All-Time Box Office Results: Avatar Actually #26 All-Time
Avatar is 26th all-time in tickets sold.
Ever wonder what some of the movies would have grossed with 2010 REDONKULOUS movie ticket prices, instead of the ticket prices of those movies back in the day? Would Avatar actually be the highest grossing movie of all time, if we didn’t have to pay $18+ per ticket for the IMAX 3D? What I was curious about, was how many TICKETS did the movie actually sell, as this is a greater indicator of movie success, in my opinion.
Our good friends at Box Office Mojo have compiled this list of movies by tickets that were actually sold, not be inflated gross. On their site, you can actually sort and see how much each movie would have made, if it had sold the same amount of tickets at 2010 prices.
But frankly, my dear, you may not give a damn.
| Rank | Title (click to view) | Studio | Est. Tickets | Unadjusted Gross | Year^ |
| 1 | Gone with the Wind | MGM | 202,044,600 | $198,676,459 | 1939^ |
| 2 | Star Wars | Fox | 178,119,600 | $460,998,007 | 1977^ |
| 3 | The Sound of Music | Fox | 142,415,400 | $158,671,368 | 1965 |
| 4 | E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial | Uni. | 141,854,300 | $435,110,554 | 1982^ |
| 5 | The Ten Commandments | Par. | 131,000,000 | $65,500,000 | 1956 |
| 6 | Titanic | Par. | 128,345,900 | $600,788,188 | 1997 |
| 7 | Jaws | Uni. | 128,078,800 | $260,000,000 | 1975 |
| 8 | Doctor Zhivago | MGM | 124,135,500 | $111,721,910 | 1965 |
| 9 | The Exorcist | WB | 110,568,700 | $232,671,011 | 1973^ |
| 10 | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | Dis. | 109,000,000 | $184,925,486 | 1937^ |
| 11 | 101 Dalmatians | Dis. | 99,917,300 | $144,880,014 | 1961^ |
| 12 | The Empire Strikes Back | Fox | 98,180,600 | $290,475,067 | 1980^ |
| 13 | Ben-Hur | MGM | 98,000,000 | $74,000,000 | 1959 |
| 14 | Return of the Jedi | Fox | 94,059,400 | $309,306,177 | 1983^ |
| 15 | The Sting | Uni. | 89,142,900 | $156,000,000 | 1973 |
| 16 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | Par. | 88,141,900 | $242,374,454 | 1981^ |
| 17 | Jurassic Park | Uni. | 86,205,800 | $357,067,947 | 1993 |
| 18 | The Graduate | AVCO | 85,571,400 | $104,901,839 | 1967^ |
| 19 | Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace | Fox | 84,825,800 | $431,088,301 | 1999 |
| 20 | Fantasia | Dis. | 83,043,500 | $76,408,097 | 1941^ |
| 21 | The Godfather | Par. | 78,922,600 | $134,966,411 | 1972^ |
| 22 | Forrest Gump | Par. | 78,545,600 | $329,694,499 | 1994 |
| 23 | Mary Poppins | Dis. | 78,181,800 | $102,272,727 | 1964^ |
| 24 | The Lion King | BV | 77,231,800 | $328,541,776 | 1994^ |
| 25 | Grease | Par. | 76,921,800 | $188,389,888 | 1978^ |
| 26 | Avatar | Fox | 74,823,000 | $558,179,737 | 2009 |
| 27 | Thunderball | UA | 74,800,000 | $63,595,658 | 1965 |
| 28 | The Dark Knight | WB | 74,282,100 | $533,345,358 | 2008 |
| 29 | The Jungle Book | Dis. | 73,679,900 | $141,843,612 | 1967^ |
| 30 | Sleeping Beauty | Dis. | 72,676,100 | $51,600,000 | 1959^ |
| 31 | Shrek 2 | DW | 71,050,900 | $441,226,247 | 2004 |
| 32 | Ghostbusters | Col. | 70,730,600 | $238,632,124 | 1984^ |
| 33 | Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid | Fox | 70,557,900 | $102,308,889 | 1969 |
| 34 | Love Story | Par. | 69,998,100 | $106,397,186 | 1970 |
| 35 | Spider-Man | Sony | 69,484,700 | $403,706,375 | 2002 |
| 36 | Independence Day | Fox | 69,268,900 | $306,169,268 | 1996 |
| 37 | Home Alone | Fox | 67,734,200 | $285,761,243 | 1990 |
| 38 | Pinocchio | Dis. | 67,403,300 | $84,254,167 | 1940^ |
| 39 | Cleopatra (1963) | Fox | 67,183,500 | $57,777,778 | 1963 |
| 40 | Beverly Hills Cop | Par. | 67,150,000 | $234,760,478 | 1984 |
| 41 | Goldfinger | UA | 66,300,000 | $51,081,062 | 1964 |
| 42 | Airport | Uni. | 66,111,300 | $100,489,151 | 1970 |
| 43 | American Graffiti | Uni. | 65,714,300 | $115,000,000 | 1973 |
| 44 | The Robe | Fox | 65,454,500 | $36,000,000 | 1953 |
| 45 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest | BV | 64,628,400 | $423,315,812 | 2006 |
| 46 | Around the World in 80 Days | UA | 64,615,400 | $42,000,000 | 1956 |
| 47 | Bambi | RKO | 63,712,400 | $102,247,150 | 1942^ |
| 48 | Blazing Saddles | WB | 63,227,500 | $119,500,000 | 1974 |
| 49 | Batman | WB | 62,954,600 | $251,188,924 | 1989 |
| 50 | The Bells of St. Mary’s | RKO | 62,745,100 | $21,333,333 | 1945 |
| 51 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | NL | 61,538,100 | $377,027,325 | 2003 |
| 52 | The Towering Inferno | Fox | 61,375,700 | $116,000,000 | 1974 |
| 53 | Spider-Man 2 | Sony | 60,158,700 | $373,585,825 | 2004 |
| 54 | My Fair Lady | WB | 60,000,000 | $72,000,000 | 1964 |
| 55 | The Greatest Show on Earth | Par. | 60,000,000 | $36,000,000 | 1952 |
| 56 | National Lampoon’s Animal House | Uni. | 59,890,300 | $141,600,000 | 1978^ |
| 57 | The Passion of the Christ | NM | 59,704,800 | $370,782,930 | 2004^ |
| 58 | Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith | Fox | 59,324,600 | $380,270,577 | 2005 |
| 59 | Back to the Future | Uni. | 59,050,700 | $210,609,762 | 1985 |
| 60 | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | NL | 57,630,400 | $341,786,758 | 2002^ |
| 61 | The Sixth Sense | BV | 57,579,100 | $293,506,292 | 1999 |
| 62 | Superman | WB | 57,358,100 | $134,218,018 | 1978 |
| 63 | Tootsie | Col. | 56,903,900 | $177,200,000 | 1982 |
| 64 | Smokey and the Bandit | Uni. | 56,832,900 | $126,737,428 | 1977 |
| 65 | Finding Nemo | BV | 56,337,500 | $339,714,978 | 2003 |
| 66 | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | P/DW | 56,004,400 | $402,111,870 | 2009 |
| 67 | West Side Story | MGM | 55,970,300 | $43,656,822 | 1961 |
| 68 | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone | WB | 55,913,000 | $317,575,550 | 2001 |
| 69 | Lady and the Tramp | Dis. | 55,734,900 | $93,602,326 | 1955^ |
| 70 | Close Encounters of the Third Kind | Col. | 55,575,500 | $132,088,635 | 1977^ |
| 71 | Lawrence of Arabia | Col. | 55,383,600 | $44,824,144 | 1962^ |
| 72 | The Rocky Horror Picture Show | Fox | 55,069,400 | $112,892,319 | 1975 |
| 73 | Rocky | UA | 55,040,000 | $117,235,147 | 1976 |
| 74 | The Best Years of Our Lives | RKO | 55,000,000 | $23,650,000 | 1946 |
| 75 | The Poseidon Adventure | Fox | 54,902,000 | $84,563,118 | 1972 |
| 76 | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | NL | 54,703,900 | $314,776,170 | 2001^ |
| 77 | Twister | WB | 54,688,100 | $241,721,524 | 1996 |
| 78 | Men in Black | Sony | 54,616,700 | $250,690,539 | 1997 |
| 79 | The Bridge on the River Kwai | Col. | 54,400,000 | $27,200,000 | 1957 |
| 80 | It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World | MGM | 53,875,400 | $46,332,858 | 1963 |
| 81 | Swiss Family Robinson | Dis. | 53,808,000 | $40,356,000 | 1960 |
| 82 | One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest | UA | 53,685,400 | $108,981,275 | 1975 |
| 83 | M.A.S.H. | Fox | 53,684,200 | $81,600,000 | 1970 |
| 84 | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom | Par. | 53,532,800 | $179,870,271 | 1984 |
| 85 | Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones | Fox | 53,468,500 | $310,676,740 | 2002^ |
| 86 | Mrs. Doubtfire | Fox | 52,684,400 | $219,195,243 | 1993 |
| 87 | Aladdin | BV | 52,442,300 | $217,350,219 | 1992 |
| 88 | Ghost | Par. | 51,465,200 | $217,631,306 | 1990 |
| 89 | Duel in the Sun | Selz. | 51,020,400 | $20,408,163 | 1946 |
| 90 | Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl | BV | 50,648,900 | $305,413,918 | 2003 |
| 91 | House of Wax | WB | 50,531,900 | $23,750,000 | 1953 |
| 92 | Rear Window | Par. | 50,354,700 | $36,764,313 | 1954^ |
| 93 | The Lost World: Jurassic Park | Uni. | 49,910,000 | $229,086,679 | 1997 |
| 94 | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade | Par. | 49,416,500 | $197,171,806 | 1989 |
| 95 | Spider-Man 3 | Sony | 48,914,300 | $336,530,303 | 2007 |
| 96 | Terminator 2: Judgment Day | TriS | 48,656,400 | $204,843,345 | 1991 |
| 97 | Sergeant York | WB | 48,123,200 | $16,361,885 | 1941 |
| 98 | How the Grinch Stole Christmas | Uni. | 48,106,800 | $260,044,825 | 2000 |
| 99 | Toy Story 2 | BV | 47,836,500 | $245,852,179 | 1999^ |
| 100 | Top Gun | Par. | 47,651,400 | $176,786,701 | 1986 |
Filed Under: Entertainment • Technology
