Ranking 10 Highest-Grossing Movie Franchises - From Worst To Best

4. Middle-Earth

Rank: 4th Total Worldwide Box Office: $5,883,468,587 No. Of Films: 6 Peter Jackson essentially brought the fantasy genre back from the dead with his near-perfect adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's seminal Lord of the Rings novels. Indeed, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings stands tall as arguably the greatest fantasy movie ever made, and its follow-ups - The Two Towers and The Return of the King - aren't close behind. The stroke of genius on Jackson's part came in the director's decision to render the films in the sword and sorcery fashion; less literary than the books, more action blockbusters. The world responded feverishly, and the money rolled in. Less successful, then, but admirable in a lot of ways, was Jackson's attempt to do the same with The Hobbit - and as a trilogy. Unfortunately the films were received less positively, mostly on the basis that they felt stretched out beyond measure (three films for one book? Big mistake!). So whilst the first and second chapters are good movies in their own right, the third - packed out with CGI - felt thin; more like a video game. Still, the work showcased across all 6 films was positively groundbreaking; Jackson dedicated a large portion of his life to the Middle-Earth franchise, and it shows.