2016 in film is an overview of events, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies, festivals, and a list of films released and deaths.
The top films released in 2016 by worldwide gross are as follows:
Captain America: Civil War, Rogue One, Finding Dory, and Zootopia grossed more than $1 billion each, making them the 25th, 28th, 27th, and 26th films, respectively, to reach the billion dollar mark and the 12th, 20th, 23rd, and 26th highest-grossing films of all time; the latter two are also the fifth and fourth animated films, respectively, to reach the mark following Toy Story 3 (2010), Frozen (2013), and Minions (2015). Finding Dory became the second Pixar film (after Toy Story 3) to earn over $1 billion, while Zootopia became the second Walt Disney Animation Studios film (after Frozen) and the second original film (after Avatar) to reach the mark, as the fourth and fifth highest-grossing animated films of all time; this marks the first time that two animated films grossed over $1 billion in a single year.
Three other films (The Jungle Book, The Secret Life of Pets, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) are also among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time, with the middle as the twelfth highest-grossing animated film of all time.
Captain America: Civil War, Zootopia, Kung Fu Panda 3, Warcraft, and The Great Wall have all grossed more than ¥1 billion at the Chinese box office, making them the 21st, 19th, 20th, 22nd, and 25th films, respectively, to reach the ¥1 billion mark, and the 15th, 7th, 22nd, 8th, and 19th highest-grossing films in China. Civil War became the second superhero film (after Avengers: Age of Ultron) and the ninth American film; Zootopia became the first animated film and seventh American film (third highest after Furious 7 and Transformers: Age of Extinction, with ¥1.53 billion); Kung Fu Panda 3 became the second animated film and eighth American film; Warcraft became the first video game adaptation, the tenth American film, and the fastest film to hit the milestone (114 hours); and The Great Wall became the eleventh American film.
Walt Disney Studios became the fastest studio ever to reach $1 billion at the domestic box office; it reached this goal on the 128th day of 2016, beating Universal Studios' record of reaching the goal on the 165th day of 2015. Disney's previous record for reaching $1 billion was on the 174th day of 2015. The studio became the first to have five of its releases (Rogue One, Finding Dory, Captain America: Civil War, The Jungle Book, and Zootopia) from a single year reach $300 million domestically. Disney also eclipsed Universal's 2015 record for most films from a single year crossing $1 billion worldwide with four (Captain America: Civil War, Rogue One, Finding Dory, and Zootopia), setting a new record for most billion dollar-grossing films over two years with six (including Age of Ultron and The Force Awakens). Walt Disney Studios has also become the first studio since at least 1989 to have the five highest-grossing films worldwide, and the first since at least 1913 to have the three highest-grossing films in the U.S., both in a single year. Disney became the first studio to gross more than $3 billion at the domestic box office and, with the release of Rogue One, became the first in cinematic history to gross more than $7 billion at the global box office, surpassing Universal's previous record of $6.9 billion in 2015. Disney is also the first studio to have three films gross over $400 million domestically in a single year (Rogue One, Finding Dory, and Captain America: Civil War), and the first in history to fill in all slots of the top five films of any particular year.
Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe became the first film franchise to have four of its films gross over $1 billion with Captain America: Civil War joining 2012's The Avengers, 2013's Iron Man 3 and 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron, and the first to gross more than $10 billion with the release of Civil War.
Warner Bros.' Harry Potter film series — which was subsequently rebranded to J. K. Rowling's The Wizarding World — became the second film franchise to gross more than $8 billion with the release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which has so far grossed more than $810 million worldwide.
Disney's Star Wars film series became the fourth film franchise to gross more than $7 billion with the release of Rogue One, and the second to have three of its films gross over $1 billion with Rogue One joining 1999's The Phantom Menace and 2015's The Force Awakens.
Deadpool became the second highest-grossing R-rated domestic film of all time with $363.1 million, after The Passion of the Christ ($370.8 million in 2004). It later became the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time worldwide, with $783.1 million. It also became the highest-grossing superhero film not to feature Batman, Spider-Man, or Iron Man in any capacity.
Zootopia became the highest-grossing original animated film of all time, surpassing Finding Nemo ($940.3 million in 2003). Along with Finding Dory, it became one of two animated films to earn over $1 billion in the same year, a first in cinematic history.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice grossed the biggest worldwide opening weekend ever for a superhero film with $422.5 million, surpassing The Avengers ($392.5 million in 2012). The film, along with Captain America: Civil War, were the most expensive films of the year ($250 million).
The Mermaid became the highest-grossing film ever in China and the first film ever to earn over $500 million without a wide North American release.
Warcraft became the highest-grossing video game adaptation worldwide with $433.5 million, surpassing Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time ($336.4 million in 2010).
Finding Dory grossed $135.1 million domestically and $185.7 million worldwide in its opening weekend, making records for the biggest domestic opening weekend for both Pixar (surpassing Toy Story 3, with $110.3 million in 2010) and any animated film (surpassing Shrek the Third, with $121.6 million in 2007), the biggest worldwide opening weekend for Pixar (surpassing Inside Out, with $180.1 million in 2015), and the second biggest opening weekend worldwide for an animated film after Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs ($218.4 million in 2009). It later became the highest-grossing animated film at the domestic box office, surpassing Shrek 2 ($441.2 million in 2004). Along with Zootopia, it became one of two animated films to earn over $1 billion in the same year, a first in cinematic history. It also became the eighth film to do so during the two-year period of 2015–16, surpassing the previous record of seven billion-dollar films during the two-year period of 2011–12.
The Secret Life of Pets grossed $104.4 million domestically in its opening weekend, breaking Inside Out's record ($90.4 million) for the highest domestic opening weekend for an original film of any kind, and became the first original film to open above $100 million domestically. It also became the highest-grossing original non-Disney animated film ever, both domestically (surpassing Despicable Me, with $251.5 million in 2010) and worldwide (beating Kung Fu Panda, with $631.7 million in 2008).
Sausage Party became the highest-grossing R-rated animated film of all time, surpassing South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut ($83.1 million in 1999).
Doctor Strange became the highest-grossing single character debut of any MCU film worldwide with $675.9 million, beating Iron Man ($585.2 million in 2008).
2016 leads for the most films to be among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time with seven, and became the first year to have ten consecutive films to cross $700 million worldwide, beating 2014's record of nine films. It also eclipsed the latter year's record for most films earning more than $500 million with sixteen (Doctor Strange, Moana, The Mermaid, Sing, X-Men: Apocalypse, and Kung Fu Panda 3 have all grossed over $500 million).
List of some of the film festivals for 2016 that have been accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF).
