Meme

[andrewducker]

The IMDB's top 25 movies by box office.
Bold = seen in cinema
Italics = seen on TV/DVD

1. Titanic (1997) $600,779,824
2. Star Wars (1977) $460,935,665
3. Shrek 2 (2004) $436,471,036
4. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) $434,949,459
5. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) $431,065,444
6. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) $423,032,628
7. Spider-Man (2002) $403,706,375
8. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) $380,262,555
9. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) $377,019,252
10. Spider-Man 2 (2004) $373,377,893
11. The Passion of the Christ (2004) $370,270,943
12. Jurassic Park (1993) $356,784,000
13. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) $340,478,898
14. Finding Nemo (2003) $339,714,367
15. Spider-Man 3 (2007) $336,530,303
16. Forrest Gump (1994) $329,691,196
17. The Lion King (1994) $328,423,001
18. Shrek the Third (2007) $320,706,665
19. Transformers (2007) $318,759,914
20. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) $317,557,891
21. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) $313,837,577
22. Iron Man (2008) $311,708,133
23. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) $310,675,583
24. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007) $309,404,152
25. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) $309,125,40

Which, I guess, doesn't tell you much except that I like going to the cinema, and didn't like Shrek enough to see Shrek 2 at the cinema, or Shrek 2 enough to see Shrek 3 at all...

Comments

[khbrown.livejournal.com]

A common complaint with this a list is that is that it isn't inflation adjusted, such that Gone with the Wind isn't on there.

There are also films like the 1929 Gold Diggers of Broadway, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Diggers_of_Broadway_(film) which were massively successful in their time, when cinema was *far* more popular than today, which are forgotten now.

[andrewducker]

For that you want this:
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm

[a-pawson.livejournal.com]

Due to inflation there is a massive bias towards modern films. Of more interest would be the inflation adjusted list.

1 Gone with the Wind $1,390,067,000 - 1939
2 Star Wars $1,225,462,800 - 1977
3 The Sound of Music $979,817,800 - 1965
4 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial $975,957,800 - 1982
5 The Ten Commandments $901,280,000 - 1956
6 Titanic $883,019,700 - 1997
7 Jaws $881,182,300 - 1975
8 Doctor Zhivago $854,051,900 - 1965
9 The Exorcist $760,712,400 - 1973
10 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs $749,920,000 - 1937
11 101 Dalmatians $687,430,700 - 1961
12 The Empire Strikes Back $675,482,800 - 1980
13 Ben-Hur $674,240,000 - 1959
14 Return of the Jedi $647,128,700 - 1983
15 The Sting $613,302,900 - 1973
16 Raiders of the Lost Ark $606,416,000 - 1981
17 Jurassic Park $593,096,200 - 1993
18 The Graduate $588,731,200 - 1967
19 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace $583,601,600 - 1999
20 Fantasia $571,339,100 - 1941
21 The Godfather $542,987,300 - 1972
22 Forrest Gump $540,393,800 - 1994
23 Mary Poppins $537,890,900 - 1964
24 The Lion King $531,354,700 - 1994
25 Grease $529,221,700 - 1978
26 Thunderball $514,624,000 - 1965
27 The Jungle Book $506,917,800 - 1967
28 Sleeping Beauty $500,011,300 - 1959
29 Shrek 2 $488,830,400 - 2004
30 Ghostbusters $486,626,600 - 1984