In the past few decades, the box office and the amount of revenue a franchise generates have become a massive thing and a driving factor in Hollywood in terms of why a film gets made. Two franchises that have completely dominated the box office and still to this day make mountains of money through merchandise and other avenues areHarry PotterandStar Wars.
RELATED: Star Wars Vs. Harry Potter: 10 Best Movies According To Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score
Star Warsis heralded as having helped kick off the era of the box office, while a few years later, J.K. Rowling's phenomenon brought in consistently unbelievably good box-office numbers across its decade run. Let's rank the movies based on Box Office Mojo numbers.
Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (2009): $934,326,396
Half-Blood Princesees Harry and Dumbledore get closer to figuring out the mystery of Voldemort, all while Draco and Snape are up to something sincerely cruel, all during Harry, Ron, and Hermione's last real year at Hogwarts.
As the saga neared its end, the films started earning similarly to the first installment, and whileHalf-Blood Princecan be a somewhat divisive film, people went to see it.
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix (2007): $942,044,510
Right beforeThe Half-Blood Prince,though, wasThe Order Of The Phoenixearning just a little bit more at the box office while following a troubling year for Harry following the return of Voldemort, as well as a close group of friends.
This movie had the hard task of putting into film form the longestHarry Potterbook, and it did so relatively well, considering it got giventhe shortest runtime of all the movies.
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010): $976,920,103
Part one of the epic finale of thePotterseries was a somber affair as Harry, Ron, and Hermione set off to find and destroy the Horcruxes with no real plan, leads, or direction to go in.
RELATED:Harry Potter: All Movies Ranked By Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score
The film was hurt by the fact that it always feels like it is just leading into the second part of which fans seemed to be more excited for in the end up. Nevertheless, it is a great movie and earned a brilliant amount at the box office.
Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone (2001): $978,087,613
The first entry to thePotterfranchise proved to be extremely popular as both a book and movie, with the first movie grossing nearly one billion dollars.
It was not untilOrder Of The Phoenixwhen thePotterfranchise reached over $900 million, and the first film proved its worth by staying relatively true to the source, and being very entertaining.
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999): $1,027,082,707
There was a next-level type of excitement in the world when it got announcedStar Warswould be returning withThe Phantom Menacestarting offthe prequel trilogy. While it disappointed some, it is beloved by new generations, and far more fondly remembered after all these years.
The $1 billion-plus box office was the highest inStar Warsfor sixteen years, and the Duel of the Fates alone was worth the price of admission multiple times.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016): $1,056,057,273
Rogue One: A Star Wars Storywas the first attempt at a standalone story, and it worked to incredible effect, becoming the third movie in the franchise to earn over $1 billion.
RELATED:
The entire third act of the film is one of the best in all ofStar Warsand was a treat in theatres. Despite a lack of character development, the action, visuals, and nods to the past ofStar Wars, as well as that Vader scene, all earned the movie its money.
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise Of Skywalker (2019): $1,074,144,248
WhileRogue Onewas pretty popular to all, with everyone having the same criticisms and positives for the film,The Rise Of Skywalker continued the sequel trilogy trend of being just plain divisive.
The movie earned a lot of money at the box office, but the argument will rage on for years about the film between critics and fans, andbetween the fans themselves.
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017): $1,332,539,889
Of course,The Rise Of Skywalkerdoes not compare toThe Last Jedion a divisiveness front. Upon release, the movie was loved by critics, hated by fans, and now it has simply split the fandom down the middle.
RELATED:
The movie has given way for a whole lot of toxicity, but despite that, the movie became the second biggestStar Warsmovie of all time and earned ahuge amount at the box office.
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011): $1,341,932,398
The conclusion of the Harry Potter story came in 2011 with one of the biggest blockbuster movies of all time, which saw a final confrontation and battle between Voldemort's forces and the heroes of the story.
The movie is in the top fifteen highest grossing movies worldwide of all time, and it may be a while until it is knocked out of the top twenty.
Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015): $2,068,223,624
WhileThe Rise Of SkywalkerandThe Last Jedi tore the fandom apart,The Force Awakensdid not. Upon release, it was extremely well received by all except a small pocket who refused to give Disney a chance.
The movie definitely has its flaws, mostly in its familiarity. But it is a great watch and broke box office records, remaining to this day the biggest domestic movie of all time at the box office.
NEXT: Every Star Wars Movie Ranked By Their Divisiveness Between Fans And Critics (According To Rotten Tomatoes)
