Highest Grossing Movies Of 1998

Every decade has it’s list of movie greats, worsts, and mediocrity. Some movies have aged well though the years while others are a product of their time. This is not a list about movies that were great or bad. This is simply the movies that made the most money during the year 1998.

#10 Lethal Weapon 4

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For the final "lethal summer" the filmmakers gave, as usual, more of the same. Let's face it, that's what action junkies and fans of this film wanted. It was a fun action movie and fans have been waiting since for part 5, no matter how bleak the chances are.

#9 Shakespeare in Love

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Not only did audiences love this Rom-Com-Historical Drama, but so did the Academy. Winner of 7 Oscars, "Shakespeare in Love" won the hearts of the people as well as Hollywood.

#8 Dr. Dolittle

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Murphy dropped the adult humor and opted for a more family friendly film. The result was money in the bank and a shoe in for two sequels (one of which he was not in). From this point on, Murphy mostly stuck with family oriented movies. He would venture back into more adult humor and slapstick with little to no success. Family flicks were what was the most successful for him...kinda sad really...

#7 Mulan

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After Disney's big hit with the historical misrepresentation of "Pocahontas," Disney gave another big hit with the historical misrepresentation of "Mulan." The romance (although there was a little) was mostly dropped for gags and action. Oh, and Eddie Murphy is in this family friendly movie. See above for proof of the very point that was made.

#6 Deep Impact

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One of two very similar disaster movies to come out in 1998. Destruction movies were not a new notion in Hollywood, but this one made...pun intended...quite the impact. Although not as notable as the other big hit (later in this list) but this one had the opposite feel as it's rival.

#5 A Bug's Life

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Disney/Pixar was still on the rise. After the huge hit of "Toy Story," they kept giving original stories. This time following the story of ants being bullied by hoppers.

#4 There's Something About Mary

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The Farrelly brothers were at it again with this hit comedy. Although a bigger hit than most of their body of work, they couldn't quite reach this level of popularity again.

#3 Godzilla

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Just a moment, before everyone starts throwing stuff at the screen and wants to change pages, this is not "best" movie of 1998 or 90's or ever...this is "made the most money" and "Godzilla" did make a lot of dough. Despite the fact that this movie is overall a silly disaster movie in which the humans do most of the destruction, poorly designed dinosaur (I say dinosaur because this is in no way reminiscent of Godzilla), and a glorified B level monster movie at best, "Godzilla" made money because of a VERY CLEVER marketing campaign. This is also in the very early stages of internet. Therefore audiences could not rant on the net so easily about how bad the movie was. The only way to know was by seeing the movie, and sadly a lot of people saw this "Jurassic Park" rip-off.

#2 Saving Private Ryan

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Not only loved by audiences and Hollywood, but also by History teachers. Praised as being one of the most accurate depictions of battle, Spielberg presented a horrific and realistic feeling war movie.

#1 Armageddon

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Enter the second half of the similar disaster movie mentioned previously. Where as "Deep Impact" had an overall feeling of dread, "Armageddon" had a sense of fun, action, pathos, hope, and sacrifice. Audiences felt a gamut of emotion while experiencing this film for the first time. Having a top selling album with the aid of Aerosmith was a big help too.