The Top Grossing Box-Office Films of All Time (Avatar is NOT #1)
Titanic's nearly 12-year reign as the all-time domestic box office champion fell today as Avatar, the other James Cameron pic, surpassed it with $603.8 million (Titanic's take was $600 million). Industry experts had seriously doubted any film would ever best that record because of the shortened window between theatrical and DVD, but Avatar's steeper ticket prices due to its 3D IMAX sales did the trick.
But it's still no Gone With the Wind. That's right; if you actually adjust for inflation, Avatar is only #21 on the all-time box office list, while Gone With the Wind, 70 years later, has still sold more movie tickets than any other film in history. Here's the real box-office champ list after adjusting for inflation: (data from boxofficemojo.com)
1. Gone With the Wind: $1,537,559,600
2. Star Wars: $1,355,490,100
3. The Sound of Music: $1,083,781,000
4. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial: $1,079,511,500
5. The Ten Commandments: $996,910,000
6. Titanic: $976,712,20
7. Jaws: $974,679,800
8. Doctor Zhivago: $944,670,800
9. The Exorcist: $841,427,600
10. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: $829,490,000
11. 101 Dalmatians: $760,370,300
12. The Empire Strikes Back: $747,154,600
13. Ben-Hur: $745,780,000
14. Return of the Jedi: $715,792,100
15. The Sting: $678,377,100
16. Raiders of the Lost Ark: $670,759,500
17. Jurassic Park: $656,026,500
18. The Graduate: $651,198,300
19. Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace: $645,524,400
20. Fantasia: $631,960,900
21. Avatar: $603,789,300
22. The Godfather: $600,600,700
23. Forrest Gump: $597,732,100
24. Mary Poppins: $594,963,600
25. The Lion King: $587,733,900
--Ellen
Bart on February 06, 2010 at 12:10 PM
But, shouldn't it really be adjusted for population, too? And, number of theater outlets? If you did, it seems the older films would get an even greater leg up.
Charlie on February 06, 2010 at 12:20 PM
You're saying Wizard of Oz didn't make the cut!?
jim on February 06, 2010 at 12:28 PM
Avatar is impressive visually, but the story is hackneyed. And name a single line that will be remembered for generations. It's easy to do for most of the films on that list.
Frankly, my dear ... Luke, I am your father ... Doe, a deer ... ET, phone home ...
UncleFuzzy on February 06, 2010 at 12:30 PM
Thank you for adjusting for inflation. For years I have been raising this point whenever I hear about a film that "made $x" at the box office.
Tell me the number of butts in the seats and we can begin to compare movies over time.
Rich on February 06, 2010 at 12:31 PM
As they point out at Box Office Mojo, prior to 1980 many movies made their box
office numbers through multiple releases. With the advent of VHS tapes and DVDs
that practice came to an end.
Andrew X on February 06, 2010 at 12:48 PM
Avatar beating 'Titanic' just never "felt" right to me, and now I see why (it's right now at about two-thirds).
Because 'Titanic' really did have at least some of the "cultural phenomena" resonance that 'Star Wars' had (although nothing comes close in that sphere to 'Star Wars').
I mean, EVERYBODY pretty much went to see 'Titanic' at some point, and it even had it's 'Seinfeld' reference, and it just seemed to be more omnipresent a work at the time than 'Avatar' ever has been.
Numbers are numbers, and James Cameron should be mighty pleased with 'Avatar's numbers, but it's just not the cultural moment that so many others on this list were.
Robbins Mitchell on February 06, 2010 at 01:27 PM
I streamed 'Avatar' on my computer....and in all honesty,I was more entertained by "Billy the Kid vs Dracula" and "Wrestling Women vs the Aztec Mummy"
John Burgess on February 06, 2010 at 01:55 PM
Adjusting for inflation is good. Adjusting for population might also be good.
But how about adjusting for the fact that GWTW has a 70-year head start? How about a projection of where Avatar will stand in 70 years' time?
Paul C. on February 06, 2010 at 01:59 PM
"Birth of A Nation" from 1915 may beat them all, and should at least place high on the list. But since it dates from before the origin of modern cinema, there was no accurate accounting its total take. It is, of course, an incendiary film that modern filmgoers or writers don't like to acknowledge.
Jeff B. on February 06, 2010 at 02:42 PM
Too bad this wart of a story which is "Avatar" gets spoken of in the same breath with these other great filmed stories of real human truths, behaviors and dreams. Belongs in a special category along with "The Battleship Potemkin" which similarly will always be admired for its superior images, yet strains in every sequence to advance seductive, but false and dangerously wrongheaded conclusions about the truth of real human endeavors.
Mgmax, le Corbeau on February 06, 2010 at 02:51 PM
"You're saying Wizard of Oz didn't make the cut!?"
Wizard of Oz did not do that well in 1939, and was thought of as a bit of a white elephant then. Its reputation came from TV, so while it's surely one of the half dozen most-seen movies of all time, it's not one of the most-seen in theaters.
""Birth of A Nation" from 1915 may beat them all"
There's a good discussion about this at the early film site Nitrateville, in which several people argue that there's no way the much lower population and prosperity in 1915 could have produced results that compare with the biggest hits of later decades:
http://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?t=5650
Mister Snitch on February 06, 2010 at 03:09 PM
So, the all-time box office champion is - George Lucas. Geez. He ought to be able to buy his own planet with all that dough.
Harry on February 06, 2010 at 03:26 PM
Current movies may not be re-released due to DVDs and tapes, but classics are. GWTW had a re-release about 10 years ago. I saw it on the big screen
Mikee on February 06, 2010 at 04:23 PM
Star Wars had a re-release on the big screen, too, at the 20 year mark. I remember taking my kids to it and falling asleep half way through.
I also recall the magic of the special effects in 1977, and the odd disappointment of watching it on a small B&W TV screen on HBO a few years later, and realizing what a lame story, and lame dialogue, it had when I was forced to ignore the special effects.
Geoff on February 06, 2010 at 05:42 PM
Instead of ticket-price inflation, they should use inflation-inflation.
Star Wars did a big VHS release in 1996. Starting in January of 1997 they did the Special Editions and made $160 million with the first one. That's impressive.
Wayne Larsen on February 06, 2010 at 07:02 PM
Where can I find the list for the movies that have sold the most tickets?
Wayne
that one on February 06, 2010 at 08:07 PM
"But how about adjusting for the fact that GWTW has a 70-year head start? How about a projection of where Avatar will stand in 70 years' time?"
Because GWTW hasn't been in the box office for 70 years straight ... this is not overall profit, but the box-office grossing.
comatus on February 07, 2010 at 08:15 AM
You actually tried to take high box office of all time...and you didn't bring Chuck Heston?
Damned dirty apes.
submandave on February 07, 2010 at 09:24 AM
Comparing GWTW and Avatar is no easier than comparing Babe Ruth and Mark MgGuire. Even when Star Wars came out it was before the explosion of the mega-cinema complex. If many towns were still single-theater venues, how many do you think would hold-over Avatar for two, three, or even four weeks? Greater accessibility (and leasure time) today invariably makes for greater box office.
Ben on February 07, 2010 at 09:44 AM
"...no easier than comparing Babe Ruth and Mark MgGuire."
Oh, that's easy - McGuire was fueled by steroids, Ruth by booze, hot dogs and floozies.
spiffy on February 07, 2010 at 10:31 AM
How shocking. That's what happens when the government steals 90%+ of the value of the dollar via inflation over the last century.
Gullyborg on February 07, 2010 at 11:53 AM
If you could calculate the total number of times the film is seen, you'd probably find that, thanks to videotape and discs, kids movies top all - as many children will watch the same handful of films hundreds of times over.
Phil on February 07, 2010 at 11:55 AM
Where will Avatar be in 70 years time? I very much doubt that it will have the staying power of some of the movies above it in the list. as others have said it doesn't have the cultural resonance of those. I think in 2079 people will say 'what's that?'
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dog costumes on April 04, 2010 at 04:46 PM
Are you sure that's accurate? I could've sworn the Dark Knight was up on that list...didn't it shatter the Titanic's record, even?