ScreenGawk
7 of the Biggest Hollywood Box-Office Hits of 2023
A doll, a plumber and a physicist gave moviegoers three very different reasons to buy a ticket in 2023. Barbie, The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Oppenheimer led the worldwide box office, with familiar franchises filling many of the places behind them.
Here are seven Hollywood releases from that year and their approximate worldwide ticket sales. These figures are box-office grosses, not studio profits: production, marketing and the theaters' share still have to be accounted for. This is a selection of major hits, rather than a complete worldwide top-seven ranking.
Barbie: About $1.45 Billion
Greta Gerwig's Barbie finished ahead of every other 2023 release worldwide. Its bright pink world drew on a familiar childhood toy, then sent Margot Robbie's Barbie into questions about identity and the expectations placed on women. The film became more than a nostalgia trip. Its July release alongside Oppenheimer also gave audiences a particularly unlikely double feature.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie: About $1.36 Billion
Mario's animated adventure was the year's second-biggest worldwide release. The Nintendo characters brought an established audience with them, while the film gave families another reason to head to the cinema. Its global total put it well above the billion-dollar mark and ahead of the other animated releases on this list.
Oppenheimer: About $976 Million
Christopher Nolan's account of J. Robert Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb placed third worldwide. A lengthy, R-rated historical drama might seem an unusual companion to Barbie and Mario, but audiences turned up for it. Roughly two-thirds of its worldwide gross came from outside the domestic market. That is a share of ticket revenue, not a measure of profit.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: About $846 Million
The third Guardians film brought James Gunn's trilogy to a close. Its worldwide total was higher than the first film's, though below the second installment's. Familiar characters helped make this a substantial Marvel release in a year when the performance of superhero films was far from uniform.
Fast X: About $705 Million
The tenth main-series Fast & Furious film continued the franchise's large-scale action. Most of its worldwide ticket revenue came from outside the domestic market. A gross of this size is considerable, but it doesn't tell us on its own whether a costly production earned a profit.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: About $691 Million
Miles Morales returned in an animated sequel built around a much wider Spider-Verse. The film's worldwide earnings comfortably exceeded those of Into the Spider-Verse. Its animation gave the familiar superhero format a distinctive visual identity, with different worlds and characters drawn in different styles.
The Little Mermaid: About $570 Million
Disney revisited its animated musical with Halle Bailey as Ariel. The live-action adaptation earned more than half a billion dollars worldwide. It belongs among the year's major Hollywood releases, though it was not seventh in the full worldwide ranking. Films including Full River Red and Wonka also finished ahead of it.
