10 Highest-Grossing Movies Of 2014 (So Far) - Ranked From Worst To Best

5. Noah ($343.6m)

After dropping out of The Wolverine, Darren Aronofsky finally got his shot at blockbuster film-making with Noah, a wildly ambitious $125m epic that took great artistic license with the biblical tale. A project the director had been wanting to make since as far back as 2007, the end result is a visually stunning and well-acted tale that unsurprisingly generated controversy given the source material. Noah had a troubled production, complete with rumors of creative differences between Aronofsky and Paramount regarding the final cut of the movie, and a ridiculous disclaimer that was added to the marketing materials after concerns from religious groups. Reception to the finished product has been divisive to say the least, but there is no doubting the director's determination to realize his vision. Ostensibly an art movie on a blockbuster scale, Noah delivers spectacular effects-laden set-pieces and emotionally complex moments in equal measure with a cast on top form, led by Russell Crowe's best performance in a decade. Many were predicting that Noah would bomb at the box office, but the movie ended up opening at the top of the domestic charts with a $43.7m debut and just about made it past $100m. The movie had a much stronger performance overseas where it has earned over 70% of its takings to make it Aronofsky's biggest hit, with a total north of $340m. However, Noah's grosses are a little over $15m higher than those of Black Swan, the director's previous biggest earner, which cost ten times less to make.