by What were the most searched movies in the last 12 months? As 2022 draws to a close, Top Gun: Maverick remains atop the global box office having grossed over $1.4bn (£1.2bn).
It’s also dominating many “best” lists on the internet (including Yahoo’s), so it’s no surprise that Tom Cruise’s sequel was also the most searched film of the year.
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We dug into data from millions of Yahoo web searches to find out what movies you were looking for in 2022.
10 | Where the crayfish sing
Based on Delia Owens’ book club favorite novel of the same name and released in theaters in July, Where The Crawdads Sing was a box office hit grossing $140 million against a $24 million budget. The searches for the film were probably driven by fans of the book eager to know if the film did justice to the source.
9 | Hocus Pocus 2
Arriving 29 years after the original, fans have been asking for Hocus Pocus 2 for decades and it’s finally here in time for Halloween on Disney+. Bringing together the original trio of Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy as the Sanderson sisters, it didn’t disappoint and became the streaming service’s most-watched film and spearheaded a cauldron filled with online searches.
8 | Operation minced meat
This understated thriller, based on Ben Macintyre’s excellent book of the same name, told the incredible true story of one of WWII’s most extravagant spy capers. Starring Johnny Flynn as James Bond creator Ian Fleming, you can see the seeds of 007 being sown and the film was a hit with UK audiences, who turned to online research to investigate the real story behind the movie.
7 | Black Adam
The development of Dwayne Johnson’s superhero debut predates the MCU itself, having first been announced in 2007, but Black Adam finally arrived in 2022 with his promise to “change the hierarchy of power” of the DC cinematic universe.
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Fans were eager to learn more about the film online, however it didn’t translate into the box office pulling power Warner Bros. was hoping for.
6 | The Batman
While Black Adam underperformed, The Batman landed a DC hit just when the comic book franchise needed one. Released in early spring and boasting a running time of nearly three hours, it saw Robert Pattinson make his debut as a brooding Bruce Wayne.
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It took $770 million and resulted in millions of online searches, proving there is still life in the old bat.
5 | Unexplored
Based on the hit PlayStation video game and starring Spider-Man’s Tom Holland, Uncharted had what it takes to become a blockbuster hit. Even though the reviews didn’t live up to the hype, the action-adventure film still generated a lot of hype, with online searches also boosted by the enduring popularity of the game series.
4 | Spider-Man: There’s no way back home
While technically a 2021 film, Spider-Man: No Way Home was released in the last few days of last year, and thus was still one of this year’s most searched movies.
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It was also the most successful film of 2021, grossing $1.9 billion, dominating multiplexes and online searches for much of 2022, thanks to its many twists and crowd-pleasing cameos.
3 | Elvis
Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis could have gone either way: being a glorious failure, or a glorious success and luckily for movie fans, it was the latter. He opened the eyes of the younger audience to The King’s power thanks to his unorthodox approach to the subject, and led to a renewed interest in all things Elvis online.
2 | Enchantment
Disney’s Encanto is another 2021 that snuck into the 2022 list thanks, in large part, to its unforgettable soundtrack, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and produced by Mike Elizondo. Though it hit theaters in November of the previous year, it hit Disney+ at Christmas, where it found a global audience that led to many of its songs topping the charts in February 2022.
1 | Top Gun: nonconformist
Top Gun: Maverick came close to being named film of the year by Yahoo UK (find out what it lost here), but in terms of box office and online searches, it was the undisputed ace. Tom Cruise’s return to his 1986 hit exceeded expectations in almost every way and fans couldn’t get enough of him, coming back to watch him over and over, even looking for him all year long.
Top Gun: Maverick has been streaming on Paramount+ since December 22nd if you want to go back to the danger zone at home.
Watch the trailer for Top Gun: Maverick
