From Mamma Mia! to Les Misérables: A Look at Box-Office Grosses for Recent Movie Musicals

This month, there are two new movie musicals currently in theatres: Wonka and The Color Purple. And, they're both performing extremely well. The film version of Broadway's The Color Purple is currently exceeding expectations in its first week at the box office—$29 million and counting since its release on Christmas Day. Meanwhile, Wonka (released December 15) has just passed $100 million domestically, and is over $270 million worldwide. We'd call that a delicious turn of events and goes against the assumption that movie audiences dislike musicals.

But how well do these two new films fare against other movie musicals? We look back at how musicals based on Broadway (and a few Off-Broadway) productions have fared in the past two decades.

Universal's Mamma Mia!, which boasted Oscar winner Meryl Streep among its cast, remains the box-office champ of recent movie musicals. Released in July 2008 and featuring the songs of ABBA, the film musical grossed a whopping $694,640,739 worldwide.

Below, find the domestic, international, and worldwide grosses for a host of movie musicals released in cinemas since the turn-of-the-century.

The titles are numerous so we made a few caveats. We didn't include Disney musicals, live filmed versions of Broadway shows (like the recent Waitress live stage capture), or original musicals (like La La Land).

Titles are listed in descending order based on worldwide grosses.

Mamma Mia! (2008)
domestic: $144,330,569; international: $550,310,170; worldwide: $694,640,739
budget: $52 million

Les Misérables (2012)
domestic: $148,809,770; international: $293,489,539; $442,299,309
budget: $61 million

Chicago (2002)
domestic: $170,687,518; international: $136,089,214; worldwide: $306,776,732
budget: $45 million

Into the Woods (2014)
domestic: $128,002,372; international: $84,900,000; worldwide: $212,902,372
budget: $50 million

Hairspray (2007)
domestic: $118,946,291; international: $84,681,462; worldwide: $203,627,753
budget: $27.8 million

Dreamgirls (2006)
domestic: $103,365,956; international: $52,064,379; worldwide: $155,430,335
budget: $70 million

The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
domestic: $51,293,931; international: $103,380,310; worldwide: $154,674,241
budget: $70 million

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
domestic: $52,898,073; international: $100,485,554; worldwide: $153,383,627
budget: $50 million

Annie (2014 remake)
domestic: $85,911,262; international: $50,942,244; worldwide: $136,853,506
budget: $65 million

West Side Story (2021 remake)
domestic: $38,530,322; international: $37,485,849; worldwide: $76,016,171
budget: $100 million

Cats (2019)
domestic: $27,166,770; international: $48,392,155; worldwide: $75,558,925
budget: $95 million

Jersey Boys (2014)
domestic: $47,047,013; international: $20,600,000; worldwide: $67,647,013
budget: $40 million

Rock of Ages (2012)
domestic: $38,518,613; international: $20,900,000; worldwide: $59,418,613
budget: $75 million

Nine (2009)
domestic: $19,676,965; international: $34,327,985; worldwide: $54,004,950
budget: $80 million

In the Heights (2021)
domestic: $29,975,167; international: $15,200,000; worldwide: $45,175,167
budget: $55 million

The Producers (2005)
domestic: $19,398,532; international: $18,676,786; worldwide: $38,075,318
budget: $45 million

Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical (2022)
not released domestically; international: $34,706,541; worldwide: $34,706,541
budget: $25 million

Rent (2005)
domestic: $29,077,547; international: $2,593,073; worldwide: $31,670,620
budget: $40 million

Dear Evan Hansen (2021)
domestic: $15,002,646; international: $4,130,808; worldwide: $19,133,454
budget: $28 million

Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)
domestic: $3,082,286; international: $577,795; worldwide: $3,660,081
budget: $6 million

The Last Five Years (2014, based on the Off-Broadway musical)
domestic: $145,427; international: $146,665; worldwide: $292,092
budget: $3.5 million

The Prom (2020)
not released domestically; international: $187,430; worldwide: $187,430
budget: undisclosed

tick, tick… BOOM! (2021, based on the Off-Broadway musical)
not released domestically; international: $112,777; worldwide: $112,777

The Fantasticks (2000, based on the Off-Broadway musical)
not released internationally; domestic: $49,666; worldwide: $49,666
budget: $55 million

Naked Boys Singing! (2007, based on the Off-Broadway musical)
not released internationally; domestic: $25,526; worldwide: $25,526
budget: undisclosed

Budget figures were gathered from BoxOfficeMojo.com and IMDB.