2022 in film


2022 in film is an overview of events, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies, critics' lists of the best films of 2022, festivals, a list of country-specific lists of films released, and notable deaths. Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures celebrated their 110th anniversary, Motion Picture Association celebrated their 100th anniversary, Aardman celebrated its 50th anniversary and Illumination celebrated its 15th anniversary.

Evaluation of the year

In his article highlighting the best movies of 2022, Richard Brody of The New Yorker said, "This year, it's all the more important to offer a widely inclusive list, because a wide range of American filmmakers have caught up with the inescapable phenomenon of the recent past: the resurgence of openly anti-democratic forces and brazenly hate-driven ideologies, the crisis of illegitimate rule, the menace of authoritarianism, the potential end of even our current debilitated American democracy. The phenomenon is certainly not limited to the United States, and filmmakers from around the world have long been confronting it in their own countries bravely, insightfully, and ingeniously. For years, many of the best American filmmakers have been making films of political outrage, with the unsurprising likes of Spike Lee, Jim Jarmusch, and Frederick Wiseman at the forefront, and such younger filmmakers as Jordan Peele, Garrett Bradley, and Eliza Hittman joining them. This year offers a shift in the cinematic paradigm by way of a host of memorable movies; there's something new and extraordinary in the air, and it has precisely to do with history and memory—and, most powerfully, their intersection."

Highest-grossing films

RankTitleDistributorWorldwide gross
1Avatar: The Way of Water20th Century$2,320,250,281
2Top Gun: MaverickParamount$1,496,696,292
3Jurassic World DominionUniversal$1,003,700,664
4Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of MadnessDisney$960,775,804
5Minions: The Rise of GruUniversal$940,628,210
6Black Panther: Wakanda ForeverDisney$859,208,836
7The BatmanWarner Bros.$772,245,583
8Thor: Love and ThunderDisney$760,928,081
9The Battle at Lake Changjin IIBona$626,571,697
10Puss in Boots: The Last WishUniversal$485,261,639

2022 box office records

  • The Jurassic Park franchise became the tenth film franchise to gross $6 billion with the release of Jurassic World Dominion.
  • *Additionally, Jurassic World Dominion became the 50th film to gross $1 billion worldwide.
  • The Marvel Cinematic Universe became the first film franchise to gross $26 billion, $27 billion, and $28 billion with the releases of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
  • The Despicable Me and Shrek franchises became the first animated film franchises and the 15th and 17th overall film franchises to gross $4 billion with the release of Minions: The Rise of Gru and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

    Studio records

  • With the release of Avatar: The Way of Water, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures led over other film distributors in worldwide box office grosses and crossed the $4.9 billion mark for the eighth year. Disney's cumulative gross was generated from 16 film releases across its various studio divisions.
  • Top Gun: Maverick became the highest-grossing film distributed solely by Paramount Pictures worldwide, surpassing Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and also Paramount's highest-grossing film in the United States and Canada, surpassing Titanic.

    Film records

  • Avatar: The Way of Water became the 51st film to gross $1 billion worldwide, the sixth film to gross $2 billion worldwide, the sixth-fastest film to cross the billion-dollar mark at 14 days, the second fastest to gross the $2 billion mark, the highest-grossing film of 2022, and the highest-grossing film of the COVID-19 pandemic era.
  • * It had the 11th-biggest global opening of all time and the third-biggest global opening for a film in the pandemic era behind Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, earning $441.7 million in its first weekend.
  • * It also achieved the second-highest global opening weekend ever for a film released in IMAX cinemas with $48.8 million.
  • Top Gun: Maverick became the 49th film to gross $1 billion worldwide.
  • *Additionally, the film surpassed Mission: Impossible – Fallout to become Tom Cruise's highest-grossing film of all time at the worldwide box office and also surpassed War of the Worlds to become Cruise's highest-grossing film at the domestic box office.
  • *It also passed The Mummy as Cruise's biggest opening weekend at the worldwide box office and also passed War of the Worlds as Cruise's biggest opening at the domestic box office and his first film to open to over $100million in the U.S.
  • *Top Gun: Maverick also passed Shrek 2 for the lowest second-weekend drop for a film that opened to over $100 million.
  • *It also passed Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, another Jerry Bruckheimer produced movie, to have the highest Memorial Day opening weekend and passed Shrek 2 to have the lowest second-weekend drop for a movie that made over $100 million in its opening weekend.
  • Jurassic World Dominion became the 50th film to gross $1 billion worldwide.
  • *The Jurassic Park film franchise grossed over $6 billion with the release of Jurassic World Dominion.
  • Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness surpassed Spider-Man 3 to become director Sam Raimi's highest-grossing film.
  • Minions: The Rise of Gru became the highest-grossing animated film released since the COVID-19 pandemic, surpassing the 2020 anime film Demon Slayer: Mugen Train.
  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever attained the biggest opening weekend ever for a film released in the month of November in the U.S. and Canada with $181.3 million.
  • *It was also the third-biggest opening weekend for a film in the U.S. and Canada during the pandemic era, behind Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
  • * Disney Africa reported that the film set an all-time box office record in West Africa and had the biggest opening of 2022 in East Africa, as well as the second-highest box office gross ever in Southern Africa.
  • *In Nigeria, it achieved the highest opening weekend ever for a film.
  • Avatar became the first movie to gross more than $2.9 billion worldwide, following a worldwide re-release.
  • KGF: Chapter 2 becomes the most-liked trailer and teaser on YouTube with 9 million likes, surpassing Avengers: Infinity War likes.

    Events

  • March 11 - Everything Everywhere All at Once premieres at South by Southwest, becoming a cultural phenomenon in the independent film community and eventually A24's highest-grossing film at the time.
  • April – DNA testing indicates that Marilyn Monroe's biological father was Charles S. Gifford, her mother's line manager at a film studio.
  • April 8 – AT&T sells WarnerMedia, the parent company of Warner Bros., to Discovery, Inc., which then reorganizes to form the new media company Warner Bros. Discovery.
  • September 10 - The Fabelmans premieres at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the festival's People's Choice Award and marked the film's director Steven Spielberg's first film premiere at the festival.

    Award ceremonies

Film festivals

for 2022 that have been accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations.
DateEventHostLocation
January 20 – 302022 Sundance Film FestivalSundance Film FestivalPark City, Utah, United States
January 26 – February 651st International Film Festival RotterdamInternational Film Festival RotterdamRotterdam, Netherlands
February 10 – 2072nd Berlin International Film FestivalBerlin International Film FestivalBerlin, Germany
March 18 – 2725th Málaga Film FestivalMálaga Film FestivalMálaga, Spain
April 26 – May 124th Kristiansand International Children's Film FestivalKristiansand International Children's Film FestivalKristiansand, Norway
May 17 – 282022 Cannes Film FestivalCannes Film FestivalCannes, France
July 7 – 1726th Bucheon International Fantastic Film FestivalBucheon International Fantastic Film FestivalBucheon, South Korea
August 3 – 1375th Locarno Film FestivalLocarno Film FestivalLocarno, Switzerland
August 31 – September 1079th Venice International Film FestivalVenice International Film FestivalVenice, Italy
September 8 – 182022 Toronto International Film FestivalToronto International Film FestivalToronto, Ontario, Canada
September 16 – 2470th San Sebastián International Film FestivalSan Sebastián International Film FestivalSan Sebastián, Spain
October 5 – 1427th Busan International Film FestivalBusan International Film FestivalBusan, South Korea
November 20–2853rd International Film Festival of IndiaDirectorate of Film FestivalsGoa, India