Top 10 Most Watched Movies In The World

Movies have impacted the lives of millions of people, whether by motivating them to pursue their goals or helping them deal with personal pain.

Some of the best life lessons have come from renowned movies like UP, Forest Gump, and The Shawshank Redemption, like never giving up no matter how hard life gets.

Furthermore, people love watching movies through different platforms, whether action, adventure, drama, or crime thriller suspense.

Some of the most iconic movies, like Gone with the Wind and The Godfather, are among the best-known and most successful in film history.

Here is the list of the top 10 most-watched movies in the world of all time.

10. The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz is an American musical fantasy movie directed by Victor Fleming and produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

It was adapted from the 1900 children’s fantasy novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum.

The movie starred Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Billie Burke and Margaret Hamilton, Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allan Woolf in the leading roles.

It follows Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland), a young girl from Kansas who lives on a farm owned by her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em.

After an unfortunate tornado hits her farm, Dorothy and her dog, Toto, are swept away to the magical Land of Oz, where they meet the Scarecrow and many other unique characters.

Furthermore, Dorothy, Toto, and their new friends must launch a quest to reach a Wizard who can help them find their way back home and fulfill other wishes.

The movie won several awards, including two Oscars, a Saturn Award, and a Satellite Award, and it is regarded as one of the most-watched movies in history.

With a $2.8 million budget, the movie collected $29.7 million from the box office, and according to the U.S. Library of Congress, it is regarded as one of the most-watched movies in history.

9. The Godfather

The Godfather is a trilogy of American crime movies directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It is based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Italian American author Mario puzo.

It stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Richard Castellano, and Sterling Hayden in the leading roles.

The movie follows Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando), head of the Corleone mafia family in New York. At his daughter’s wedding, a notorious narcotic lord, Virgil Sollozzo, asks Vito to join the business, which he refuses. This leads to an assassination attempt on him.

Furthermore, Vito’s oldest son, Sonny (James Caan), takes over the family and plots with his brother Michael (Al Pacino) to strike back for the assassination attempt.

Things turn around after the homicide of Sonny and the demise of his father, Vito. Michael, who was uninterested in the family business, had to take over the family business.

The second part is both the sequel and prequel of The Godfather, which centers around Michael Corleone, the new Don of the mafia family who tries to hold his business, and it also follows the flashbacks of his father Vito from his childhood to founding the Corleone family.

In addition, the third part of the movie follows Michael’s efforts to legitimize his criminal empire and shows the rise of his late brother Sonny’s illegitimate son, Vincent, as Michael’s successor.

The movie’s direction and performance have received positive reviews and praise worldwide. It has won three Oscars, including Best Actor in a Leading Role for Marlon Brando, Best Picture for Albert S. Ruddy, and Best Writing and Screenplay for Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola.

It has also won many other renowned awards, including the Golden Globes, BAFTA, Saturn, Golden Screen, and Grammy Awards.

The Godfather trilogy has been seen as three of the greatest movies ever. It was the highest-grossing movie of 1972 and, for a time, the highest-grossing film ever made.

8. Harry Potter

Harry Potter is an adventure fantasy movie series directed by Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuaron, Mike Newell, and David Yates.

The movie series is based on the eponymous novels by British author J.K. Rowling and consists of eight installments, beginning with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) and ending with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part 2 (2011).

It stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson in the three leading roles: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger.

The movie follows an orphaned boy brought up by his unkind aunt and uncle who enrolls in a school of wizardry. There, he discovers himself as a wizard and learns about his parents’ planned demise by the evil wizard Lord Voldemort.

Furthemore, Harry, along with his friends, unravels the evil activities of Lord Voldemort and other mysterious activities in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The series of movies depicts the adventurous and thrilling journey of Harry Potter in his upcoming years at Hogwarts.

Harry Potter movies have been top-rank box office hits, with all eight being released on the list of highest-grossing films worldwide and one of the most-watched movie series ever.

With positive reviews from critics, the movie series has won several renowned awards, including the BAFTA, Saturn, Hollywood Movie, and People’s Choice Award, and has been nominated for more than five Oscars.

7. Pirates of the Caribbean

Pirates of the Caribbean is an American fantasy supernatural swashbuckler movie series produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Gore Verbinski, Rob Marshall, Joachim Ronning, and Espen Sandberg.

It is based on Walt Disney’s theme park attraction of the same name and stars Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Kevin McNally, Orlando Bloom, Stellan Skarsgard, and Keira Knightley in the leading roles.

The first installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean named Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, follows the story of Blacksmith Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), who teams up with eccentric pirate Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Deep) to save his love, Elizabeth Swann, from cursed pirated led by Jack’s rebellious former first mate, Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) who left Jack abandoned on an island before stealing his ship the Black Pearl, along with 882 pieces of Aztec Gold.

Furthermore, the other installments of Pirates of the Caribbean, including The Dead Man’s Chest, At World’s End, On Stranger Tides, and Dead Men Tell No Tales, depict Captain Jack Sparrow’s mysterious and adventurous journey with other pirates.

The franchise has grossed over $4.5 billion worldwide and is regarded as the 16th-highest-grossing and most-watched movie series ever.

It has won several renowned awards, including Oscar, Saturn, BAFTA, and Satellite awards, and has received critical acclaim worldwide for its cinematography and actors’ performances.

6. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is an American science fiction movie produced and directed by Steven Spielberg.

It stars Dee Wallace, Henry Thomas, Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton, and Drew Barrymore in the leading roles.

The movie follows ten-year-old Elliot Taylor (Henry Thomas) in San Fernando Valley, who discovers an alien that visited Earth to gather plant specimens but was left behind by other aliens.

Elliot becomes friends with the alien and builds a device that could help the alien contact his homeland.

The story takes a twist when the Scientist discovers the hidden alien; the movie further depicts Elliot’s struggle and effort in protecting E.T. (the alien) and sending him back home.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was universally acclaimed by critics and is regarded as one of the greatest movies ever. It has also won several awards, including four Oscars for Best Visual and Sound Effects, Saturn, BSFC, and Golden Globes.

5. The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings is a trilogy of epic fantasy adventure films directed by Peter Jackson.

It is based on the novel of the same name by British author J.R.R Tolkien and is subtitled The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003).

The movie stars Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, and Cate Blanchett in the leading roles.

It follows the hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) in Middle-earth, who finds a ring made by Dark Lord Sauron to gain power, dominate the other Rings, conquer Middle-earth, and destroy the whole world.

Furthermore, after Isildur of Gondor defeated Sauron, Isildur became corrupt and influenced by the ring. After his demise, the ring was lost and found by Gollum, who owned it for over four and a half centuries until Hobbit discovered it.

Knowing the dark history of the ring, the Hobbit, along with his eight companions, set out on a journey to destroy the powerful ring and save Middle-earth from the Dark Lord.

The Lord of the Rings is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential movie series ever made. It is also one of the highest-grossing movies ever, grossing over $2.9 billion worldwide.

In addition, the movie trilogy has won 17 Oscars for its cinematography, direction, writing, and music, as well as many other renowned awards, including Saturn, BAFTA, Critics Choice, and Golden Globes.

4. Star Wars

Star Wars is an American epic action adventure fantasy movie franchise created by George Lucas. The franchise began with the 1977 movie Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope.

The first installment was followed by the sequels Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983), forming the original Star Wars trilogy starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher in the leading roles.

Furthermore, the movie series came back with the Prequel trilogy, consisting of Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) starring Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman, and Hayden Christensen in the leading roles.

Lucas submitting the franchise’s ownership to Disney led to a sequel trilogy, consisting of Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017), and Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).

The Star Wars franchise begins with Luke Skywalker, who, along with a Jedi Knight and two Roberts, tries to save the galaxy from the Galactic Empire’s world-destroying battle station and also attempts to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.

Furthermore, the franchise depicts the adventures of characters across multiple fictional eras, in which humans and many species of aliens coexist with robots in a battle to save the galaxy.

The Star Wars franchise has received positive reviews worldwide, making it the third-highest-grossing film franchise of all time and one of the most-watched franchises worldwide.

It has also won seven Oscars and many other renowned awards, including the Saturn, BAFTA, Satellite, Golden Screen, and Hugo Awards.

3. Titanic

Titanic is an American epic romantic disaster movie directed, written, and produced by James Cameron.

It is based on the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912 and combines both historical and fictional elements.

The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, and Bernard Hill in the leading roles.

It follows the year 1996 when researcher Brock Lovett and his team search for the wreck of the RMS Titanic, which sucks in the year 1912 due to hitting a massive iceberg. The team then discovers a drawing of a young naked woman that belongs to Rose Dawson Calvert, one of the survivors of Titanic.

Furthermore, Rose tells the story of her time on the Titanic, where she met Jack Dawson, a poor young artist with whom she fell in love, and their moments together before the terrible incident destroyed people’s lives.

Titanic received critical acclaim worldwide and became the highest-grossing movie of all time, earning a total of $2.257 billion before Avatar surpassed it. It was also the first foreign-language movie to succeed in India, which claims to have the largest movie-going audience in the world.

The movie has won 11 Oscars for Best Picture, Best Visual and Sound Effects, Music and Direction, and several other awards, including Annie, the Box Office Award, and the Golden Globes.

2. Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame is an American superhero movie based on the Marvel Comics superhero team, the Avengers, produced by Marvel Studios, distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, and directed by Anthony and Joe Russo.

It is the direct sequel to Avengers: Infinity Wars (2018) and the 22nd movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, and Don Cheadle in the leading roles.

The movie follows the devastating events after Thanos destroyed half of all life in the universe, where Carol Danvers rescues Tony Stark and Nebula and reunites with the remaining Avengers on Earth to reverse Thanos’s actions using the Infinity Stones.

Furthermore, the movie illustrates the Avengers’ effort and struggles to protect the universe no matter what consequences they face.

The movie has become one of the most-watched Avengers movies and was the highest-grossing movie of all time, with $2.7999 billion worldwide from July 2019 to March 2021.

It has also won several awards, including the Saturn, Critics Choice, Golden Screen, and the People’s Choice Awards.

1. Avatar

Avatar is an epic science fiction action adventure fantasy movie directed and written by James Cameron.

It is the first installment in the Avatar movie franchise and stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, and Sigourney Weaver in the leading roles.

The movie follows the year 2154 when Earth faces an energy crisis. A paraplegic Marine, Jake Sully, is sent to Pandora, a moon orbiting a fictional gas giant, to find a valuable mineral called Unobtanium.

Pandora is inhabited by the Na’vim, blue-skinned, 10-foot-tall humanoids who live in harmony with nature. Jake interacts with Na’vi when he leads the Avatar Program. As he bonds with them, he falls in love with one of the Na’vi women named Neytiri.

Furthermore, the movie depicts the romantic involvement of Neytiri and Jake and his struggle to choose between loyalty to humans and protecting Pandora.

Avatar becomes the first movie to gross over $2 billion and the most-watched movie worldwide. With critical acclaim from critics worldwide, Avatar won three Oscars for its cinematography and visual effects.