Box Office: X-Men films ranked by gross as Jake Schrier emerges as top pick for next installment

Jake Schreier, fresh off helming Marvel’s Thunderbolts, is in early talks to direct the long-awaited X-Men reboot for the MCU. Sources confirm that Schreier, whose latest film received some of Marvel’s strongest reviews in years, is being eyed to take on the franchise’s big-screen revival. The script is currently being written by The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes writer Michael Lesslie, with Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige set to produce.

Marvel has reportedly been searching for a director over the past few weeks, with discussions gaining traction recently. As anticipation builds for the mutant team’s comeback, below is a look at how the previous X-Men films have fared at the box office.

The franchise, launched under 20th Century Fox before Disney’s acquisition, stands as the eighth highest-grossing movie series of all time. While its timeline is difficult to streamline due to reboots and the further muddled inclusion of Deadpool & Wolverine, below is a ranking of the mainline X-Men movies based on their worldwide box office gross:

Ranking the X-Men Movies by Global Box Office: From Dark Phoenix to Days of Future Past

7. Dark Phoenix (2019)
Budget: USD 200M, Gross: USD 246M

Despite its star-studded cast and efforts to rectify past missteps with the Phoenix saga, Dark Phoenix was critically rebuked and bombed at the box office. It became the lowest-grossing mainline X-Men film, marking a disappointing end to Fox’s run before the Mouse House’s takeover.

6. X-Men (2000)
Budget: USD 75M, Gross: USD 296M

The film that launched it all was modest in scale but massive in impact. X-Men helped ignite the modern superhero movie era and turned a profit nearly four times its budget, laying the groundwork for two decades of mutant films.

5. X-Men: First Class (2011)
Budget: USD 160M, Gross: USD 355M

The soft reboot introduced younger versions of Professor X and Magneto. While it performed better than the original X-Men, its high production cost meant its profit margins were minimal. Nevertheless, it revitalized the series and led to some of its best entries.

4. X2: X-Men United (2003)
Budget: USD 125M, Gross: USD 406M

A critical and commercial elevation from its predecessor, X2 built on the success of X-Men with a more complex story and higher stakes. Its global gross tripled its production budget.

3. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Budget: USD 210M, Gross: USD 459M

Though it earned the highest box office total of the original trilogy, The Last Stand was plagued by critical backlash and a ballooning budget. Its underwhelming reception prompted a reboot just five years later.

2. X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
Budget: USD 178M, Gross: USD 542M

Despite lukewarm reviews, Apocalypse was a solid box office performer, particularly overseas, where it more than doubled its domestic earnings. It marked the peak of Fox’s second X-Men timeline in terms of revenue.

1. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
Budget: USD 200M, Gross: USD 747M

This film combined the characters of First Class with those of the original trilogy, merging both timelines in a gripping time travel plot that many still regard as the franchise’s best.

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