2016 Most Profitable Movie: ‘Secret Life Of Pets’ Beats ‘Deadpool’, ‘Rogue One’

This is Illumination Entertainment chief Chris Meledandri’s second trip up the proverbial ladder to cut the nets as the victor of Deadline’s Most Valuable Blockbuster tournament. He won in 2013 for Despicable Me 2. According to our experts who looked extensively at the behind-the-curtain data to derive the net profit and Cash on Cash Return that means most to studios, The Secret Life Of Pets beat out a slew of strong contenders, several of which surpassed the billion-dollar mark in global gross.

The tournament was set up as an annual Deadline feature to give a clearer idea, beyond the weekend and annual box office standings, of how much studios really keep, and that keeps studios in business and co-financiers coming back for more. As a final cap, Deadline Hollywood provides readers with the revenue and costs charts of all 20 films that participated, as well as three honorable mentions. You can click below for the entire breakdown of data that was always expected to be the most memorable part of this exercise.

While Meledandri gets bragging rights, I need to give a shout out to Deadline’s Anthony D’Alessandro and Patrick Hipes, who as usual are invaluable in generating these annual reports.

Click on the photo above to launch a gallery of Deadline’s Top 20 list, and check out the rankings below.

Deadline’s Top 20 of 2016

Rank | Movie | (Studio) | Net Profit

1. The Secret Life Of Pets (Uni) – $374.65M
2. Deadpool (Fox) – $322.24M
3. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Dis) – $319.60M
4. Finding Dory (Dis) – $296.60M
5. Zootopia (Dis) – $294.90M
6. The Jungle Book (Dis) – $258.15M
7. Sing (Uni) – $194.25M
8. Captain America: Civil War (Dis) – $193.40M
9. Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them (WB) – $164.70M
10. Suicide Squad (WB) – $158.45M
11. Doctor Strange (Dis) – $122.65M
12. Moana (Dis) – $121.30M
13. Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice (WB) – $105.70M
14. The Conjuring 2 (WB) – $98.30M
15. Hidden Figures (Fox) – $95.55M
16. Kung Fu Panda 3 (Fox) – $76.65M
17. The Angry Birds Movie (Sony) – $72.00M
18. La La Land (Lionsgate) – $68.25M
19. Don’t Breathe (Sony) – $59.10M
20. Central Intelligence (WB) – $52.00M