Moviegoers may be familiar with summer blockbuster season, but winter, and December in particular, also is a popular time to release highly anticipated films. Over the last several years, a number of successful films have had December release dates and gone on to earn hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office. The following are the top 10 grossing movies that debuted in December in their respective years, and their total domestic box office revenue, courtesy of The Numbers, a data and research services company.

 

2015: “Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens,” December 18th, $936,662,225

 

2021: “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” December 17th, $814,115, 070

 

2009: “Avatar,” December 18th, $785,221,649

 

2022: “Avatar: Way of Water,” December 16th, $684,075,767

 

1997: “Titanic,” December 19th, $674,396,795

 

2017: “Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi,” December 15th, $620,181,382

 

2016: “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” December 16th, $533,539,991

 

2019: “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” December 20th, $515,202,542

 

2017: “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” December 20th, $404,508,916

 

2003: “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” December 17th, $379,021,990.

 

Some highly anticipated films scheduled for release in December 2023 include “The Color Purple,” “Rebel Moon,” and “The Iron Claw.”