The film industry has always been something of a mixed bag; where they’ve released some of the worst movies ever made alongside some of the most successful.
Films that have completely flopped at the box office released in the same year as franchises that have pulled in billions of dollars across the world.
The James Cameron film Titanic, for example, was one of the most financially profitable movies of its generation, bringing in countless millions in both dollars and fans, but even great movies like this pale in comparison to the massive franchises that would characterise the late 2010s. These are the highest-earning, most beloved franchises of all time.
The James Bond Franchise
As one of the oldest film franchises in the industry, James Bond is one that even our grandparents would be able to recognise straight away. Its undergone countless iterations, from Sean Connery to the modern Daniel Craig.
The films always centre around the titular character and his exploits as he endeavours to save the world from the many supervillains that he faces. To date, the James Bond movie franchise has raked in an astounding 7 billion dollars at the box office worldwide, and it’s one that’s not likely to run out of steam any time soon.
Harry Potter
As the quintessential franchise that defined many of those growing up in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Harry Potter franchise is one that shaped millions of young people across the planet, and gave rise to a number of franchises of its own.
Estimated to have brought in just under $10 billion during its multi-year stint, Harry Potter is a name that came synonymous not just with magical wizards, but with theme parks, toys, video games, spin-offs, and so much more. While much of its popularity has since died down, it remains among the most popular in the history of cinema.
Star Wars
Starting in 1977, many believed that the original Star Wars would be a massive flop, but it turned out to be a massive success that changed the film industry forever.
The original was such a resounding favourite among fans that it spawned an entire trilogy, and then another two trilogies down the line, along with hundreds of spin-offs that include successful television shows and video games. Star Wars is still going strong, although today’s iterations aren’t quite as much a hit as they were with fans in the late 1970s and early 1980s – something that many have attributed to Disney’s direction of the franchise.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe
The release of 2008’s Iron Man proved to be a turning point for the superhero genre, one that had grown quite stagnant over the years. But Iron Man was just the beginning, and 12 years later, there are now dozens of films linked to the MCU, as it’s more commonly known.
The latest trilogy, comprised of the Avengers saga, cemented the MCU as the world’s most popular franchise of all time. By the time the last movie was released, it’s estimated that the MCU had earned over $18 billion, something that no other franchise has been even close to matching, and the kind of money that not even online gaming Nigeria can net a player.