While critical consensus is a subjective, difficult thing to gauge, theres a bona fide way to examine just what people are seeing at the cinema in any given year: the box office. Numbers dont lie, and while box office success of course isnt an accurate barometer of a movies overall quality, it remains that the box office chart is a sure thing in terms of telling us what people are watching - and what people will likely watch again. For something so important in the industry though, this has proven a hard thing to predict. Very few films are guaranteed box office successes, and the ones that are (think Star Wars) are the ones that have built up a reputation, that have captured the imagination of cinemagoers the world over over a sustained period of time. Being part of a huge franchise, as we'll see, is an immeasurable help, but there are other factors, too, like name stars or major blockbuster directors at the helm. 2015 was a huge year at the global box office, and the most success movies are a testament to that. Chock-full of franchise instalments, childrens films, and a couple of highest-grossers of all time, the following films are the twenty highest grossing pictures of 2015 worldwide - ranked.
20. Minions
Chart Position: 5th Worldwide Gross: $1,157,275,017 The absolute undoubted last place entry on this list, the second sequel to Despicable Me sees these yellow little whatevers get their own film and it's every bit as bad as you can imagine. Yes, they're for kids, but, unlike most kids' characters, Minions go beyond annoying - they're putrid, vile, even. And they're everywhere, painting everything yellow and blue, making that stupid f*cking noise as they go. They're one of the biggest cinema exports of recent times and I just don't know how. Hipsters have even taken on an ironic love of the Minions, wearing them on t-shirts or brandishing them on their iphone cases. It has to stop. But it won't - at least not yet, as the box office suggests. This is the fifth highest grossing film of the year and the eleventh highest grossing film in the history of cinema. And we're all to blame. F*ck you, Minions.