What is the highest grossing film ever made? (1 Viewer)

[Sean Conklin]

Was it Titanic, or has anything beat it yet?

 

[Steve_Ch]

As far as I know, it's still Titanic.

 

[RobertR]

Of course, it's been pointed out more than once that films benefit from spiraling ticket prices when calculating grosses. A more realistic measurement is number of tickets sold. By THAT measure, Gone With The Wind is the all time champ.

 

[Sean Conklin]

I agree, number of tickets sold would be a more realistic measurement. So Gone with the Wind sold more tickets than any other movie huh?
If anybody cares or wants to respond, how many Titanic tickets were sold and how many Gone with the Wind tickets were sold?
I ask this because my brother says Titanic was the most seen movie in a theater and the highest grossing. He seems to know a lot about this stuff even though he is definitely a "Bro 6 pack" But I think I've got him squared away on OAR!

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Hi Sean, indeed 'Titanic' is still "King of the World" on every chart, foreign, domestic, and worldwide! Pretty amazing for a film no one was expecting to do much business in the first place.
As far as tickets sold, well, I don't have those figures, but I can tell you something that critic Bill Wine said on Fox news at the height of the Titanic phenominon, he said that the repeat viewing percentage of an average film was something like less than 5%, but repeat business for 'Titanic' was running at 23%!
This gives you an idea of how many times people were going back and seeing it again, and again, and again, myself included, I saw it 6 times. That's nothing compared to some people, I saw one girl on that same news special say that she has seen 'Titanic' almost 50 times!!
Plus it was #1 at the box office for 13 weeks straight! I believe it was 'Lost in Space' that finally knocked it out to the #2 spot, but it held on to the top 5 for a number of weeks after that.
You know a movie did amazing when even George Lucas himself stated and I quote "Were never gonna beat Titanic." while making 'EP I'.

 

[Tom Ryan]

Gone With The Wind is the highest-grossing film to date. Adjusted for inflation, it grossed approximately $1.1 billion dollars domestic. Titanic is fifth overall.

-Tom

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Tom, mentioning a films inflation is absolutly meaningless. Sean is referring to the highest grossing film RIGHT NOW, and it is 'Titanic', look it up.
'Titanic' grossed 1 billion worldwide, 'GWTW' did not, these are simple facts.

 

[RobertR]

mentioning a films inflation is absolutly meaningless

Why? If 100 people pay $2 a ticket, vs. 50 people paying $5 a ticket, which grosses more? Which had the MOST people seeing it?

 

[Dave Dahl]

Quote: squared away on OAR!

Funny, very funny.

-Dave

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Because, the simple fact of the matter is 'GWTW' did'nt make a billion worldwide DURING IT'S THEATRICAL RUN, and 'Titanic' did, plus as I said, look at the charts for yourself, it's states it right their in B&W...
Foreign
#1. Titanic
Domestic
#1. Titanic
Worldwide
#1. Titanic
Where is the confusion?

 

[ScottR]

GWTW is still the all-time champ when it comes to tickets sold, and sheer popularity over the years. I'm not a fortune teller, but I don't think Titanic will ever be as beloved, or as much of a cultural icon as GWTW is. GWTW, The Wizard of Oz, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, The Three Stooges, Chaplin, and Lucy are beyond what most films/actors today will ever achieve.

 

[Brian E]

Well, the question was "What is the highest grossing film ever made". The answer to that is Titanic plain and simple.
600.8 Mil Domestic
1234.6 Overseas
1835.4 Worldwide
http://www.worldwideboxoffice.com/

 

[RobertR]

John, you remind me of a part in a Mark Twain novel, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. The yankee is trying to explain to someone that his pay will be cut, but his living expenses will be cut even more, therefore he will be richer. The guy responds by saying that he couldn't possibly be richer, since he's getting paid less.....

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Scott, I must disagree with you about 'Titanic' not becoming as beloved as 'GWTW'. To Titanic buffs, and those MILLIONS of filmgoers who were touched by the power of this film, 'Titanic' already has a special place in their hearts, and in mine.
And, to be honest, were talking box office champ here, not which film will be consisdered more popular 40 years from now.
And thank you Brian!

 

[Sean Conklin]

Boy, where do I start? First, Hi John! I am a Titanic lover myself! And can see why it was so popular, it was EPIC!
Dave Dahl: I didn't realize I chose such an ironic choice of words "squared away on OAR", but if you look at it another way, I got him "Squared away" with the emphasis on "AWAY".
Since we really don't have numbers (I bet there's a movie buff numbers cruncher out there that knows) can we surmise that GWTW actually sold more tickets than Titanic?

Gone With The Wind is the highest-grossing film to date. Adjusted for inflation, it grossed approximately $1.1 billion dollars domestic. Titanic is fifth overall.

Tom does have an interesting point here, and I of course thought about this.
Tom, putting gross $ figures aside for a moment, your saying GWTW actually sold more tickets(more viewers) than Titanic?
And what other three films also sold more tickets than Titanic(actual theater viewers)?
I think we must take into consideration how long each movie was shown at the time of it's theatrical release, I would imagine at the time of GWTW's release theater movies were probably few and far between and may have actually spent more time as a headlining theatrical movie. Of course there are other factors such as human population as compared to today(or Titanics day). But putting all this aside, numbers only, you guys think GWTW sold more tickets period?
I originally posted asking what is the highest grossing film ever made, I am now interested in which 5 films had the most viewers during it's theatrical run? Tom seems to know.(we know 1 is Titanic )

 

[Steve_Ch]

I did not like Titanic at all, and I think it's one of those "phenomenons", and I think George Lucas mention that in one of the materials in the Star War DVD (PM), and I think he said something to the effect that "don't expect PM to be Titanic, that kind of stuff just does not happen..".

All that aside, the simple answer to the simple question posted is Titanic. Number of tickets sold is NOT relevant, as that is NOT the question, how many UNIQUE people saw it (excluding multiple viewing) is NOT relevant, that's NOT the question. Inflation adjustment is NOT relevant, as that, is also NOT the question (if that's what the poster wants, he would have asked what's highest grossing movie in CONSTANT MONEY terms).

 

[Sean Conklin]

Steve, your right that was not my original question. But I have asked some other questions as well in my post above yours.
No, nothing but actual gross is relevant to my original post and it was answered to my satisfaction(Thank you everyone ), but now I want to know more.(see my last post).
Unless you guy's don't want to go there

 

[Tom Ryan]

Ok. What about this doesn't make sense? Are you trying to tell me that if you spent a dollar in 1910 and two dollars today, you would've spent more today? Certainly not.
Think of inflation adjustment as a way of normalizing the standards for box office success. Gone With The Wind has grossed the equivalent of $1.1 BILLION of today's dollars, including all its multiple re-releases (which is fair game; if people want to see it again, let'em). Now. This probably could never happen with today's home video market, but the fact remains that more people have seen Gone With The Wind in theaters domestically (I have no idea about the foreign gross) than any other film. More "butts in seats".
Let's say we do normalize GWTW's box office success to mean say 10 million tickets sold. That would mean Titanic sold about 5 million. It's that much of a difference. Really, it's funny because today people make so much of a stink about films grossing over $200 million dollars domestic, but it really doesn't mean that much. In reality, there have been 181 films that have grossed over $200 million in today's dollars, and 71 that have grossed over $300 million. There hasn't been a box office success like the films of yesteryear, save Titanic, for a long time.
Incidentally, the top ten highest-grossing movies of all time are:
Movie (Year) Gross Adjusted
1 Gone With the Wind (1939)* $198.5 m $1,112.2 m
2 Star Wars (1977)* $461.0 m $979.2 m
3 The Sound of Music (1965)* $163.2 m $797.5 m
4 E.T. (1982)* $399.8 m $748.3 m
5 Titanic (1997) $600.8 m $733.0 m
6 The Ten Commandments (1956)* $80.0 m $717.9 m
7 Jaws (1975) $260.0 m $710.3 m
8 Ben-Hur (1959) $73.0 m $628.9 m
9 Doctor Zhivago (1965) $111.7 m $619.3 m
10 Snow White (1937)* $184.9 m $610.5 m
All information comes from www.boxofficereport.com , check it out for yourself.
-Tom

 

[ScottR]

Tom, thanks for setting the record straight.

 

[Tom Ryan]

Tom, thanks for setting the record straight.

No problem, I'm not trying to be snotty or anything, just a stickler for box office numbers for some reason.

-Tom