Top 10 – Highest Grossing films of all time (adjusted for inflatiion)

We all know that making movies can be incredibly profitable. In fact, the top 10 highest grossing films of all time, have brought in over $20 Billion US dollars world wide. As stated in the title, we are going to present you with a list of the highest grossing films of all time. However, with some of the films dating back as far as 1937, we have had to adjust earnings in relation to inflation. This isn’t as easy as it sounds, as there are many different calculations that need to be made when adjusting for inflation. In this list we will use the estimates from sources such as the Guinness Book of World Records and the financial publication, the Economist. So, without further adieu, here are the top 10 Highest grossing films of all time.

 

10. Snow White and the 7 dwarfs (1937)- Gross earnings – $1,746,100,000

We kick off with one of the most famous Disney movies in history. Snow White and the 7 dwarfs is the oldest film on the list having first been shown in cinemas in 1937. Originally a fairy tale by the infamous Brothers Grimm, this also happens to be the first cel-animated full length feature in motion picture history, the first animated feature film produced in American history, the first to be produced in full colour and of course with all this in mind, it also takes the prize of being the first feature to be produced by Walt Disney Productions. The film was made on a budget of $1,488,423 and made a staggering $416 million at the box office. The profits allowed Disney to build a motion picture studio at Burbank – the location on which the Walt Disney Studios is still located today.

 

9. Jaws (1975) – Gross earnings – $1,945,100,000

With a budget of only $9 million, Jaws went on to take a monumental $470,653,000 at the box office. This film was only the second feature length film of, now world famous Director, Steven Spielberg. However, Spielberg almost didn’t make the film. He felt he may be typecast as the ‘truck and shark director’ (“truck” being in relation to his earlier film) and if it wasn’t for the producer, David Brown, telling him “make this film and you’ll be able to make all the films you want”, we may have had a very different thriller on our hands and also could have missed out on another film on this list, also directed by Spielberg. Jaws went on to win three Academy Awards for Best Film, Best Original Dramatic Score and Best Sound. However, Spielberg was slightly perturbed that he wasn’t even nominated for best Director. History shows that it would only be a matter of time.

8. Doctor Zhivago (1965) – Gross earnings – $1,988,600,00

Winning 5 Academy Awards for Art Direction, Cinematography, Adapted Screenplay, Costume Design ad Original Score, Doctor Zhivago places at number 8 on our list. With a budget of $11m it raked in over $111,721,910 at the box office. Despite being a huge box office success, the film actually received mixed reviews at the time, drawing criticism for its length and also the depiction of the romance between Zhivago and Lara. Many famous names were linked with the main role of Zhivago, including Michael Caine, Paul Newman, Max von Sydow and Peter O’toole. However, the part eventually went to 2 time Golden Globe award winner Omar Sharif.

7. The Ten Commandments (1956) – Gross earnings – $2,098,600,000

Directed by Academy Award winner Cecil. B. DeMille and starring actors such as Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner, The Ten Commandments came with the tag line: ‘The greatest event in motion picture history’. With a budget of $13.5m the film went on to take just over $80m at the box office, making it not only DeMille’s last film, but also his most financially successful. The film won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, this was mainly due to a clever scene where Moses parts the Red Sea. DeMille was reluctant to discuss how this effect was produced, but eventually revealed that the scene was made from footage (run backwards)of water pouring from large U-shaped trip tanks set up in the studio back lot.
This film is one of the longest on our list, with a feature length of nearly 4 hours!

6. E.T. he Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Gross Earnings – $2,216,800,000

The second movie on our list directed by the aforementioned, Steven Spielberg. First played in Cinemas in 1982, the film went on to make over $792,910,544 at the box office, with a budget of only $10.5 million. The film is actually based on an imaginary friend that Spielberg had made up shortly after the divorce of his parents, as a young boy. During the first 6months of its run, Spielberg was earning $500,000 a day from his share in the profits. 4 months after the film was released, it ended up being screened at the United Nations, leading to Spielberg receiving a U.N. Peace Medal.

5. The Sound of Music (1965) – $2,269,800,000

If you haven’t heard of this film, then you have probably lived under a rock or more specifically, a boulder, for the entirety of your life. With music and lyrics by Rogers and Hammerstein, this film (originally a Broadway production)had a budget of $8m and brought in over $286m at the box office. Based on the Autobiography of the main character Maria Von Trapp, the film tells the tale of a free spirited young Austrian woman, studying to become a nun, who is sent off to be Governess of 7 young children, Fathered by Captain Von Trapp. The rest involves Nazis.
Nominated for 10 Academy Awards, it went on to Win 5, for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Sound, Best Scoring of Music and Best Film editing.
An interesting Fact: Mary Martin, who played Maria on Broadway earned $8m from the the film, where as Julie Andrews who played the same character in the Film version earned a “meagre” $225,000.

4. Titanic (1997) – Gross earnings – $2,413,800,000

The first on the list for 3 times Academy Award winner, James Cameron. Although many versions of this film have been made since the original tragic disaster took place in 1912, Cameron’s version is by far the most well known. When it was released in 1997, it was the most expensive movie ever made, with a production budget of just over $200m! It held this record for 12 years, until another famous Cameron film was made, of which we will come to later.
Titanic would go on to be nominated for 14 Academy awards, eventually winning 11. Although Leo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet ended up playing the lead roles in the film, other actors were considered. For instance, for Leo’s role, the producers actually wanted Matthew McConaughey and for Kate’s part various actresses were in the running, such as Cameron Diaz, Sharon Stone and the most unlikely candidate; Madonna!

3. Star Wars (1977) – Gross earnings – $2,710,000,000

Winning 6 Academy Awards, the film went on to take over $775m at the box office on a paltry $11m budget, which surpassed our aforementioned Spielberg film, Jaws.
Now, we don’t feel it necessary to go in to any particular plot summary for Star Wars (its too well known and too complicated) all we would suggest is that, even if you aren’t a Science Fiction fan, (which we aren’t… Please don’t hate us) you should definitely check out this film and the other 6 films in this saga.
Fox who eventually funded the film, actually didn’t like the idea and nearly didn’t back it as they saw it as a huge waste of their precious money.
The amount of money made from the films by writer and Director George Lucas, has allowed him some of the finer things in life, such as a huge ranch in Texas which has its own full time fire station and pay rolled crew nearby.

2. Avatar (2009) – Gross earnings – $2,782,300,000

The second on the list from esteemed Director, Mr James Cameron, we have the 2009 film Avatar. Original development for Avatar started in 1994, when Cameron wrote an 82 page treatment for the film. Production was meant to start directly after the final cut of Titanic, but it was decided by Cameron that the technology needed to make the film specifically to his vision was not yet available, which is why we had to end up waiting for 15 years before seeing the finished article. Not just famous for the mind blowing special effects, it is also well known that the film was the first to Gross over $2billion at the box office. Rumours quickly circulated that there would be a sequel or even a trilogy of the awe-inspiring film, which were quickly confirmed and the release dates for the follow up is set for 2016, with filming set to start in September 2012.
With a possible 4th film in the running as well, this could well be the first set of films to break the $10b dollar mark.

1. Gone with the Wind (1939) – $3,301,400,000

We started this list with the oldest film and we top it off with the second oldest. First shown in cinemas in 1939 and made with a budget of only $3.85m, Gone with the Wind went on to take a monumental $400m at the box office. If you want to know just how impressive this box office was, consider this for s second; the average cinema ticket price was only 75 cents!
The film held the record for most Academy Awards totalling 10 (8 competitive and 2 honorary) for 20 years, until Ben Hur surpassed it in 1960. The film went on to be given 3 more theatrical releases, in 1947, 1954 and 1961.
Although the film has one of the most famous on-screen kisses in Hollywood history, Vivienne Leigh claimed later that kissing Clarke Gable wasn’t exactly “great”. A direct quote from Leigh, states “Kissing Clarke Gable in Gone with the Wind was not exciting. His dentures smelled something awful”.
The film also broke the mould in a very different way. Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American Oscar nominee (unfortunately, she didn’t win). She played a version of her GWTW role many times in her career which led her to state “I would rather make $700 per week playing a maid, then $7 a day being a maid”.

Tagged: 7 Dwarfs, Avatar, Box, Box office, Cameron, Cecille B. DeMille, Clarke, Commandments, E.T., gable, Gone, inflation, Jaws, Leigh, Lucas, Lucas Film, music, of, office, Sevem Dwarfs, Shivago, Snow White, Sound, Spielberg, Star Wars, Tem, the, Titanic, Vivienne, wind, with

Posted in: Film