Spider-Man: No Way Home to No Time to Die: Hollywood's highest-grossing films of 2021

2021 has been a tumultuous year for the film industry with the new COVID variants threatening to make cinema redundant. However, despite the delays, huge losses to cinemas and the industry at large, some films managed to lure the audience back to theatres. Whether it was 'Godzilla Vs Kong' daring to test the waters in March or Daniel Craig making sure his last outing as Bond debuted on the big screen or Tom Holland closing the year with a Billion-dollar surprise, here's a list of Hollywood’s highest-grossing films of 2021.

'Spider-Man: No Way Home' unwrapped the best Christmas gift of all, by becoming the first pandemic-era movie to cross $1 billion at the global box office. The comic-book epic became the third-fastest film to reach the billion-dollar benchmark after Only 'Avengers: Infinity War' and 'Avengers: Endgame'. The Tom Holland starrer is also now the highest-grossing film of 2021, with collections expected to rise well into January 2022.

Daniel Craig's final turn as James Bond had fans around the world flocking to theatres to catch the action on the big screen. 'No Time To Die', that was off to a slow start at the box office with a collection of $55 million, went on to record the second-highest collection of 2021. The film reportedly earned a $774,03 million lifetime collection at the ticket window.

Vin Diesel and his 'Fast and Furious' family made a strong debut at the box office in June this year. The film that was the ninth instalment of the franchise opened to a mighty $70 million. The film managed to shatter records despite its release during the pandemic. It made a total lifetime collection of $726.22 million at the global box office.

Tom Hardy's anti-hero film 'Venom: Let There Be Carnage' smashed pandemic records with a $90.1 million debut at the box office. The film that played exclusively in theatres, exceeded even the debut of the 2018 original 'Venom'. It also went on to record one of the best October openings, second to only 2019's Joaquin Phoenix's 'Joker' that earned $96.2 million. 'Venom 2' rounded off its collections at an estimated $501.02 million

'Godzilla vs. Kong' scored the best opening of the pandemic when it was released back in April. The film earned an estimated $48.5 million, even as it was simultaneously streaming on OTT platforms. The monster-verse film that was expected to draw in $500 million worldwide, managed to rake in a gross collection of $467.86 million at the global box office.

Marvel's first Asian-lead superhero film smashed the record for Labor Day openings with an estimated $71.4 million in ticket sales. The film starring Simu Liu in the lead, made one of the best debuts of the pandemic with a global three-day haul of $127.6 million. The film reportedly made an estimated $177 million in its opening weekend worldwide. After breaking multiple records, the film rounded off its collections at an estimated $432.23 million.

Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao's multi-starrer may have had a big release in India over the Diwali weekend, but the film failed to draw in the masses at the international box office. Despite the rave reviews and ensemble star cast, the film debuted with a $161.7 million opening weekend. 'Eternals' still managed to score the fourth-best opening weekend for any movie during the pandemic era at the time of its release. It rounded up a total collection of $400.68 million.

Despite the hype and anticipation surrounding the film, Denis Villeneuve's 'Dune' debuted with $40.1 million collections in domestic ticket sales and earned $220.7 million globally in its first weekend. The film starring Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya also opened for on OTT platforms eventually rounded off its box office collections at an estimated $393.58 million.

Scarlett Johansson officially ushered in Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with her stand-alone film, 'Black Widow'. The superhero flick that released in theatres in June broke all pandemic box office records with its $218 million opening weekend collection. However, after recording a good start, the film was unable to maintain its hold at the box office and bowed out with a total of $379.63 million.

Rounding off the top 10 highest-grossing Hollywood film releases of 2021, we have Ryan Reynolds' 'Free Guy'. Despite fears of the Delta variant, the action flick made an impressive $51 million debut at the global box office. The film finally earned a total lifetime collection of $331,503,757 at the international box office.