The Top 50 Movie Musicals of the Past 25 Years: #10 - #1
Since 2000, we’ve seen musicals revive the genre, reinvent it, and sometimes wreck it. We’ve seen movie stars try to sing, theater kids become movie stars, and animated characters do it all better than either. The highs have been soaring, the flops have been… fascinating, and the passion from fans and critics alike has never been louder.
Let’s get one thing straight: narrowing this list down to 25 was a joke. I tried. I really did. But the last two decades have given us way too many bold, beautiful, brilliant movie musicals to pretend that 25 could possibly cover it. So I gave in. We’re going Top 50.
Now, not every movie with a killer soundtrack qualifies. For this list, I’m only including films that are actual movie musicals, which means they either classify as a musical, are adaptations of Broadway shows, or are animated musicals. Background music? Great. But if nobody’s singing their feelings, it’s not making the cut. Also, we’re going to stick with theatrical cuts as opposed to Made-for-TV ones, sorry High School Musical fans…
So here it is: Part 3 of the Top 50 Movie Musicals Since 2000—a mix of critical darlings, audience favorites, hidden gems, and the ones I just couldn’t stop rewatching. Click on the links below to read the other rankings because there was just to much to say about these to fit in one piece!
10. Moana (2016)
Moana isn’t just a great Disney movie—it’s one of the best animated musicals of all time, and it belongs right up there with the Disney Renaissance heavyweights. Think The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin—yeah, it’s that good. The visuals are stunning, the story is empowering, and the songs are next-level. Auli’i Cravalho delivers a star-making performance, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s score soars, and even The Rock pulls off a banger. It’s heartfelt, epic, and totally timeless.
9. Dreamgirls (2006)
Dreamgirls is big, bold, and packed with powerhouse performances. Beyoncé is great, Jamie Foxx is slick—but let’s be real, this is Jennifer Hudson’s movie. Her “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” is one of the best musical moments ever put on film. The movie nails the rise-and-fall music industry story, with stunning costumes, staging, and a Motown-inspired score that still hits. It’s glossy, emotional, and absolutely earns its place in the top ten.
8. Sing Street (2016)
If Once is the quiet heartbreaker, Sing Street is its scrappy, hopeful cousin with a killer mixtape. This movie is pure joy—DIY, rough around the edges, and all the better for it. Set in 1980s Dublin, it’s about a teenager who starts a band to impress a girl (relatable) and accidentally discovers his voice. The original songs are so good they feel like lost ‘80s classics, and the whole film pulses with that thrilling, awkward, impossible energy of being young and dreaming big. It’s charming, heartfelt, and totally rewatchable. If you missed it, fix that immediately. It deserves the hype.
7. The Greatest Showman (2017)
Listen, is it historically accurate? Absolutely not. Do I care? Not even a little. The Greatest Showman is pure spectacle—and it knows exactly what it is. Hugh Jackman sells every second with Broadway swagger, and the Pasek & Paul soundtrack is wall-to-wall bangers. “This Is Me” became an anthem for a reason. It’s flashy, emotional, over-the-top, and completely unapologetic about it. Critics were mixed, but audiences showed up and stayed—this thing had legs like a Marvel movie. It’s not subtle or polished, but it’s all heart. It’s the kind of musical that makes you want to stand up and cheer.
6. The Last Five Years (2014)
Some people might be surprised to see this ranked so high—but they shouldn’t be. The Last Five Years is one of the most emotionally honest, underrated, structurally clever, and beautifully performed movie musicals of the last 25 years. Jason Robert Brown’s score is a gut-punch, and the way the film lets the story unfold—one timeline moving forward, the other backward—is quietly devastating. Anna Kendrick is flawless. Jeremy Jordan is heartbreaking. It’s small, sure, but that intimacy makes it hit harder. No big sets, no chorus lines—just two people falling in and out of love, and every lyric cutting a little deeper.
5. Once (2007)
The quietest movie on this list—and maybe the most emotional. Once isn’t flashy. No choreography, no big numbers, no costumes. Just two people, a guitar, a piano, and some of the most beautiful music ever put to film. “Falling Slowly” alone could earn it a top-five spot, but the whole thing works because it feels real. Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová aren’t actors pretending—they’re just being. It’s raw, intimate, and heartbreakingly honest. Somehow, with barely any budget and zero spectacle, Once reminds you why we love musicals in the first place: because a song can say what words never could.
4. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
There’s before Moulin Rouge! and after Moulin Rouge!. Baz Luhrmann took a wild risk—mashing together pop songs, opera, tragic romance, and absurd visual chaos—and somehow made it a masterpiece. It’s big, loud, messy, and completely alive. Ewan McGregor sings like his heart’s going to explode. Nicole Kidman is heartbreaking and iconic. And the whole thing moves like it’s running on adrenaline. You either go with it or get left behind. It’s not subtle, but it feels everything so deeply that it doesn’t need to be. No movie musical since has come close to this level of guts and style.
3. Chicago (2002)
The one that brought movie musicals back from the dead—and did it with attitude. Chicago is sharp, sexy, smart, and still holds up more than 20 years later. Rob Marshall’s direction keeps it snappy, the editing is iconic, and every number hits. Catherine Zeta-Jones eats. Renée Zellweger surprises. Queen Latifah steals scenes. Even Richard Gere manages to charm. It’s glitzy without being cheesy, theatrical without feeling like a filmed play, and somehow makes murder, jazz, and courtroom drama feel like a dance break. This is how you adapt a Broadway show. Everyone else has been chasing this ever since.
2. Wicked: Part One (2024)
Yep—only half the story is out, and it’s already this high. That’s how good it is. Jon M. Chu somehow took one of the most beloved stage musicals ever and made it feel fresh, cinematic, and massive without losing an ounce of heart. Cynthia Erivo’s “Defying Gravity”? Goosebumps. Ariana Grande? Legitimately great—funny, layered, and vocally on point.
The world looks incredible, the performances land, and it just feels like a real movie, not a filmed stage show. It honors the original while making smart updates, and the whole thing moves with confidence. It knows exactly what it’s doing—and who it’s for.
If Part Two delivers, this could end up the gold standard for Broadway adaptations. But even on its own, Part One sticks the landing and earns every bit of this ranking. We’re already defying gravity—and we haven’t even hit “No Good Deed” yet.
1. Tick, Tick… BOOM! (2021)
This was never going to be anything but #1. Tick, Tick… BOOM! is the rare movie musical that feels like it was made for artists, by artists—specifically the kind who’ve ever sat in a too-small apartment, staring at a blank page, wondering if they’re already out of time. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s directorial debut is personal, theatrical, and fully alive. And Andrew Garfield? Unreal. He doesn’t just play Jonathan Larson—he channels him. It’s one of those performances where you forget you’re watching an actor. You just feel every moment of panic, joy, obsession, self-doubt, and stubborn hope.
The songs still hit like a gut punch. Every shot feels designed with love for theatre and the people who make it. There are nods to Broadway history, sure, but this movie never leans on nostalgia. It earns every tear.
More than anything, this film understands what it feels like to need to make something, even if no one’s watching. That kind of pressure? That kind of magic? Tick, Tick… BOOM! nails it. It’s scrappy, beautiful, heartbreaking—and the best movie musical of this century.