J.A. [83] Exact figures are not known, but testimony in a federal trial in 1976about four years into the film's releaseshowed the film had grossed over $25million. Copyright Fandango. The Birth of a Nation, Gone with the Wind, The Godfather, Jaws, Star Wars, E.T., and Avatar all increased their record grosses with re-releases. Six of the studios eight highest-grossing films ever have involved Spider-Man (or Venom), but this was the first Sony flick to cross the $1 billionline, andthe ninth film in the MCU to do it. Conditions of Use That is to say, the success of Avengers: Endgame (2019) - $2,797,501,328 It was no slacker overseas, either: WhenReturnfinished its run, onlyTitanichad a greater number outside of the U.S. and Canada. Thor and Hulk were AWOL, sure, but Spider-Man received his welcomed introduction into the MCU, as didBlack Panther. Lifetime grosses (outside U.S. & Canada): Original release (excluding 2009 IMAX reissue): This page was last edited on 30 April 2023, at 18:23. RKThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King saw its original gross corrected in early 2020. 3 First Reviews: A Satisfying Finale for Gunn and the Gang, All 52 Billion-Dollar Movies, Ranked by Tomatometer, Copyright Fandango. Beyond Disney and Pixar animation, the Despicable Me, Shrek, and Ice Age series have met with the most success. With a 75% Tomatometer rating, it doesnt even rank among the top 10 Tomatometer scores of the MCU though we think theres a case to be made for reassessing its virtues and it lost the summer of 2015 to the dinosaurs of Jurassic World. Its international haul was only $70 million less than 2017sBeauty and the Beast, and was even higher than several films above it on this list includingBlack Panther,Incredibles 2, andnumbers 29-32. WhileAvengers: Endgame andAvatar recently duked it out for bragging rights as the all-time highest-grossing movie, 2021 surprised everyone to an extent with the success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which blew everyone away, setting new records and entertaining fans all over the world even as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to wreak havoc on the industry. After Gore Verbinskis Pirates trilogy grossed a combined $2.68 billion worldwide, Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer were not about to let the series sail into the sunset. From 2006 until Toy Story 3 was released in 2010, Dead Mans Chestwas the highest-grossing domestic release in Disneys history. King Solomon's Mines (1950) Adventurer Allan Quartermain leads an expedition into uncharted African territory in an attempt to locate an explorer who went missing during his search for the fabled diamond mines of King Solomon. The result is the highest-grossing domestic release to receive a Rotten score on the Tomatometer, at 53%. Steven Spielberg is the most represented director on the chart, with six films to his credit, occupying the top spot in 1975, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1989 and 1993. Domestically, it would ultimately come up just short ofBlack Panther, which wasreleased twomonths prior. With a worldwide box-office gross of over $2.9billion, Avatar is proclaimed to be the "highest-grossing" film, but such claims usually refer to theatrical revenues only and do not take into account home video and television income, which can form a significant portion of a film's earnings. Its $116.1 million start was the sixth-largest movie opening ever at the time and the second-highest for Disney behind the second Pirates film. Robert Downey Jr.s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang director, Shane Black, took over for Jon Favreau and put a twist on some comic-book lore in ways that still draws out disappointment from some fans. Since Frozen spent 16 straight weeks in the top 10, only three films have come as close, with 13 straight weeks in that top 10:Black Panther, La La Land, and yes,Zootopia. The Empire Strikes Back made 31.9% less than A New Hope,Attack of the Clones made 34.6% less than The Phantom Menace, and The Last Jedi fell 33.8% off The Force Awakens. But back in 2010, only Avatar, Titanic, and The Return of the Kinghad made more money outside of North America than Alice did. Television broadcast rights will also substantially add to a film's earnings, with a film often earning as much as 2025% of its theatrical box office for a couple of television runs on top of pay-per-view revenues;[4] Titanic earned a further $55million from the NBC and HBO broadcast rights,[1] equating to about 9% of its North American gross. It was also the fifth stand-alone Spider-Man film (live-action or animated) to register at 90% or higher on the Tomatometer critics love their web-slinger. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999). But Endgamebegan to show signs early in its run that its impressive sprinting start might not be enough for it to ultimately come out ahead of James Camerons epic; it only had the second-biggest second weekend ever and the fourth-best third weekend. Endgame became the highest grossing box office movie of all time (not adjusted to inflation) upon its release, and took only five days to pass the $1 billion mark. One by one the recordsfell, leading many to ignore the words if and can and focus instead on when Avatars previous record ($2.787 billion) as the highest-grossing movie would fall. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures. Director: James Cameron | Stars: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez Votes: 1,338,381 | Gross: $760.51M $2,787,965,087 3. For example, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice belongs to not only the Batman and Superman franchises, but also to the DC Extended Universe, which is a shared universe. Depending on how accurate the estimates are, the 1959 remake of Ben-Hur may also have captured the record from Gone with the Wind: as of the end of 1961 it had earned $47million worldwide,[79] and by 1963 it was trailing Gone with the Wind by just $2million with international takings of $65million,[80] ultimately earning $66million from its initial release. At the peak of a 3-D reemergence, aided by the filmmakers usual technological gamesmanship (and higher ticket prices), Avatarsseven straight weekends at number 1 led to over $595 million at the North American box office. To put that into context, the second-highest-grossing franchise is Star Wars at $10 billion. In 1984, Linda Lovelace testified to a United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on juvenile justice that the film had earned $600million;[82] this figure has been the subject of much speculation, since if it is accurate then the film would have made more money than Star Wars, and finished the 1970s as the highest-grossing film. The most successful superhero film, Avengers: Endgame, is also the second-highest-grossing film on the nominal earnings chart, and there are four films in total based on the Avengers comic books charting in the top twenty. UNChopra-Gant stipulates that the figure given for Unconquered is for North American box-office, but as was common at the time, the chart confuses worldwide and North American grosses. 13 in the worldwide box office rankings. Its $682 million overseas is the sixth-best ever for an animated film, the second-best for any Disney animated film, Pixar or otherwise. A shared universe is a particular type of crossover where a number of characters from a wide range of fictional works wind up sharing a fictional world. Coming up shy of the first films record-breaking opening weekend note that it was stillthe second-best opening of all time when it was released the movie never matched its predecessor indollars or affection. The $431 million earned in its initial run was enough to make it second only to Titanic all-time in North America; it took re-releases to push it over $1 billion globally. The project was met with skepticism, and then it began a run on the festival circuit. Spider-Man: No Way. Tom Cruise's "Top Gun: Maverick" is the highest-grossing film of 2022 with nearly $1.5 billion. In the era of the modern blockbuster, even a record-breaker can be front-loaded and only spend three weeks atop the charts. But no one could have reasonably predicted that, more than three and a half decades later, its sequel would earn more than that in the US alone, moving it all the way up to No. It still remains the highest-grossing domestic release of all time. But audiences went the other direction, giving Dead Mans Chesta 38.6% boost in domesticearnings and an 84.2% boost internationally. Counting . 5. The Sorcerers Stonesfinal domestic total ranked sixth all-time behind the initial runs of Titanic, The Phantom Menace, E.T., Jurassic Park, and Forrest Gump. Commonly mistaken for home video revenue, distributor rentals are the distributor's share of the film's theatrical revenue (i.e. The methodology is based on the concept that films associated with things audiences are already familiar with can be more effectively marketed to them, and as such are known as "pre-sold" films within the industry.[108]. [37], TGuinness' adjusted total for Titanic only increased by $102,000,000 between the 2012 (published in 2011) and 2015 editions, a rise of 4.2% shared by the other adjusted totals in the chart, and omitted the gross from a 3D re-release in 2012. Over the years, the cinema landscape has generated some healthy profits for the movie industry, with franchises such as the MCU and Jurassic World proving immensely popular with the public. SWThe "first run" Star Wars grosses do not include revenue from the 1997 special-edition releases; however, the figure does include revenue from the re-releases prior to the special editions. TS3Box Office Mojo revised the grosses for Pixar films in August 2016, resulting in the gross for Toy Story 3 being corrected from $1.063billion to $1.067billion. The highest-grossing films of the last 10 years, ranked by critics. Among the first five attempts Disney had made to bring its classiccartoons to life by 2010, Tim Burtons Alice In Wonderland was by far the most successful. It hit with audiences the opening weekend haul of$147 million was almost $50 million more than any previous entry as well as with critics (its the highest-rated movie in the series at 81% on the Tomatameter). [113][114] The Marvel Cinematic Universe has had the most films gross over $1billion, with ten. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011). Twelve years after the completion of the Star Warsprequel trilogy, J.J. Abrams was tasked with makingEpisode VII a monumental undertaking, and a risky one. It became just the seventh film to clear a half-billion dollars in domestic box office. Driving the news: "Avatar: The Way of Water" opened this week and hopes to become the 12th. | Just shy of 10 years since it began, the Marvel Cinematic Universe gathered nearly every one of its characters for a galaxy-wide showdown withthe series Big Bad,Thanos. SSIt is not clear if the figure for Sunny Side Up is for North America or worldwide. [25] Social and economic factors such as population change[26] and the growth of international markets[27][28][29] also have an effect on the number of people purchasing theater tickets, along with audience demographics where some films sell a much higher proportion of discounted children's tickets, or perform better in big cities where tickets cost more. Well, some $300 million and an Oscar nomination for Johnny Depps portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow later, we were looking at a franchise with a modicum of respect. The general moviegoing public ate it up, though. Smart move. All rights reserved. $2.048 Billion Avengers: Infinity War (2018) 85% Domestic: $678.8 million Release date: April 27, 2018 Just shy of 10. | SShared universes for which some properties also have their own entries. James Wans second billion-dollar film on the list may have had the second-smallest opening weekend of the Universe, but its prolonged successthrough the holiday season and beyond the moviemade nearly five-times its opening was greater than any DC property since Tim Burtons Batman in 1989. Fourteen years later and deep into the superhero cinematic explosion, Birds sequel more than doubled the originals box office and became the highest-grossing animated film ever at the domestic box office. V3.1. Another fun fact: Anthony and Joe Russo are one of only two filmmakers/filmmaking pairs on this list to have three films in thetop 50. the box office gross less the exhibitor's cut). Columbia Pictures. Tom Cruise suited up again to play ace pilot Pete Maverick Mitchell in Joseph Kosinskis three-and-a-half-decades-later sequelTop Gun: Maverick and delivered what was easily the biggest movie of the summer (and probably the entire year), landing at N0. The movies $158 million opening weekend broke the previous record-holder, Spider-Man 3, bymore than $7 million, and Dark Knightheld therecord for nearly three years to the day until the final Harry Potter chapter was released. [30], Despite the inherent difficulties in accounting for inflation, several attempts have been made. Only the final Harry Potter chapter could beat it in the summer of 2011, when they were the only films topass $300 million domestic. 2. The historical . incorporates its gross from the 1985 reissue but not from 2002. Adding Batman into their Superman storyline couldnt do it. [62] All five Cinerama features collectively generated $120million in worldwide box office receipts.[63]. Bays fifth film of the franchise, The Last Knight,fell 47% in overall domestic and nearly 45% internationally. To this day,Zootopia remains the second-highestgrossing animated Disney film not connected with Pixar. The back half of the Potterfinaleset the new record for an opening weekend at the time with $169.1 million, and its $960 million international haul ranked only behind Avatar and Titanic. The untimely passing of Heath Ledger in January 2008 was a gut punch, but it made anticipation for what would become his iconic, Oscar-winning portrayal of Batmans arch-nemesis, the Joker, even more feverish. Some of the older films that held the record of highest-grossing film still have respectable grosses by today's standards, but no longer compete numerically against today's top-earners in an era of much higher individual ticket prices. Well, Woody and the gang proved them all wrong. Latest Updates: The film is based on the Transformers toy line and was directed by Micheal Bay. International | (And, if you are are keeping track, it is the 12th Disney property in thetop 20.). Well be here to track the progress of new blockbusters and regularly update this list of top box office performers. With a worldwide box-office gross of over $2.9 billion, Avatar is proclaimed to be the "highest-grossing" film, but such claims usually refer to theatrical revenues only and do not take into account home video and television income, which can form a significant portion of a film's earnings. But there was no bigger boost tothe long-running franchise than Craigs Skyfall,the first film to cross $300 million domestically and $1 billion globally. The original release and 2010 Special Edition grosses are adjusted from the Guinness base year, whilst the 2020 and 2021 grosses are adjusted from the 2021 index and the 2022 gross from 2022. There is strong interest in the superhero genre, with ten films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe featuring among the nominal top-earners. HP1The Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone reissue totals recorded by Box Office Mojo for Brazil (2020), Italy (2021), Netherlands (2021) and South Korea (2021) have been deducted from the lifetime gross due to Box Office Mojo double-counting the original release grosses in those countries. IMDb But even as it dipped below $300 million for the first time at home, its $858 million international haul was still thesixth-highest totalfor any movie outside the U.S. and Canada at the time. INNo contemporary sources provide figures for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, although The Numbers provides a figure of $8,000,000 for the North American box-office gross. James Cameron makes expensive movies. The Transformers series was beginning to show its age in North America in 2014, but around the world it was more popular than ever. When it took over the top spot in 2019, Avengers: Endgame became the first sequel to hold the record of highest-grossing film, and in doing so interrupted thirty-six years of Spielberg/Cameron dominance before Avatar reclaimed the top spot two years later in 2021 upon a re-release. Who would have thought? Traditionally, war films, musicals, and historical dramas have been the most popular genres, but franchise films have been among the best performers of the 21st century. The only Transformers sequel under the direction of Michael Bay to rank higher than 20% on the Tomatometer (a whopping 35%!) Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger. The series would have gone out with a box-office bang, too. [a] If ancillary income from merchandise is included, then Star Wars is the most lucrative property;[112] it holds the Guinness world record for the "most successful film merchandising franchise" and was valued at 19.51billion in 2012 (approximately $30billion). under which this service is provided to you. [9][10] Pixar had another huge hit with Toy Story 3, which generated almost $10billion in merchandise retail sales in addition to the $1billion it earned at the box office.[11]. Other Worldwide Cumulative records: All Time Single Market - All Time Animated Worldwide - All Time Sequel Worldwide - All Time Non-Sequel Worldwide - Top 2022 Worldwide - Top 2023 Worldwide This chart contains the top movies based on the cumulative worldwide box office. [22] 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. Once revenue from home entertainment is factored in it is not immediately clear which film is the most successful. A planned two-parter turned into a full-blown trilogy and critics were feeling the bloat: While JacksonsLord of the Rings films all scored over 90% on the Tomatometer, the Hobbit films never rose above 74%, with the first film right in the middle with 64%. All rights reserved. [81], Another film purported to have been the highest-grosser is the 1972 pornographic film Deep Throat. While not quite as well-received as the first film critically (77% vs. 90% on the Tomatometer),Frozen IIvirtually demanded that parents bring their children for a second adventure. Nobody believed he was going to surpass Titanics numbers with this tale of an alien planet and the paraplegic Marine who teams up with its inhabitants in the battle for Unobtanium. The approach was to mix the old and the new, and it worked. [36] The index is uniformly applied to the grosses in the chart published by Guinness World Records in 2014, beginning with the 2014 index. Abrams gave abrand-new cast of characters thechance to interact with the original trio of Luke, Han, and Leia, and generations of fans were so ready for the adventure thattheygavethe film the highest opening weekend in history ($247.9 million). The four Avengers films, the two Frozen films, and the two Avatar films are the only franchises where each installment has grossed over $1billion, although the Jurassic Park and Black Panther series have averaged over $1billion per film. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) Lifetime gross: $775,768,912 "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away" Thus kicked off George Lucas'. Copyright 2018 Fandango. After 15 straight weeks at number 1, 14 Oscar nominations and 11 statuettes, Titanic, its stars and its song were ingrained in the hearts and tear ducts of the world, and the movie would hold the all-time box office record for 12 years until Cameron would eclipse himself once again with Avatar. By the end of that summer only four films had grossed more domestically in their initial runs thanThe Dark Knight Rises:Avatar, Titanic, The Dark Knight,and Marvels The Avengers, which was the only film to eclipse Risesin all of 2012. The film has just taken overPirates of the Caribbean:On Stranger Tides,Jurassic Park,Finding Dory,The Phantom Menace,Aladdin, andWarner BrosThe Dark Knighton this list, andalso earns a place as one of itsmost profitable films of all time. Thoughstill Fresh (67% on the Tomatometer), it was the lowest-scored Fast and Furiousmovieamong critics since the fourth film. Fans of J.K. Rowlings fantasy series got to see its characters (and the actors who played them) grow up in front of their eyes. Estimates depend on the price index used to adjust the grosses,[31] and the exchange rates used to convert between currencies can also affect the calculations, both of which can have an effect on the ultimate rankings of an inflation adjusted list. 3 Spider-Man $9.8B. When those prices are adjusted for inflation, however, then Gone with the Windwhich was the highest-grossing film outright for twenty-five yearsis still the highest-grossing film of all time. List of best-selling films in the United States Lists of highest-grossing films List of highest-grossing American films by year Notes ^ Spider-Man grossed approximately $4 million from September 6-15, 2002, as a double feature with Men in Black II. Highest grossing movies of the year for now and ranked from highest grossing to lowest grossing. During the week of January 12, 2020, it became the seventhfilm released by Disney in 2019 to breakthe $1 billion barrier it reached that marker in 28 days, whereasThe Last Jedidid it in less than three weeks. Contemporary accounts often list it as earning $32million in North American rentals and retrospective charts have often duplicated this claim; however, it is likely this was the worldwide rental figure. It's all thanks to the release . [1] Number-one films [ edit] Highest-grossing films [ edit] Calendar gross [ edit] Highest-grossing films of 2021 by Calendar Gross [56] Though delayed from July until December,Titanic nevertheless became a global phenomenon the likes of which the box office had never seen at the time. On the glass-half-full side, Jacksons first four Tolkien films grossed a combined $3.938 billion globally. [23], The measuring system for gauging a film's success is based on unadjusted grosses, mainly because historically this is the way it has always been done because of the practices of the film industry: the box-office receipts are compiled by theaters and relayed to the distributor, which in turn releases them to the media. Now, the movie has overtaken the originalFrozento become the highest-grossing animated film of all time. The conclusion of Christopher Nolans Batman trilogy gave us Bane, Catwoman, and even a surprise along the way. [34] Which film is Gone with the Wind's nearest rival depends on the set of figures used: Guinness had Avatar in second place with $3billion, while other estimates saw Titanic in the runner-up spot with first-run worldwide earnings of almost $2.9billion at 2010 prices.[33]. became one of the unlikeliest mega franchises ever. News | [39] Titanic grossed a further $762,994 during limited re-releases in 2017 and 2020, but this sum is not represented in the adjusted total.[40]. Another $745 million internationally made this the fourth MCU film to reach $1 billion. TFAThe gross for Star Wars: The Force Awakens is adjusted from the 2016 index. A $90.2 million opening weekend crushed the previous title holder from four years earlier, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, by over $18 million. Trade journals would collate the data by either obtaining it from the distributors themselves, who were keen to promote a successful film, or by surveying theaters and constructing an estimate. Dumbowas a bit of a bust,Aladdinwas a success, butThe Lion Kingtrulyroared. The figures in the above chart take into account inflation that occurred in 2014, and in every available year since then, through 2022. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is also the highest-grossing franchise, amassing over $28billion at the box office. GSVariety put the worldwide rental for The Greatest Show on Earth at around $18.35million (with $12.8million coming from the United States[53]) a year after its release; however, Birchard puts its earnings at just over $15million up to 1962.