Highest grossing movies due to inflation

[Our Wasted Years]

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm

I'm surprised Titanic is 6th and Avatar is 25th or something. I don't recall if I've EVER seen Gone With The Wind, but I might have since it kinda rings a bell.

Anyone have any opinions on this movie list?

 

[Nicoleta01]

Well, with inflation, tickets back in the day were 25 cents, and where I live it's $10.50. It just evens it out. >_>

The list seems fairly accurate, as most were super-hyped movies of their time. I have not seen Gone with the Wind, nor Doctor Zhivago, nor The Excorist in the top 10s. D=

 

[zel]

the fact that fantasia is higher than avatar on that list makes me smile :]
but damn, gone with the wind? really? that movie's long as shit D;

 

[Hector]

Top Gun made it in at #100!

Sweet. Goose, Maverick and Iceman would be pleased.

 

[Gato]

I was especially happy to see 'Star Wars' and 'The Lion King' on there. You obsolutely cannot grow out of 'The Lion King'.

 

[Falconwing]

Huh.

Well, there goes my Kanye joke...

This is all very interesting. Let's see how many I've seen.

Spoiler

1. No
2. Yes
3. Yes
4. Yes
5. Yes
6. Yes
7. No
8. No
9. No
10. Yes
11. yes
12. Yes
13. No
14. Yes
15. No
16. Yes
17. Yes
18. No
19. Yes
20. No
21. No
22. No
23. Yes
24. YES YES YES YES
25. Yes. I'm in the play
26. Yes
27. No
28. Officially, no
29. Yes
30. yes
31. yes
32. sorta
33. no
34. no
35. yes
36. yes
37. Thank God no
38. yes
39. no
40. no
41. sadly no
42. no
43. no
44. no
45. ye- wait, it made more than pirates 1?
46. no
47. yes
48. sadly no
49. OH YEAH
50. no.

And that's just the first 50.

 

[Magmaster12]

I thought everyone knew that Gone with the wind had the record for ticket sales?

Back then people only saw romance movies, it's why pinochio wasn't as sucessful.

 

[Rayne]

Back then movies hang around the box office for months at a time. I remember Jurassic Park hanging out in our local theater for almost a year before moving on to the next big thing.

People were also inclined to see movies a second time since home viewing didn't do it justice then.

A bunch of that's changed in the last decade with home theaters and the quick turnaround of DVDs which has meant more movies suffering since then. Avatar fought hard, but it's made a good initial showing for any movies in recent history.

 

[Our Wasted Years]

This article might help clear up some confusion or questions. Maybe idk.

James Cameron broke his own record Tuesday. With a $1.86 billion haul, "Avatar" beat "Titanic" to become the highest grossing movie of all time at the worldwide box office.

It's a remarkable achievement. But before every Hollywood studio exec decides that all future movies must be in 3-D and feature blue aliens, it's worth getting a little perspective on the film.

In Pictures: Is Avatar Really King Of The Box Office? >>
"Avatar" has the advantage of showing in 3-D (which usually commands an average $3 extra per ticket) and coming out at a time when even 2-D movie tickets are more expensive than ever. According to the National Association of Theater Owners, the average ticket price in 2008 was $7.18, up 56% from prices in 1997 when "Titanic" was in theaters.

A look at domestic grosses adjusted for inflation shows a more realistic view of "Avatar"'s performance.

In the U.S., "Avatar" has grossed $555 million making it the second highest grossing domestic (as opposed to worldwide) film of all time. Titanic is temporarily still in the lead here with $600.8 million.

But adjusting for ticket price for inflation, Avatar ranks as the 26th highest grossing film in the U.S., according to Box Office Mojo. Number one? "Gone With The Wind" with $1.5 billion adjusted gross in the U.S. "Star Wars" ranks second with $1.3 billion.

Cameron's "Titanic" ranks sixth (just behind "The Ten Commandments") with an adjusted $943 million take in the U.S.

Movies are released very differently today then they were in 1939 when "Gone With the Wind" premiered. The film showed originally in 156 theaters in the U.S. "Avatar" premiered on 3,452 screens. "Gone With the Wind" was re-released in 1947, 1954 and 1961. In 1967 it was shown in 70 mm. With as many as 600 films being released per year, these days few films get a second shot in theaters.

Of course movie now can sometimes double their box office with DVD and television sales. Here we're only looking at box office.

Even some modern films beat "Avatar" when looked at through a price-adjusted prism. "Forrest Gump" (1994) ranks 22nd with an adjusted $623 million box office. "Star Wars: Episode 1 -- The Phantom Menace," which was released in 1999, ranks 19th with an adjusted $623 million domestic gross.

But most of the films at the top are from at least 30 years ago. "The Sound of Music" ranks third with an adjusted $1.05 billion take. "E.T." is just behind with $1.04 billion.

With no film on the near horizon poised to challenge "Avatar"'s dominance, the film is sure to continue to mint money. But it's got a way's to go to catch up with a classic like "Gone With The Wind."

DATSOURCE: http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/forbes-avatar-box-office-king.html

 

[eyeofchaos]

I watched Gone with the Wind and I loved it! It was one of the best movies I've ever watched and I can see why it made it so high. It was released during the later part of the Great Depression (in fact, towards the end - WWII had already started in Europe) and it got people's spirits up after the hard time going on for a decade.

There was recently a 70th anniversary party for Gone with the Wind. A few of the surviving cast members actually went to it! Too bad Olivia de Havilland (who played Scarlett's friend Melanie) couldn't go, but then again, she's 93 years old...

Back in 1939, most people had no choice but to go to the movies if they wanted good entertainment. Not at all like today, where people can just press a remote and get a movie.

I think Gone with the Wind deserved to be at the top. Avatar still has a long way to go.

 

[Badal]

Whoa!
I've not even heard of most of them!
(actually I have but... never seen them!)

 

[Lil Brother]

Whoa, Fantasia's on there? I could have sworn I read somewhere that Fantasia was considered a flop at the time.

Hmm, of those, I haven't seen 46 all the way through. Well, that's dissapointing. :/ Some I've really got to watch some time: Ghostbusters, Animal House, West Side Story, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Rocky... o.o I feel so culturally ignorant!

Top Gun made it in at #100!

Sweet. Goose, Maverick and Iceman would be pleased.

^^ I knew I wouldn't be the only one to be pleased to see that.

 

[Showsni]

Anyone have any opinions on this movie list?

Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.

Heh, just joking. It's interesting to see how inflation has made such a dfference; and the Star Wars movies are all on there, in order IV, V, VI, I, III, II... very nearly chronological. I'm surprised 101 Dalamtions is Disney's 2nd highest film... wait, is that the cartoon one or the live action one? Yeah, it is the cartoon one.

 

[Falconwing]

After doing some thinking I don't think is is very fare to modern movies. I mean, yeah if these movies had been released now they may have made more money assuming they were under the same conditions, but that's not likely. I don't think Gone with Wind would have done nearly as well now as it did then, and if the original Star Wars had been released last week, it would have been called an expensive college film.

Adjusting for inflation is all fine and good, but it's not accurate, since you have to adjust for public opinion. Statistics: the math that made liars out of mankind, according to my statistics professor.

 

[Lord_Mewtwo]

Whoa, Fantasia's on there? I could have sworn I read somewhere that Fantasia was considered a flop at the time.

Well Disney used to re-release their films quite a bit, so that's why it made up later.

 

[Martonimos]

After doing some thinking I don't think is is very fare to modern movies. I mean, yeah if these movies had been released now they may have made more money assuming they were under the same conditions, but that's not likely. I don't think Gone with Wind would have done nearly as well now as it did then, and if the original Star Wars had been released last week, it would have been called an expensive college film.

Adjusting for inflation is all fine and good, but it's not accurate, since you have to adjust for public opinion. Statistics: the math that made liars out of mankind, according to my statistics professor.

Interestingly, one of the guys who worked on Avatar said the same thing. "Gone With the Wind didn't have to compete with television." Nor did it have to compete with Internet piracy or the current economic state. I do think the inflation-adjusted takes are important, though, to give a clearer idea of just how many people went to see the movie. After that, you can put it in the context of the times.

 

[Dogasu]

Adjusting for inflation is all fine and good, but it's not accurate, since you have to adjust for public opinion.

This is a list of ticket sales, not a ranking of the most critically acclaimed movies. It's supposed to be purely statistical.