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There really is no limit to the broad variety of characters that Kevin Hart can play, which is one of the reasons he has become such a successful comedian at a fairly young age. Born July 6, 1979, Hart has been acting professionally ever since the age of 22 when he was cast in a recurring role on Judd Apatow's TV sitcom, Undeclared, in which he starred beside the Pineapple Express actor, Seth Rogan, and Jay Baruchel.
Since then, he has only gotten progressively better roles in movies co-starring with some of Hollywood's finest acts, such as Michael Ealy, Gabrielle Union, Romany Malco, Meagan Good, Charlie Sheen, Anthony Anderson, Regina Hall, Jack Black, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Ice Cube, and Hollywood martial artist Wesley Snipes. These are only a small fraction of the actors Hart has had the privilege of working with and, today, he sits at a net worth of $450 million with plans to touch $1 billion. Here are 10 of Kevin Hart's highest-grossing movies, ranked.
Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle - $961.613 Million
The fantasy-adventure film, Jumanji, came a long way since the original movie was released in 1995 starring the late iconic comedian Robin Williams, Kirsten Dunce, Bonnie Hunt, and David Allen Grier. It would be another 22 years before any talk of a sequel would be made. In 2017, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle came out in theatres and breathed fresh life into the franchise, this time adding in a lot more humor and a stellar cast of actors to compliment the resurfacing of the film. Weighty names such as Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Nick Jonas, Karen Gillan, and the comedy king himself, Kevin Hart, are the celebrities who came together and caused the movie to gross $961.613 million at the global box office, vastly out-selling the original Jumanji of 1995 which only grossed $262 million.
The Secret Life Of Pets - $885.302 Million
Whether it's a comedy film, action, film, or computer-animated film, Hart must have the Midas touch because everything he touches seems to turn to gold. His ability to switch on an erratic, high-strung persona landed him the voice-over role of Snowball, a cute but dangerous criminally-minded rabbit gang leader who despises humans because his owner neglected him. The film follows a Jack Russell Terrier named Max (Louis C.K) who lives with his owner Katie (Ellie Kemper). When Katie goes to work, Max hangs with the other pets in the building, namely tabby cat Chloe (Lake Bell), Mel (Bobby Moynihan), Buddy (Hannibal Buress), and a parakeet named Sweet Pea (Tara Strong). When Katie one day brings home a mongrel named Duke voiced by Eric Stonestreet, what begins as a rocky relationship between him and Max turns into an unbreakable bond of friendship. Against a budget of $75 million, the film grossed $262.8 million worldwide.
Jumanji: The Next Level - $798.332 Million
This time, it didn't take but two years to direct the sequel to 2017's Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle before Jumanji: The Next Level was released. The fantastical world of dual realities continued as Spencer Gilpin (Alex Wolff) attempts to add excitement to his life after realizing his friends Anthony, Martha, and Bethany are living much more fulfilling lives than himself. Spence's grandfather, Eddie, acted by Danny DeVito, and his estranged friend Milo Walker (Danny Glover) are inadvertently sucked into the game after Anthony, Martha, and Bethany follows Spencer into Jumanji once they discover that he has entered. Jack Black, Dwayne Johnson, and Kevin Hart all reprise their roles in the film. Although the film didn't gross as much as 2017's Welcome to the Jungle, it came close enough with $798.332 million at the worldwide box office.
The Secret Life Of Pets 2 - $446.277 Million
Not every movie sequel can out-perform the original. The Secret Life of Pets 2 reprised many of the voicing actors from the previous movie with a few welcome additions, such as the Hollywood veteran, Harrison Ford. In this film series, Max's (Patton Oswalt) and Duke's (Eric Stonestreet) owner Katie reprised by Hollywood actress Ellie Kemper gets married to Chuck (Pete Holmes) and together they bring forth a son whose name is Liam. However, Max's overprotective nature towards Liam causes an itch to break out, prompting Katie to get him a cone.
They are soon taken out on a family trip to the country with Katie, Chuck, and Liam where Max encounters a Welsh Sheepdog named Rooster (Harrison Ford). Rooster inspires Max to overcome his insecurities and break free from the cone, which encourages him to save the life of a lamb named Cotton. Meanwhile, Snowball (Kevin Hart) and a Shih Tzu named Daisy (Tiffany Haddish) work together to save a white tiger cub named Hu. The film grossed $446.277 million at the box office.
Central Intelligence - $217.194 Million
The saying that opposites attract couldn't be more fitting for the dynamic duo of action-star Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart. This next one is a buddy-action comedy called Central Intelligence and follows the life of star athlete Calvin Joyner (Kevin Hart), the typical popular kid at high school. On the contrary, Robbie Weirdicht (Dwayne Johnson) is an overweight social outcast at school. Out of all the students who humiliate him, only Joyner and his girlfriend, Maggie (Danielle Nicolet) sympathize with him. Ten years later, Joyner is married to Maggie who works as a forensic accountant, but he is dissatisfied with his career. Weirdicht has also transformed into a muscular, disciplined, lethal fighting machine who works for the CIA under the alias of Bob Stone. After Stone requests Joyner to review some online transactions, they are hunted by CIA agents led by Agent Pamela Harris (Amy Ryan). The film grossed $217.194 million globally.
Scary Movie 4 - $178.710 Million
Originally written by Marlon and Shawn Wayans and directed by Keenan Ivory Wayans, the Scary Movie franchise has only gotten bigger and better at the box office. By the time Scary Movie 4 was released in 2006, the fantasy comedy horror was being released under The Weinstein Company, owned by the Hollywood-exiled Harvey Weinstein. The movie makes references to various other films, such as War of The Worlds starring Tom Cruise, 8 Mile starring the self-proclaimed rap god Eminem, Saw II, The Village, and Million Dollar Baby. Besides cameos from celebrities like Dr. Phil, Shaquille O' Neal, and rappers Chingy and Fabulous, the film starred Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Leslie Nielson, Anthony Anderson, and Kevin Hart. Like all the rest, Scary Movie 4 was a box office success, grossing $178.710 million.
The 40-Year Old Virgin - $176.276 Million
Director Judd Apatow and Kevin Hart had an understanding business relationship ever since giving the Get Hard actor a role in his 2001 TV sitcom. A few years later in 2005, the opportunity came again from Apatow to have a minor but memorable role in The 40-Year Old Virgin alongside Steve Carrell, Seth Rogan, Paul Rudd, and Romany Malco. Hart's star scene was as a Smart Tech customer who was engaged in a heated argument with a womanizing employee named Jay (Romany Malco). The movie was an instant hit and remains as a classic to this day, grossing $176.276 million.
Scary Movie 3 - $155.2 Million
Released in 2003, Scary Movie 3 was the first to be directed by David Zucker, who has a track record of directing classic spoof comedies, such as the Naked Gun franchise starring Leslie Nielson, who also played the role of President Baxter Harris in the movie. The film borrowed the idea for their plots from other popular films of the time such as the 2002 supernatural horror The Ring, Mel Gibson's science-fiction thriller Signs, and the science-fiction action fan favorite, The Matrix Reloaded. Some of the other main actors included Anna Faris, Charlie Sheen, Regina Hall, Simon Rex, the hip-hop diva Queen Latifah, Kevin Hart, comedian Eddie Griffin, and even former Murder Inc. rapper Ja Rule. The film was a hilarious success and grossed $155.2 million at the box office.
Ride Along - $153.733 Million
From Starsky and Hutch and Lethal Weapon to Rush Hour and Bad Boys, buddy cop films have always found success with the good cop/bad cop dynamic. Or, better yet, the inexperienced, naive cop and the ruthless street smart cop. The latter better describes the 2014 action comedy, Ride Along, which follows the lives of a high school security guard named Ben Barber (Kevin Hart) and an undercover detective named James Payton, played by rapper Ice Cube. Ben is dating James' sister, Angela (Tika Sumpter), and is planning to marry her, but is requesting the blessing of her brother before doing so. In addition, Ben also applies to the Atlanta Police Academy but is informed by James that before receiving either blessing, he needs to do a "ride along" which will prove his worthiness to marry Angela as well to join the academy. They work together, barely, to take down a smuggling boss named Omar (Laurence Fishburne). The film found success at the box office and grossed $153.733 million.
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie - $126.422 Million
Taken directly from the Captain Underpants children's novel written by Dav Pilkey, it was first published in 1997 and has since produced twelve other novels, the most recent one being in 2015. Then in 2017, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, was released as a computer-animated film and kept the same concept surrounding two fourth graders named George Beard, voiced by Kevin Hart, and Harold Hutchins, voiced by Thomas Middleditch. The boys are known for their ingenious pranks that often get them into trouble. Together, they create comic books named Captain Underpants which is supposed to represent their cruel principal, Mr. Benjamin Krupp played by Ed Helms. To prevent themselves from being put into separate classes, they hypnotize Mr. Krupp using a ring they found in a cereal box, which turns him into Captain Underpants. The film was made on the lowest DreamWorks budget at the time of $38 million. However, it made bank at the box office and grossed $126.422 million.
Sources: The Guardian, Empire Online, Roger Ebert, Collider