20 Highest-Grossing Movie Franchises Ranked Worst To Best

Worldwide box office: $5.9 billion.

Most of the franchises on this list are fantastic creations which are more than deserving of their massive box office hauls, but none are quite as good as Peter Jackson's epic fantasy masterpiece based on the work of the great J.R.R Tolkien.

The Middle-earth series debuted in 2001 with The Fellowship of the Ring, a film which transported audiences to a world unlike any other.

Crafted with a deep passion for the source material, filmed simultaneously in the natural backdrop of New Zealand, the trilogy is overflowing with innovative special effects, awesome battle sequences, rich mythology, harrowing drama and a monumental musical score.

Unrivalled in both consistency and scope, the Lord of the Rings trilogy broke all the rules, shattered box office records, and captured the imagination of millions of viewers worldwide. Hell, even the less-than-stellar Hobbit trilogy that followed had its strong points.

Between the acting, action, scale and visually beauty, the Middle-earth franchise is the best of the world's highest-grossing film franchises, and it's going to take a miracle to ever top it.