Photo: Collis

What is the most successful film of all time?

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind—first released in 1939—is generally considered to be the most successful film, with Guinness World Records in 2014 estimating its adjusted global gross at $3.4 billion.

en.wikipedia.org - List of highest-grossing films - Wikipedia

What's a great side hustle?

Side job ideas to make money include dog walker, babysitter, restaurant server, receptionist, administrative assistant, or barista. You can also...

Last updated Jan 19, 2021

What foods will disappear with climate change?

8 Foods Going Extinct Due to Climate Change Coffee. Coffee is one of the highest consumed beverages in the world. ... Chocolate. Chocolate, a...

Last updated Mar 13, 2022

Promotion

Gone with the Wind held the record of highest-grossing film for twenty-five years and, adjusted for inflation, has earned more than any other film. held the record of highest-grossing film for twenty-five years and, adjusted for inflation, has earned more than any other film. Films generate income from several revenue streams, including theatrical exhibition, home video, television broadcast rights, and merchandising. However, theatrical box-office earnings are the primary metric for trade publications in assessing the success of a film, mostly because of the availability of the data compared to sales figures for home video and broadcast rights, but also because of historical practice. Included on the list are charts of the top box-office earners (ranked by both the nominal and real value of their revenue), a chart of high-grossing films by calendar year, a timeline showing the transition of the highest-grossing film record, and a chart of the highest-grossing film franchises and series. All charts are ranked by international theatrical box-office performance where possible, excluding income derived from home video, broadcasting rights, and merchandise. 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. There is strong interest in the superhero genre, with ten films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe featuring among the nominal top-earners. 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. Other Marvel Comics adaptations have also had success with the Spider-Man and X-Men properties, while films based on Batman and Superman from DC Comics have generally performed well. Star Wars is also represented in the nominal earnings chart with five films, while the Harry Potter, Jurassic Park and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises feature prominently. Although the nominal earnings chart is dominated by films adapted from pre-existing properties and sequels, it is headed by Avatar, which is an original work. Animated family films have performed consistently well, with Disney films enjoying lucrative re-releases prior to the home-video era. Disney also enjoyed later success with films such as Frozen I and 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. Beyond Disney and Pixar animation, the Despicable Me, Shrek, and Ice Age series have met with the most success. While inflation has eroded away the achievements of most films from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, there are franchises originating from that period that are still active. Besides the Star Wars and Superman franchises, James Bond and Godzilla films are still being released periodically; all four are among the highest-grossing franchises. 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. When those prices are adjusted for inflation, however, then Gone with the Wind—which was the highest-grossing film outright for twenty-five years—is still the highest-grossing film of all time. All grosses on the list are expressed in U.S. dollars at their nominal value, except where stated otherwise.

Highest-grossing films

Avatar, the highest-grossing film, was written and directed by , the highest-grossing film, was written and directed by James Cameron 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 don't take into account home video and television income, which can form a significant portion of a film's earnings. Once revenue from home entertainment is factored in it is not immediately clear which film is the most successful. Titanic earned $1.2 billion from video and DVD sales and rentals,[1] in addition to the $2.2 billion it grossed in theatres. While complete sales data are not available for Avatar, it earned $345 million from the sale of sixteen million DVD and Blu-ray units in North America,[2] and ultimately sold a total of thirty million DVD and Blu-ray units worldwide.[3] After home video income is accounted for, both films have earned over $3 billion each. Television broadcast rights will also substantially add to a film's earnings, with a film often earning as much as 20–25% of its theatrical box office for a couple of television runs on top of pay-per-view revenues;[4] Titanic earned a further $55 million from the NBC and HBO broadcast rights,[1] equating to about 9% of its North American gross. When a film is highly exploitable as a commercial property, its ancillary revenues can dwarf its income from direct film sales.[5] The Lion King (1994) earned over $2 billion in box-office and home video sales,[1] but this pales in comparison to the $8 billion earned at box offices around the world by the stage adaptation.[6] Merchandising can be extremely lucrative too: The Lion King also sold $3 billion of merchandise,[7] while Pixar's Cars—which earned $462 million in theatrical revenues and was only a modest hit by comparison to other Pixar films[8]—generated global merchandise sales of over $8 billion in the five years after its 2006 release.[9][10] Pixar had another huge hit with Toy Story 3, which generated almost $10 billion in merchandise retail sales in addition to the $1 billion it earned at the box office.[11] On this chart, films are ranked by the revenues from theatrical exhibition at their nominal value, along with the highest positions they attained. Five films in total have grossed in excess of $2 billion worldwide, with Avatar ranked in the top position. 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. Background shading indicates films playing in the week commencing 16 December 2022 in theaters around the world. FBox Office Mojo stopped updating its main total for Frozen in August 2014, while it was still in release. 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. The total is rounded to $1 million to compensate for the numerical inaccuracy. It was re-released in the United Kingdom in December 2017 with Olaf's Frozen Adventure earning an additional $2.3 million. F8In the case of The Fate of the Furious the gross is from an archived version of Box Office Mojo, after irregularities were discovered in the current figure. Ongoing weekly drops in the totals for several countries—Argentina being the worst affected—led to a drop in the overall worldwide total.[13] In view of what appears to be an aberration in the source, a previous figure is provided. RKLord of the Rings: The Return of the King saw its original gross corrected in 2019. 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. TS3Box Office Mojo revised the grosses for Pixar films in August 2016, resulting in the gross for Toy Story 3 being corrected from $1.063 billion to $1.067 billion.[14][15] This means that it peaked at number 4 at the end of its run, ahead of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, rather than at number 5 as indicated by the source.

Highest-grossing films adjusted for inflation

Inflation rates around the world vary, complicating inflation adjustment.

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.[16] 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.[17] To compensate for the devaluation of the currency, some charts make adjustments for inflation, but not even this practice fully addresses the issue, since ticket prices and inflation do not necessarily parallel one another. For example, in 1970, tickets cost $1.55 or about $6.68 in inflation-adjusted 2004 dollars; by 1980, prices had risen to about $2.69, a drop to $5.50 in inflation-adjusted 2004 dollars.[18] Ticket prices have also risen at different rates of inflation around the world, further complicating the process of adjusting worldwide grosses.[16] Another complication is release in multiple formats for which different ticket prices are charged. One notable example of this phenomenon is Avatar, which was also released in 3D and IMAX: almost two-thirds of tickets for that film were for 3D showings with an average price of $10, and about one-sixth were for IMAX showings with an average price over $14.50, compared to a 2010 average price of $7.61 for 2D films.[19] Social and economic factors such as population change[20] and the growth of international markets[21][22][23] 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.[17] 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.[24] 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.[20] 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",[18][25] so there is little incentive to switch to a more robust analysis from a marketing or even newsworthy point of view.[24] Despite the inherent difficulties in accounting for inflation, several attempts have been made. Estimates depend on the price index used to adjust the grosses,[25] 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. Gone with the Wind—first released in 1939—is generally considered to be the most successful film, with Guinness World Records in 2014 estimating its adjusted global gross at $3.4 billion. Estimates for Gone with the Wind's adjusted gross have varied substantially: its owner, Turner Entertainment, estimated its adjusted earnings at $3.3 billion in 2007, a few years earlier than the Guinness estimate;[26] other estimates fall either side of this amount, with one putting its gross just under $3 billion in 2010,[27] while another provided an alternative figure of $3.8 billion in 2006.[28] Which film is Gone with the Wind's nearest rival depends on the set of figures used: Guinness had Avatar in second place with $3 billion, while other estimates saw Titanic in the runner-up spot with first-run worldwide earnings of almost $2.9 billion at 2010 prices.[27] Background shading indicates films playing in the week commencing 16 December 2022 in theaters around the world. InfInflation adjustment is carried out using the Consumer price index for advanced economies published by the International Monetary Fund.[30] The index is uniformly applied to the grosses in the chart published by Guinness World Records in 2014, beginning with the 2014 index. The figures in the above chart take into account inflation that occurred in 2014, and in every available year since then, through 2021. AThe adjusted gross for Avatar includes revenue from the original release and all three reissues. 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.[31] 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.[29][32] This chart incorporates the gross of $343,550,770 from the reissue and adjusts it from the 2014 index. Titanic grossed a further $691,642 during a limited re-release in 2017 for its 20th anniversary, but this figure is not represented in the adjusted total.[33] TFAThe gross for Star Wars: The Force Awakens is adjusted from the 2016 index. AEThe gross for Avengers: Endgame is adjusted from the 2020 index.

High-grossing films by year

What is the most expensive grocery store in the US?

According to a survey conducted by Business Insider, Whole Foods is 15% more expensive than general grocery stores such as Walmart and Kroger. Sep...

Last updated Mar 14, 2021

Why do zombies bury their heads?

In the later stages, the Virals become sensitive to light, which is why they bury their heads or otherwise seek darkness. (One terrifying scene...

Last updated Nov 25, 2020

Promotion

Glossary: Glossary: Distributor rentals Box-office figures are reported in the form of gross or distributor rentals, the latter being especially true of older films. Commonly mistaken for home video revenue, the rentals are the distributor's share of the film's theatrical revenue i.e. the box office gross less the exhibitor's cut.[34][35] Historically, the rental price averaged at 30–40% when the distributors owned the theater chains, equating to just over a third of the gross being paid to the distributor of the film.[36] In the modern marketplace, rental fees can vary greatly—depending on a number of factors—although the films from the major studios average out at 43%.[34] Audience tastes were fairly eclectic during the 20th century, but several trends did emerge. During the silent era, films with war themes were popular with audiences, with The Birth of a Nation (American Civil War), The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Big Parade and Wings (all World War I) becoming the most successful films in their respective years of release, with the trend coming to an end with All Quiet on the Western Front in 1930. With the advent of sound in 1927, the musical—the genre best placed to showcase the new technology—took over as the most popular type of film with audiences, with 1928 and 1929 both being topped by musical films. The genre continued to perform strongly in the 1930s, but the outbreak of World War II saw war-themed films dominate again during this period, starting with Gone with the Wind (American Civil War) in 1939, and finishing with The Best Years of Our Lives (World War II) in 1946. Samson and Delilah (1949) saw the beginning of a trend of increasingly expensive historical dramas set during Ancient Rome/biblical times throughout the 1950s as cinema competed with television for audiences,[37] with Quo Vadis, The Robe, The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur and Spartacus all becoming the highest-grossing film of the year during initial release, before the genre started to wane after several high-profile failures.[38] 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. 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. The 21st century has seen an increasing dependence on franchises and adaptations, with the box-office dominance of films based on pre-existing intellectual property at record levels.[39] Films directed by Steven Spielberg have been the highest-grossing film of the year on six occasions, and on three occasions have been the highest-grossing film of all time. 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. Cecil B. DeMille (1932, 1947, 1949, 1952 and 1956) and William Wyler (1942, 1946, 1959 and 1968) are in second and third place with five and four films, respectively, while D. W. Griffith (1915, 1916 and 1920), George Roy Hill (1966, 1969 and 1973), James Cameron (1991, 1997 and 2009) and the Russo brothers (2016, 2018 and 2019) all feature heavily with three films apiece. 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. The following directors have also all directed two films on the chart: Frank Lloyd, King Vidor, Frank Capra, Michael Curtiz, Leo McCarey, Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean, Stanley Kubrick, Guy Hamilton, Mike Nichols, William Friedkin, Peter Jackson, Gore Verbinski, and Michael Bay; Mervyn LeRoy, Ken Annakin and Robert Wise are each represented by one solo credit and one shared credit, and John Ford co-directed two films. 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. 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). Because of release schedules—especially in the case of films released towards the end of the year—and 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. Grosses are not limited to original theatrical runs either, with many older films often being re-released periodically so the figures represent all the business a film has done since its original release; a film's first-run gross is included in brackets after the total if known. 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. 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. Background shading indicates films playing in the week commencing 16 December 2022 in theaters around the world. (...) Since grosses are not limited to original theatrical runs, a film's first-run gross is included in brackets after the total if known. *Canada and U.S. gross only. RDistributor rental. TBATo be ascertained. 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.[43] However, it is possible this figure has been mistaken for the gross of the 1954 remake which also earned $8,000,000 in North American rentals.[44] FHSome sources such as The Numbers state that Aloma of the South Seas is the highest grossing film of the year, earning $3 million.[45] However, no contemporary sources provide figures for Aloma of the South Seas, so it is unclear what the $3 million figure relates to. If it were the rental gross then that would have made it not only the highest-grossing film of the year, but one of the highest-grossing films of the silent era, and if that is the case it would be unusual for both International Motion Picture Almanac and Variety to omit it from their lists. SSIt is not clear if the figure for Sunny Side Up is for North America or worldwide. Other sources put its earnings at $2 million,[46] which may suggest the higher figure is the worldwide rental, given the confusion over international figures during this period.[47] 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.[48] S7Snow White's $418 million global cume omits earnings outside of North America from 1987 onwards. GWIt is not absolutely clear how much Gone with the Wind earned from its initial release. Contemporary accounts often list it as earning $32 million in North American rentals and retrospective charts have often duplicated this claim; however, it is likely this was the worldwide rental figure. 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. Distributors would often report the worldwide rental since the higher figure made the film appear more successful, while estimates were limited to performance in North America; therefore it was not unusual for worldwide and North American rentals to be mixed up. Following the outbreak of World War II, many of the foreign markets were unavailable to Hollywood so it became standard practice to just report on North American box-office performance.[47] In keeping with this new approach, the North American rental for Gone with the Wind was revised to $21 million in 1947 ($11 million lower than the previous figure),[49] and as of 1953—following the 1947 re-release—Variety was reporting earnings of $26 million.[50] Through 1956, MGM reported cumulative North American earnings of $30,015,000 and foreign earnings of $18,964,000, from three releases.[51] Worldwide rentals of $32 million from the initial release is consistent with the revised figures and later reported worldwide figures: they indicate that the film earned $21 million in North America and $11 million overseas from the initial release, and added a further $9 million in North America and $8 million overseas from subsequent re-releases up to 1956. MDMom and Dad does not generally feature in 'high-gross' lists such as those published by Variety due to its independent distribution. Essentially belonging to the exploitation genre, it was marketed as an educational sex hygiene film in an effort to circumvent censorship laws. Falling foul of the Motion Picture Production Code, Mom and Dad was prevented from obtaining mainstream distribution and restricted to independent and drive-in theaters. It was the biggest hit of its kind, and remained in continual distribution until the 1970s when hardcore pornography eventually took over. At the end of 1947 it had earned $2 million, and by 1949, $8 million; by 1956 it had earned $22 million in rentals, representing a gross of $80 million, and would have easily placed in the top ten films in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Estimates of its total earnings are as high as $100 million. 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. Other sources state that the takings for Forever Amber ($8 million) and Life with Father ($6.5 million)[52] were in fact worldwide rental grosses, so it is possible this is also true of Unconquered. CIThe Cinerama figures represent gross amounts. 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. Since Variety at the time ranked films by their U.S. and Canadian rental, they constructed a hypothetical rental figure for the Cinerama films to provide a basis for comparison to other films in their chart: in the case of This Is Cinerama, the $50 million worldwide gross was reconfigured as a $12.5 million U.S. rental gross; this is exactly 25% of the amount reported by Cinerama, so Variety's formula seemingly halved the gross to obtain an estimate for the U.S. share, and halved it again to simulate a rental fee.[53] All five Cinerama features collectively generated $120 million in worldwide box office receipts.[54] GSVariety put the worldwide rental for The Greatest Show on Earth at around $18.35 million (with $12.8 million coming from the United States[44]) a year after its release; however, Birchard puts its earnings at just over $15 million up to 1962. It is likely that Birchard's figure is just the North American gross rental, and includes revenue from the 1954 and 1960 reissues. 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. HPProduction costs were shared with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1.

Timeline of highest-grossing films

The Birth of a Nation pioneered many of the techniques used in filmmaking today, becoming the most successful film ever made at the time of its release. pioneered many of the techniques used in filmmaking today, becoming the most successful film ever made at the time of its release. At least eleven films have held the record of 'highest-grossing film' since The Birth of a Nation assumed the top spot in 1915. 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. Spielberg became the first director to break his own record when Jurassic Park overtook E.T., and Cameron emulated the feat when Avatar broke the record set by Titanic. 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 ended thirty-six years of Spielberg/Cameron dominance before Avatar reclaimed the top spot two years later in 2021 upon a re-release.

What is the 5 first aid?

The Five Most Important Items for a First Aid Kit Bandages and dressings –a few adhesive bandages and gauze dressings to cover wounds. Antibiotic...

Last updated Apr 27, 2021

What tree will soak up water?

Willows are ideal for absorbing the most water. Wet areas, such as streams, lakes, and wetlands, are where they naturally grow. These plants have...

Last updated Apr 18, 2020

Promotion

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.[55] Exact figures are not known for The Birth of a Nation, but contemporary records put its worldwide earnings at $5.2 million as of 1919.[56] 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 $10 million earnings as reported by Variety in 1932 are consistent with the earlier figure.[57] At this time, Variety still had The Birth of a Nation ahead of The Big Parade ($6,400,000) on distributor rentals and—if its estimate is correct—Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ($8,500,000)[58] would not have earned enough on its first theatrical run to take the record;[59] although it would have been the highest-grossing 'talkie',[60] displacing The Singing Fool ($5,900,000).[61] Although received wisdom holds that it is unlikely The Birth of a Nation was ever overtaken by a silent-era film,[62] the record would fall to 1925's Ben-Hur ($9,386,000) if The Birth of a Nation earned significantly less than its estimated gross.[63] In addition to its gross rental earnings through public exhibition, The Birth of a Nation played at a large number of private, club and organizational engagements which figures are unavailable for.[64] It was hugely popular with the Ku Klux Klan who used it to drive recruitment,[65] and at one point Variety estimated its total earnings to stand at around $50 million.[66] Despite later retracting the claim, the sum has been widely reported even though it has never been substantiated.[56] While it is generally accepted that Gone with the Wind took over the record of highest-grossing film on its initial release—which is true in terms of public exhibition—it 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.[64] 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 $58–60 million[67][68] compared to Gone with the Wind's $59 million;[69] 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 $67 million. 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 $47 million worldwide,[70] and by 1963 it was trailing Gone with the Wind by just $2 million with international takings of $65 million,[71] ultimately earning $66 million from its initial release.[72] Deep Throat reportedly earned as much as $600 million, a figure that may have been inflated by gangsters in money-laundering schemes. The 1972 pornographic filmreportedly earned as much as $600 million, a figure that may have been inflated by gangsters in money-laundering schemes. Another film purported to have been the highest-grosser is the 1972 pornographic film Deep Throat. In 1984, Linda Lovelace testified to a United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on juvenile justice that the film had earned $600 million;[73] 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 main argument against this figure is that it simply did not have a wide enough release to sustain the sort of sums that would be required for it to ultimately gross this amount.[74] Exact figures are not known, but testimony in a federal trial in 1976—about four years into the film's release—showed the film had grossed over $25 million.[75] Roger Ebert has reasoned it possibly did earn as much as $600 million 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.[76] 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. The grosses from their original theatrical runs are included here along with totals from re-releases up to the point that they lost the record; therefore the total for The Birth of a Nation includes income from its reissues up to 1940; the total for Star Wars includes revenue from the late 1970s and early 1980s reissues but not from the 1997 Special Edition; the total for E.T. incorporates its gross from the 1985 reissue but not from 2002. The total for Avatar's first appearance on the chart includes revenue from the 2010 Special Edition, which represents all of its earnings up to the point it relinquished the record, whereas its second appearance also incorporates revenue from a 2020 re-release in the Asia-Pacific region as well as the 2021 re-release in China which helped it to reclaim the record. Gone with the Wind is likewise represented twice on the chart: the 1940 entry includes earnings from its staggered 1939–1942 release (roadshow/general release/second-run)[77] along with all of its revenue up to the 1961 reissue prior to losing the record to The Sound of Music in 1966; its 1971 entry—after it took back the record—includes income from the 1967 and 1971 reissues but omitting later releases. The Godfather was re-released in 1973 after its success at the 45th Academy Awards, and Jaws was released again in 1976, and their grosses here most likely include earnings from those releases. The Sound of Music, The Godfather, Jaws, Jurassic Park, and Titanic increased their earnings with further releases in 1973, 1997, 1979, 2013, and 2012, respectively, but they are not included in the totals here because they had already conceded the record prior to being re-released. Background shading indicates films playing in the week commencing 16 December 2022 in theaters around the world. RDistributor rental. Includes revenue from re-releases. 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.

Highest-grossing franchises and film series

Prior to 2000, only seven film series had grossed over $1 billion at the box office: James Bond,[89] Star Wars,[90] Indiana Jones,[91] Rocky,[92][93][94] Batman,[95] Jurassic Park,[96] and Star Trek.[97] Since the turn of the century, that number has increased to over eighty (not including one-off hits such as Titanic and Zootopia).[98] This is partly due to inflation and market growth, but it is also due to Hollywood's adoption of the franchise model: films that have built-in brand recognition such as being based on a well-known literary source or an established character. 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.[99] A franchise is typically defined to be at least two works derived from a common intellectual property. Traditionally, the work has a tautological relationship with the property, but this is not a prerequisite. An enduring staple of the franchise model is the concept of the crossover, which can be defined as "a story in which characters or concepts from two or more discrete texts or series of texts meet".[100] A consequence of a crossover is that an intellectual property may be utilized by more than one franchise. 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. 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.[101] The most successful shared universe in the medium of film is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a crossover between multiple superhero properties owned by Marvel Comics. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is also the highest-grossing franchise, amassing over $28 billion at the box office. The Star Wars films are the highest-grossing series based on a single property, earning over $10 billion at the box office (although the Eon James Bond films have earned over $19 billion in total when adjusted to current prices).[103] If ancillary income from merchandise is included, then Star Wars is the most lucrative property;[104] it holds the Guinness world record for the "most successful film merchandising franchise" and was valued at £19.51 billion in 2012 (approximately $30 billion).[105][106] The Marvel Cinematic Universe has had the most films gross over $1 billion, with ten. The four Avengers films and the two Frozen films are the only franchises where each installment has grossed over $1 billion, although the Jurassic Park, Black Panther and Avatar series have averaged over $1 billion per film. Background shading indicates that at least one film in the series is playing in the week commencing 16 December 2022 in theaters around the world. SShared universes for which some properties also have their own entries. *Canada and U.S. gross only. RDistributor rental.