The Highest-Grossing Movie From Each June Of The Past Decade

Paramount Pictures’ rival studios wisely anticipated their Top Gun: Maverick to soar, and kept the first weekend of June empty. However, Jurassic World Dominion opened strong on the 10th, making $143,370,000 over its first three days of domestic release, according to Box Office Mojo, which provided all financial data for box office calculations.

Time will tell if Pixar’s buzzy Lightyear can overtake it, but it wouldn’t be the first time one of the animation studio’s movies beat a June-released entry in the rampaging dinosaur franchise.
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY

2021 — F9: The Fast Saga ($173 Million)

The highly anticipated F9: The Fast Saga set the stage for the two-part franchise finale, kicking off with Fast X in 2023. However, while it’s considered about on par with previous entries, it didn’t make nearly as much money. With that being said, F9 was also released in the midst of the pandemic, so there was a natural decrease in revenue from installment to installment.

Regardless of comparison to its predecessors, F9 was the top-grosser released in June of 2021 and it stands to reason that the conclusive nature of Fast X and its immediate sequel will guarantee even higher tallies.

2020 — Becky ($1 Million)

The COVID-19 pandemic took a particularly big bite out of 2020’s box office, so what would typically be a seat-packing month was instead populated by closed theaters. But a few were open, and those that showed Becky didn’t regret it. While the film only made $1 million and some change, it was still a success given the fact it played in at most 54 theaters.

Starring Kevin James as a determined and murderous skinhead, Becky flips actor’s typical persona on its head to an underrated effect. Still, as good as James is in the film, his work doesn’t hold a candle to Lulu Wilson’s as the titular protagonist.

2019 — Toy Story 4 ($434 Million)

Some would prefer another great solo Pixar movie over a continuation of the Toy Story franchise— which picks up again with June 2022’s Lightyear—but Toy Story 4 still managed to be both the highest-grossing movie of June 2019 as well as the third-highest-grossing movie of the year overall, behind only Avengers: Endgame and The Lion King.

The idea of Toy Story 4 felt unnecessary after the franchise was perfectly wrapped up with 2010’s Toy Story 3, but its dollars were still well-deserved as it’s a sweet, touching film and a fitting sendoff for Woody.

2018 — Incredibles 2 ($609 Million)

Were it not for Pixar’s highly-anticipated Incredibles 2 netting a domestic tally worthy of its title, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom would have been the United States’ highest-grossing movie of June at nearly $418 million. While that’s a sharp drop from Trevorrow’s 2015 film, Jurassic World also had 14 years of building anticipation after the lackluster Jurassic Park III.

So too for The Incredibles and its sequel, which outperformed the original even accounting for inflation. The Incredibles made about $261.5 million in 2004, which equates to about $404.5 million in 2022. That film’s equally excellent sequel made nearly $610 million domestic, a 1.5 multiple over its predecessor in terms of ticket sales.

2017 — Wonder Woman ($413 Million)

Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman had an uncertain future in front of it ahead of release given the poor critical and commercial reception of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. That being said, her debut was widely deemed one of that controversial yet underrated film’s stronger aspects.

Even still, the fact that a solo Wonder Woman movie exceeded the domestic gross of the first live-action film to pair Batman and Superman onscreen remains wildly impressive. But Jenkins’ 2017 work is more than one of many superhero movies released in a given year, as it was a step forward for gender representation in genre cinema.

2016 — Finding Dory ($486 Million)

People weren’t exactly asking for a sequel to Pixar’s superb Finding Nemo, but they got one in the form of a similarly-titled film focusing on the original’s iconic supporting character.

Not only was Finding Dory the highest-grossing film of June 2016, but it was also the top earner for the year as a whole. As the sequel to one of the best Pixar movies, Dory was always going to just keep swimming in the box office gold, but it certainly helped that it stands as one of the animation studios’ best follow-ups.

2015 — Jurassic World ($652 Million)

According to The Numbers, Jurassic World is one of only eight films to cross the $200 million mark at the domestic box office over a three-day span. The first film to achieve this feat was 2012’s The Avengers, the second was World, while the third was released later that same year—Star Wars: The Force Awakens—and blew Jurassic World’s $208,806,270 out of the water with $247, 966, 675.

Furthermore, like Finding Dory, Jurassic World wasn’t just the top earner of the month, but for the entire year. Jurassic World was an event film, the definition of a Summer blockbuster, and it performed as such.

2014 — Transformers: Age Of Extinction ($245 Million)

Michael Bay’s Transformers franchise took a natural hit after Transformers: Dark of the Moon concluded Sam Witwicky’s arc in 2011. While the Autobots and Decepticons are the financial draws over the presence of Shia Labeouf, there was still an air of the novelty very much having worn off.

The first Transformers did very well in the Summer of 2007 with $319 million domestic, but Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen did even better two short years later with a $402 million domestic haul. Dark of the Moon had already dipped from Fallen’s peak to $352 million, so a rebooted installment would naturally make less, as audience interest had already begun to dwindle. Even still, while Transformers: Age of Extinction introduced the Dinobots and stands as the highest-grossing film of June 2014, there’s little doubt that its fall of over $100 million domestic deemed it a disappointment. However, the franchise would still return three years later with the dreadful Transformers: The Last Knight, which received a response at the box office comparable to its quality ($130 million).

2013 — Man Of Steel ($291 Million)

Zack Snyder’s vision for the DCEU will, unfortunately, not come to fruition. This includes his conceptualization for Superman in not only the two sequels to Justice League but a possible sequel to his wildly underrated Man of Steel, as well.

There are plenty of visionary directors who can take on Man of Steel 2, and the truth of the matter is that Snyder’s film didn’t set the financial bar very high, as Man of Steel would swiftly have its domestic tally exceeded by the Universe’s two follow-ups. Batman v Superman beating a Superman solo movie with $330 million is a surprise only for how small the disparity is. But then there’s Suicide Squad, which had a buzzy marketing campaign but no box office draw characters like the bat or the man from Krypton. Yet, even that movie exceeded Man of Steel with $325 million. The DCEU didn’t get off to a rollicking start, but it did at least own the month of June 2013.

2012 — Brave ($237 Million)

It may have won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film, but Brave still stands as one of Pixar’s most underrated efforts. The first film from the studio to feature a female protagonist, Brave perfectly casts Kelly Macdonald (Trainspotting) as Merida, a teenage princess who fancies herself more a warrior.

They may not be Toy Story or Finding Nemo numbers, but Brave’s $237 million domestic is nothing to scoff at, and it secured the film’s place as the top-grossing work from June 2012.

NEXT: The Best Solo Pixar Movies, According To Ranker