding Dory	Disney	$1,028,570,889	2016	^[36]
37	Alice in Wonderland		$1,025,467,110	2010	^[37]
38	Zootopia		$1,023,784,195	2016	^[38]
39		Warner Bros.	$1,021,103,568	2012	^[39]
40	Despicable Me 2	Universal	$970,761,885	2013	^[40]
41	The Jungle Book	Disney	$966,550,600	2016	^[41]
42		Sony	$962,126,927	2017	^[42]
43	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1	Warner Bros.	$960,283,305	2010	^[43]
44			$958,366,855	2013	^[44]
45			$956,019,788	2014	^[45]
46	Bohemian Rhapsody	20th Century	$903,655,259	2018	^[46]
47	Spectre	Sony / MGM	$880,674,609	2015	^[47]
48		Sony	$880,166,924	2017	^[48]
49		20th Century	$877,244,782	2012	^[49]
50	The Secret Life of Pets	Universal	$875,457,937	2016	^[50]

Highest-grossing film per year

Disney releases were the annual top-grossers for the entire latter half of the decade.

Year	Title	Studio(s)	Worldwide Gross	Ref.
2010	Toy Story 3		Disney	$1,066,969,703
2011	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2	Warner Bros.	$1,342,511,219
2012	The Avengers	Disney	$1,518,812,988	-->
2013	Frozen		$1,280,802,282
2014		Paramount	$1,104,054,072
2015		Disney	$2,068,223,624	-->
2016			$1,153,304,495
2017			$1,332,539,889
2018			$2,048,359,754
2019			$2,797,800,564	^[51]

Most acclaimed films

On Rotten Tomatoes, the following five films of the 2010s received 100% critics' ratings.^[52]

• The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013)
• Summer 1993 (2017)
• Leave No Trace (2018)
• Minding the Gap (2018)
• Honeyland (2019)

Metacritic listed the following as the top ten highest rated films (at the time of their release) of the 2010s.^[53]

1. Boyhood
2. Moonlight
3. Roma
4. Manchester by the Sea
5. 12 Years a Slave
6. Gravity
7. Parasite
8. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
9. Carol
10. The Social Network

Metacritic also listed the following films as most mentioned on critic's lists of the best films of the 2010s.^[54]

2. Moonlight
3. The Social Network
4. Get Out
5. Under the Skin
6. The Tree of Life
7. (Tie) Inception and Inside Llewyn Davis
8. Boyhood
9. The Master

According to They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?, a site which numerically calculates reception among critics, the most acclaimed films of the 2010s are:^[55]

1. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
2. The Tree of Life
3. Moonlight
4. Parasite
5. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
6. A Separation
7. Melancholia
9. Get Out
10. The Turin Horse
11. Holy Motors
12. Under the Skin
13. Zama
14. The Act of Killing
15. Phantom Thread
16. Boyhood
17. Toni Erdmann
18. Once Upon A Time in Anatolia
19. Twin Peaks: The Return
20. The Master

Den of Geek listed the following as the top ten best movies of the decade.^[56]

1. Parasite
2. Inception
4. Get Out
5. Her
6. Ex Machina
8. Hereditary
9. The Social Network

Rolling Stone magazine listed the following as the top ten best movies of the decade.^[57]

1. Moonlight
2. The Social Network
3. Holy Motors
4. Boyhood
5. Get Out
6. Toni Erdmann
7. The Master
8. Roma
10. Carol

Indiewire listed the following as the top ten best movies of the decade.

1. Moonlight
2. Under the Skin
3. Certified Copy
4. The Act of Killing
5. Inside Llewyn Davis
6. Holy Motors
7. Carol
8. The Master
10. Lady Bird

In 2016, BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century poll of film critics listed the following as the top ten best films of the 2010s so far.^[58]

1. Boyhood
2. The Tree of Life
3. A Separation
4. Inside Llewyn Davis
5. The Act of Killing
6. Holy Motors
8. The Grand Budapest Hotel
9. The Master
10. The Social Network

In 2017, The New York Times list of "The 25 Best Films of the 21st Century So Far" selected the following as the best films of the 2010s so far.^[59]

1. A Touch of Sin
2. Inside Out
3. Boyhood
4. Inside Llewyn Davis
5. Timbuktu
6. In Jackson Heights
7. White Material
9. Moonlight

Awards

The following films received the most acclaim at the Academy Awards during the 2010s.

Year	Ceremony	Most nominations	Most awards	Best Picture
2010	83rd	The King's Speech (12)	Inception and The King's Speech (4)	The King's Speech
2011	84th	The Artist (11)	The Artist and Hugo (5)	The Artist
2012	85th	Lincoln (12)	Life of Pi (4)	Argo
2013	86th	American Hustle and Gravity (10)	Gravity (7)	12 Years a Slave
2014	87th	Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (9)	Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (4)	Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
2015	88th	The Revenant (12)	(6)	Spotlight
2016	89th	La La Land (14)	La La Land (6)	Moonlight
2017	90th	The Shape of Water (13)	The Shape of Water (4)	The Shape of Water
2018	91st	The Favourite and Roma (10)	Bohemian Rhapsody (4)	Green Book
2019	92nd	Joker (11)	Parasite (4)	Parasite

See also

• • Film, History of film, Lists of films
• List of animated feature films of the 2010s
• Popular culture: 2010s in music

External links

• List of 2010s films at IMDb
• List of 2010s deaths at IMDb
• List of 2010s births at IMDb

Notes and References

1. Web site: Avengers: Endgame (2019) - Box Office Mojo. www.boxofficemojo.com. 2019-10-20.
2. Web site: Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
3. Web site: Avengers: Infinity War. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2018.
4. Web site: Jurassic World. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
5. Web site: Lion King. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 2020-03-08.
6. Web site: The Avengers . . . 12 June 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121104022056/http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=avengers11.htm . 4 November 2012 . live .
7. Web site: Furious 7. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
8. Web site: Frozen II. Box Office Mojo. 2021-01-17.
9. Web site: Avengers: Age of Ultron. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
10. Web site: Black Panther (2018) - Box Office Mojo. www.boxofficemojo.com. 2019-05-01.
11. Web site: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
12. Web site: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017). Box Office Mojo. IMDb. 28 August 2019.
13. Web site: FallenKingdom. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
14. Web site: Frozen (2013). Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 11 September 2017.
15. Web site: The Fate of the Furious. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
16. Web site: Incredibles 2. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
17. Web site: The Fate of the Furious. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
18. Web site: Iron Man 3. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
19. Web site: Minions. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
20. Web site: Captain America: Civil War. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 19 February 2013.
21. Web site: Aquaman. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
22. Web site: Spider-Man Far from Home. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 2019-11-30.
23. Web site: Captain Marvel (2019) - Box Office Mojo. www.boxofficemojo.com. 2019-07-08.
24. Web site: Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
25. Web site: Skyfall. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
26. Web site: Transformers: Age of Extinction. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
27. Web site: The Dark Knight Rises. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
28. Web site: Toy Story 4. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 2019-12-07.
29. Web site: Joker. Box Office Mojo. 19 December 2019.
30. Web site: Toy Story 3. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
31. Web site: Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker. Box Office Mojo.
32. Web site: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 14 December 2012.
33. Web site: Aladdin. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 2019-10-29.
34. Web site: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides . Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
35. Web site: Dispecable Me 3. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 26 March 2016.
36. Web site: Finding Dory. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 11 September 2017.
37. Web site: Alice In Wonderland. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 20 January 2014.
38. Web site: Zootopia. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
39. Web site: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
40. Web site: Despicable Me 2. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
41. Web site: The Jungle Book. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
42. Web site: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle . Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 21 April 2016.
43. Web site: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 8 February 2013.
44. Web site: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
45. Web site: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 16 September 2016.
46. Web site: Bohemian Rhapsody. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
47. Web site: Spectre. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
48. Web site: Spider-Man: Homecoming. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 11 September 2017.
49. Web site: Ice Age: Continental Drift. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
50. Web site: The Secret Life of Pets. Box Office Mojo. IMDb.com, Inc.. 12 June 2017.
51. Web site: Avengers: Endgame (2019) . . 2020-01-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20100118083905/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=avatar.htm. 18 January 2010 . live.
52. Web site: The 200 Best Movies of the 2010s - Greatest Films of the Decade . . 11 May 2020.
53. Web site: Best Movies of the Decade (2010-19). Metacritic.
54. Web site: Best Movies of the Decade (2010-19). Metacritic.
55. Web site: Georgaris. Bill. The 21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films . 2022-05-26. They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?. April 2023. 16th.
56. Web site: 10 Best Movies of 2019. Gen of Geek. 20 December 2019. 21 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191221025205/https://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/282640/best-movies-2019. 21 December 2019. live.
57. Fear . David . Travers . Peter . Walsh . Katie . Nicholson . Amy . Grierson . Tim . Kiang . Jessica . The 50 Best Movies of the 2010s . . 11 May 2020 . 18 December 2019.
58. Web site: The 21st Century's 100 Greatest Films . BBC . 23 August 2016 . 28 August 2016.
59. News: The 25 Best Films of the 21st Century So Far.. 9 June 2017. The New York Times. 12 June 2017. en-US. 0362-4331. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170708065541/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/09/movies/the-25-best-films-of-the-21st-century.html. 8 July 2017. dmy-all.