The surprising rise of Jonathan Bailey as the highest-grossing actor of 2025

Jonathan Bailey’s 2025 didn’t resemble a traditional Hollywood takeover. There was no flood of releases, persistent press cycle, no attempt to dominate every corner of the entertainment conversation. 

And yet, as the year draws to a close, Bailey stands as the highest-grossing actor of 2025.

He reached this milestone with just two films — an increasingly rare feat in a marketplace where stars often rely on volume to maintain visibility. Bailey’s year unfolded with intention and precision, and both releases landed with force.

Together, Jurassic World: Rebirth and Wicked: For Good quietly placed Bailey under the 2025 spotlight.

A summer breakout

The run began on July 2 with Jurassic World: Rebirth, Universal’s latest entry in its long-running dinosaur franchise. The film opened strong and never really slowed, ultimately earning around $869 million worldwide, including roughly $339.6 million in North America.

Bailey starred as Dr. Henry Loomis, a paleontologist whose scientific curiosity places him at the heart of the story. It wasn’t a flashy reinvention or a traditional action-hero turn, but a grounded, steady presence in a spectacle-driven film. He anchored the role with quiet assurance.

Sharing the screen with Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali, Bailey held his own in a cast calibrated to blend star power with ensemble storytelling. The performance didn’t shout “movie-star moment”- it didn’t need to. The scale of the film did the talking.

And for Bailey, that success opened the door to an even broader audience finally seeing him.

Wicked, and widely seen

If Jurassic World: Rebirth established Bailey as a reliable blockbuster presence, Wicked: For Good expanded the picture. The second half of Universal’s two-part adaptation arrived with enormous expectations and delivered.

The film opened to $147–150 million domestically and $223–226 million worldwide in its first weekend. By late December, its global total had reached between $468 million and $503 million, with the film still in theaters and continuing to climb.

Bailey reprised his role as Prince Fiyero opposite Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, bringing a mix of swagger, vulnerability, and musicality perfectly suited to his stage-honed strengths. Thanks to the reach of the franchise, his performance introduced him to viewers encountering him onscreen for the first time.

By the holidays, Bailey had become the quiet through-line in two of the year’s most successful studio releases across entirely different genres.

Efficiency over exposure

What separated Bailey from many of his peers in 2025 wasn’t visibility — it was efficiency. Plenty of major stars released multiple films, appeared in streaming projects, or maintained near-constant public profiles. Bailey didn’t.

Instead, he delivered two carefully timed performances in high-impact studio releases, both arriving during peak box-office windows.

Combined, those films pushed past $1.3 billion worldwide. It was more than enough to secure his place at the top of the year’s box-office rankings, despite a remarkably light slate.

The year of stardom

Away from Hollywood, Bailey spent the early part of the year on familiar territory. Until May, he starred as Richard II at London’s Bridge Theatre, earning strong reviews for his turn in the Shakespearean tragedy.

His portrayal later earned him a Best Actor nomination at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards, reinforcing that 2025 wasn’t a pivot away from serious acting, but an expansion of it.

That balance between theatre and large-scale studio filmmaking ultimately became one of the defining features of Bailey’s year.