10 Highest Grossing 2024 U.S. Films featuring Out Queer Actors

2024 saw another wave of genre films reaping big rewards at the United States box office. LGBTQ+ performers secured roles in lots of these films, including animation, action, fantasy and even comedy. This week's listicle spotlights the highest grossing films at the U.S. box office that featured queer male performers, or their voices. Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

 

Smile 2 (U.S. Box Office Rank: #31) - $68.9M
2024 was another big year for the horror genre. The popular sequel Smile 2 was the third-highest grossing horror film of the year, behind Longlegs and A Quiet Place: Day One. Leading lady Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) prepares for a world tour, but the pop star is soon overwhelmed by terrifying visions and escalating horror, forcing her to confront her past. The film featured two out actors as Miles Gutierrez-Riley played the supporting role of Joshua, Skye's assistant and Lukas Gage starred as Lewis, a former classmate of Skye's who deals drugs.

 

Mean Girls (U.S. Box Office Rank: #30) - $72.4M
The only live action comedy to make the list this year, the Mean Girls remake retold the classic high school tale as a musical. Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) arrives at her new school and befriends the popular clique, The Plastics, only for her fate to change when she falls for bad girl Regina George's ex-boyfriend (Christopher Briney). Out actor Jaquel Spivey took on the role of Cady's new friend Damian, one of the few live action queer male characters to appear in a film grossing over $70M at the domestic box office. The film also features a cameo from gay social media content creator Chris Olsen.

 

Wonka (U.S. Box Office Rank: #27) - $85.2M
Popular UK character actor Matt Lucas played a supporting role in the fantasy prequel Wonka, which saw a young and poor Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet) pursuing his dreams of opening a candy shop in a city renowned for its chocolate. Lucas appeared as Gerald Prodnose, a member of a group of rival chocolatiers known as the Chocolate Cartel, who present major challenges for Wonka, including bribing local authorities to intimidate the young dreamer. It was a good year for Lucas, as he appears again in an even more successful genre film later on this list.

 

The Garfield Movie (U.S. Box Office Rank: #26) - $91.9M
After last year's Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, out actor Harvey Guillén found more animated success with his voice role as the iconic dog Odie in The Garfield Movie, opposite leading man Chris Pratt in the titular role. The film also cast another out actor in Bowen Yang, who provided the voice of another canine character, Nolan, in the film. Garfield & Odie get abducted by a trio of animals, including Nolan, a Whippet. As a henchman to the film's antagonist, a crazed Persian cat, Nolan appears in several scenes of the film. Yang appears in another wicked role later on this list.

 

Mufasa: The Lion King (U.S. Box Office Rank: #19) - $128M
Out actor and comedian Billy Eichner reprised his voice role as Timon from 2019's The Lion King for this year's sequel/prequel film Mufasa: The Lion King. Timon and his longtime companion Pumbaa (Seth Rogen) are charged with watching over Simba and Nala's young daughter Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter), as Rafiki (John Kani) recounts the tale of Mufasa's young life and his relationship with his future brother/killer Scar. The story is shared with Kiara as she awaits the birth of her new sibling, with Timon & Pumbaa providing commentary as part of the narration.

 

Gladiator II (U.S. Box Office Rank: #13) - $164M
In addition to Wonka, Matt Lucas also joined another franchise revived in 2024. The period drama Gladiator II follows Lucius Aurelius (Paul Mescal), as he is forced to enter the Roman Colosseum in a fight for survival as he hopes to return the glory of Rome to its people. Lucas played the small role of the Colosseum's unnamed Master of Ceremonies. Lucas appears to address the public spectators before the film's epic gladiator sequences. Though the Colosseum M.C.'s sexuality was not mentioned, the film did feature a noted bisexual gladiator, Macrinus (Denzel Washington).

 

The Wild Robot (U.S. Box Office Rank: #15) - $143M
Based on a novel by Peter Brown, the animated science fiction adventure film The Wild Robot follows Roz (Lupita Nyong'o) a service robot who is shipwrecked on an island where Roz becomes the adoptive mother of an orphaned young goose, Brightbill. Heartstopper star Kit Connor voiced the role of Brightbill, appearing in a supporting role throughout the film, which was the final film to be animated entirely by DreamWorks. It was the fifth-highest grossing U.S. animated film of the year and the highest to feature a bisexual cast member in Connor.

 

Twisters (U.S. Box Office Rank: #8) - $267M
The disaster thriller Twisters is a sequel to the 1996 storm chaser drama Twister. It follows former storm chaser Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) whose path collides with the reckless Tyler (Glen Powell), as their teams dive into the paths of multiple storm systems resulting in tornadoes that threaten to destroy them. Out actor Nik Dodani co-stars in the film as Praveen, a storm chaser working on Kate's team early in the film, until their scientific experiment goes wrong leading to an EF5 tornado killing several members of the group, including Praveen, leading to Kate's temporary retirement.

 

Wicked (U.S. Box Office Rank: #3) - $432M
The fantasy musical Wicked tells the story of the young life of Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), outcast for her green skin and keeping her magical power secret. She finds her life changed forever when she crosses paths with Galinda (Ariana Grande) and the mysterious Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum). Elphaba & Galinda both share an attraction to Prince Fiyero, played by out actor Jonathan Bailey. The cast also also includes Bowen Yang as Pfannee, one of Galinda's college pals. In addition to Bailey & Yang, the film also boasts the title of being the highest-grossing 2024 film with a top-billed queer lead in Cynthia Erivo.

 

Deadpool & Wolverine (U.S. Box Office Rank: #2) - $636M
Out actor Karan Soni joined the rest of the returning cast for the MCU sequel Deadpool & Wolverine. The blockbuster saw the titular characters, played by Ryan Reynolds & Hugh Jackman, coming together to save Deadpool's timeline in a universe-hopping action-adventure comedy. Unlike the first two films however, Soni's character, taxi driver Dopinder plays a majorly reduced role in the third film. Continuing his friendship with Wade/Deadpool, Dopinder appears among the guests at a birthday party held for Wade, who at that point is retired from being a superhero, until he's called back into action.