Here's the list of the Top 50 highest grossing movies of all time adjusted for inflation: 1. Gone With the Wind 2. Star Wars 3. The Sound of Music 4. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 5. The Ten Commandments 6. Titanic 7. Jaws 8. Doctor Zhivago 9. The Exorcist 10. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 11. 101 Dalmatians 12. The Empire Strikes Back 13. Ben-Hur 14. Return of the Jedi 15. The Sting 16. Raiders of the Lost Ark 17. Jurassic Park 18. The Graduate 19. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 20. Fantasia 21. The Godfather 22. Forrest Gump 23. Mary Poppins 24. The Lion King 25. Grease 26. Thunderball 27. The Jungle Book 28. Sleeping Beauty 29. Ghostbusters 30. Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid 31.nBambi 32. Independence Day 33. Love Story 34. Beverly Hills Cop 35. Spider-Man 36. Home Alone 37. Pinocchio 38. Cleopatra 39. Goldfinger 40. Airport 41. American Graffiti 42. The Robe 43. Around the World in 80 Days 44. Blazing Saddles 45. Batman 46. The Bells of St. Mary's 47. The Towering Inferno 48. National Lampoon's Animal House 49. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 50. The Greatest Show on Earth
Where did this list come from mrpaige? When talking about highest grossing movies, they should always adjust for inflation -- it's misleading otherwise. It's very interesting that all three of the original Star Wars movies are in the top 15. I knew they were popular, but damn! I was surprised to see Thunderball on the list. I mean, I like the movie but 26th highest grossing is a real shocker.
I've actually seen 25 of these, and only 22 of the ones on the other list. Scary - I didn't know I was into "classic movies". (by the way - #48 on this list = greatest of all time )
JAWS was the first summer blockbuster. It almost single-handedly changed the way movies are marketed. It did $260 million unadjusted. Not only the first movie to break $250 million, it was the first to break $200 million. And that was at a time when a movie making $100 million was very rare.
40 out of 50 here. Several I'd never heard of. I'm assuming this list is domestic box office receipts only. I bet the list would be much different if you took into account foreign ticket sales and video/dvd.
All but The Bells of Saint Mary, Lion King and the The Robe. Never purposely watched Grease but I've seen a lot of it. Some of these were from when I was kid, gotta pre-date ya'll.
How is that a cheat? It was one movie. It was in the theaters. People saw it. The inflation adjustment is made based on the year that money was made (i.e. the 1997 release doesn't get adjusted for inflation like it was earned in 1977). Many of the movies on the list have had more than one release. Such things were pretty standard in the pre-VCR days. I saw several of those Disney movies in the theater even though they all originally came out well before I was born.
How about that...only five movies released after 1995. I think the three original Star Wars films include the grosses from the special edition releases, but they would still be in the top 50 regardless. I heard that Gone With The Wind would have grossed about $800 million adjusted for inflation...
$1,218,328,752, according to Box Office Mojo. But that number would change every year to reflect current dollars.
8. Doctor Zhivago 38. Cleopatra 42. The Robe 43. Around the World in 80 Days 46. The Bells of St. Mary's 50. The Greatest Show on Earth 44 out of 50. I should probably see Dr. Zhivago and ATW80D but I just haven't.
How are population changes and theater counts/accessibility factored into this equation? I would suspect foreign access to American films has increased substantially over time as well, further giving an edge to recent releases.
They aren't. It simply takes the gross and adjusts for inflation. And these numbers are just domestic grosses.
