Even though franchises have long been a key to sustained success in Hollywood, one of the biggest stories of the 2010s is how many franchise movies are the cornerstones of yearly box office charts. Reboots and long-awaited sequels have revived some major properties in recent years, while plenty of other original ideas have launched incredibly successful movie series. And in many cases, the desire has been to grow from just having one franchise to an entire cinematic universe.
The proof of the popularity of these franchises can be seen in the box office alone, as all but one year this decade ended with a sequel in a franchise taking the top spot at the worldwide box office. The only exception to this pattern was Frozen in 2013, but the $1.1 billion hit has since become a franchise, with the release of Frozen 2 this year even surpassing the original’s box office tally. A quick look ahead to the start of a new decade will show that the reliance on franchises is going to continue in 2020.
With every major studio trying to find their key franchise and build off of it, there have been plenty of misses both in terms of quality and profits. But, there were also many franchises that delivered and became significant properties in the process. Now that the decade is coming to a close, audiences can look back at the best franchises from 2010 – 2019. The following list is the best movie franchises of the decade; in order to qualify, a property needed to have at least three films released since 2010 (which is why the likes of Toy Story, Creed, Jump Street, The Raid, and many others are not featured below).
10. Fast & Furious
Movies: Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6, Furious 7, The Fate of the Furious, Hobbs & Shaw
Although the Fast & Furious franchise was well underway prior to this decade, the 2010s is where the films really found their stride. The introduction of Dwayne Johnson’s Luke Hobbs in Fast Five essentially serves as the launch of a new era and brought more star power to the property. The franchise has since embraced creating massive, unbelievable action sequences fans have responded positively to. The quality may have dipped a bit with certain films, but the popularity has skyrocketed, as Furious 7 is currently the ninth highest-grossing movie ever. And with the recent launch of their first spinoff in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, the success has continued — and looks to continue doing so in the next decade, with Fast & Furious 9 on the horizon.
9. DCEU
Movies: Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Justice League, Aquaman, Shazam!
The DC Extended Universe — as it has unofficially been named — began in 2013 and went through several iterations during this span. The pinnacle of the franchise was Wonder Woman, a movie that shattered expectations and made Gal Gadot’s superhero the new focal point of the universe. Outside of Shazam! though, every other film has been met with a mixed reception. While that means there are plenty of naysayers about some DCEU films, those same movies have also become favorites of the passionate fan base. This decade proved to be a divisive launch for the universe, but the good still outweighs the bad —Aquaman made over $1 billion worldwide — and the future looks incredibly bright with DC’s promising slate of in-development projects.
8. X-Men
Movies: X-Men: First Class, The Wolverine, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Deadpool, X-Men: Apocalypse, Logan, Deadpool 2, Dark Phoenix
Fox’s X-Men franchise may have begun in 2000, but this decade signaled the start of a new era. They soft-rebooted core characters with X-Men: First Class in 2011 thanks to Matthew Vaughn. The younger cast was then involved in the ambitious crossover that was X-Men: Days of Future Past, which solidified the evolution of the franchise while remembering what came before. While later entries in the main series stumbled (see Dark Phoenix’s box office), the overall franchise thrived experimenting with R-rated movies. Logan served as a perfect send-off to Hugh Jackman’s time as Wolverine and the Deadpool franchise showed why Ryan Reynolds fought to make it for so long. It’s easy to just remember more recent stumblings, but the X-Men franchise as a whole had a terrific decade.
7. The Hunger Games
Movies: The Hunger Games, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2
One of the quickest franchises to make this list, The Hunger Games is a defining franchise of the decade without question. The four films made nearly $3 billion at the box office and is responsible for the high interest in the Young Adult book adaptation craze that swept through Hollywood for a few years. The likes of Divergent and The Maze Runner tried to build on The Hunger Games’ success, but they both fell short to varying degrees. It also is the franchise that showed Jennifer Lawrence can be a major star, resulting in her being moved more to the forefront of the X-Men movies and making her a recurring nominee at the Academy Awards. It may have ultimately hurt the franchise to split the final book into two films, but the giant fanbase built by them is one reason why there’s already a discussion to turn the upcoming prequel book into another movie.
6. Star Wars
Movies: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
The return of Star Wars in 2015 appeared to launch the franchise into another stratosphere. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was praised by all audiences, recorded a then-all-time record opening weekend, and made over $2 billion worldwide when everything was said and done. Disney and Lucasfilm then expanded the franchise like never before by making anthology films, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story made another $1 billion.
However, the goodwill started to fade after this point, as Star Wars: The Last Jedi continues to divide audiences to this day. The divisiveness hasn’t left the franchise since, with now similar debates dominating the conversation about Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Still, these films made over $5 billion combined (and counting).
5. How To Train Your Dragon
Movies: How to Train Your Dragon, How to Train Your Dragon 2, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
As the only animated franchise to make this list, How to Train Your Dragon is arguably the best animated franchise to come out this decade. The boy and his dog story translated to a young Viking and his dragon, Hiccup and Toothless, is the foundation for what became a moving tale about growing up. All three of the films were incredibly well-received critically on the back of Dean DeBlois’ direction and helped make How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World such a moving finale. Grossing over $1.6 billion worldwide with just three films, audiences clearly came to appreciate the trilogy as it continued. And with the stunning visuals featured throughout, everything about the franchise clicks and earned How to Train Your Dragon a place on this list.
4. John Wick
Movies: John Wick, John Wick: Chapter 2, John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
It’s impossible to discuss the best and decade-defining franchises without mentioning John Wick. The first film was a humble low-budget action-filled movie with a simple story that barely made any money at the box office, but it and the franchise quickly gained a cult status. Instead of maintaining a small group of fans though, the franchise has become massively popular with the release of the sequels. It also revitalized Keanu Reeves career as a leading man and action star, perfectly utilizing his skills to give him another iconic character in his filmography. Audiences now know that the John Wick films will deliver top-notch fights filled with inventive kills and that expectation will hold for the upcoming fourth installment.
3. Mission: Impossible
Movies: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, Mission: Impossible - Fallout
The Mission: Impossible franchise found new life this decade. The spy films starring Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt were popular before, but Ghost Protocol’s release in 2011 shepherded in a new direction. With a daredevil like Cruise at the heart of each film, the franchise has continued to push the boundaries of what stunts they can accomplish practically with their set pieces. This decade has seen the franchise deliver adrenaline-filled moments like Cruise running on the walls of the tallest building in the world, holding onto the side of an airplane taking off, and even pulling off a real skydiving sequence. These sequences are simply phenomenal and some of the best of the decade, while the franchise as a whole has developed the world around Ethan. After raking in over $2 billion in three films and continuing Cruise’s run as a movie star, it’s no wonder that two more Mission: Impossible films from director Christopher McQuarrie are in the works.
2. Planet of the Apes
Movies: Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, War for the Planet of the Apes
The return of the Planet of the Apes franchise this decade was nothing short of phenomenal in terms of what the three movies delivered. Rupert Wyatt laid the foundation for Matt Reeves to step in and elevate the franchise to new heights with the sequels. Not only did the story progress in fascinating ways, but Planet of the Apes and Andy Serkis’ work as Caesar showed what was possible with performance capture technology. There’s a reason so many championed him getting an Oscar nomination for one of these films. The perfection of his craft radiates throughout the series as other characters like Koba (Toby Kebbell) and Bad Ape (Steve Zahn) to shine. And while many other franchises make their mark with spectacle, Planet of the Apes is at its best when it’s focusing on its characters and dealing with evolution of the species. Disney has a difficult task ahead of them with their plans to reboot the franchise.
1. Marvel Cinematic Universe
Movies: Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the franchise of the 2010s. Marvel Studios released 21 movies over the course of the decade and grossed a whopping $21.7 billion worldwide. Breaking box office records has become common practice for them, with Avengers: Endgame now the highest-grossing movie of all-time. This isn’t just possible because of the legions of Marvel faithful though, but because the MCU constantly delivers quality and entertaining films, with only a few misses along the way. They’ve also managed to change up genres to keep audiences on their toes, in order to prevent “superhero fatigue” from becoming a reality. And, in delivering on the promise of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, the journey to get to those films proved to be worth it all. Whether or not the MCU can maintain this quality and dominance in the next decade remains to be seen, but they’re the clear winners of the last ten years.
More: Every Upcoming Marvel Movie (2020-2022)
