David Blackburn's
Top Grossing Films of All Time
Hey folks,
I'm an aspiring economic major at Brown University, so in my free time
I do things like this. Here's the list of the all-time top 50 U.S. box
office hits (by nominal dollar value- ie amount of money taken in) up to
Sept. 1994, taken from The Holleyweb. Using the Bureau of Labor
Statistics annual Consumer Price Index (CPI), which sets a base price
level of 100 in 1982-1984 dollars, I've adjusted all of the gross receipts
for inflation, resulting in the real gross values. This column indicated
the amount of money grossed by each film in the mythical (but equalizing)
1982-1984 dollars. Hope this proves interesting and easy to understand.
And, happily, the all-time U.S. box-office (adjusted) champion is Star
Wars.
Year Released - CPI Real Gross
MOVIE (1982-84=100) Nominal Gross Real Gross Rank
1 E.T. 1982 - 96.5 399804539 414305221 3
2 Jurassic Park 1993 - 144.5 353079435 244345630 9
3 Star Wars 1977 - 60.6 322000000 531353135 1
4 Home Alone 1990 - 130.7 281564595 215428152 13
5 Return of the Jedi 1983 - 99.6 263734642 264793817 8
6 Lion King 1994 - 148.2 262317184 177002148 19
7 Jaws 1975 - 53.8 260000000 483271376 2
8 Batman 1989 - 124.0 251188924 202571713 16
9 Raiders of the Lost Ark 1981 - 90.9 242374454 266638563 7
10 Forrest Gump 1994 - 148.2 238771005 161114038 23
11 Beverly Hills Cop 1984 - 103.9 234760478 225948487 11
12 Empire Strikes Back 1980 - 82.4 223000000 270631068 6
13 Ghostbusters 1984 - 103.9 220855498 212565445 14
14 Mrs. Doubfire 1993 - 144.5 219131586 151648156 27
15 Ghost 1990 - 130.7 217631306 166512093 21
16 Aladdin 1992 - 140.3 216967404 154645334 26
17 Back to the Future 1985 - 107.6 210609762 195733980 17
18 Terminator 2 1991 - 136.2 204729354 150315238 28
19 Indiana Jones - Crusade 1989 - 124.0 197171806 159009521 25
20 Dances With Wolves 1990 - 130.7 184208842 140940201 31
21 The Fugitive 1993 - 144.5 183752965 127164682 38
22 Indiana Jones - Temple 1984 - 103.9 179870271 173118644 20
23 Pretty Woman 1990 - 130.7 178406268 136500588 35
24 Tootsie 1982 - 96.5 177200000 183626943 18
25 Top Gun 1986 - 109.6 176781728 161297197 22
26 Crocodile Dundee 1986 - 109.6 174634806 159338327 24
27 Rain Man 1988 - 118.3 172825435 146090816 30
28 Home Alone 2 1992 - 140.3 172704311 123096444 40
29 Three Men and a Baby 1987 - 113.6 167780960 147694507 29
30 Robin Hood 1991 - 136.2 165493908 121508009 41
31 The Exorcist 1973 - 44.4 165000000 371621622 4
32 Batman Returns 1992 - 140.3 162831698 116059657 43
33 The Firm 1993 - 144.5 158308178 109555833 45
34 Fatal Attraction 1987 - 113.6 156645693 137892335 33
35 The Sting 1973 - 44.4 156000000 351351351 5
36 Roger Rabbit? 1988 - 118.3 154112492 130272605 37
37 Beverley Hills Cop2 1987 - 113.6 153665036 135268518 36
38 Grease 1978 - 65.2 153112093 234834499 10
39 First Blood Part 2 1985 - 107.6 150415432 139791294 32
40 Gremlins 1984 - 103.9 148168459 137703029 34
41 Lethal Weapon 2 1989 - 124.0 147253986 118753215 42
42 Beauty and the Beast 1991 - 136.2 144816286 106326201 46
43 Lethal Weapon 3 1992 - 140.3 144731527 103158608 48
44 Animal House 1978 - 65.2 141600000 217177914 12
45 A Few Good Men 1992 - 140.3 141352000 100749822 49
46 Look Who's Talking 1989 - 124.0 140088813 112974849 44
47 Sister Act 1992 - 140.3 139605150 99504739 50
48 Platoon 1986 - 109.6 137963328 125848949 39
49 Ninja Turtles 1990 - 130.7 135265915 103493432 47
50 Superman 1978 - 65.2 134218018 205855856 15
Note that Harrison Ford starred in 7 of the top 25 nominally grossing
films and 4 of the top 10 real grossing films in US history.
Some things to consider: 1. The Real Gross Ranks are only with respect to
these fifty films. (That is, I'm sure that there's several films that did
not crack the top 50 nominal grossing films list that would beat out
Sister Act among others for a place on the real list.) 2. It would seem
that films before around 1983 have only approximate nominal gross; I don't
know what effects this would have. 3. I don't claim this to be an
accurate list. It is what I figured with the information I could find.
If anyone can show me errors I've made, I welcome it. Enjoy!
David Blackburn