Every year, there are a different set of movie anniversaries to celebrate. There are milestones like the 25th or 50th anniversary of a film’s release, and 2026 will have plenty of those, such as Star Wars celebrating its 50th. But, this is also when 2016 movies will all turn 10 years old.
2016 was a monumental year for the movie industry, with Marvel, DC, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and other franchises releasing new installments. This year’s films also led to one of the most controversial moments in Oscars history during the 2017 ceremony. For all of these titles, it’s hard to believe that 10 years have already passed since they debuted and created new memories for movie watchers.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman finally shared the big screen for the first time in live-action with 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Zack Snyder’s second entry in the DC Extended Universe laid the groundwork for Justice League and was meant to be a launching pad to a sprawling interconnected universe.
Batman v Superman was one of the more divisive films of 2016, and that reputation has not faded after a full decade. Snyder’s interpretation of the DC Trinity has no shortage of vocal supporters who appreciate him pushing these characters in new directions. The way he did it also turned off plenty of viewers, even if it still did huge business at the box office, earning $874 million worldwide.
Captain America: Civil War
The Marvel Cinematic Universe kicked off Phase 3 with one of its biggest movies by making Captain America: Civil War. Often referred to as Avengers 2.5, the Captain America solo movie brought in Iron Man and many other Avengers as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes were turned against each other.
This will always be a landmark moment for the MCU, as it marked the introduction of Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. As the movie that proved the Russo brothers could handle Avengers-level films, the 10th anniversary is rather timely since they are officially returning to the MCU in 2026 for Avengers: Doomsday.
La La Land
It’s hard to believe that we’ll soon be 10 years removed from Sebastian and Mia’s emotional farewell. Damien Chazelle’s brightly colored musical with a great number of toe-tapping songs and incredibly choreographed dances is one of my favorite movies of 2016.
Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are tremendous in La La Land, delivering all the emotional acting, singing, and dancing necessary to make it work. The fact that this went on to be such a massive success (earning $447 million worldwide) is a perfect reminder of how much the box office has changed in a decade.
Deadpool
The movie that almost never happened, Deadpool proved Ryan Reynolds had the goods to be Wade Wilson if given a proper chance. Utilizing the character’s fourth wall breaking and taking full advantage of the level of violence and vulgarity possible with an R-rating, this remains a defining superhero movie.
After all, if it wasn’t for Deadpool‘s success, we never would’ve gotten Logan or any of the Deadpool sequels. We have a lot to thank this movie for in the superhero movie genre, as well as Hollywood at large. And to think it might never have been made if Reynolds didn’t leak the test footage all those years ago.
Arrival
Denis Villeneuve delivered a sci-fi masterpiece 10 years ago with Arrival. Taking on the arrival of an alien species through the lens of communication, the movie tells a very human story against its sci-fi backdrop, with Amy Adams leading the way with an emotional performance.
While not only an incredible film in its own right, Arrival played a major role in Villeneuve’s ascention through the industry and becoming one of Hollywood’s signature sci-fi storytellers. If it hadn’t been so well received, perhaps we never would have gotten his Blade Runner 2049 or his Dune movies.
The Nice Guys
2016 was a huge year for Ryan Gosling, with his other release, The Nice Guys, remaining a cult-favorite 10 years later. He stars alongside Russell Crowe in Shane Black’s buddy-cop film that is absolutely hilarious, loaded with great action, and incredibly smart.
The love for The Nice Guys over the years can be seen with how often calls for The Nice Guys 2 to be made circulate online. It’ll be a real shame if Gosling and Crowe never get a chance to return to this world. Perhaps the 10th anniversary will bring some long-awaited good news on that front.
Moonlight
Moonlight stands out as one of the best movies of 2016, with it even winning Best Picture at the Oscars following the La La Land card mix-up. This is the movie that really put Barry Jenkins on the map as a director thanks to the exceptional and touching way he showcased Chiron’s life over the years.
Moonlight‘s Oscars win is one of the most significant of the 21st Century. It pushed A24 to a new level and made Mahershala Ali a rare Black actor to win an Academy Award. Moonlight also gave Jenkins the power to make many other movies as a director, writer, or producer, such as If Beale Street Could Talk.
10 Cloverfield Lane
Remember the Cloverfield franchise? The J.J. Abrams-produced sci-fi series got its second installment in 2016, with Dan Trachtenberg’s 10 Cloverfield Lane impressing viewers when it did arrive. Despite its small scale, the film is incredibly tense, boasts strong performances (especially from John Goodman), and enough sci-fi action by the end.
The Cloverfield series might not have found much success after 10 Cloverfield Lane, but it did do wonders for Trachtenberg. It took a while, but he’s now crafting the Predator franchise and taking the skills he displayed here to a much bigger scale. None of that might have happened if not for 10 Cloverfield Lane.
Star Trek Beyond
It’s hard to believe that the last Star Trek movie came out 10 years ago. The third entry in the Kelvin Timeline brought the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise back once more, with Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldaña, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, and the late Anton Yelchin all featured. Star Trek Beyond is an immensely fun installment of this series, with director Justin Lin ramping up the action and spectacle.
Despite making $343 million at the box office, Paramount failed to ever get a sequel off the ground. While there’re plenty of Star Trek TV shows on Paramount+, the series has left fans disappointed by not making Star Trek 4 or simply any movie over the last decade.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
After celebrating Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ 10th anniversary in 2025, Lucasfilm and Disney now get to relive the glory of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The franchise’s first standalone movie expanded what a Star Wars movie could be and look like, even if the path to get there was quite rocky, and brought Darth Vader back for an all-time great final scene.
Not only is Rogue One often in the conversation to be Disney’s best Star Wars movie, but it is responsible for arguably giving the franchise its best release that George Lucas wasn’t involved in: Andor. The hit Disney+ series never would’ve happened if audiences didn’t love Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor 10 years ago.
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