#797. Box Office 2014

1. American Sniper ($344 mil)
Late entry became a huge hit.  Good movie, too.

2. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 ($337 mil)
Third of four movies in the trilogy had the year's box office crown until it was taken away.  It's maybe time to think about telling a final book's story in one movie.

3. Guardians of the Galaxy ($333 mil)
Obviously American Sniper was a big surprise success, but this one might still be considered bigger.

4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($259 mil)
Arguably made Cap relevant.

5. The LEGO Movie ($257 mil)
Honestly, the fact that they made a watchable movie at all was another big surprise from the year.  Are you catching on to the fact that 2014 was basically one surprise after another yet?

6. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies ($254 mil)
Surely a respectable total for the conclusion to a movie experience everyone demanded up until the first entry was actually released.  As opposed to the Harry Potter/Twilight/Hunger Games model, Jackson's complete reworking of a single book is ultimately more justifiable creatively, although popularly a much harder sell.

7. Transformers: Age of Extinction ($245 mil)
Two former franchise titans in a row falling on much smaller totals.  It's okay.  Explosions still happen randomly, yo.

8. Maleficent ($241 mil)
Two big hits with female leads in 2014 should hopefully continue to shape the future of movies in a more equal direction.

9. X-Men: Days of the Future Past ($233 mil)
About on par with series best (X-Men: The Last Stand, believe it or not).

10. Big Hero 6 ($221 mil)
Who's gonna pretend that anyone cares about this one for any reason other than Baymax?

12. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ($202 mil) Say goodbye, autonomy...
15. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ($191 mil) Megan Fox is totally the reason this succeeded.
16. Interstellar ($188 mil) Nolan's thunder has fallen, but he can still pack them in.
18. Gone Girl ($167 mil) A solid hit that in the pre-franchise era would certainly have been in the top ten.
19. Divergent ($150 mil) The just-released sequel will boost the series to greater awareness.
21. Ride Along ($134 mil) Kevin Hart's biggest hit of the year.
24. Lucy ($126 mil) Scarlett Johannson is a lot less naked in this movie than her other 2014 release, but she's also a lot smarter.
25. The Fault in Our Stars ($124 mil) Shailene Woodley is less divergent in this one, but is also in far greater mortal peril.
26. Unbroken ($115 mil) Angelina Jolie curses the North Koreans, Clint Eastwood, but still smiles her way to the bank.
27. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb ($112 mil) The last time wide audiences saw Robin Williams.
29. 300: Rise of an Empire ($106 mil) Honestly, chalk this one up to Eva Green.
32. Noah ($101 mil) Russell Crowe's biggest headlining act in years.
33. Edge of Tomorrow ($100 mil) Tom Cruise has probably lost the struggle for mainstream credibility at this point, but he can still pack them in.  And actually, a lot of people credited Emily Blunt as the real reason this movie was surprisingly better than they thought it'd be.
36. The Imitation Game ($90 mil) Benedict Cumberbatch is officially a box office draw.  Or it's Keira Knightley's biggest hit in years.
37. Dumb and Dumber To ($86 mil) Jim Carrey stepped so far away from hit movies in recent years, it's not surprising that he finally made his second sequel.
38. Annie ($85 mil) Have you seriously still not seen Quvenzhane Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild?
39. Fury ($85 mil) He proved himself to be a brilliant directer with End of Watch but was completely dismissed with Sabotage, so the success here must have been gratifying for David Ayer.  Probably didn't hurt to have Brad Pitt aboard.
40. Tammy ($84 mil) Melissa McCarthy's hot streak cooled, but at least her passion project was still a hit.
42. The Other Woman ($83 mil) Totally a hit because of Kate Upton.
45. The Monuments Men ($78 mil) This highly unusual WWII movie will probably have viewers debating it for years.
46. Hercules ($72 mil) Dwayne Johnson basically apologizes for The Scorpion King.
50. Exodus: Gods and Kings ($65 mil) Ridley Scott returns to historical epics.
54. Planes: Fire & Rescue ($59 mil) My nephews are obsessed.
55. The Grand Budapest Hotel ($59 mil) Still haven't seen it.  But this will change.
62. Muppets Most Wanted ($51 mil) Well, slightly less wanted than the last one.
65. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit ($50 mil) Honestly, the marketers dropped the ball, considering this came out not long after Tom Clancy's death.
66. If I Stay ($50 mil) Chloe Grace Moretz is not going anywhere.  She's, yes, here to stay.
73. The Giver ($45 mil) Still haven't read the book.  Still haven't seen the movie.
74. St. Vincent ($44 mil) Bill Murray.  That is, St. Bill.
76. A Million Ways to Die in the West ($43 mil) I still want to see this.
78. Birdman ($42 mil) Would have been awesome to see huge support for this one.
85. The Theory of Everything ($35 mil) ...except how to make Stephen Hawking a box office smash.
89. Nightcrawler ($32 mil) Jake Gyllanhaal might not always have hit movies, but he always leaves his audience intrigued.
93. Deliver Us From Evil ($30 mil) Considering what he's done lately, this is actually a huge hit for Eric Bana.
100. Boyhood ($25 mil) In twelve years, this movie will be more popular than American Sniper.
107. Brick Mansions ($20 mil) Posthumous bid on the part of Paul Walker to be taken seriously as an actor.
113. A Most Wanted Man ($17 mil) I'll see this at some point.
123. Frank Miller's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For ($13 mil) Loved it.
125. Whiplash ($13 mil) In which J.K. Simmons is finally acknowledged to be awesome.
126. Winter's Tale ($12 mil) In which Colin Farrell and crew are once again awesome.
127. Foxcatcher ($12 mil) In which Steve Carell does Despicable Me in live action.  And is far less cuddly.
128. Belle ($10 mil) In which Gugu Mbatha-Raw is once again awesome.
129. The Drop ($10 mil) In which Tom Hardy is raw.
131. Magic in the Moonlight ($10 mil) In which Woody Allen is once again in relative obscurity.
137. Inherent Vice ($8 mil) Thomas Pynchon be box office magic, yo.
141. The Interview ($6 mil) North Koreans call this the feel-good movie of the year.  Right?
143. A Most Violent Year ($5 mil) In which Jessica Chastain is once again awesome.
145. The Skeleton Twins ($5 mil) In which Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader are once again awesome.
147. Snowpiercer ($4 mil) Chris Evans had a much smaller hit with this one, but about the same amount of favorable buzz.
152. Mr. Turner ($3 mil) Hey, would Timothy Spall make a better friend than pet rat?
156. Wish I Was Here ($3 mil) Actually, I'm sure Zach Braff wished it had earned a lot more.
161. Veronica Mars ($3 mil) And Kickstarter's chances of funding the next blockbuster are...
162. Before I Go To Sleep ($3 mil) I will see this.
198. Locke ($1 mil) Great, great movie.
199. Gimme Shelter ($1 mil) Vanessa Hudgens may yet be taken seriously.
200. Force Majeure ($1 mil) The French!  The French!
205. Hector and the Search for Happiness ($1 mil) I will see this, too.
224. Life Itself ($800 thou) The movie about Roger Ebert.
243. The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby ($500 thou) Jessica Chastain is even more awesome here.
249. Dom Hemingway ($500 thou) In which critics love Jude Law.
304. The Zero Theorem ($200 thou) Seriously awesome.
329. Horns ($100 thou) Joe Hill has a long way to go before he's as popular as his dad.
351. Knights of Badassdom ($100 thou) Definitely need to see this.

Source: Box Office Mojo