For a long time, nearly every video game movie was a trainwreck that bombed at the box office. For whatever reason, filmmakers have struggled to capture the magic of our favorite video games and bring them to the big screen. I mean, look at the original Super Mario Bros. movie from 1993 compared to the animated film from a few years ago. It’s a night and day difference.

Video game movies are becoming a legitimate threat at the box office, thanks in part to better and more successful adaptations of their source material. So with that in mind, we wanted to figure out what the highest grossing video game movies of all time were. Let’s get to it!

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Box Office: $274 million

Angelina Jolie’s run at playing Lara Croft wasn’t anything to write home about in the early 2000s, especially the terrible sequel, The Cradle of Life.

For a video game movie in the 2000s, though, Tomb Raider checks all the boxes and delivers on mindless, popcorn action.

Five Nights at Freddy’s

Box Office: $297 million

I feel like this movie was going to make hundreds of millions of dollars no matter what, given the franchise’s fanbase.

It’s not perfect, often feeling like more of a love letter to Five Nights at Freddy’s than an actual film, but it’s entertaining enough for its core demographic, and that’s good enough.

Resident Evil: Afterlife

Box Office: $300 million

Despite seeing virtually no critical success, the Milla Jovovich Resident Evil franchise delivers less on survival horror and more on, like Tomb Raider, mindless fun.

The biggest reason for its box office success, though, was its strong performance overseas.

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Resident Evil: The Final Chapter

Box Office: $312 million

If you’ve seen all the Resident Evil movies over the past decade, you might as well see the last one, right?

The Final Chapter doesn’t have the worst reviews out there, helping it have a surprisingly successful run at the domestic box office.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Box Office: $320 million

Remember when the internet bullied this movie over Sonic’s design? I do.

It turns out that we were doing it a favor, because the Sonic the Hedgehog movie was a huge success, proving that good writing and strong acting (looking at you, Jim Carrey) can help deliver a great video game movie.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Box Office: $336 million

Look, I gotta be honest: I have no idea how this movie grossed over $300 million.

Disney touted this as “the new Pirates of the Caribbean,” but it was anything but. Like Resident Evil: Afterlife, it was carried by its international box office numbers.

The Angry Birds Movie

Box Office: $352 million

For those who don’t remember what it was like in the early 2010s, Angry Birds was everywhere. One of the most popular mobile games of all time, it was a surprisingly deep strategy game that offered far more engaging gameplay compared to Candy Crush Saga.

A movie adaptation was inevitable, as was its success.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Box Office: $405 million

Now that the cat’s out of the bag about how good Sonic the Hedgehog was, combined with a world more likely to head to the movies after COVID-19, you have the recipe for a successful sequel.

Oh, and it added Idris Elba as Knuckles the Echidna.

Uncharted

Box Office: $407 million

The plot is, somehow, boring. The characters are horribly miscast. But this is why I’m writing this article and not producing movies.

Uncharted made a lot of money at the box office, and a sequel is currently in development.

Rampage

Box Office: $428 million

Less of a video game movie and more of a Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson action flick, Rampage rode his star power to an impressive box office return that puts other, far better movies to shame.

Warcraft

Box Office: $439 million

As someone who loves Warcraft and wants to see an adaptation of Warcraft III, this one hurt.

However, like so many other movies I’ve talked about, it was carried by a strong international box office performance.

Pokémon Detective Pikachu

Box Office: $450 million

They put Ryan Reynolds in a movie with a talking Pikachu, of course it was going to make nearly half a billion dollars.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Box Office: $492 million

This time, they added Keanu Reeves as Shadow the Hedgehog.

Oh, and Jim Carrey is now playing two characters. I’m curious to see if anything can stop the Sonic movie franchise.

A Minecraft Movie

Box Office: $955 million

It may not be as good as the movie we’ll talk about next, but A Minecraft Movie was a cultural phenomenon that helped make it earn nearly $1 billion at the box office.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Box Office: $1.3 billion

One of the most faithful video game adaptations of all time, The Super Mario Bros. Movie overcame its head scratching voice cast to become, and I’m dead serious, one of 2023’s best films.

It’s funny, whimsical, light hearted, and charming, everything you could ever want from a video game movie.

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