IMDb’s Top 250 movies is a tough list for modern films to reach. It contains the best movies with the highest crowd-sourced ratings from any and all genres. Some of these are clear-cut candidates, like Adrien Brody’s historical music biopic “The Pianist,” which comes in 32nd on the list. Other movies are less sobering and more fantastical. For instance, all three of Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy films are in the top 12.
Sci-fi shows up a lot, too. “Interstellar” is ranked 19th. “The Matrix” is 16th. “The Empire Strikes Back” occupies the 15th spot, and “Inception” is the highest-ranked sci-fi of them all at 14th. With so many classics already on the list, it’s hard for new releases to make the cut. Case in point, just three movies from 2024 were added to the list’s hallowed ranks — two of which were from the sci-fi genre.
As of this writing, “The Wild Robot” and “Dune: Part Two” have both reached the hallowed ranks of IMDb’s Top 250 list. The animated children’s adaptation “The Wild Robot” landed at 160 with a solid 8.2-star rating, while the Villeneuve-helmed “Dune” sequel centered on the unrealistically arid Arrakis leaped even further up the charts. With an 8.5-star rating, it is considered the 54th-best movie ever made.
The Wild Robot and Dune 2 are building on their success
With thousands of competitors to beat out, creating something that makes it into this top 250 list seems incredibly difficult. Despite being an incredible start to a franchise reboot, “Dune: Part One” didn’t reach the list. (Although it has a respectable 8.0 rating.) So, what are the creators behind this pair of ultra-successful 2024 sci-fi hits doing with their newfound momentum? The answer is a lot.
“The Wild Robot” was released in late September and only reached streaming platforms in early 2025. Despite the recency, its unique box office success and unexpected popularity made it no surprise when news broke that DreamWorks Animation had a sequel in the works. The movie continues to resonate with a staggering 98% audience and 97% critics score. It also earned an A CinemaScore and ended up bringing in over $325 million at the worldwide box office. The success was so profound that DreamWorks confirmed a sequel was on the way just two weeks after it premiered. The best part? The adapted novel already has a popular follow-up, “The Wild Robot Escapes,” which means director Chris Sanders will have plenty of audience-approved source material to work with.
And “Dune: Part Two”? That has even more momentum behind it. The second half of director Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s iconic novel thrilled audiences in early March of 2024. After conquering the box office with a jaw-dropping $714 million haul, it was presumed that a third film would follow. Again, original author Frank Herbert already had a sequel novel (and many other books set in the same universe) waiting in the wings. By October, Villeneuve had confirmed that he was already working on the third part of his soon-to-be trilogy and was going to get back behind the camera faster than expected. Now, the only question is whether these follow-ups will be able to match the success of their predecessors.