For years, I’ve been bugged the the claim of a movie being the “top grossing film of all time”. The problem is – ticket prices have changed through time, so it’s not really about how much money was made, but more about how many tickets were sold. So, I built this spreadsheet using the “All-Time USA Box office” grosses from IMDB, and the average ticket prices (ATP) from the National Association of Theatre Owners website. Then, dividing the Gross by the ATP gives the number of tickets sold for that movie. Now, assuming that IMDB and NATO’s numbers are correct, below is the list of the top 50 movies in order of tickets sold.
What I find most interesting, is that the only SIX of the top 20 movies are from the 1980s newer… Does that mean that the movies aren’t as good, or that people just have more entertainment options? Hmmm….
|
Rank |
Movie |
Gross |
ATP |
Tix sold |
| 1 | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) | $184,925,485 | $0.26 | 711,251,865 |
| 2 | Gone with the Wind (1939) | $198,655,278 | $0.28 | 709,483,136 |
| 3 | Bambi (1942) | $102,797,150 | $0.31 | 331,603,710 |
| 4 | One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) | $153,000,000 | $0.68 | 225,000,000 |
| 5 | Star Wars (1977) | $460,935,665 | $2.23 | 206,697,608 |
| 6 | The Sound of Music (1965) | $163,214,286 | $0.86 | 189,784,053 |
| 7 | E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) | $434,949,459 | $2.94 | 147,941,993 |
| 8 | Titanic (1997) | $600,779,824 | $4.59 | 130,888,851 |
| 9 | Doctor Zhivago (1965) | $111,722,000 | $0.86 | 129,909,302 |
| 10 | Jaws (1975) | $260,000,000 | $2.03 | 128,078,818 |
| 11 | The Exorcist (1973) | $204,565,000 | $1.65 | 123,978,788 |
| 12 | Mary Poppins (1964) | $102,300,000 | $0.86 | 118,953,488 |
| 13 | The Jungle Book (1967) | $141,843,612 | $1.22 | 116,265,256 |
| 14 | Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980) | $290,158,751 | $2.69 | 107,865,707 |
| 15 | Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983) | $309,125,409 | $3.15 | 98,135,050 |
| 16 | The Sting (1973) | $159,600,000 | $1.65 | 96,727,273 |
| 17 | Love Story (1970) | $106,400,000 | $1.22 | 87,213,115 |
| 18 | Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) | $242,374,454 | $2.78 | 87,185,055 |
| 19 | Jurassic Park (1993) | $356,784,000 | $4.14 | 86,179,710 |
| 20 | The Graduate (1967) | $104,397,102 | $1.22 | 85,571,395 |
| 21 | Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) | $431,065,444 | $5.06 | 85,190,799 |
| 22 | Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) | $102,308,900 | $1.22 | 83,859,754 |
| 23 | Airport (1970) | $100,489,150 | $1.22 | 82,368,156 |
| 24 | The Godfather (1972) | $134,821,952 | $1.65 | 81,710,274 |
| 25 | Forrest Gump (1994) | $329,691,196 | $4.08 | 80,806,666 |
| 26 | The Lion King (1994) | $328,423,001 | $4.08 | 80,495,834 |
| 27 | Grease (1978) | $181,360,000 | $2.34 | 77,504,274 |
| 28 | The Dark Knight (2008) | $533,316,061 | $7.18 | 74,278,003 |
| 29 | Ghost Busters (1984) | $238,600,000 | $3.36 | 71,011,905 |
| 30 | Shrek 2 (2004) | $436,471,036 | $6.21 | 70,285,191 |
| 31 | Beverly Hills Cop (1984) | $234,760,500 | $3.36 | 69,869,196 |
| 32 | American Graffiti (1973) | $115,000,000 | $1.65 | 69,696,970 |
| 33 | Spider-Man (2002) | $403,706,375 | $5.80 | 69,604,547 |
| 34 | Independence Day (1996) | $306,124,059 | $4.42 | 69,258,837 |
| 35 | The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) | $139,876,417 | $2.03 | 68,904,639 |
| 36 | Home Alone (1990) | $285,761,243 | $4.22 | 67,715,934 |
| 37 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) | $423,032,628 | $6.55 | 64,585,134 |
| 38 | Blazing Saddles (1974) | $119,500,000 | $1.89 | 63,227,513 |
| 39 | Batman (1989) | $251,188,924 | $3.99 | 62,954,618 |
| 40 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) | $377,019,252 | $6.03 | 62,523,922 |
| 41 | The Towering Inferno (1974) | $116,000,000 | $1.89 | 61,375,661 |
| 42 | Animal House (1978) | $141,600,000 | $2.34 | 60,512,821 |
| 43 | Tootsie (1982) | $177,200,000 | $2.94 | 60,272,109 |
| 44 | Spider-Man 2 (2004) | $373,377,893 | $6.21 | 60,125,265 |
| 45 | The Passion of the Christ (2004) | $370,270,943 | $6.21 | 59,624,951 |
| 46 | Back to the Future (1985) | $210,609,762 | $3.55 | 59,326,694 |
| 47 | Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005) | $380,262,555 | $6.41 | 59,323,332 |
| 48 | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) | $340,478,898 | $5.80 | 58,703,258 |
| 49 | The Sixth Sense (1999) | $293,501,675 | $5.06 | 58,004,284 |
| 50 | Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) | $128,300,000 | $2.23 | 57,533,632 |
| 51 | Superman (1978) | $134,218,018 | $2.34 | 57,358,127 |
| 52 | Smokey and the Bandit (1977) | $126,737,428 | $2.23 | 56,832,927 |
| 53 | Finding Nemo (2003) | $339,714,367 | $6.03 | 56,337,374 |
| 54 | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) | $317,557,891 | $5.65 | 56,204,936 |
| 55 | The Lord of thee Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) | $313,837,577 | $5.65 | 55,546,474 |
| 56 | One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) | $112,000,000 | $2.03 | 55,172,414 |
| 57 | Rocky (1976) | $117,235,247 | $2.13 | 55,040,022 |
| 58 | Twister (1996) | $241,688,385 | $4.42 | 54,680,630 |
| 59 | Men in Black (1997) | $250,147,615 | $4.59 | 54,498,391 |
| 60 | Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) | $310,675,583 | $5.80 | 53,564,756 |
| 61 | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) | $179,870,271 | $3.36 | 53,532,819 |
| 62 | Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) | $219,200,000 | $4.14 | 52,946,860 |
| 63 | Aladdin (1992) | $217,350,219 | $4.15 | 52,373,547 |
| 64 | Ghost (1990) | $217,631,306 | $4.22 | 51,571,400 |
| 65 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) | $305,388,685 | $6.03 | 50,644,890 |
| 66 | The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) | $229,074,524 | $4.59 | 49,907,304 |
| 67 | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) | $197,171,806 | $3.99 | 49,416,493 |
| 68 | Spider-Man 3 (2007) | $336,530,303 | $6.88 | 48,914,288 |
| 69 | Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) | $204,843,350 | $4.21 | 48,656,378 |
| 70 | Toy Story 2 (1999) | $245,823,397 | $5.06 | 48,581,699 |
| 71 | How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) | $260,031,035 | $5.39 | 48,243,235 |
| 72 | Top Gun (1986) | $176,781,728 | $3.71 | 47,650,061 |
| 73 | Shrek (2001) | $267,652,016 | $5.65 | 47,372,038 |
| 74 | Crocodile Dundee (1986) | $174,635,000 | $3.71 | 47,071,429 |
| 75 | The Matrix Reloaded (2003) | $281,492,479 | $6.03 | 46,682,003 |
| 76 | Shrek the Third (2007) | $320,706,665 | $6.88 | 46,614,341 |
| 77 | Transformers (2007) | $318,759,914 | $6.88 | 46,331,383 |
| 78 | Saving Private Ryan (1998) | $216,119,491 | $4.69 | 46,080,915 |
| 79 | The Chronicles of Narnia (2005) | $291,709,845 | $6.41 | 45,508,556 |
| 80 | Monsters, Inc. (2001) | $255,870,172 | $5.65 | 45,286,756 |
| 81 | Every Which Way But Loose (1978) | $105,918,400 | $2.34 | 45,264,274 |
| 82 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) | $289,994,397 | $6.41 | 45,240,936 |
| 83 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) | $261,970,615 | $5.80 | 45,167,347 |
| 84 | Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007) | $309,404,152 | $6.88 | 44,971,534 |
| 85 | Meet the Fockers (2004) | $279,167,575 | $6.21 | 44,954,521 |
| 86 | The Fugitive (1993) | $183,875,760 | $4.14 | 44,414,435 |
| 87 | Iron Man (2008) | $318,298,180 | $7.18 | 44,331,223 |
| 88 | Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) | $317,011,114 | $7.18 | 44,151,966 |
| 89 | An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) | $129,795,554 | $2.94 | 44,148,148 |
| 90 | Gremlins (1984) | $148,170,000 | $3.36 | 44,098,214 |
| 91 | Toy Story (1995) | $191,773,049 | $4.35 | 44,085,758 |
| 92 | Jaws 2 (1978) | $102,922,376 | $2.34 | 43,983,921 |
| 93 | Dances with Wolves (1990) | $184,208,848 | $4.22 | 43,651,386 |
| 94 | Cast Away (2000) | $233,630,478 | $5.39 | 43,345,172 |
| 95 | Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) | $106,300,000 | $2.47 | 43,036,437 |
| 96 | Armageddon (1998/I) | $201,573,391 | $4.69 | 42,979,401 |
| 97 | 3 Men and a Baby (1987) | $167,780,960 | $3.91 | 42,910,731 |
| 98 | On Golden Pond (1981) | $119,285,432 | $2.78 | 42,908,429 |
| 99 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) | $292,000,866 | $6.88 | 42,441,986 |