Box Office: 2021 Top Ten

I've chronicled this over a number of my blogs over the years, but it's probably a good idea to finally do so at one dedicated to movies.  Here, then, according to numbers at Box Office Mojo as of this writing, are the ten highest grossing movies of 2021, both in the U.S. (the first list) and around the world (the second).

1. Spider-Man: No Way Home ($804 million) The MCU unsurprisingly broke the box office back wide open on the domestic front, driven in part by the unexpected chance to see three generations of the cinematic webslinger (the distributors really wanted to keep that a secret, but it's such an important element of the movie, and obviously many people have already seen the results, including probably everyone, at this point, who cared whether or not they knew about such spoilers).  This has been my least favorite incarnation of Spider-Man on the big screen, but as of this entry I think I can move past that.
2. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ($224 million) Equally unsurprisingly the next biggest winner is again from the MCU, though you'll find its success to be far more in-line with pandemic numbers as they finally began to expand again last year.  This is probably a film that would've performed at exactly these numbers ever before the pandemic, although of course now we'll never know.
3. Venom: Let There Be Carnage ($213 million) Technically associated with the MCU although moreso with the Sony/Spider-Man wing.  Me, I'll just be happy it's Tom Hardy in a bona fide hit, crowd-pleasing movie.
4. Black Widow ($183 million) The MCU strikes again, with an entry that's about a decade late, somehow featuring its original superheroine in the second entry in the franchise to be headlined by one, after her canonical death.  That's exactly where the MCU is these days, folks...
5. F9: The Fast Saga ($173 million) The surprisingly popular franchise that isn't the MCU has endured so long there's as many people baffled by its popularity as who continue to eat it up.  Like Black Widow, it's an installment that draws on material from earlier in the timeline, in more ways than one.  Dom's brother, for one.  But also: Han's back!
6. Eternals ($164 million) Like Shang-Chi I assume Eternals greatly benefited from lower expectations, another new MCU platform that might have seemed far more extraneous previously.  Now it's a welcome distraction and a top ten hit by default.
7. Sing 2 ($162 million) Given Disney's penchant for releasing so many of its recent animated films directly to streaming, a different studio claimed box office glory this year.
8. No Time to Die ($160 million) The final Daniel Craig entry in the James Bond franchise sends the actor out with a bang (I'd call it an historic entry that doesn't deserve the dismissive remarks it's so far generated).
9. A Quiet Place Part II ($160 million) Because these films share a premise with another movie (It Comes at Night) I've seen, I personally have little interest in watching them, because I'm not really a horror fan and so don't need to double down on such things.  Though clearly movie fans like them.
10. Ghostbusters: Afterlife ($129 million) It was nice to see this one succeed, although I wish it had followed its own story beats rather than eventually end on a familiar note.

Global results:

1. Spider-Man: No Way Home ($1,901 billion) As you can see, U.S. audiences were in perfect agreement with their global neighbors for most popular movie, which is usually the case.
2. The Battle at Lake Changjin ($902 million) The Chinese box office has surged to become the second most important one globally in recent years, although Chinese films themselves will only be successful like this there, whereas a global hit depends on how (or if) it plays there.
3. Hi, Mom ($822 million) Here's another Chinese movie.  Was never even released in the U.S.
4. No Time to Die ($774 million) Here's our first real difference, Craig's final turn as 007 having a much more rousing international reception.
5. F9: The Fast Saga ($726 million) A large part of why this series has been so popular is thanks to its multicultural cast, which no doubt helps its international appeal.
6. Detective Chinatown 3 ($686 million) Bet you can't guess which country produced this!
7. Venom: Let There Be Carnage ($506 million) At this point you'll notice how the MCU suffers if left out of Chinese theaters, and who benefits as a result.
8. Godzilla vs. Kong ($468 million) Here's a whole franchise that's been happening with very little actual attention drawn to it.
9. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ($432 million) You'd think this was made for Chinese audiences, but Chinese politics thought differently.
10. Sing 2 ($411 million) Just so you don't think its success was a fluke.