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

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The following is a list of the highest-grossing films in the United States and Canada, a market known in the film industry as the North American box office and the domestic box office,[1][2] and where "gross" is defined in US dollars.

Not adjusted for inflation[edit]

This is a list of the highest-grossing films in the U.S. and Canada,[3] a market known in the film industry as the North American box office, or as the domestic box office within the U.S. itself.[1][2] The chart is ranked by lifetime gross, and for comparison, the figures adjusted for the effects of inflation are also listed, using the U.S. consumer price index;[4] a film's earnings from its initial release are also included to provide a basis for comparison between films released around the same time.

  film currently playing Background shading indicates films playing in the week commencing 15 October 2021 in theaters around the world.
Rank Title Initial gross
(unadjusted)
Lifetime gross Year
Unadjusted Adjusted
1 Star Wars: The Force Awakens $936,662,225 $936,662,225 $1,022,662,098 2015
2 Avengers: Endgame $858,373,000 $858,373,000 $868,875,026 2019
3 Avatar $749,766,139 $760,507,625 $917,188,852 2009
4 Black Panther $700,059,566 $700,059,566 $721,489,961 2018
5 Avengers: Infinity War $678,815,482 $678,815,482 $699,595,548 2018
6 Titanic $600,788,188 $659,363,944 $1,034,540,191 1997
7 Jurassic World $652,270,625 $652,270,625 $712,159,013 2015
8 The Avengers $623,357,910 $623,357,910 $702,689,443 2012
9 Star Wars: The Last Jedi $620,181,382 $620,181,382 $654,785,583 2017
10 Incredibles 2 $608,581,744 $608,581,744 $627,211,797 2018
11 The Lion King $543,638,043 $543,638,043 $550,289,348 2019
12 The Dark Knight $533,345,358 $534,858,444 $642,791,715 2008
13 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story $532,177,324 $532,177,324 $573,868,975 2016
14 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker $515,202,542 $515,202,542 $521,505,944 2019
15 Beauty and the Beast $504,014,165 $504,014,165 $532,136,595 2017
16 Finding Dory $486,295,561 $486,295,561 $524,392,759 2016
17 Frozen II $477,373,578 $477,373,578 $483,214,150 2019
18 Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace $431,088,301 $474,544,677 $718,697,941 1999
19 Star Wars $221,280,994* $460,998,007 $1,512,623,987 1977
20 Avengers: Age of Ultron $459,005,868 $459,005,868 $501,149,605 2015
21 The Dark Knight Rises $448,139,099 $448,139,099 $505,171,441 2012
22 Shrek 2 $441,226,247 $441,226,247 $604,548,366 2004
23 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial $359,197,037 $435,110,554 $1,111,760,568 1982
24 Toy Story 4 $434,038,008 $434,038,008 $439,348,378 2019
25 Captain Marvel $426,829,839 $426,829,839 $432,052,018 2019
26 The Hunger Games: Catching Fire $424,668,047 $424,668,047 $471,806,200 2013
27 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest $423,315,812 $423,315,812 $543,434,643 2006
28 The Lion King $312,855,561 $422,783,777 $677,258,287 1994
29 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom $417,719,760 $417,719,760 $430,507,100 2018
30 Toy Story 3 $415,004,880 $415,004,880 $492,521,433 2010
31 Wonder Woman $412,563,408 $412,563,408 $435,583,169 2017
32 Iron Man 3 $409,013,999 $409,013,994 $454,414,547 2013
33 Captain America: Civil War $408,084,349 $408,084,349 $440,054,351 2016
34 The Hunger Games $408,010,692 $408,010,692 $459,936,100 2012
35 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle $404,515,480 $404,515,480 $427,086,192 2017
36 Spider-Man $403,706,375 $403,706,375 $580,874,094 2002
37 Jurassic Park $357,067,947 $402,453,882 $690,119,103 1993
38 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen $402,111,870 $402,111,870 $485,066,545 2009
39 Frozen $400,738,009 $400,738,009 $445,219,928 2013
40 Spider-Man: Far From Home $390,532,085 $390,532,085 $395,310,169 2019
41 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 $389,813,101 $389,813,101 $411,563,465 2017
42 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 $381,011,219 $381,193,157 $438,519,498 2011
43 Finding Nemo $339,714,978 $380,843,261 $524,286,379 2003
44 Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith $380,270,577 $380,270,577 $503,895,771 2005
45 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King $377,027,325 $377,845,905 $531,358,066 2003
46 Spider-Man 2 $373,585,825 $373,585,825 $511,870,501 2004
47 The Passion of the Christ $370,274,604 $370,782,930 $508,007,196 2004
48 The Secret Life of Pets $368,384,330 $368,384,330 $397,244,167 2016
49 Despicable Me 2 $368,061,265 $368,061,265 $408,916,065 2013
50 The Jungle Book $364,001,123 $364,001,123 $392,517,573 2016
51 Deadpool $363,070,709 $363,070,709 $391,514,268 2016
52 Inside Out $356,461,711 $356,461,711 $389,190,331 2015
53 Aladdin $355,559,216 $355,559,216 $359,909,413 2019
54 Furious 7 $353,007,020 $353,007,020 $385,418,447 2015
55 Transformers: Dark of the Moon $352,390,543 $352,390,543 $405,405,511 2011
56 American Sniper $350,126,372 $350,126,372 $382,756,929 2014
57 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers $339,789,881 $342,551,365 $492,596,579 2002
58 Zootopia $341,268,248 $341,268,248 $368,003,767 2016
59 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 $337,135,885 $337,135,885 $368,555,774 2014
60 Spider-Man 3 $336,530,303 $336,530,303 $420,028,273 2007
61 Minions $336,045,770 $336,045,770 $366,899,895 2015
62 Joker $335,451,311 $335,451,311 $339,555,492 2019
63 Aquaman $335,061,807 $335,061,807 $345,318,801 2018
64 Spider-Man: Homecoming $334,201,140 $334,201,140 $352,848,529 2017
65 Alice in Wonderland $334,191,110 $334,191,110 $396,612,889 2010
66 Guardians of the Galaxy $333,176,600 $333,176,600 $364,227,498 2014
67 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice $330,360,194 $330,360,194 $356,241,158 2016
68 Forrest Gump $329,694,499 $330,252,182 $576,279,643 1994
69 It $327,481,748 $327,481,748 $345,754,216 2017
70 Suicide Squad $325,100,054 $325,100,054 $350,568,930 2016
71 Deadpool 2 $324,591,735 $324,591,735 $334,528,217 2018
72 Shrek the Third $322,719,944 $322,719,944 $402,791,366 2007
73 Transformers $319,246,193 $319,246,193 $398,455,728 2007
74 Iron Man $318,412,101 $318,412,101 $382,734,298 2008
75 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone $317,575,550 $317,871,467 $464,463,039 2001
76 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull $317,101,119 $317,101,119 $381,158,486 2008
77 Jumanji: The Next Level $316,831,246 $316,831,246 $320,707,614 2019
78 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring $313,364,114 $315,710,750 $461,039,507 2001
79 Thor: Ragnarok $315,058,289 $315,058,289 $332,637,566 2017
80 Iron Man 2 $312,128,345 $312,128,345 $370,429,138 2010
81 Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones $302,191,252 $310,676,740 $447,018,133 2002
82 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End $309,420,425 $309,420,425 $386,192,047 2007
83 Return of the Jedi $252,583,617* $309,306,177 $756,692,802 1983
84 Independence Day $306,169,268 $306,169,268 $505,215,022 1996
85 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl $305,413,918 $305,413,918 $429,667,880 2003
86 Skyfall $304,360,277 $304,360,277 $343,094,633 2012
87 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey $303,003,568 $303,003,568 $341,565,263 2012
88 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince $301,959,197 $302,089,278 $364,386,688 2009
89 The Twilight Saga: Eclipse $300,531,751 $300,531,751 $356,666,478 2010
90 The Twilight Saga: New Moon $296,607,170 $296,607,170 $357,796,488 2009
91 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 $295,983,305 $296,131,568 $351,421,254 2010
92 The Sixth Sense $293,506,292 $293,506,292 $455,972,520 1999
93 Up $293,004,164 $293,004,164 $353,450,191 2009
94 Inception $292,576,195 $292,576,195 $347,224,946 2010
95 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 $292,324,737 $292,324,737 $329,527,392 2012
96 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix $292,004,738 $292,137,260 $364,591,859 2007
97 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe $291,710,957 $291,710,957 $386,545,598 2005
98 Man of Steel $291,045,518 $291,045,518 $323,351,570 2013
99 The Empire Strikes Back $181,379,640* $290,475,067 $798,527,121 1980
100 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire $290,013,036 $290,201,752 $384,490,179 2005

* These films fall outside the top 100 when considering only initial gross, and would be replaced by Home Alone ($285.76m), The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 ($281.72m), and The Matrix Reloaded ($281.57m).

Adjusted for ticket-price inflation[edit]

This chart ranks films by gross adjusted for ticket price inflation to 2019 levels, based on data from Box Office Mojo. It was compiled by multiplying the average ticket price in the current year by an estimate of the total number of admissions. Where the number of admissions in unknown, they are estimated by dividing the nominal gross by the average ticket price in the year of release to provide an estimate (taking re-releases into account).[5] Admissions better reflect the popularity of older films, since they are less susceptible to the effects of inflation.

Many of the films on this list were released prior to the availability of home video and have had multiple releases.

  film currently playing Background shading indicates films playing in the week commencing 15 October 2021 in theaters around the world.
Rank Title Year Est. tickets[6] Adjusted gross
1 Gone with the Wind 1939 202,286,200 $1,895,421,694
2 Star Wars 1977 178,119,500 $1,668,979,715
3 The Sound of Music 1965 142,485,200 $1,335,086,324
4 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 1982 141,854,300 $1,329,174,791
5 Titanic 1997 135,549,800 $1,270,101,626
6 The Ten Commandments 1956 131,000,000 $1,227,470,000
7 Jaws 1975 128,078,800 $1,200,098,356
8 Doctor Zhivago 1965 124,135,500 $1,163,149,635
9 The Exorcist 1973 110,599,200 $1,036,314,504
10 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1937 109,000,000 $1,021,330,000
11 Star Wars: The Force Awakens 2015 108,115,100 $1,013,038,487
12 One Hundred and One Dalmatians 1961 99,917,300 $936,225,101
13 The Empire Strikes Back 1980 98,105,100 $919,244,787
14 Ben-Hur 1959 98,046,900 $918,699,453
15 Avatar 2009 [nb 1] 97,309,600 $911,790,952
16 Avengers: Endgame 2019 95,268,900 $892,669,593
17 Return of the Jedi 1983 94,059,400 $881,336,578
18 Jurassic Park 1993 91,664,200 $858,893,554
19 Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace 1999 90,312,100 $846,224,377
20 The Lion King 1994 89,146,400 $835,301,768
21 The Sting 1973 89,142,900 $835,268,973
22 Raiders of the Lost Ark 1981 88,543,400 $829,651,658
23 The Graduate 1967 85,576,800 $801,853,679
24 Fantasia 1941 83,043,500 $778,117,595
25 The Godfather 1972 78,922,500 $739,503,825
26 Forrest Gump 1994 78,637,100 $736,829,627
27 Mary Poppins 1964 78,181,800 $732,563,466
28 Grease 1978 77,098,600 $722,413,882
29 The Avengers 2012 76,881,200 $720,376,844
30 Jurassic World 2015 76,789,600 $719,518,552
31 Black Panther 2018 76,272,300 $714,671,451
32 Thunderball 1965 74,800,000 $700,876,000
33 The Dark Knight 2008 74,506,000 $698,121,220
34 The Jungle Book 1967 73,679,900 $690,380,663
35 Sleeping Beauty 1959 72,676,000 $680,974,120
36 Avengers: Infinity War 2018 72,419,700 $678,572,589
37 Ghostbusters 1984 71,173,700 $666,897,569
38 Shrek 2 2004 71,050,900 $665,746,933
39 Spider-Man 2002 70,626,300 $661,768,431
40 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1969 70,557,900 $661,127,523
41 Love Story 1970 69,998,100 $655,882,197
42 Independence Day 1996 69,268,900 $649,049,593
43 Home Alone 1990 67,734,200 $634,669,454
44 Star Wars: The Last Jedi 2017 67,594,500 $633,360,465
45 Pinocchio 1940 67,403,300 $631,568,921
46 Cleopatra 1963 67,183,500 $629,509,395
47 Beverly Hills Cop 1984 67,150,000 $629,195,500
48 Goldfinger 1964 66,300,000 $621,231,000
49 Incredibles 2 2018 66,299,200 $621,223,504
50 Airport 1970 66,111,300 $619,462,881
51 American Graffiti 1973 65,714,300 $615,742,991
52 The Robe 1953 65,454,500 $613,308,665
53 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest 2006 64,628,400 $605,568,108
54 Around the World in 80 Days 1956 64,615,400 $605,446,298
55 Bambi 1942 63,712,400 $596,985,188
56 Blazing Saddles 1974 63,239,600 $592,555,052
57 Batman 1989 62,972,300 $590,050,451
58 The Bells of St. Mary's 1945 62,745,100 $587,921,587
59 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2003 61,639,700 $577,563,989
60 Finding Nemo 2003 61,586,500 $577,065,505
61 The Towering Inferno 1974 61,375,700 $575,090,309
62 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story 2016 60,441,600 $566,337,792
63 The Lion King 2019 60,322,700 $565,223,699
64 Cinderella 1950 60,301,400 $565,024,118
65 Spider-Man 2 2004 60,158,700 $563,687,019
66 My Fair Lady 1964 60,062,200 $562,782,814
67 The Greatest Show on Earth 1952 60,000,000 $562,200,000
68 National Lampoon's Animal House 1978 59,890,300 $561,172,111
69 The Passion of the Christ 2004 59,704,800 $559,433,976
70 Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith 2005 59,324,600 $555,871,502
71 Back to the Future 1985 59,240,400 $555,082,548
72 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2002 57,725,400 $540,886,998
73 The Dark Knight Rises 2012 57,581,800 $539,541,466
74 The Sixth Sense 1999 57,579,100 $539,516,167
75 Superman 1978 57,384,000 $537,688,080
76 Tootsie 1982 56,903,900 $533,189,543
77 Smokey and the Bandit 1977 56,832,900 $532,524,273
78 Beauty and the Beast 2017 56,798,200 $532,199,134
79 Finding Dory 2016 56,158,100 $526,201,397
80 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 2001 56,143,200 $526,061,784
81 West Side Story 1961 56,012,800 $524,839,936
82 Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1977 55,922,700 $523,995,699
83 Lady and the Tramp 1955 55,734,900 $522,236,013
84 Lawrence of Arabia 1962 55,437,000 $519,444,690
85 The Rocky Horror Picture Show 1975 55,069,400 $516,000,278
86 Rocky 1976 55,040,000 $515,724,800
87 The Best Years of Our Lives 1946 55,000,000 $515,350,000
88 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 2019 54,968,000 $515,050,160
89 The Poseidon Adventure 1972 54,902,000 $514,431,740
90 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 2001 54,799,300 $513,469,441
91 Twister 1996 54,688,100 $512,427,497
92 Men in Black 1997 54,616,700 $511,758,479
93 The Bridge on the River Kwai 1957 54,400,000 $509,728,000
94 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 2009 53,900,900 $505,051,433
95 It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World 1963 53,875,400 $504,812,498
96 Swiss Family Robinson 1960 53,808,000 $504,180,960
97 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1975 53,685,400 $503,032,198
98 M*A*S*H 1970 53,684,200 $503,020,954
99 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 1984 53,532,800 $501,602,336
100 Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones 2002 53,468,500 $500,999,845

Factors in determining "adjusted gross"[edit]

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

  • Box office gross on initial release
  • Ticket price at time of release, or its relative price to other commodities in a given year,[8] in relation to general inflation and gross domestic product.[9]
  • economic conditions that may help or hurt the entertainment industry as a whole (theaters in 2008 lowered ticket prices to attract more viewers though the average ticket cost $7.00)[8]
  • Population at time of release—to be used to calculate:
  • Availability of films (number of theaters and screens, number of prints)
  • Competition of other media (television, internet, home video, film piracy)[8]
  • Total number of films in the marketplace at a given time[8]
  • Screen quotas (no influence on U.S. box office)
  • Price differences: matinee and evening tickets,[10] roadshow tickets,[10] or difference between rural and urban cinemas[9]
  • Length of release (number of weeks)[10]

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

Franchises and film series not adjusted for inflation[edit]

This is a list of highest-grossing franchises and film series in the U.S. and Canada.[11]

  film currently playing Background shading indicates that at least one film in the series is playing in the week commencing 15 October 2021 in theaters around the world.
(The films in each franchise can be viewed by selecting "show")
Rank Series Total box office No. of films Average of films Highest-grossing film

Franchises and film series adjusted for inflation[edit]

This chart was compiled based on data from Box Office Mojo, by dividing the gross by the average ticket price to calculate an estimate of the total number of admissions.

  film currently playing Background shading indicates that at least one film in the series is playing in the week commencing 15 October 2021 in theaters around the world.
Highest-grossing franchises and film series [§] (The films in each franchise can be viewed by selecting "show")
Rank Series Total adjusted for inflation No. of films Average of films Highest-grossing film

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ The figure of 97,309,600 is an average value based on Box Office Mojo estimating the number of admissions by dividing gross revenue by the cost of an average ticket. However in the case of Avatar, ticket sales are a combination of the three formats of standard projection, 3D and IMAX used during its theatrical run. Since box office admissions are not tracked, the total number of admissions cannot therefore be accurately determined simply by dividing the gross receipts by the average ticket price. Box Office Mojo revised estimate - by taking account of the ticket prices for all three different formats - is that Avatar sold 75 million tickets by April 21, 2010, by which time it had grossed $745 million of its $760 million total.[7] An extra $15 million of sales would be equivalent to about 2 million more ticket sales, at the average 2D ticket price of $7.50 in 2009; using this revision, Avatar probably sold closer to 77,000,000 tickets.[8]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Genre and International Box office" (PDF). Film Victoria / Government of Australia. p. 10. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 16, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2012. North American box office statistics includes figures from both the United States and Canada as industry standard.
  2. ^ a b Richwine, Lisa (April 30, 2012). "Think Like a Man tops North American box office". Reuters via Canada.com. Archived from the original on June 16, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2012. ...easily beat four new films to win the U.S. and Canadian box office race.... Think Like a Man led domestic charts with...
  3. ^ "Top Lifetime Grosses". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2012-05-19. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  4. ^ 1634 to 1699: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy ofthe United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700-1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How much is that in real money?: a historical price index for use as a deflator of money values in the economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  5. ^ "How are grosses adjusted for ticket price inflation?". IMDb. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  6. ^ "Top Lifetime Adjusted Grosses". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  7. ^ Subers, Ray (April 21, 2010). "'Avatar' Strikes DVD". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
  8. ^ a b c d e "Adjusting for Ticket Price Inflation". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on June 23, 2011. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  9. ^ a b Anderson, S. Eric; Albertson, Stewart; Shavlik, David. "2004 Proceedings of the Midwest Business Economics Association March 17 – March 19, Chicago, Illinois: How the Motion Picture Industry Miscalculates Box Office Receipts". Loma Linda University. Archived from the original on February 26, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2012.
  10. ^ a b c Garris, Daniel (September 7, 2007). "$200 Million Adjusted Extra". BoxOfficeReport.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2009.
  11. ^ "Franchise Index". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 2016-03-16. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
§ Franchise and series sources

External links[edit]