The Big Picture on Hollywood Ticket Sales

By Laurie Trotta

Science fiction, fantasy and family fare dominate the list of movies that are the Top 50 all-time box office champs, as it relates to domestic grosses, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. In an effort to offer readers a glimpse at various aspects of entertainment beyond concerts, theater and sports, TicketNews is taking a look at movie ticket sales for the first time.

Like concert promoters and theater producers, Hollywood executives often base their projects around what will sell the best to the widest audience, hence the predominance of G, PG and PG-13 rated films in the Top 50. This fact would appear to fly in the face of conventional wisdom about how Hollywood likes to push the envelop as it relates to more mature content based on gratuitous sex, violence and gore, but in fact family friendly films, such as “Shrek 2,” “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” among others, often lend themselves to repeat viewing by children and their parents.

* Source: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/domestic.htm
^ Indicates movie made its gross over multiple releases, e.g., E.T. was re-released in 1985 and a special edition was released in 2002.

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ALL TIME TOP 50 DOMESTIC FILM GROSSES*


#1–50 –

Rank	Title	Studio	Lifetime Gross	Year
1	Titanic	Par.	$600,788,188	1997
2	Star Wars	Fox	$460,998,007	1977^
3	Shrek 2	DW	$441,226,247	2004
4	E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial	Uni.	$435,110,554	1982^
5	Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace	Fox	$431,088,301	1999
6	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest	BV	$423,315,812	2006
7	Spider-Man	Sony	$403,706,375	2002
8	Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith	Fox	$380,270,577	2005
9	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King	NL	$377,027,325	2003
10	Spider-Man 2	Sony	$373,585,825	2004
11	The Passion of the Christ	NM	$370,782,930	2004^
12	Jurassic Park	Uni.	$357,067,947	1993
13	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers	NL	$341,786,758	2002^
14	Finding Nemo	BV	$339,714,978	2003
15	Spider-Man 3	Sony	$336,530,303	2007
16	Forrest Gump	Par.	$329,694,499	1994
17	The Lion King	BV	$328,541,776	1994^
18	Shrek the Third	P/DW	$321,012,359	2007
19	Transformers	P/DW	$319,071,806	2007
20	Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone	WB	$317,575,550	2001
21	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring	NL	$314,776,170	2001^
22	Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones	Fox	$310,676,740	2002^
23	Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End	BV	$309,420,425	2007
24	Return of the Jedi	Fox	$309,306,177	1983^
25	Independence Day	Fox	$306,169,268	1996
26	Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl	BV	$305,413,918	2003
27	The Sixth Sense	BV	$293,506,292	1999
28	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix	WB	$292,004,738	2007
29	The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe	BV	$291,710,957	2005
30	The Empire Strikes Back	Fox	$290,475,067	1980^
31	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire	WB	$290,013,036	2005
32	Home Alone	Fox	$285,761,243	1990
33	The Matrix Reloaded	WB	$281,576,461	2003
34	Meet the Fockers	Uni.	$279,261,160	2004
35	Shrek	DW	$267,665,011	2001
36	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	WB	$261,988,482	2002
37	The Incredibles	BV	$261,441,092	2004
38	How the Grinch Stole Christmas	Uni.	$260,044,825	2000
39	Jaws	Uni.	$260,000,000	1975
40	Monsters, Inc.	BV	$255,873,250	2001
41	Batman	WB	$251,188,924	1989
42	Night at the Museum	Fox	$250,863,268	2006
43	Men in Black	Sony	$250,690,539	1997
44	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	WB	$249,541,069	2004
45	Toy Story 2	BV	$245,852,179	1999
46	Cars	BV	$244,082,982	2006
47	Bruce Almighty	Uni.	$242,829,261	2003
48	Raiders of the Lost Ark	Par.	$242,374,454	1981^
49	Twister	WB	$241,721,524	1996
50	My Big Fat Greek Wedding	IFC	$241,438,208	2002