Oscar winning actress Jennifer Lawrence began her acting career at 14 years old after getting spotted by a talent scout. A few years later, she landed her first major role as a main cast member in the TBS sitcom The Bill Engvall Show, and would go on to having roles in movies like Garden Party and Winter's Bone. And by the early 2010s, she became known for her role as the shape-shifting mutant Mystique in multiple X-Men movies, starting with X-Men: First Class. Then, a year later, she starred as Katniss Everdeen in the majorly successful blockbuster adaptation of the New York Times bestselling novel The Hunger Games.
From then on, Lawrence was a name you couldn't stop hearing. She became, what can be best called, America's Sweetheart for her down-to-earth, girl next door relatability. She was funny, clumsy, and felt as if she was just some normal young woman plucked from obscurity into the center spotlight among Hollywood's biggest stars. For all her humility, of couse, she proved to be a very talented actress.
The Hunger Games franchise ended up receiving over 100 nominations from awards like the Golden Globes, Grammys, MTV Movie Awards, and Choice Awards, with Lawrence making up nearly half of them. Following the first Hunger Games film, Lawrence won an Academy Award for her performance in Silver Lining's Playbook. In 2014 and 2015, she was the world's highest-paid actress, but the biggest accolade to them all was her being named the highest-grossing action heroine of all time from the Guinness World Records (via Vanity Fair). To date, Lawrence has grossed over $5 billion worldwide across all her work, and with that in mind, we've made a list of ten of her highest grossing movies.
10 American Hustle —$251.2M
Lawrence played Rosalyn Rosenfeld in American Hustle, a dark comedy crime film that was loosely inspired by the FBI ABSCAM operation in the 1970s and 1980s. Her character was based on Marie Weinberg, wife of real-life con artist, Mel Weiberg. When the movie premiered on December 13, 2013, it garnered massive praise, critically and commercially, and as a result grossed $251.2 million worldwide. The movie placed third on Time's Top 10 Best Movies of 2013 and received Academy Award nominations for production, design, and acting.
9 X-Men: Dark Phoenix — $252.4M
When X-Men: Dark Phoenix was released on June 7, 2019, it was expected to make $50-40 million in its opening weekend, but only made $32.8 million, becoming the lowest opening weekend of any X-Men movie and, essentially, a flop. The movie, which had a budget of $200 million, was pulled from theaters after three weeks and in the end had a worldwide gross of $252.4 million with $133 million in net losses. This was the final installment of the X-Men series and saw Lawrence's character, Mystique, die in the beginning of the film.
8 Passengers — $303.1M
This sci-fi romance movie starring Lawrence and Chris Pratt followed two of the passengers on a spacecraft traveling 60 light years away from Earth to a colony that woke up early from their induced hibernation. Passengers ended up grossing $303.1 million, gaining the title of the second highest-grossing original live-action Hollywood release in 2016, only behind La La Land.
7 X-Men: First Class — $353.6M
The introduction of the X-Men prequels and Lawrence to a mainstream audience, X-Men: First Class was released in the U.S. on June 3, 2011, to moderate success. The film made $55.1 million in its opening weekend, but overseas, it was doing even better, opening at the top of the box office in 20 countries. It placed third in overseas ranking behind Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Hangover II and in the end grossed a total of $353.6 million worldwide.
6 X-Men: Apocalypse — $543.9M
The sixth installment to the X-Men franchise and the third one for the prequels, X-Men: Apocalypse was released internationally on May 18, 2016, a week before it was set to release in North America. It debuted at number one in 71 markets across the world, while breaking box office records for 20th Century Fox in countries like India, Singapore, and Colombia. Then, when it released in North America, it received mixed reviews from critics, but still finished second in the box office behind Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows and became the fourth highest-grossing movie in the X-Men franchise with a worldwide gross of $543.9 million.
5 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Pt. 2 — $658.3M
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part Two released November 20, 2015, was the highly anticipated final movie for the Hunger Games franchise, but still grossed in less than its predecessors with $658.3 million worldwide. And despite it topping the box office in North America for four weeks and becoming the sixth-highest opening that year, it was below expectations for Lionsgate. In the end, they blamed the poor performance on its competition in theaters, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, and the impact of the 2015 Paris attacks that took place a week prior. That said, Deadline says otherwise and that it can probably be attributed to splitting the final book in half for two movies separated by a whole year plus the harsh winter storms in some areas of the United States during the time of release.
4 The Hunger Games — $694.4M
The Hunger Games was the first installment to the Hunger Games series adaptation of Suzanne Collin's dystopian YA trilogy and when it released on March 23, 2012, it took the world by storm. It became a one of the biggest film adaptations of a book next to Twilight and Harry Potter. It had the third-highest opening gross in 2013 behind The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises and held the highest spring opening weekend record for four years before the release of Batman Vs Superman. The movie was an explosive hit for critics and audiences and grossed $694.4 million.
3 X-Men: Days of Future Past — $747.9M
The sequel to X-Men: First Class was released May 23, 2014, and is sometimes considered the best of the X-Men franchise, even getting an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects. X-Men: Days of Future Past made an impressive $262.8 million worldwide in its opening weekend, the highest of any X-Men film. Its total grossing worldwide was $747.9 million against a roughly $200 million budget and Deadline calculated a net profit of $77.3 million, ranking it 16th of their list of 2014's most valuable blockbusters.
2 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Pt. 1 — $755.4M
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 was released November 21, 2014, as the first part of the ending to the widely successful Hunger Games series. During its opening weekend, the film grossed $273.8 million, making it the largest opening of all time and helped the franchise to become the only one to ever have three movies make more than $100 million in an opening weekend. The movie grossed $755.4 million worldwide against a total budget of $315 million including marketing costs.
1 The Hunger Games: Catching Fire — $865M
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is Lawrence's highest-grossing movie and the highest-grossing in the entire Hunger Games franchise, with a worldwide total of $865 million against a roughly $300 million budget, becoming the highest grossing film for Lionsgate as well. The 2013 blockbuster sequel was also the first movie with a female lead to top the yearly box office since 1973s The Exorcist, which it was able to achieve in its opening day with $71 million, making it the seventh-largest opening day gross of all time.