In 21st-century cinema, for better or worse, it has become something of a rite of passage for major blockbusters to hit the $1 billion mark at the box office. Ever since Titanic first achieved such a commercial feat in 1998, a current total of 54 movies have met the illustrious financial milestone. Samuel L. Jacksonhas appeared in 10 of those films, while Scarlett Johannsonhas featured in five, the most of any actress. Meanwhile, Zoe Saldañaremains the only performer to have had four films gross over $2 billion.
While such monetary accomplishments can be celebrated and analyzed without end, plenty of the best and biggest movie stars have never appeared in a single film to exceed $1 billion. From Oscar-winning mega stars to iconic leading men and women, these bonafide stars are among the most well-known and respected in Hollywood, yet a $1 billion release has eluded them to this point in time.
10Matt Damon
Highest Grossing Movie: ‘Oppenheimer’ (2023) – $974.9 million
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Since rising to prominence in the late 90s, Matt Damon has enjoyed a stellar career that has seen him thrive in everything from action blockbusters and pulsating thrillers to Academy Award-winning dramas helmed by some of the greatest filmmakers of all time. He has received three Oscar nominations for his acting and even won one for his work on the screenplay of Good Will Hunting, though he is yet to have a film he starred in surpassing $1 billion at the box office.
A part of what makes this so surprising is he has been attached to some significant franchises, such as The Bourne Identity films as well as the Ocean’s Eleven trilogy. As it stands, Christopher Nolan’s Best Picture-winning biopic Oppenheimer is the highest-grossing movie of Damon’s career. Its impressive box office intake of $975 million makes it the second-highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, as well as a universally revered critical success.
9Meryl Streep
Highest Grossing Movie: ‘Mamma Mia!’ (2008) – $694.6 million
Box office figures mean very little compared to Meryl Streep’s many accolades and her solidified reputation as one of the greatest actors that cinema has ever seen. She has received an awe-inspiring 21 Oscar nominations for her performances and gone on to win three times, twice for Best Actress and once for Best Supporting Actress, becoming a certifiable Hollywood mega star in the process.
As a result, it is more quizzical than anything that she hasn’t appeared in a film to surpass $1 billion. While many of her greatest credits came before such a milestone was a common achievement, her career throughout the 21st century hasn’t floundered one bit. 2008’s Mamma Mia! stands as her greatest financial success, with an intake of $694.6 million, while The Devil Wears Prada and Into the Woods have also performed well at the box office.
8Ryan Reynolds
Highest Grossing Movie: ‘Deadpool 2’ (2018) – $785.8 million
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A movie star for the modern age, Ryan Reynolds flaunts a mixture of charisma and crude wit, which has established him as one of the biggest Hollywood names of the 21st century. Thriving in romantic comedies throughout the early part of his stardom, Reynolds’ career soared into the stratosphere with his inspired sidestep into action-comedy cinema, a move defined by his note-perfect portrayal of Deadpool.
While the Deadpool movies stand as his biggest box office hits thus far, the record-breaking superhero saga is yet to reach the billion-dollar mark, largely because of its stronger content that bars 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren from seeing it. That being said, the Deadpool films rank 3rd and 4th on the highest-grossing R-rated movies of all time, highlighting the significance of their success. Detective Pikachu and The Croods were successful forays into voice acting for Reynolds, while a cameo in Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw marked another financially successful credit for the Canadian star.
7Angelina Jolie
Highest Grossing Movie: ‘Maleficent’ (2014) – $758.4 million
After rising to stardom with her Oscar-winning performance in 1999’s Girl, Interrupted, Angelina Jolie dominated cinema in the 2000s and 2010s as one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Her profile and ability to carry blockbuster commercial hits made her a trailblazer as one of the industry’s most influential women. It makes it quite surprising that with everything from action hits to animated classics to her name, she has never featured in a film that grossed more than $1 billion.
That being said, Jolie has appeared in two film series that have grossed over $1 billion, with Maleficent and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil combining for over $1.2 billion, while the Kung Fu Panda movies, in which she voices Tigress in the first three films, have amassed over $2 billion in total. Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Wanted, and the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider movies are other financial hits that consolidate Jolie’s standing as one of the most bankable starlets in Hollywood.
6Timothée Chalamet
Highest Grossing Movie: ‘Interstellar’ (2014) – $705.1 million
Timothée Chalamet is arguably the biggest name in Hollywood right now, with his ascension to superstardom in recent years paved with strong performances in everything from coming-of-age dramas to major studio blockbusters. He established himself as a star capable of carrying big-budget movies on his shoulders, with the Dune films becoming significant cultural and financial hits, while Wonka was a commercial success as well.
The biggest film of his career thus far is Christopher Nolan’s 2014 sci-fi hit Interstellar, which was an early career breakthrough for the young actor as he portrayed the protagonist’s teenage son in the first act of the film. While it feels as though it is a question of when and not if Chalamet features in a $1 billion release, Interstellar’s intake of $705.1 million remains his career’s peak. That being said, the two Dune movies have surpassed $1 billion collectively, and he was front and center on those.
5Emma Stone
Highest Grossing Movie: ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ (2012) – $758.4 million
Now the recipient of two Academy Awards, Emma Stone is firmly establishing herself as one of the greatest and most admired actors Hollywood has ever seen. While she may not have a billion-dollar movie as yet, commercial success has never been something her films have struggled to find. This is true even of her earliest films, with comedies like Superbad, Zombieland, and Easy A performing admirably at the box office.
Stone is now at the peak of her stardom, and her ability to take on more challenging dramatic roles in awards season hits that still turn a significant profit has become a hallmark of her career. La La Land and Poor Things – the two films she won Oscars for – were both financial triumphs for what they were, while 2021’s Cruella performed well during the pandemic. The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel remain the two highest-grossing films of Stone’s career so far, with both of the superhero blockbusters surpassing $700 million.
4Matthew McConaughey
Highest Grossing Movie: ‘Interstellar’ (2014) – $705.1 million
Breaking out in the 90s and remaining an A-list star, Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey has been one of Hollywood’s biggest names for roughly the same amount of time as billion-dollar movies have been happening. Thus, it’s quite intriguing that he has never appeared in one. In fact, McConaughey only has two films that surpassed $500 million at the box office: Interstellar and 2016’s animated hit Sing.
That being said, he has never been an actor who struggled to turn a commercial hit. Many of his rom-coms through the 2000s turned a profit, his early films like A Time to Kill and Contact were box office successes, and his work in more recent years has largely been financially solid if not a huge hit. Dallas Buyers Club — the film that saw McConaughey win Best Lead Actor and, in the eyes of many, the best picture of his career — grossed only $55.1 million is a testament to the fact that box office figures can be a deceptive measure of a film’s quality.
3Jennifer Lawrence
Highest Grossing Movie: ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ (2013) – $865 million
With four Academy Award nominations and one win between 2011 and 2016, few actors defined the early 2010s quite like Jennifer Lawrence. With captivating performances being a constant throughout her filmography that sprawls numerous genres, she is widely regarded as one of the best actresses of the modern day. While she’s stunned viewers with her performances in films like American Hustle and Silver Lining Playbook, her presence in franchise entertainment makes it so surprising that she is yet to feature in a billion-dollar movie.
The actress is best known to many audiences for her work in The Hunger Games movies, a series that grossed well beyond $2 billion as a whole yet never had an individual film surpass $1 billion. Her work as Mystique in the X-Men franchise has been similarly successful, but the superhero saga hasn’t been able to reach the commercial heights of the MCU, with the $746 million intake of X-Men: Days of Future Past the biggest hit of the franchise so far.
2Denzel Washington
Highest Grossing Movie: ‘American Gangster’ (2007) – $269.7 million
Another actor who established himself as a famed household name in the 90s and whose popularity has never waned since is Denzel Washington, one of the defining stars of the modern era. Across a career dating back to the 1970s, Washington has received nine Oscar nominations and taken home the award on two occasions. His penchant for hard-edged drama may not make it hugely surprising that he hasn’t appeared in a billion-dollar movie, but what is shocking is that his highest-grossing film, American Gangster, earned only $269.7 million worldwide.
Given his reputation for starring in brilliant movies, the relatively low figure of his biggest hit is puzzling. His 1990s legal dramas The Pelican Brief and Philadelphia stand as two other noteworthy commercial successes in his career, while his forays into action with films like Safe House and The Equalizer movies have been strong box office performers as well.
1Brad Pitt
Highest Grossing Movie: ‘Deadpool 2’ (2018) – $785.8 million
A bona fide icon of modern Hollywood who has been a bankable movie star since the 1990s, Brad Pitt’s films tend to be box office gold by virtue of the fact that he stars in them. While there is a touch of ironic hilarity that his highest-grossing movie is Deadpool 2, in which he has the briefest of cameos, the Oscar-winning star has always had the star power to generate commercial success.
The 2013 zombie thriller World War Z stands as the biggest movie he has starred in, grossing $540.4 million, while Troy, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button are some other lucrative successes for him. Additionally, Pitt’s work in Ocean’s Eleven and its sequels thrived financially, with the Ocean’s trilogy as a whole grossing well over $1.1 billion to give the actor something to hang his hat on.
