List of biggest opening weekends

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What is notable about this list is that not many films released before the mid-to-late 1990s are on it. This is mainly because movies used to have small (by today's standards) opening weekends yet would go on to become blockbusters, whereas today, filmgoers tend to want to see the film when it first comes out, and for the most part, begin to lose interest in it after about its second weekend.

Perhaps the most important issue with this list is that it does not consider inflation whatsoever. For example, on the latter list, Return of the Jedi grossed about $23M on its opening weekend at 1983 pricing. However, using the consumer price index to adjust for inflation, the film grossed about $43M (2005 dollars), which would place it roughly halfway up this list. Due to the inherent instability of a monetary rating system, it could prove more accurate to rate films according by ticket sales rather than gross figures, but it most definitely is more accurate to at least consider inflation.

[edit] Biggest worldwide openings

Main source: BoxOfficeMojo

  1. Spider-Man 3 (2007) ($381,660,892) - 109 countries
  2. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) ($343,972,864) - 104 countries
  3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) ($332,715,157) - 46 countries
  4. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) ($303,949,700) - 115 countries
  5. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) ($272,150,927) - 57 countries
  6. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) ($250,000,534) - 30 countries
  7. The Da Vinci Code (2006) ($232,074,037) - 72 countries
  8. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) ($207,197,367) - 26 countries
  9. War of the Worlds (2005) ($203,061,125) - 82 countries
  10. Iron Man (2008) ($201,174,140) - 25 countries
  11. The Matrix Revolutions (2003) ($201,390,000) - 111 countries
  12. Transformers (2007) ($191,659,373) - 12 countries
  13. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) ($189,946,212) - 16 countries
  14. Spider-Man 2 (2004) ($189,364,483) - 31 countries
  15. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) ($188,185,961) - 21 countries
  16. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) ($182,270,554) - 9 countries
  17. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) ($179,269,285) - 75 countries
  18. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) ($179,012,790) - 84 countries
  19. The Simpsons Movie (2007) ($170,890,984) - 73 countries
  20. The Matrix Reloaded (2003) ($165,882,716) - 15 countries
  21. X2 (2003) ($154,829,031) - 95 countries
  22. The Day After Tomorrow (2004) ($151,443,584) - 112 countries
  23. King Kong (2005) ($149,181,645) - 57 countries
  24. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) ($147,857,488) - 11 countries
  25. Shrek the Third (2007) ($136,785,098) - 6 countries
  26. Shrek 2 (2004) ($131,051,914) - 7 countries

Note: The number of countries the film was released in during its opening weekend is listed. Most films don't open in all markets at once, but expand worldwide during a couple of weeks. These figures are not for opening weekends, but figures from the opening to the first Sunday as most films don't open worldwide on a Friday. Figures before the year 2002 are not available.

[edit] Biggest opening weekends in the U.S. and Canada

Main source: BoxOffice Mojo

  1. Spider-Man 3 (2007) ($151,116,516)
  2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) ($135,634,554)
  3. Shrek the Third (2007) ($121,629,270)
  4. Spider-Man (2002) ($114,844,116)
  5. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) ($114,732,820)
  6. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) ($108,435,841)
  7. Shrek 2 (2004) ($108,037,878)
  8. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) ($102,750,665)
  9. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) ($102,335,066)
  10. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) ($100,137,835)
  11. Iron Man (2008) ($98,618,668)
  12. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) ($93,687,367)
  13. The Matrix Reloaded (2003) ($91,774,413)
  14. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) ($90,294,621)
  15. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) ($88,357,488)
  16. Spider-Man 2 (2004) ($88,156,227)
  17. X2 (2003) ($85,558,731)
  18. The Passion of the Christ (2004) ($83,848,082)
  19. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) ($80,027,814)
  20. I Am Legend (2007) ($77,211,321)
  21. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) ($77,108,414)
  22. The Da Vinci Code (2006) ($77,073,388)
  23. The Simpsons Movie (2007) ($74,036,787)
  24. Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) ($73,071,188)
  25. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) ($72,629,713)
  26. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) ($72,135,785)
  27. 300 (2007) ($70,885,301)
  28. Transformers (2007) ($70,502,384)
  29. The Incredibles (2004) ($70,467,623)
  30. Finding Nemo (2003) ($70,251,710)
  31. The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) ($69,283,690)
  32. The Day After Tomorrow (2004) ($68,743,584)
  33. Planet of the Apes (2001) ($68,532,960)
  34. The Mummy Returns (2001) ($68,139,035)
  35. Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006) ($68,033,544)
  36. Bruce Almighty (2003) ($67,953,330)
  37. Rush Hour 2 (2001) ($67,408,222)
  38. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) ($65,556,312)
  39. War of the Worlds (2005) ($64,878,725)
  40. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) ($64,810,970)
  41. Monsters, Inc. (2001) ($62,577,067)
  42. Hulk (2003) ($62,128,420)
  43. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) ($62,007,528)
  44. Kung Fu Panda (2008) ($60,239,130)
  45. Cars (2006) ($60,119,509)
  46. Signs (2002) ($60,117,080)
  47. Pearl Harbor (2001) ($59,078,912)
  48. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)($58,051,684)
  49. Hannibal (2001) ($58,003,121)
  50. Mission: Impossible II (2000) ($57,845,297)

[edit] Opening weekend record holders in the U.S. and Canada

These are the films that, when first released, set the opening weekend record.

Year Title Opening weekend
1933 King Kong $90,000
1939 Gone with the Wind $945,000
1965 The Sound of Music $3,212,764
1975 Jaws $7,061,513
1978 Jaws 2 $9,866,023
1979 Star Trek: The Motion Picture $11,926,421
1981 Superman II $14,100,523
1982 Rocky III $16,015,408
1983 Return of the Jedi $23,019,618
1984 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom $25,337,100
1985 Rambo: First Blood Part II $25,520,843
1987 Beverly Hills Cop II $26,348,555
1989 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade $29,355,021
1989 Ghostbusters II $29,472,894
1989 Batman $40,505,884
1992 Batman Returns $45,687,710
1993 Jurassic Park $47,026,828
1995 Batman Forever $52,784,433
1997 The Lost World: Jurassic Park $72,132,785
2001 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone $90,294,621
2002 Spider-Man $114,844,116
2005 Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith $108,435,841
2006 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest $135,634,554
2007 Spider-Man 3 $151,116,516