Yahoo Movies The most searched for movies of 2022
These are the films that people turned to online searches to learn more about
Which movies were for the most searched for over the last 12 months? As 2022 draws to a close, Top Gun: Maverick remains atop the global box office having taken over $1.4 billion (£1.2 billion).
It's also dominating many 'best of' lists across the internet (including Yahoo's), so it's no surprise that the Tom Cruise sequel was also the most searched for movie of the year too.
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We dug into the data from millions of web searches on Yahoo to find out which movies you were searching for in 2022.
10 | Where The Crawdads Sing
Based on Delia Owens' book club favourite novel of the same name, and released in cinemas in July, Where The Crawdads Sing was a box office hit taking $140 million against a $24 million budget. Searches for the movie were likely driven by fans of the book keen to learn whether the film did the source tome justice.
9 | Hocus Pocus 2
Coming 29 years after the original, fans had been demanding Hocus Pocus 2 for decades and it finally arrived in time for Halloween on Disney+. Reuniting the original trio of Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler, and Kathy Najimy as the Sanderson sisters, it didn't disappoint and it became the streaming service's most-viewed film, and drove a cauldron full of search online.
8 | Operation Mincemeat
This understated thriller, based on Ben Macintyre's excellent book of the same name, told the incredible true story of one of World War II's most outlandish espionage capers. Featuring Johnny Flynn as James Bond creator Ian Fleming, you can see the seeds of 007 being sown, and the movie was a hit with UK audiences, who turned to online search to investigate the true story behind the film.
7 | Black Adam
The development of Dwayne Johnson's superhero debut predates the MCU itself, having been first announced in 2007, but Black Adam finally arrived in 2022 with its promise to 'change the hierarchy of power' of the DC movie universe.
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Fans were keen to learn more about the movie online, however it didn't translate into the box office pulling power that Warner Bros. was hoping for.
6 | The Batman
While Black Adam underperformed, The Batman delivered a DC hit just when the comics franchise needed one. Released at the start of Spring, and boasting a near three-hour run time, it saw Robert Pattinson making his debut as a broody Bruce Wayne.
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It took $770m and drove millions of searches online, proving there's life in the old bat still.
5 | Uncharted
Based on the hit PlayStation video game and starring Spider-Man's Tom Holland, Uncharted had the makings of a blockbuster hit. While reviews didn't quite match up to the hype, the action-adventure film still generated a lot of buzz, with searches online boosted by the enduring popularity of the game series too.
4 | Spider-Man: No Way Home
Although technically a 2021 movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home was released in the final days of last year, and thus was still one of the most searched movies of this year.
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It was also the most successful movies of 2021, taking $1.9 billion, dominating multiplexes — and online searches — for much of 2022, thanks to its many twists and and crowd-pleasing cameos.
3 | Elvis
Baz Luhrmann's Elvis could have gone either way: be a glorious failure, or a glorious hit and luckily for movie fans, it was the latter. It opened the eyes of younger audiences to the power of The King thanks to its unorthodox approach to its subject, and it led to a renewed interest in everything Elvis online.
2 | Encanto
Disney's Encanto is another 2021 that sneaked into the 2022 list thanks — largely — to its unforgettable soundtrack, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and produced by Mike Elizondo. Although it hit cinemas in November the previous year, it hit Disney+ over Christmas where it found a global audience that drove many of its songs to hit the charts in February 2022.
1 | Top Gun: Maverick
Top Gun: Maverick came close to being named Yahoo UK's movie of the year (find out what it lost to 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 just about every way and fans couldn't get enough of it, returning to watch it again and again, while also searching for it all year long.
Top Gun: Maverick is streaming on Paramount+ from 22 December if you want to return to the danger zone at home.
Watch a trailer for Top Gun: Maverick
