50 Highest-Grossing Movies Of All Time Ranked
5. Finding Nemo (2003)
Box Office: $940.3 million (#44)
A classic of contemporary animation and one of Pixar's very best efforts, Finding Nemo remains every bit the eye-popping, hilariously witty and affecting deep-sea tale it was back in 2003.
Superbly co-written and directed by Andrew Stanton, Nemo crackles with energy and beauty in every frame, boasts some of Pixar's best-loved characters and even one of the studio's most memorable recurring gags ("Mine!").
It is cinema at its most delightful and magical, really: a tribute to the diverse life living in our oceans, and a testament to the mind-bogglingly creative humans who brought the story to life.
4. The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (2003)
Box Office: $1.119 billion (#19)
This is it. The big one. The threequel you need to put an entire afternoon aside to watch and process, and though its ending has been widely-ridiculed for over-extending itself, it does nevertheless deliver an incredible, emphatic conclusion to this epic trilogy.
Though many franchise-cappers end up short-changing characterisation in place of bombast and broad emotion, Return of the King has its cake and eats it too, paying off the expected set-pieces alongside the ever-deepening characters.
Even 15 years later, it's still shocking that the Academy actually gave a fantasy film - and a fantasy threequel at that - the Best Picture Oscar, but that's simply a testament to how shockingly well-crafted (bar some CGI that was already wonky in 2003) and impeccably told the movie is.
3. Jurassic Park (1993)
Box Office: $1.029 billion (#28)
Among the most impressive and well-aged blockbusters of all time, Jurassic Park sees Steven Spielberg at his most fearless and technically superlative.
With an all-timer premise, terrific characters brought to life by a fantastic cast, a killer array of one-liners, an awe-inspiring John Williams score and a surplus of stomach-knottingly tense action, it's a one-of-a-kind movie that not one of its sequels has ever really lived up to.
The visual effects have aged so astonishingly well over the last 25 years they still shame a lot of modern movies, cleverly making minimalist use of CGI rather than garishly bringing it out front-and-centre (looking at you, Jurassic World).
2. The Dark Knight (2008)
Box Office: $1.004 billion (#34)
A blockbuster that helped redefine the way people look at superhero movies, The Dark Knight saw Christopher Nolan deliver a Michael Mann-esque crime thriller with capes, with Batman (Christian Bale) firmly having his limelight stolen by an Oscar-winning Heath Ledger as The Joker, and an under-appreciated Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent.
Beautifully filmed, blisteringly intense, superbly scored and whip-smart to boot, it kick-started a trend of gritty imitators, none of which have managed to live up to the singular brilliance of arguably the greatest comic book movie ever made.
A decade later, it still stands tall as a high-point of not just superhero cinema, but large-scale filmmaking as a whole.
1. Toy Story 3 (2010)
Box Office: $1.067 billion (#23)
Even hardcore Toy Story fans were somewhat sceptical that Pixar could strike gold three times in a row, but lo and behold, Toy Story 3 delivered an alternately heart-warming and heartbreaking finale - or not, with Toy Story 4 now due out next year - to the franchise.
It's a film so devastatingly upfront about the joy of play, the pain of growing up and the ultimate impermanence of everything, that you might only choose to watch it occasionally. For children, it's a riveting animated adventure, but for adults? It's a stunning meditation on humanity that will definitely leave you sobbing.
Outside of its deeper and heavier themes, though, it's beautifully crafted, full of hilarious sight gags - Mr. Tortilla Head! - and a virtually flawless sequel to its two masterful predecessors.
How would you rank the highest-grossing movies of all time? Shout it out in the comments!