5. Independence Day (1996) - $817.4 million
A second appearance on the list for Roland Emmerich, proving that audiences have a strange fascination with watching the end of the world unfold on the big screen. At least, they do when it's this much fun. Emmerich and writing partner Dean Devlin bashed out the screenplay in a month and less than a week after it landed on the studio desk they were in pre-production, showing that studio executives love high-concept alien invasions as much as we so. When Independence Day was first released it set the record for highest-grossing weekend of all time, became the second-highest grossing film ever, and remains one of the most entertaining blockbusters ever released. One of the first mega-budget movies to fully embrace the oncoming CGI revolution and present disaster on a
massive scale, the signature shot of the White House being destroyed remains one of the most iconic shots in the history of Hollywood pyrotechnics. Despite being criticized, like most Roland Emmerich movies, for stereotypical characters and wooden dialogue (Bill Pullman's speech is more than cringeworthy when viewed today), the movie still became a global phenomenon with the visual spectacle of the alien invasion reassuring cinemagoers that this would be much more expansive than two hours of jingoistic Americana. Despite the ludicrous ending, when a highly advanced species are felled by a computer virus (in 1996!) and a crop-duster destroys a city-sized spaceship, it is still popcorn entertainment of the highest form.