American actor Leonardo DiCaprio might have kicked off the 1990s with a role in the critical failure Critters 3, but by the end of the decade, he was an established star and teenage heartthrob. DiCaprio didn’t take long to prove his acting prowess, receiving widespread acclaim for his performance in 1993’s What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, even earning his first Academy Award nomination.
The young DiCaprio eventually lost out to Tommy Lee Jones for his role in The Fugitive, but that didn’t deter the actor. He followed What’s Eating Gilbert Grape with a leading role in The Basketball Diaries, which told the story of Jim Carroll, a burgeoning basketball player whose life takes a complicated turn after he develops a severe drug addiction.
Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet alongside Claire Danes. The modern-day retelling of Shakespeare’s story (complete with the original dialogue) earned DiCaprio several awards, including the Silver Bear for ‘Best Actor’ at the Berlin International Film Festival.
However, DiCaprio reached unprecedented levels of success with a part in James Cameron’s Titanic, an epic retelling of the 1912 shipwreck. Alongside Kate Winslet, the pair starred as lovers from different social classes who fall in love onboard the doomed voyage. The movie became one of the highest-grossing movies ever made, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone that hasn’t seen the emotional classic.
Through the 2000s, the actor continued to star in successful movies, including Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York, The Aviator and The Departed. The pair also reunited in 2010 for Shutter Island before collaborating again on The Audition, The Wolf of Wall Street and Killers of the Flower Moon. Elsewhere, he reunited with Luhrmann for The Great Gatsby and made several collaborations with Quentin Tarantino, such as Django Unchained and Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.
DiCaprio’s dazzling filmography includes some of cinema’s most successful releases, with Titanic, his highest-grossing movie, becoming the first to surpass $1billion at the box office. Cameron’s 2010 movie Avatar eventually usurped the throne, although Titanic has remained financially successful through many re-releases, with a current gross of over $2billion.
The second-highest-grossing movie DiCaprio has starred in is Inception, directed by Christopher Nolan, released in 2010. The project received an incredible worldwide gross of $829,895,144. In third place is The Revenant, which won DiCaprio his long-awaited first Academy Award. Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s film also won DiCaprio accolades from the BAFTAs, Golden Globes and Screen Actor’s Guild.
Discover the actor’s ten highest-grossing films below, complete with their worldwide gross (via Box Office Mojo), most of which feature DiCaprio in a leading role.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s 10 highest-grossing movies:
- Titanic (James Cameron, 1997) – $2,194,439,542
Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010) – $829,895,144
The Revenant (Alejandro G. Iñárritu, 2015) – $532,950,503
Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino, 2012) – $425,368,238
The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese, 2013) – $392,000,69
Once Upon A Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino, 2019) – $389,021,383
The Great Gatsby (Baz Luhrmann, 2013) – $353,641,895
Catch Me If You Can (Steven Spielberg, 2002) – $352,114,312
Shutter Island (Martin Scorsese, 2010) – $294,804,195
The Departed (Martin Scorsese, 2006) – $291,465,034