List of highest-grossing films in Canada and the United States

The following is a list of the top 100 highest-grossing films of all time in Canada and the United States. The first chart ranks films using figures adjusted for ticket-price inflation, based on total box-office receipts. The second chart is ordered by box-office receipts at their nominal value i.e. no adjustment is made for inflation.

Background color      indicates films currently in theaters

Contents

Adjusted for ticket-price inflation

This list was compiled based on data from boxofficemojo.com. The adjustment for ticket-price inflation better reflects the popularity of older films, since lists compiled without such adjustment for inflation will consist almost entirely of films released in the last 20 years.

Most adjusted-gross lists, such as this one from Box Office Mojo and on Box Office Report, simply multiply the number of estimated tickets sold with the current average theater ticket price. The average ticket price for 2010 is $7.95, while 2009 was $7.50 and 2008 was $7.18.[1]

Many of the films on this list released prior to the availability of home video have had multiple releases. At number six, Titanic holds the highest position for a film that was released only once. Interestingly, seven of the films currently in the top twenty were directed by one of just three men: George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and James Cameron.

Rank Title Year Est. tickets[2] Adjusted Gross
1 Gone With The Wind 1939 202,044,600 $1,606,254,800
2 Star Wars 1977 178,119,600 $1,416,050,800
3 The Sound of Music 1965 142,415,400 $1,132,202,200
4 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 1982 141,854,300 $1,127,742,000
5 The Ten Commandments 1956 131,000,000 $1,041,450,000
6 Titanic 1997 128,345,900 $1,020,349,800
7 Jaws 1975 128,078,800 $1,018,226,600
8 Doctor Zhivago 1965 124,135,500 $986,876,900
9 The Exorcist 1973 110,568,700 $879,020,900
10 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1937 109,000,000 $866,550,000
11 One Hundred and One Dalmatians 1961 99,917,300 $794,342,100
12 The Empire Strikes Back 1980 98,180,600 $780,536,100
13 Ben-Hur 1959 98,000,000 $779,100,000
14 Avatar 2009 95,863,900[nb 1]

75,000,000[3]

 $772,962,100
15 Return of the Jedi 1983 94,059,400 $747,772,300
16 The Sting 1973 89,142,900 $709,577,100
17 The Lion King 1994 89,100,200 $707,455,400
18 Raiders of the Lost Ark 1981 88,141,900 $700,727,700
19 Jurassic Park 1993 86,361,800 $685,336,400
20 The Graduate 1967 85,571,400 $680,292,600
21 Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 1999 84,738,800 $674,365,200
22 Fantasia 1941 83,043,500 $660,195,600
23 The Godfather 1972 78,922,600 $627,434,400
24 Forrest Gump 1994 78,545,600 $624,437,600
25 Mary Poppins 1964 78,181,800 $621,545,500
26 Grease 1978 76,921,800 $611,527,900
27 Thunderball 1965 74,800,000 $594,660,000
28 The Dark Knight 2008 74,282,100 $590,542,600
29 The Jungle Book 1967 73,679,900 $585,755,300
30 Sleeping Beauty 1959 72,676,100 $577,774,600
31 Shrek 2 2004 71,050,900 $564,854,900
32 Ghostbusters 1984 70,730,600 $562,308,400
33 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1969 70,557,900 $560,934,900
34 Love Story 1970 69,998,100 $556,485,300
35 Spider-Man 2002 69,484,700 $552,403,700
36 Independence Day 1996 69,268,900 $550,687,600
37 Home Alone 1990 67,734,200 $538,486,900
38 Pinocchio 1940 67,403,300 $535,856,500
39 Cleopatra 1963 67,183,500 $534,108,500
40 Beverly Hills Cop 1984 67,150,000 $533,842,600
41 Goldfinger 1964 66,300,000 $527,085,000
42 Airport 1970 66,111,300 $525,584,700
43 American Graffiti 1973 65,714,300 $522,428,600
44 The Robe 1953 65,454,500 $520,363,600
45 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest 2006 64,628,400 $513,795,500
46 Around the World in 80 Days 1956 64,615,400 $513,692,300
47 Bambi 1942 63,712,400 $506,514,000
48 Blazing Saddles 1974 63,227,500 $502,658,700
49 Batman 1989 62,954,600 $500,489,200
50 The Bells of St. Mary's 1945 62,745,100 $498,823,500
51 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2003 61,538,100 $489,228,200
52 The Towering Inferno 1974 61,375,700 $487,936,500
53 Spider-Man 2 2004 60,158,700 $478,262,000
54 My Fair Lady 1964 60,000,000 $477,000,000
54 The Greatest Show on Earth 1952 60,000,000 $477,000,000
56 National Lampoon's Animal House 1978 59,890,300 $476,127,600
57 The Passion of the Christ 2004 59,704,800 $474,653,500
58 Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 2005 59,324,600 $471,630,400
59 Back to the Future 1985 59,050,700 $469,452,700
60 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2002 57,630,400 $458,161,800
61 The Sixth Sense 1999 57,579,100 $457,754,100
62 Superman 1978 57,358,100 $455,997,100
63 Tootsie 1982 56,903,900 $452,386,300
64 Smokey and the Bandit 1977 56,832,900 $451,821,800
65 Finding Nemo 2003 57,337,500 $447,882,900
66 West Side Story 1961 55,970,300 $444,963,800
67 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone 2001 55,913,000 $444,508,200
68 Lady and the Tramp 1955 55,734,900 $443,092,300
69 Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1977 55,575,500 $441,825,600
70 Lawrence of Arabia 1962 55,383,600 $440,299,200
71 The Rocky Horror Picture Show 1975 55,069,400 $437,801,900
72 Rocky 1976 55,040,000 $437,567,800
73 The Best Years of Our Lives 1946 55,000,000 $437,250,000
74 The Poseidon Adventure 1972 54,902,000 $436,470,600
75 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 2001 55,703,900 $434,896,200
76 Twister 1996 54,688,100 $434,770,600
77 Men in Black 1997 54,616,700 $434,202,600
78 The Bridge on the River Kwai 1957 54,400,000 $432,480,000
79 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 2009 56,004,400 $428,512,400
80 It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World 1963 53,875,400 $428,309,600
81 Swiss Family Robinson 1960 53,808,000 $427,773,600
82 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1975 53,685,400 $426,798,600
83 MASH 1970 53,684,200 $426,789,500
84 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 1984 53,532,800 $425,585,900
85 Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones 2002 53,468,500 $425,074,300
86 Mrs. Doubtfire 1993 52,684,400 $418,840,800
87 Aladdin 1992 52,442,300 $416,916,700
88 Toy Story 3 2010 52,201,900 $415,526,900
89 Ghost 1990 51,465,200 $409,148,500
90 Duel in the Sun 1946 51,020,400 $405,612,200
91 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl 2003 50,648,900 $402,658,700
92 House of Wax 1953 50,531,900 $401,728,700
93 Rear Window 1954 50,354,700 $400,320,200
94 The Lost World: Jurassic Park 1997 49,910,000 $396,784,100
95 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1989 49,416,500 $392,861,100
96 Spider-Man 3 2007 48,914,300 $388,868,600
97 Terminator 2: Judgment Day 1991 48,656,400 $386,818,200
98 Sergeant York 1941 48,123,200 $382,579,400
99 How the Grinch Stole Christmas 2000 48,106,800 $382,449,300
100 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 2011 47,986,300 $381,011,219

Factors in determining “adjusted gross”

No one as of yet has calculated a truly precise and definite referential adjusted gross for a film, since doing so would have to take into account most (or all) of the following:

Further explanation of issues with calculating an adjusted gross can be found in the article for List of highest-grossing films.

Not adjusted for inflation

This is a list of the highest-grossing films of all time in the U.S. and Canada, commonly referred to as domestic gross in the two countries, where "gross" is defined as U.S. and Canada box-office revenues in U.S. dollars.[8] For comparison, the figures adjusted for the effects of inflation are also listed, using the U.S. consumer price index for January of the year of release (except for long runners which have had multiple releases).

Rank Title Studio Lifetime Gross Lifetime Gross
(Inflation Adjusted)		 Year
1 Avatar 20th Century Fox $760,507,625 $778,720,568 2009
2 Titanic Paramount Pictures $600,788,188 $821,960,212 1997
3 The Dark Knight Warner Bros. $533,345,358 $544,436,028 2008
4 Star Wars 20th Century Fox
Lucasfilm		 $460,998,007 $1,337,848,270 1977
5 Shrek 2 DreamWorks
PDI/DreamWorks		 $441,226,247 $513,061,031 2004
6 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Universal Pictures $435,110,554 $943,286,056 1982
7 Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 20th Century Fox
Lucasfilm		 $431,088,301 $568,162,461 1999
8 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Walt Disney Pictures $423,315,812 $461,403,714 2006
9 The Lion King Walt Disney Pictures $422,774,776 $576,891,055 1994
10 Toy Story 3 Walt Disney Pictures
Pixar		 $415,004,880 $415,004,880 2010
11 Spider-Man Columbia Pictures $403,706,375 $492,869,439 2002
12 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Paramount Pictures
DreamWorks		 $402,111,870 $411,879,770 2009
13 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 Warner Bros. $381,011,219 $381,011,219 2011
14 Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 20th Century Fox
Lucasfilm		 $380,270,577 $427,739,373 2005
15 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King New Line Cinema $377,027,325 $450,106,306 2003
16 Spider-Man 2 Columbia Pictures $373,585,825 $434,408,265 2004
17 The Passion of the Christ Icon Productions $370,782,930 $431,149,039 2004
18 Jurassic Park Universal Pictures $357,067,947 $542,822,500 1993
19 Transformers: Dark of the Moon Paramount Pictures
DreamWorks		 $352,390,543 $352,390,543 2011
20 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers New Line Cinema $341,786,758 $417,274,182 2002
21 Finding Nemo Walt Disney Pictures
Pixar		 $339,714,978 $405,561,729 2003
22 Spider-Man 3 Columbia Pictures $336,530,303 $356,645,132 2007
23 Alice in Wonderland Walt Disney Pictures $334,191,110 $334,191,110 2010
24 Forrest Gump Paramount Pictures $329,694,499 $488,452,796 1994
25 Shrek the Third DreamWorks Animation
PDI/DreamWorks		 $322,719,944 $342,009,311 2007
26 Transformers Paramount Pictures
DreamWorks		 $319,246,193 $338,327,929 2007
27 Iron Man Paramount Pictures $318,412,101 $325,033,333 2008
28 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Warner Bros. $317,575,550 $394,078,847 2001
29 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Paramount Pictures
Lucasfilm		 $317,101,119 $323,695,090 2008
30 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring New Line Cinema $314,776,170 $390,605,102 2001
31 Iron Man 2 Paramount Pictures $312,128,345 $312,128,345 2010
32 Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones 20th Century Fox
Lucasfilm		 $310,676,740 $379,293,169 2002
33 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Walt Disney Pictures $309,420,425 $327,914,863 2007
34 Return of the Jedi 20th Century Fox
Lucasfilm		 $309,306,177 $642,020,750 1983
35 Independence Day 20th Century Fox $306,169,268 $428,597,881 1996
36 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Walt Disney Pictures $305,413,918 $364,612,115 2003
37 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Warner Bros. $301,959,197 $309,294,238 2009
38 The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Summit Entertainment $300,438,766 $300,438,766 2010
39 The Twilight Saga: New Moon Summit Entertainment $296,607,170 $303,812,202 2009
40 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 Warner Bros. $295,001,070 $295,001,070 2010
41 The Sixth Sense Hollywood Pictures $293,506,292 $386,833,177 1999
42 Up Walt Disney Pictures
Pixar		 $293,004,164 $300,121,674 2009
43 Inception Warner Bros. $292,576,195 $292,576,195 2010
44 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Warner Bros. $292,004,738 $309,458,219 2007
45 The Chronicles of Narnia:
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe		 Walt Disney Pictures
Walden Media		 $291,710,957 $328,124,944 2005
46 The Empire Strikes Back 20th Century Fox
Lucasfilm		 $290,475,067 $680,865,188 1980
47 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Warner Bros. $290,013,036 $326,215,074 2005
48 Home Alone 20th Century Fox $285,761,243 $480,259,953 1990
49 The Matrix Reloaded Warner Bros. $281,576,461 $336,154,258 2003
50 Meet the Fockers Universal Pictures $279,261,160 $324,726,871 2004
51 The Hangover Warner Bros. $277,322,503 $284,059,082 2009
53 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 Summit Entertainment $276,424,872 $276,424,872 2011
53 Shrek DreamWorks
Pacific Data Images		 $267,665,011 $332,144,962 2001
54 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Warner Bros. $261,988,482 $319,851,565 2002
55 The Incredibles Walt Disney Pictures
Pixar		 $261,441,092 $304,005,569 2004
56 How the Grinch Stole Christmas Universal Pictures $260,044,825 $331,635,296 2000
57 Jaws Universal Pictures $260,000,000 $1,060,967,742 1975
58 Star Trek Paramount Pictures $257,730,019 $263,990,667 2009
59 I Am Legend Warner Bros. $256,386,216 $271,710,734 2007
60 Monsters, Inc. Walt Disney Pictures
Pixar		 $255,873,250 $317,512,590 2001
61 The Blind Side Warner Bros. $255,748,419 $261,960,931 2009
62 The Hangover: Part II Warner Bros. $254,464,305 $254,464,305 2011
63 Despicable Me Universal Pictures $251,513,985 $250,004,040 2010
64 Batman Warner Bros. $251,188,924 $445,009,626 1989
65 Night at the Museum 20th Century Fox $250,863,268 $273,434,727 2006
66 Men in Black Columbia Pictures $250,690,539 $342,978,861 1997
67 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Warner Bros. $249,541,069 $290,168,137 2004
68 Toy Story 2 Walt Disney Pictures
Pixar		 $245,852,179 $324,026,374 1999
69 Cars Walt Disney Pictures
Pixar		 $244,082,982 $266,044,384 2006
70 Bruce Almighty Universal Pictures $242,829,261 $289,896,711 2003
71 Raiders of the Lost Ark Paramount Pictures
Lucasfilm		 $242,374,454 $579,971,251 1981
72 Twister Warner Bros. $241,721,524 $338,379,269 1996
73 My Big Fat Greek Wedding IFC Films $241,438,208 $294,762,534 2002
74 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Walt Disney Pictures $241,071,802 $241,071,802 2011
75 Shrek Forever After DreamWorks Animation $238,736,787 $238,736,787 2010
76 Ghostbusters Columbia Pictures $238,632,124 $504,571,556 1984
77 Beverly Hills Cop Paramount Pictures $234,760,478 $496,385,222 1984
78 X-Men: The Last Stand 20th Century Fox $234,362,462 $255,449,258 2006
79 War of the Worlds Paramount Pictures $234,280,354 $263,525,337 2005
80 Cast Away 20th Century Fox $233,632,142 $297,951,188 2000
81 The Exorcist Warner Bros. $232,671,011 $958,897,654 1973
82 The Lost World: Jurassic Park Universal Pictures $229,086,679 $313,421,833 1997
83 Signs Touchstone Pictures $227,966,634 $278,315,612 2002
84 Hancock Columbia Pictures $227,946,274 $232,686,311 2008
85 The Bourne Ultimatum Universal Pictures $227,471,070 $241,067,295 2007
86 Rush Hour 2 New Line Cinema $226,164,286 $280,646,797 2001
87 WALL-E Walt Disney Pictures
Pixar		 $223,808,164 $228,462,151 2008
88 National Treasure: Book of Secrets Walt Disney Pictures $219,964,115 $233,111,640 2007
89 Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel 20th Century Fox $219,490,671 $224,822,428 2009
90 Mrs. Doubtfire 20th Century Fox $219,195,243 $333,225,401 1993
91 King Kong Universal Pictures $218,080,025 $245,302,737 2005
92 Ghost Paramount Pictures $217,631,306 $365,758,490 1990
93 How to Train Your Dragon DreamWorks $217,581,231 $217,581,231 2010
94 The Da Vinci Code Columbia Pictures $217,536,138 $237,108,984 2006
95 Aladdin Walt Disney Pictures $217,350,219 $340,168,865 1992
96 Alvin and the Chipmunks 20th Century Fox $217,326,974 $230,316,874 2007
97 Saving Private Ryan DreamWorks $216,540,909 $291,707,168 1998
98 Kung Fu Panda DreamWorks Animation
Pacific Data Images		 $215,434,591 $219,914,454 2008
99 Mission: Impossible II Paramount Pictures $215,409,889 $274,712,340 2000
100 X2: X-Men United 20th Century Fox $214,949,694 $256,613,264 2003

Notes

  1. ^ Since box office admissions are not tracked, Box Office Mojo estimates the number of admissions by dividing the gross by the cost of the average ticket. However, in the case of Avatar, ticket prices are dependent on the format (2D/3D/IMAX) so the number of admissions cannot accurately be determined simply by dividing the gross by the average ticket price. By taking account of the ticket prices for the different formats, Box Office Mojo estimated that Avatar had sold 75 million tickets by April 21, 2010.[3]

References

  1. ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/about/adjuster.htm
  2. ^ * Adjusted to the estimated number of tickets sold. Inflation-adjustment is mostly done by multiplying estimated admissions by the latest average ticket price. Where admissions are unavailable, adjustment is based on the average ticket price for when each film was released (taking in to account re-releases where applicable)."All-Time Domestic Grosses Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm?adjust_yr=1&p=.htm. Retrieved February 17, 2010. 
  3. ^ a b Subers, Ray (April 21, 2010). "'Avatar' Strikes DVD". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=2728&p=.htm. Retrieved April 21, 2010. 
  4. ^ a b c d Box Office Mojo: Adjusting for ticket price inflation
  5. ^ a b How the motion picture industry miscalculates box office receipts
  6. ^ The 20 Most Popular Movies of all Time
  7. ^ a b c $200 Million Adjusted Extra, Daniel Garris
  8. ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/domestic.htm

External links