List of highest-grossing films
The following is a non-definitive list of the all-time highest-grossing films.
Worldwide highest-grossing films before inflation
The list has more 2007 films and 2008, in the top 50 than any other year, each with seven, followed by 2005, and 2004, each with six. Over 75 percent of films in the top 50 were released after 2000, while no film prior to 1977 appears in the list because inflation, population size and ticket purchasing trends are not considered. Figures are given in United States dollars (USD).
| Rank | Movie name | Studio(s) | Worldwide Gross | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Titanic | 20th Century Fox/Paramount | $1,848,813,795 | 1997 |
| 2 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | New Line Cinema | $1,133,027,325 | 2003 |
| 3 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest | Walt Disney Pictures | $1,065,659,812 | 2006 |
| 4 | The Dark Knight | Warner Bros. | $997,026,626 | 2008 |
| 5 | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | Warner Bros. | $976,457,891 | 2001 |
| 6 | Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End | Walt Disney Pictures | $952,420,425 | 2007 |
| 7 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Warner Bros. | $938,468,864 | 2007 |
| 8 | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | New Line Cinema | $926,284,377 | 2002 |
| 9 | Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace | 20th Century Fox | $924,288,297 | 1999 |
| 10 | Jurassic Park | Universal Studios | $920,100,000 | 1993 |
| 11 | Shrek 2 | DreamWorks SKG | $915,278,586 | 2004 |
| 12 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Warner Bros. | $896,013,036 | 2005 |
| 13 | Spider-Man 3 | Sony/Columbia | $891,930,303 | 2007 |
| 14 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | Warner Bros. | $878,987,880 | 2002 |
| 15 | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | New Line Cinema | $868,621,686 | 2001 |
| 16 | Finding Nemo | Walt Disney Company/Pixar | $866,592,978 | 2003 |
| 17 | Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith | 20th Century Fox | $848,999,005 | 2005 |
| 18 | Spider-Man | Columbia Pictures | $821,606,375 | 2002 |
| 19 | Independence Day | 20th Century Fox | $817,400,878 | 1996 |
| 20 | Shrek the Third | DreamWorks SKG. | $797,641,069 | 2007 |
| 21 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | Warner Bros. | $795,900,000 | 2004 |
| 22 | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | Universal Studios | $792,910,554 | 1982 |
| 23 | The Lost World: Jurassic Park | Unversial | $786,686,679 | 1997 |
| 24 | Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull | Paramount Pictures | $786,001,411 | 2008 |
| 25 | Spider-Man 2 | Sony Pictures | $784,024,485 | 2004 |
| 26 | Lion King | Walt Disney Pictures | $783,839,505 | 1994 |
| 27 | Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope | 20th Century Fox | $775,398,007 | 1977 |
| 28 | The Da Vinci Code | Columbia Pictures | $758,239,851 | 2006 |
| 29 | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | Walt Disney Pictures/Walden Media | $744,717,957 | 2005 |
| 30 | The Matrix Reloaded | Warner Bros. | $738,599,701 | 2003 |
| 31 | Transformers | Paramount/DreamWorks SKG | $708,226,810 | 2007 |
| 32 | Forrest Gump | Paramount | $677,387,716 | 1994 |
| 33 | The Sixth Sense | Buena Vista/Hollywood Pictures | $672,806,292 | 1999 |
| 34 | Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl | Walt Disney Company/Buena Vista | $654,264,015 | 2003 |
| 35 | Ice Age: The Meltdown | 20th Century Fox | $651,564,743 | 2006 |
| 36 | Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones | 20th Century Fox | $649,398,328 | 2002 |
| 37 | Incredibles | Walt Disney Company/Pixar | $635,561,128 | 2004 |
| 38 | Kung Fu Panda | DreamWorks SKG | $631,903,422 | 2008 |
| 39 | Hancock | Sony/Columbia | $624,386,746 | 2008 |
| 40 | Ratatouille | Walt Disney Company/Pixar | $621,421,108 | 2007 |
| 41 | The Passion of the Christ | Icon Entertainment | $611,899,420 | 2004 |
| 42 | Casino Royale | Sony/MGM/Columbia | $596,365,000 | 2006 |
| 43 | War of the Worlds | Paramount/DreamWorks SKG | $591,745,532 | 2005 |
| 44 | Men in Black | Sony/Columbia | $587,790,539 | 1997 |
| 45 | I Am Legend | Warner Bros. | $585,055,701 | 2007 |
| 46 | Iron Man | Paramount | $577,194,114 | 2008 |
| 47 | Night at the Museum | 20th Century Fox | $574,480,149 | 2006 |
| 48 | Mamma Mia! | Universal | $573,029,894 | 2008 |
| 49 | Armageddon | Buena Vista | $554,600,000 | 1998 |
| 50 | Quantum of Solace (2008 the film) | Sony/MGM/Columbia | $551,535,553 | 2008 |
Main source: BoxOfficeMojo Note: Gross includes re-released films.
- See also: List of highest-grossing films in the United States and Canada and Inflation-adjusted list of highest-grossing films in the U.S. and Canada
Issues with calculation
Due to the long term effects of inflation, notably the significant increase of movie theater ticket prices, the list unadjusted for inflation gives far more weight to more recent films; a film in 1910, given much lower ticket prices at that time, would have to sell close to 100 times as many tickets as a 2007 film in order for the two to have equal gross takings.[1] Further complications are added by changing currency values. The unadjusted list, while commonly found in the press, is therefore largely meaningless for comparing films widely separated in time, as many films from earlier eras will never appear on a modern unadjusted list, despite achieving higher commercial success when adjusted for price increases.[2] Some have suggested that studios prefer not to make inflation adjustments because doing so would reduce the grossing numbers and eliminate the ability to advertise new box-office "records."[2]
In the United States, Box Office Mojo, the Guinness Book of World Records, and Entertainment Weekly, claim that Gone With The Wind is domestically the highest-grossing film of all time when adjusted for inflation. However, these sources do not take into account its 10 rereleases, adjusting the money the film has made over its lifespan into 1939 dollars.
The relationship between movie ticket prices and inflation do not necessarily parallel one another. For example, in 1970 movie tickets cost $1.55 or about $6.68 in inflation-adjusted dollars, which is higher than today’s average ticket price. Inflation-adjusted movie ticket prices peaked during the 1970s and by 1980 inflation-adjusted movie-ticket prices had dropped to about $2.69 or about $5.50 in inflation-adjusted dollars, which is less than what they are today.[3]
Social, political, and economic factors influence the number of people willing to pay to go to the movies as well. These factors can be determined by calculating the per capita ticket purchasing rate for a particular year. Normalizing this to the reference year, normalizes all social, economical, and political factors such as the availability of expendable cash, number of theater screens, relative cost of tickets, competition from television, the rapid releases of movies on DVDs, the improvement of home theater equipment and film bootlegging. For example, in 1946 the per capita movie ticket purchasing rate for the average person was 34 tickets a year. In 2004 this average rate had dropped to only 5 tickets per person per year in response mainly to competition from television.[4]
Highest grossing films by year
This is a list of the highest grossing films by year.[5][6] Gross numbers prior to 1977 include every release of the film.
| Year | Movie | Worldwide gross | Budget | % ROI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1918 | Mickey | $18,000,000 | $125,000 | 14,300 |
| 1919 | The Miracle Man | $3,000,000 | $120,000 | 2,400 |
| 1920 | Way Down East | $4,500,000 | $700,000 | 543 |
| 1921 | The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse | $9,200,000 | $800,000 | 1,050 |
| 1922 | Robin Hood | $2,500,000 | $1,000,000 | 150 |
| 1923 | The Covered Wagon | $3,800,000 | $782,000 | 386 |
| 1924 | The Sea Hawk | |||
| 1925 | The Big Parade | $5,000,000 | $245,000 | 1,941 |
| 1926 | Aloma of the South Seas | $3,000,000 | ||
| 1927 | The Jazz Singer | $3,000,000 | $422,000 | 611 |
| 1928 | The Road to Ruin | $2,500,000 | $2,500 | 99,900 |
| 1929 | The Broadway Melody | $4,400,000 | $379,000 | 1,061 |
| 1930 | Tom Sawyer | $11,000,000 | ||
| 1931 | Frankenstein | $12,000,000 | $291,000 | 4,024 |
| 1932 | Shanghai Express | $3,700,000 | ||
| 1933 | I'm No Angel | $2,900,000 | $225,000 | 1,189 |
| 1934 | The Painted Veil | $1,700,000 | $947,000 | 80 |
| 1935 | Top Hat | $3,200,000 | $609,000 | 425 |
| 1936 | Camille | $2,800,000 | $1,486,000 | 88 |
| 1937 | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | $66,596,803 | $1,488,000 | 4,376 |
| 1938 | You Can't Take It With You | $5,300,000 | $1,644,736 | 222 |
| 1939 | Gone with the Wind | $390,600,000 | $3,900,000 | 9,915 |
| 1940 | Pinocchio | $84,300,000 | $2,600,000 | 3,142 |
| 1941 | Sergeant York | $16,400,000 | $2,000,000 | 720 |
| 1942 | Bambi | $26,800,000 | ||
| 1943 | A Guy Named Joe | $5,400,000 | $2,627,000 | 106 |
| 1944 | Meet Me in St. Louis | $7,600,000 | $1,707,561 | 345 |
| 1945 | The Bells of St. Mary's | $21,300,000 | ||
| 1946 | Song of the South | $56,400,000 | $2,125,000 | 2,554 |
| 1947 | Golden Earrings | $7,000,000 | $1,000,000 | 600 |
| 1948 | Easter Parade | $6,800,000 | $2,503,654 | 172 |
| 1949 | Samson and Delilah | $29,300,000 | ||
| 1950 | Cinderella | $85,000,000 | $2,900,000 | 2,831 |
| 1951 | Quo Vadis | $30,000,000 | $7,623,000 | 294 |
| 1952 | This Is Cinerama | $41,600,000 | ||
| 1953 | Peter Pan | $87,400,000 | $4,000,000 | 2,085 |
| 1954 | Rear Window | $26,000,000 | $1,000,000 | 2,500 |
| 1955 | Lady and the Tramp | $93,600,000 | $4,000,000 | 2,240 |
| 1956 | The Ten Commandments | $85,400,000 | $13,500,000 | 533 |
| 1957 | The Bridge on the River Kwai | $33,300,000 | $3,000,000 | 1,010 |
| 1958 | South Pacific | $36,800,000 | $6,000,000 | 513 |
| 1959 | Ben-Hur | $73,000,000 | $15,000,000 | 387 |
| 1960 | Let's Make Love | $44,800,000 | ||
| 1961 | One Hundred and One Dalmatians | $224,000,000 | $4,000,000 | 5,500 |
| 1962 | Dr. No | $59,600,000 | $1,000,000 | 5,860 |
| 1963 | From Russia with Love | $78,900,000 | $2,000,000 | 3,845 |
| 1964 | Goldfinger | $124,900,000 | $3,000,000 | 4,063 |
| 1965 | The Sound of Music | $163,200,000 | $8,200,000 | 1,890 |
| 1966 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | $28,000,000 | $7,500,000 | 273 |
| 1967 | The Jungle Book | $205,800,000 | $20,000,000 | 929 |
| 1968 | Funny Girl | $58,500,000 | $14,100,000 | 315 |
| 1969 | Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid | $96,700,000 | $6,000,000 | 1,512 |
| 1970 | Love Story | $106,400,000 | $2,200,000 | 4,736 |
| 1971 | Diamonds Are Forever | $116,000,000 | $7,200,000 | 1,511 |
| 1972 | The Godfather | $135,000,000 | $6,000,000 | 2,150 |
| 1973 | The Exorcist | $357,600,000 | $12,000,000 | 2,880 |
| 1974 | Blazing Saddles | $119,500,000 | $2,600,000 | 4,496 |
| 1975 | Jaws | $470,600,000 | $7,000,000 | 6,623 |
| 1976 | Rocky | $117,200,000 | $1,100,000 | 10,555 |
| 1977 | Star Wars | $782,400,000 | $11,000,000 | 7,013 |
| 1978 | Grease | $386,500,000 | $6,000,000 | 6,342 |
| 1979 | Moonraker | $210,300,000 | $34,000,000 | 519 |
| 1980 | Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back | $538,375,067 | $33,000,000 | 1,531 |
| 1981 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | $384,100,000 | $20,000,000 | 1,821 |
| 1982 | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | $756,900,000 | $10,500,000 | 7,109 |
| 1983 | Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi | $572,900,000 | $32,500,000 | 1,663 |
| 1984 | Ghostbusters | $434,286,000 | $15,000,000 | 2,795 |
| 1985 | Back to the Future | $350,600,000 | $19,000,000 | 1,745 |
| 1986 | Top Gun | $344,800,000 | $15,000,000 | 2,199 |
| 1987 | Fatal Attraction | $320,100,000 | $14,000,000 | 2,186 |
| 1988 | Rain Man | $412,800,000 | $25,000,000 | 1,551 |
| 1989 | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade | $474,200,000 | $48,000,000 | 888 |
| 1990 | Ghost | $505,700,000 | $22,000,000 | 2,199 |
| 1991 | Terminator 2: Judgement Day | $519,800,000 | $102,000,000 | 410 |
| 1992 | Aladdin | $504,100,000 | $28,000,000 | 1,700 |
| 1993 | Jurassic Park | $914,691,118 | $95,000,000 | 863 |
| 1994 | The Lion King | $783,841,776 | $80,000,000 | 880 |
| 1995 | Toy Story | $362,000,000 | $30,000,000 | 1,107 |
| 1996 | Independence Day | $816,969,268 | $75,000,000 | 989 |
| 1997 | Titanic | $1.845034188×109 | $200,000,000 | 823 |
| 1998 | Armageddon | $553,709,788 | $140,000,000 | 296 |
| 1999 | Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace | $924,317,558 | $115,000,000 | 704 |
| 2000 | Mission: Impossible II | $546,388,105 | $125,000,000 | 337 |
| 2001 | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | $976,556,263 | $125,000,000 | 681 |
| 2002 | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | $926,287,400 | $94,000,000 | 885 |
| 2003 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | $1.218888979×109 | $94,000,000 | 1,197 |
| 2004 | Shrek 2 | $919,838,758 | $125,000,000 | 636 |
| 2005 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | $896,016,159 | $150,000,000 | 497 |
| 2006 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest | $1.066179725×109 | $225,000,000 | 374 |
| 2007 | Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End | $960,996,492 | $300,000,000 | 220 |
| 2008 | The Dark Knight | $996,711,520 | $185,000,000 | 442 |
Biggest opening day of all time
This is a list of the highest grossing movies on opening day (US and Canada).[7]
| Rank | Movie name | Studio(s) | Worldwide Gross | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Dark Knight | Warner Bros. | $67,165,092 | 2008 |
| 2 | Spider-Man 3 | Columbia Pictures | $59,841,919 | 2007 |
| 3 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest | Walt Disney Pictures | $55,830,600 | 2006 |
| 4 | Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith | 20th Century Fox | $50,013,859 | 2005 |
| 5 | X-Men: The Last Stand | 20th Century Fox | $45,102,265 | 2006 |
| 6 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Warner Bros. | $44,232,338 | 2007 |
| 7 | Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End | Walt Disney Pictures | $42,910,392 | 2007 |
| 8 | Spider-Man 2 | Columbia Pictures | $40,442,604 | 2004 |
| 9 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Warner Bros. | $40,118,363 | 2005 |
| 10 | Spider-Man | Columbia Pictures | $39,406,872 | 2002 |
Biggest opening weekend gross of all time
| Rank | Film | Year | Opening Three Day Weekend |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Dark Knight | 2008 | $158,411,482 |
| 2 | Spider-Man 3 | 2007 | $151,116,516 |
| 3 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest | 2006 | $135,634,554 |
| 4 | Shrek the Third | 2007 | $121,629,270 |
| 5 | Spider-Man | 2002 | $114,844,116 |
| 6 | Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End | 2007 | $114,732,820 |
| 7 | Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith | 2005 | $108,435,841 |
| 8 | Shrek 2 | 2004 | $108,037,878 |
| 9 | X-Men: The Last Stand | 2006 | $102,750,665 |
| 10 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | 2005 | $102,685,961 |
Highest grossing film series
 | This article or section possibly contains synthesis of material which does not verifiably mention or relate to the main topic. (March 2008) |
| Rank | Series | Studio(s) | Total worldwide box office |
No. of films | Average of films | Highest grossing film of series
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Bond | MGM (1983-1995, 1997-)/UA (1961-1981, 1983-1995)/Columbia (2006-) | $4,909,054,118 | 22[A] | $197,986,363 | Casino Royale ($594,239,066) |
| 2 | Harry Potter | Warner Bros. | $4,690,485,371 | 5 | $897,096,620 | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone ($976,956,263) |
| 3 | Star Wars | 20th Century Fox/Lucasfilm | $4,279,568,779 | 6 | $675,652,682 | Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace ($924,317,558) |
| 4 | The Lord of the Rings | New Line Cinema | $2,916,544,743 | 3 | $972,181,581 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($1,119,263,306) |
| 5 | Pirates of the Caribbean | Walt Disney Pictures | $2,794,366,513 | 3 | $931,455,504 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ($1,066,200,651) |
| 6 | Batman | Warner Bros. | $2,615,216,843 | 6[A] | $368,448,234 | The Dark Knight ($996,711,520) |
| 7 | Spider-Man | Columbia Pictures | $2,495,718,076 | 3 | $831,906,025 | Spider-Man 3 ($890,449,338) |
| 8 | Indiana Jones | Paramount Pictures/Lucasfilm | $2,282,272,933 | 4[A] | $570,568,233 | Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ($783,357,249) |
| 9 | Shrek | DreamWorks Animation SKG | $2,161,714,655 | 3 | $720,571,552 | Shrek 2 ($920,665,658) |
| 10 | Jurassic Park | Universal Studios | $1,902,110,926 | 3 | $634,036,975 | Jurassic Park ($914,691,118) |
- A As of September 2008 with latest movie still playing
Record holding highest grossing films throughout film history (United States and Canada)
This list includes those films which have held the record for highest grossing film released in the United States and Canada.[10]
| Since | Movie name | # of years held | Gross (at time of record) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1915 | The Birth of a Nation | 7 | $9,283,673 |
| 1921 | The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse | 16 | $10,000,000 |
| 1937 | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | 2 | $184,925,486 |
| 1939 | Gone with the Wind | 34 | $189,523,031 |
| 1973 | The Exorcist | 2 | $232,671,011 |
| 1975 | Jaws | 2 | $260,000,000 |
| 1977 | Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope | 6 | $307,263,857 |
| 1982 | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | 14 | $359,197,037 |
| 1997 | Titanic | 27 | $600,788,188 |
External links
Adjusted for inflation:
Unadjusted for inflation:
- Top 100 adjusted and unadjusted for inflation
- The Numbers all time worldwide chart
- IMDB all time worldwide chart
- Box Office Mojo
Other all time highest grossing films:
References
- ^ Domestic Grosses: Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation (1910 adjustor: $0.07, 2006 adjustor: $6.58.) Retrieved 2007-04-23.
- ^ a b Fallacy Files. Retrieved 2007-04-23.
- ^ "How the motion picture industry miscalculates box office receipts Microsoft Word Document (.doc)". University of Southern Indiana. 2004. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ "The 20 Most Popular Movies of all Time". Retrieved 2008-12-14.
- ^ "Yearly Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-03-24.
- ^ "WorldwideBoxofffice.com". WorldWideBoxoffice.com. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
- ^ "Yearly Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-07-27.
- ^ "List of biggest domestic opening films". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-08-14.
- ^ "List of highest-grossing films". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-08-14.
- ^ Index of All Time Box Office Records
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