These movies made the most money at the box office this year

2023 is winding down, so we're looking back at the biggest movies of the year. This was a year dominated at the box office by Disney, Marvel, Mario, and Barbie. One of the most notable events this year came in July when the tonally distinct movies Barbie and Oppenheimer released on the same day, sparking the "Barbenheimer" phenomenon that became a meme.

Both movies performed exceptionally well, with Greta Gerwig's Barbie expected to finish 2023 as the year's highest-grossing movie globally with more than $1.4 billion. Oppenheimer did great as well, collecting more than $950 million in box office receipts to become director Christopher Nolan's highest-grossing non-Batman movie in his entire career.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie also made a splash in 2023, releasing in April and generating more than $1 billion. That makes it the highest-grossing video game movie (by far!) and many believe it could lead to Hollywood studios tapping into video game properties even more (Nintendo is partnering with Sony for a live-action Zelda movie, too).

2023 was also memorable for being the first year since 2014 that Disney did not have a billion-dollar movie. In 2019, the company had seven movies that grossed $1 billion or more. This year, Disney still had a gigantic year, with movies like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Little Mermaid, Elemental, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania collectively grossing more than $2.5 billion worldwide.

Read on to see the top 10 highest-grossing movies of 2023 at the global box office. You can also read GameSpot's rundown of the top 10 biggest box office disappointments of 2023. All box office figures come from BoxOfficeMojo.com

10. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Worldwide box office: $476 million

Marvel's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was one of the first big movies of 2023. It released in February and, despite a slow start (by Marvel movie standards) it will finish 2023 as the No. 10 highest-grossing movie of the year with $476 million globally. The movie didn't get the best reviews and won't go down as being particularly memorable within the MCU. But it did the business regardless.

9. Elemental

Worldwide box office: $495.9 million

Another Disney movie, Elemental from the esteemed animation studio Pixar was released in June. It was regarded by some to be a commercial disappointment, but it still banked close to $500 million worldwide to rank inside the top 10 for 2023. The movie, which tells the story of anthropomorphic elements of nature, enjoyed another lease on life when it came to Disney+ later in the year.

8. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

Worldwide box office: $567.5 million

You can count on Tom Cruise movies making a lot of money at the box office, and this proved to be the case with Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One. It may not have been Cruise's most commercially successful movie, but it still earned more than $500 million worldwide. The planned sequel is set for release in 2025.

7. The Little Mermaid

Worldwide box office: $569.6 million

Disney's latest live-action remake, The Little Mermaid starring Halley Bailey, was not Disney's most successful remake, but it still brought in more than $550 million worldwide. Movies like The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast did better, but $569.6 million is nothing to scoff at and speaks to the enormous popularity of Disney's movies in general.

6. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Worldwide box office: $690.5 million

Sony's Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse earned more than $690 million at the global box office this year to rank No. 6 overall for the year. The movie, which brings together numerous different versions of Spider-Man, was also very highly regarded critically. It bears a striking and beautiful art style, too, that many enjoyed and commented on.

5. Fast X

Worldwide box office: $704.7 million

Death. Taxes. And Fast and Furious movies making a lot of money. You can bet on these things, and Fast X lived up. The 10th movie in the main series earned more than $700 million worldwide to place fifth for 2023. We just love watching Vin Diesel drive fast cars, don't we?

4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Worldwide box office: $845.5 million

Disney's most successful movie of 2023 was Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which made close to $850 million. It ended the existing Guardians saga and also marked the last Guardians movie from writer-director James Gunn, who now heads up DC's movie studio. As mentioned, Disney's streak of having at least one movie make $1 billion or more ended in 2023, with Vol. 3 being the closest Disney got to that mark this year.

3. Oppenheimer

Worldwide box office: $950.5 million

Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer will finish 2023 as the No. 3 highest-grossing movie of the year and the director's most successful non-Batman movie ever. The movie tells the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb, with Cillian Murphy playing the lead role and turning in one of his best performances ever.

2. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Worldwide box office: $1.361 billion

Nintendo didn't have a great track record with Mario movies until this year, and what success it had with The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The film banked more than $1.361 billion dollars and was looking like it could become 2023's highest-grossing movie (until Barbie came along). The movie is the highest-grossing video game film of all time (by far!) and its success may very well inspire other studios to ramp up their own efforts to adapt video games for the screen. Nintendo and Universal are expected to make a sequel, and while we wait for that, Nintendo already announced a deal with Sony to make a live-action Legend of Zelda movie.

1. Barbie

Worldwide box office: $1.441 billion

From director Greta Gerwig, the Barbie movie stars Margot Robbie as a Barbie doll who thinks about dying and has an existential breakthrough. The movie made more than $1.44 billion and spawned many memes, which is something that matters in 2023. Ryan Gosling starred opposite Robbie as Ken, who had his own emotional and spiritual journey through the course of the story. Despite the gigantic success of Barbie, Robbie—who was a producer on the film–has said fans should not expect a sequel.