Four other films during the summer of 2019 also exceeded its one-time-record theater count. Box Office Mojo and IMDb are trademarks or registered trademarks of IMDb.com, Inc. or its affiliates. [45] The success of White Christmas and South Pacific in the 1950s foreshadowed the comeback of the musical in the 1960s with West Side Story, Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music and Funny Girl all among the top films of the decade. 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. The story of two sisters searching for happily-ever-after with each other rather than the standard gentlemen suitors also won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature and bested 2012s Ice Age: Continental Drift for the highest international haul for an animated film ever ($875.7 million compared to $715.9 million), a record it holds to this day despite challenges fromMinions and Incredibles2. [26] As the motion picture industry is highly oriented towards marketing currently released films, unadjusted figures are always used in marketing campaigns so that new blockbuster films can much more easily achieve a high sales ranking, and thus be promoted as a "top film of all time",[24][31] so there is little incentive to switch to a more robust analysis from a marketing or even newsworthy point of view. The 1970s saw a shift in audience tastes to high concept films, with six such films made by either George Lucas or Steven Spielberg topping the chart during the 1980s. A nearly-equal international haul filled in the other half needed for Rogue One to join the $1 Billion Club,a goal thatSolo: A Star Wars Story came up more than $600 million short of. The first summer release for the Toy Storyfranchiseturned into the first $100 million opening weekend for Pixar as well asthe studiosfirst $400 domestic tally and first worldwide haul of $1 billion. Since the Cinerama corporation owned the theaters there were no rental fees for the films, meaning the studio received 100% of the box-office gross, unlike the case with most other films where the distributor typically receives less than half the gross. Copyright 2018 Fandango. Avatar remains the highest-grossing movie of all time at the global box office with $2.84 billion, ahead of Disney/Marvel's Avengers: Endgame ($2.79 billion) in second. We included dollars earned in re-releases, and in each of our descriptions, we look at where the film stood record-wise at the time of its run, and dive into things like critical and audience reception. Also, it is just one of four films on this list to receive a Tomatometer score of 97%. Disney films are usually co-directed and some directors have served on several winning teams: Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronimi, David Hand, Ben Sharpsteen, Wolfgang Reitherman and Bill Roberts have all co-directed at least two films on the list. It was not officially an Avengers film, butCivil War may as well have been. The first "Avatar," released in 2009, is the world's current all-time box office champion, a mantle that goes back more than 100 years. Disney also enjoyed later success with films such as Frozen and Frozen II, Zootopia, and The Lion King (with its computer-animated remake as the highest-grossing animated film), as well as its Pixar brand, of which Incredibles 2, Toy Story 3 and 4, and Finding Dory have been the best performers. 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 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. Only seven directors have topped the chart in consecutive years: McCarey (1944 and 1945), Nichols (1966 and 1967), Spielberg (1981 and 1982), Jackson (2002 and 2003), Verbinski (2006 and 2007) and the Russo brothers (2018 and 2019). Other sources state that the takings for Forever Amber ($8million) and Life with Father ($6.5million)[61] were in fact worldwide rental grosses, so it is possible this is also true of Unconquered. 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. 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. Some sources claim that The Big Parade superseded The Birth of a Nation as highest-grossing film, eventually being replaced by Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which in turn was quickly usurped by Gone with the Wind. Animated family films have performed consistently well, with Disney films enjoying lucrative re-releases prior to the home-video era. The highest-grossing films of the last 10 years, ranked by critics. All grosses on the list are expressed in U.S. dollars at their nominal value, except where stated otherwise. For this list of highest-grossing film franchises, CNBC worked Comscore to collect the global ticket sales. The figures in the above chart take into account inflation that occurred in 2014, and in every available year since then, through 2022. $2.048 Billion Avengers: Infinity War (2018) 85% Domestic: $678.8 million Release date: April 27, 2018 Just shy of 10. 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. Titanic (1997) PG-13 | 194 min | Drama, Romance 7.9 Rate 75 Metascore A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. It was the biggest hit of its kind, and remained in continual distribution until the 1970s when hardcore pornography eventually took over. [65] Its international release was delayed by World War I, and it was not released in many foreign territories until the 1920s; coupled with further re-releases in the United States, its $10million earnings as reported by Variety in 1932 are consistent with the earlier figure. [56], ONThe figure for It Happened One Night is not truly representative of its success: it was distributed as a package deal along with more than two dozen other Columbia films, and the total earnings were averaged out; the true gross would have been much higher.[57]. The movie became the fifth film in history to have a $200 million opening weekend, and just the third film ever to gross over $700 million in North America, outlasting even Avengers: Infinity War that summer. That will be remembered far longer than having the 12th-highest opening of all-time The Force AwakensandThe Last Jediwere numbers one and two untilAvengers: Infinity Waropened or that it had one of the lowest Tomatometer scores among the nine films. That made sense given that the 1994 original, at the time, was one of the studios most successful films in the middle ofitsrebirth, and director Jon Favreaus CGI-fueled version traced it for a new generation. Columbia Pictures. 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. Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) PG-13 | 192 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy 7.7 Rate So keep your eyes here, and check in with our weekly weekend box office wrap-ups. 3 First Reviews: A Satisfying Finale for Gunn and the Gang, All 52 Billion-Dollar Movies, Ranked by Tomatometer, Copyright Fandango. Check out the top movies at the box office on IMDb. The director ofThe Hangoverfilms wanted to make an origin story out of Batmans most infamous nemesis. It still remains the highest-grossing domestic release of all time. "We might have been in a situation where we had two Tom Cruise blockbusters in the same year . After two successful Despicable Mefilms it was time to give Grus kooky supportingyellow folk their own story. 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. All of the films have had a theatrical run (including re-releases) in the 21st century, and films that have not played during this period do not appear on the chart because of ticket-price inflation, population size and ticket purchasing trends not being considered. A series that has existed for 50-plus years is going to get a little help from inflation Goldfinger, Thunderball, and You Only Live Twice would have been $300 million grossers today but were not doing inflation here. All rights reserved. For almost two years it was the second-highestgrossing domestic release in Disneys history; by 2019 it was 16th. 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. And then, over the weekend of July 19, 2019 its 13th week of release when another Disney release would begin its run for the top 10 all-time earners (hello, Lion King),Endgamesqueaked ahead. But combined it remains the champion overall in worldwide gross (and bonus for the studio: it had one of the series lowest budgets). To put that into context, the second-highest-grossing franchise is Star Wars at $10 billion. But he did. Once revenue from home entertainment is factored in it is not immediately clear which film is the most successful. Both The Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind spent twenty-five consecutive years apiece as the highest-grosser, with films directed by Steven Spielberg and James Cameron holding the record on three occasions each. Because of incomplete data it cannot be known for sure how much money some films have made and when they made it, but generally the chart chronicles the films from each year that went on to earn the most. George Lucas directed two chart-toppers in 1977 and 1999, but also served in a strong creative capacity as a producer and writer in 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984 and 1989 as well. Bill Condons version of the tale as old as 1991, starring Emma Watson, was not the first of Disneys splashy re-imaginings,but it certainly was the most successful at the time, becoming the seventh film to cross a half-billion in North America and the 16th to pass three-quarters of a billion overseas. At least eleven films have held the record of 'highest-grossing film' since The Birth of a Nation assumed the top spot in 1915. 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. 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. Estimates for Gone with the Wind's adjusted gross have varied substantially: its owner, Turner Entertainment, estimated its adjusted earnings at $3.3billion in 2007, a few years earlier than the Guinness estimate;[32] other estimates fall either side of this amount, with one putting its gross just under $3billion in 2010,[33] while another provided an alternative figure of $3.8billion in 2006. In its fourth weekend of release, it became Disneys sixth billion-dollar film of 2019, pushingJumanji: Welcome to the Jungleout of the Top 50 on the same weekend that its sequelThe Next Levelopened. It includes movies released in previous years that earned money during 2023. Everyone mocked the concept of Disney turning one of their classic rides into a feature-length film. Driving the news: "Avatar: The Way of Water" opened this week and hopes to become the 12th. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger. [60] Worldwide rentals of $32million from the initial release is consistent with the revised figures and later reported worldwide figures: they indicate that the film earned $21million in North America and $11million overseas from the initial release, and added a further $9million in North America and $8million overseas from subsequent re-releases up to 1956. Movies. 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. 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. [62] All five Cinerama features collectively generated $120million in worldwide box office receipts.[63]. Transformers: Dark of the Moon Grossed: $1.123 Billion Transformers: Dark of the Moon was released in 2011 and has since grossed an impressive $1.123 billion dollars worldwide. "Avengers: Endgame" (2019) was . The highest grossing movies don't always receive the best reviews, but some money-makers from the past 10 years managed to get . It began with the third-highest opening weekend for an animated film (after Pixar sequelsIncredibles 2andFinding Dory) $130.26 million and then became the highest-grossing film over the five-day Thanksgiving holiday, which was all the more impressive given it had opened the prior weekend. Because of release schedulesespecially in the case of films released towards the end of the yearand different release patterns across the world, many films can do business in two or more calendar years; therefore the grosses documented here are not confined to just the year of release. Nevertheless, it puts a capper on a nine-episode series from 1977-2019 that grossed (with re-releases) a collective $8.71 billion. Smart move. [66] At this time, Variety still had The Birth of a Nation ahead of The Big Parade ($6,400,000) on distributor rentals andif its estimate is correctSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs ($8,500,000)[67] would not have earned enough on its first theatrical run to take the record;[68] although it would have been the highest-grossing 'talkie',[69] displacing The Singing Fool ($5,900,000). The total listed here incorporates subsequent earnings in Japan, Nigeria, Spain, the United Kingdom and Germany up to the end of 2015 but omits earnings in Turkey, Iceland, Brazil, and Australia (2016), which amount to a few hundred thousand dollars. 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. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001). On this chart, films are ranked by the revenues from theatrical exhibition at their nominal value, along with the highest positions they attained. The approach was to mix the old and the new, and it worked. By the end of its run, the eight Harry Potterhad films grossed a combined $7.72 billion. Audiences were hungry forrepresentation on screenand looking for a thrilling re-introduction to the character, and in Ryan Cooglers action-packed, beautiful-looking epic, they got both. But its $191 million opening was the eighth highest of all time and it became the 14th film to pass a half-billion domestically and just the ninth film to rack up $1 billion overseas. The result of this correction is that Spider-Man: Far From Home, Captain Marvel and Transformers: Dark of the Moon all peaked one place lower than shown in the accompanying source. Speaking of gathering Marvel characters for an epic showdown, 2021 provided an unexpected box office champion that would swing triumphantly into the top 10. Because of 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 later films. [65] While it is generally accepted that Gone with the Wind took over the record of highest-grossing film on its initial releasewhich is true in terms of public exhibitionit is likely it did not overtake The Birth of a Nation in total revenue until a much later date, with it still being reported as the highest earner up until the 1960s. Highest grossing movies of the year for now and ranked from highest grossing to lowest grossing. 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. It was the ninth film to cross the $600 million mark in North America and remains in the top 10 all-time earners domestically. 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. Audiences that had been holding their breath for an entire year after perhaps the biggest cliffhanger sinceEmpire Strikes Backcould not wait to buy their tickets and did they ever buy those ticketswhen they finally could. 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. 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. Well be here to track the progress of new blockbusters and regularly update this list of top box office performers. The original Lion Kingwas the second-highestgrossing film of 1994 behind Forrest Gump, which was at the time third only tothe initial runs of E.T. [19] In view of what appears to be an aberration in the source, a previous figure is provided. It's only recently that the Spider-Man franchise took Harry Potter 's third place as the highest-grossing movie franchise. 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. [109] A consequence of a crossover is that an intellectual property may be utilized by more than one franchise. 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. Before James Cameron owned the top two spots in all-time domestic box office (for a period), it was Steven Spielberg who had pulled off that feat. Thirteen years after Finding Nemo became Pixars first $300 million domestic grosser and its biggest hit, the sequel focusing on Ellen Degeneres beloved memory-challenged sidekick reclaimed the throne, becoming again the animation houses highest domestic grosser ever. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's . TV Shows. Directors: Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck | Stars: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Jude Law. The second-bestreviewed film in the Jurassicseries(72% on the Tomatometer vs. the originals 91%), Jurassic Worldtrampled a competitive summer full of Avengers, Minions, and inner feelings, and became just the third film since Titanic in 1998 to pass $600 million in domestic box office. Beyond Disney and Pixar animation, the Despicable Me, Shrek, and Ice Age series have met with the most success. It still remains the highest-grossing domestic release of all time. In just eight days, the film had grossed a half-billion domestically. When all was said and done, Nolans trilogy had grossed over $2.46 billion worldwide. If a film increased its gross through re-releases while holding the record, the year in which it recorded its highest gross is also noted in italics. Tolkien to give audiences the Bilbo Baggins tale. Aladdinwasnt always a sure bet:A blue Will Smith was mocked in early reveals of his Genie character and Tim Burtons live-actionDumboproved to be a bust just two months before Aladdins release. became one of the unlikeliest mega franchises ever. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011). Venice awarded the film itstop prize in the Golden Lion; somecritics were hailing it a masterpiece. Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Apple News. Dumbowas a bit of a bust,Aladdinwas a success, butThe Lion Kingtrulyroared. Prior to 2000, only seven film series had grossed over $1billion at the box office: James Bond,[98] Star Wars,[99] Indiana Jones,[100] Rocky,[101][102][103] Batman,[104] Jurassic Park,[105] and Star Trek. The only Transformers sequel under the direction of Michael Bay to rank higher than 20% on the Tomatometer (a whopping 35%!) Skyfallwas also a gold standardfor Bond beyond the box office: It stands amongst the seriestop five scores on the Tomatometer, Certified Fresh at 92%. The Star Wars franchise has had the highest-grossing film in 8 different years since 1977. We all assumed it was the end for Woody, Buzz, and all their toy friends that bittersweetfinish was just so perfect. 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. [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]. The world had to wait some 12 years for James Cameron to follow up the biggest film of all time with what would become the new biggest film of all time. 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. [84] Roger Ebert has reasoned it possibly did earn as much as $600million on paper, since mobsters owned most of the adult movie theaters during this period and would launder income from drugs and prostitution through them, so probably inflated the box-office receipts for the film.[85]. On day 10 it was over $621 million. Another $745 million internationally made this the fourth MCU film to reach $1 billion. [36] The index is uniformly applied to the grosses in the chart published by Guinness World Records in 2014, beginning with the 2014 index. In 1997, Cameronblew out the budget again and this time there was worry he may have gone too far. The James Bondfranchise got a boost with Pierce Brosnan and an even larger one with Daniel Craig. In the cases where estimates conflict both films are recorded, and in cases where a film has moved into first place because of being re-released the previous record-holder is also retained. (Spider-Man appeared in four of the MCUs other members of the $1 Billion Club). The first Marvel film released following the massive success of Joss Whedons The Avengers was also the most successful of the individual Iron Man films. 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. 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. [73] Gone with the Wind itself may have been briefly overtaken by The Ten Commandments (1956), which closed at the end of 1960 with worldwide rentals of $5860million[76][77] compared to Gone with the Wind's $59million;[78] if it did claim the top spot its tenure there was short-lived, since Gone with the Wind was re-released the following year and increased its earnings to $67million. The movie featuredone of the gutsiest cliffhangers in any franchises history, leaving audiences to wait in shock for an entire year to discover how Phase 3 of the epic series would end. 13 in the worldwide box office rankings. [113][114] The Marvel Cinematic Universe has had the most films gross over $1billion, with ten. Pirates of the Caribbean $4.52 billion. SShared universes for which some properties also have their own entries. 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. Includes revenue from re-releases. For the list below, weve included global box office performance, as well as domestic, and release date. User Guide 7 on the domestic charts, and enter the top 20 earners worldwide at No. Latest Updates: News | Daily | Weekend | All Time | International | Showdowns Glossary | User Guide | Help . Lifetime grosses (outside U.S. & Canada): Original release (excluding 2009 IMAX reissue): This page was last edited on 30 April 2023, at 18:23. [30] Converting to a more representative system that counts ticket sales rather than gross is also fraught with problems because the only data available for older films are the sale totals. Audiences were not tired just yet, though, even if this was the last of the Middle-earth series to hit $300 million domestic and $1 billion worldwide. Fans certainly turned over their money but many left witha sense of disappointment that would help taint the prequel trilogy for decades to come. Avengers: Endgame (2019) 8.4/10 The first Shrek was the No. [56] In keeping with this new approach, the North American rental for Gone with the Wind was revised to $21million in 1947 ($11million lower than the previous figure),[58] and as of 1953following the 1947 re-releaseVariety was reporting earnings of $26million. J.A. 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. Weekend | Joss Whedonsmovie became the first ever to make over $200 million in a single weekend and was Marvels first entry into theBillion Dollar Club, whichhad just 12 members at the time. The third films bloated length of 168 mins was roundly criticized (its Tomatometer score is just 45%),and this fourth filmfared even worse with reviewers (33%), but it did the job at the box office. MDMom and Dad does not generally feature in 'high-gross' lists such as those published by Variety due to its independent distribution. [75] Despite later retracting the claim, the sum has been widely reported even though it has never been substantiated. 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. But it was still good enough for 23rd all-time in North America and 13th in overseas dollars. Director: James Cameron | Stars: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez Votes: 1,338,381 | Gross: $760.51M $2,787,965,087 3. 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. TFAThe gross for Star Wars: The Force Awakens is adjusted from the 2016 index. Bayonas follow-up to Colin Trevorrows continuation of Steven Spielbergs series received the weakest Tomatometer score of the franchise to date (48%) and, following the path of many second entries in franchises (even if its technically the fifth), dropped 36% from Jurassic Worldin overall domestic box office. While complete sales data are not available for Avatar, it earned $345million from the sale of sixteenmillion DVD and Blu-ray units in North America,[2] and ultimately sold a total of thirtymillion DVD and Blu-ray units worldwide. With the advent of sound in 1927, the musicalthe genre best placed to showcase the new technologytook over as the most popular type of film with audiences, with 1928 and 1929 both being topped by musical films.