Summary

• Due to many factors, movies are struggling to have success at the box office in 2024.
• Dune 2
  ‘s global box office draw stands at an impressive $711 million, making it 2024’s top-earning film by a long shot.
• Despicable Me 4
  ,
  Inside Out 2
  ,
  Deadpool & Wolverine
  , and a few other films have the potential to dethrone
  Dune 2
  from the top spot.

It’s no secret that many of 2024’s movies are struggling at the box office. From streaming and video-on-demand (VOD) dominance to residual COVID-19 and strike impacts, there are plenty of reasons why 2024’s releases are underperforming in theaters. In the wake of Memorial Day weekend, the three days that typically mark the beginning of the summer movie season, Dune: Part Two remains the year’s biggest success. Ryan Gosling’s action-comedy The Fall Guy faced a sharp decline, due in large part to its imminent streaming debut, while Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga‘s box office landed below projections.

With the summer box office off to a shockingly slow start, audiences and industry insiders alike are wondering if any upcoming 2024 movie will strike box-office gold. Even Denis Villeneuve, the director of Dune 2, is disappointed that none of the year’s more recent releases have dethroned his sci-fi epic. Currently, Dune 2‘s global box office draw stands at an impressive $711 million, making it 2024’s top-earning film by a long shot. Realistically, only a few movies have enough hype and pop-cultural stature to dethrone Dune 2 and become the new highest-grossing film of 2024.

10 Despicable Me 4

July 3, 2024

The latest installment in the Minions cinematic universe, Despicable Me 4 sees Gru (Steve Carell), a former supervillain-turned-Anti-Villain League agent, and his wife, fellow agent Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig), navigating Minions and parenthood. Given the massive successes of previous installments in the beloved animated franchise, Despicable Me 4 has a real shot of dethroning Dune 2 from the top spot. The first Despicable Me kicked off the Minion craze in 2010, garnering an impressive $544 million. The series’ first spin-off, 2015’s Minions, crossed the billion-dollar mark, while Despicable Me 3 drew $1.035 billion.

9 Inside Out 2

June 14, 2024

A sequel to Pixar’s Oscar-winning 2015 film, Inside Out 2 catches up with a now-teenage Riley and the inner-workings of her mind. Memorably, Riley’s five personified emotions — Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), Fear (Bill Hader), and Anger (Lewis Black) — administer her thoughts and actions, though they have some growing up to do as well. In Inside Out 2, the five core emotions meet Riley’s newest team members. While Pixar’s 2023 flick, Elemental, had a gradual rise at the box office, Inside Out garnered an impressive $858.8 million.

8 Deadpool & Wolverine

July 26, 2024

The 34th entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Deadpool & Wolverine centers on two of Marvel Comics’ biggest characters. After 2017’s Logan, Hugh Jackman (mostly) put down his claws, but the actor reprises his role alongside Ryan Reynolds’ irreverent Deadpool. The film has a lot working in its favor: The flick properly introduces the X-Men to the MCU canon, and it continues the highly successful Deadpool series. Since Deadpool and Deadpool 2 made $782.8 million and $785.8 million respectively, Deadpool & Wolverine‘s box office could be the first MCU film to cross $1 billion in years.

7 Joker: Folie à Deux

October 4, 2024

A sequel to 2019’s sleeper hit Joker, Todd Phillips’ psychological thriller once again centers on Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a failed clown who grapples with mental illness and nihilism. In the first film, Fleck’s personal story inspired a violent revolution against Gotham’s elite, but, in Joker: Folie à Deux, he shares the spotlight with Harleen Quinzel (Lady Gaga), the Arkham State Hospital therapist who eventually becomes Harley Quinn. Billed as a musical, Joker: Folie à Deux sees Joker and Harley falling in love amid shared delusions. Since Joker made a whopping $1.079 billion, the sequel is primed for success.

6 Moana 2

November 27, 2024

Disney surprised fans in 2023 by announcing Moana 2, a direct sequel to the studio’s Oscar-nominated musical adventure that became something of a phenomenon in 2016. Stars Auliʻi Cravalho and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson reprise their roles from the first film, with Cravalho playing the titular hero and Johnson playing the shapeshifting demigod Maui. The first Moana film made an impressive $687.2 million at the box office. Although that comes in under Dune 2‘s draw, there’s no underestimating Moana‘s enduring appeal — and Disney’s ability to churn out top-earning hits.

5 Mufasa: The Lion King

December 20, 2024

Directed by Oscar-winner Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), Mufasa: The Lion King is a photorealistic-animated film that continues the story of 2019’s The Lion King — which itself adapted 1994’s The Lion King. Both a sequel and prequel, Mufasa centers on its titular character’s origin story, but that tale is being told to the late Mufasa’s (Aaron Pierre) granddaughter, Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter), Simba (Donald Glover) and Nala’s (Beyoncé Knowles-Carter) daughter. Since the ’90s Lion King made $968.4 million and the 2019 version drew $1.663 billion, Mufasa has a box-office legacy to continue.

4 Horizon: An American Saga

June 28, 2024 (Chapter 1) & August 16, 2024 (Chapter 2)

After Kevin Costner’s Yellowstone exit made headlines, fans of the neo-Western shifted some of their attention to Costner’s passion project, Horizon: An American Saga. Previously, Costner directed and starred in the Oscar-winning Dances with Wolves, so he’s no stranger to being behind the camera. Set to be released in two parts, Horizon has the potential to be a summer movie event. Unfortunately, early reviews of Horizon: An American Saga—Chapter 1 are pretty negative, but between Costner’s appeal and the film’s epic promise, Horizon: An American Saga could be the Western genre’s answer to Dune.

3 Alien: Romulus

August 16, 2024

Set between the events of Ridley Scott’s Alien and James Cameron’s Aliens, Alien: Romulus is the next entry in the long-running sci-fi horror series. Director Fede Álvarez (2013’s Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe) takes the franchise in a new direction by focusing on a younger cast of characters, which includes rising stars like Cailee Spaeny (Civil War) and Isabela Merced (Turtles All the Way Down). Across seven films, the Alien franchise has grossed a total of $1.26 billion at the global box office (via Forbes), and Alien: Romulus could be the much-needed new direction the series needs.

2 Gladiator II

November 22, 2024

Twenty-four years after the release of director Ridley Scott’s historical drama, Gladiator II stars a brand-new cast, including stars Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, and Fred Hechinger. In the film, Mescal’s Lucius Verus, the former heir to the Empire, has been missing for 15 years. Thought to be dead, he’s drawn back into the world of Gladiator. Although Scott’s latest historical epic, Napoleon, didn’t fare too well, the five-time Oscar-winning Gladiator made $465.4 million in 2000, which means the highly anticipated Gladiator II has a built-in audience and a notable legacy to rest on.

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1 Megalopolis

TBA

Although Megalopolis competed for the Palme d’Or at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in May 2024, Francis Ford Coppola’s epic sci-fi drama polarized critics. Set in an alternate version of modern America, Megalopolis features a complex plot and a sweeping ensemble of Hollywood’s biggest names, including Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, and Aubrey Plaza,​ to name just a few. The big appeal? Coppola conceived the idea of Megalopolis in 1977 and started working on it in 1983. After numerous delays, cancelations, and other hurdles, Coppola returned to his magnum opus, and completely self-funded the film’s $120 million budget.

Dune: Part Two

is streaming on Max.