For this list of all-time highest-grossing movies, we looked at domestic box-office grosses adjusted for inflation to see what old movies would have made today. While blockbusters like “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Avatar” have set box-office records in the past decade, they’re still no match for the hit films of previous decades when you adjust for inflation.
For this list, we looked at domestic box-office grosses adjusted for inflation to see what old movies would have made in today’s dollars, as calculated by Box Office Mojo. That means there’s no “Avatar” on this list.
In recent years, foreign markets have become a more prominent factor in the box-office success of a film, so the list of highest-grossing worldwide films does include newer movies like “Avatar” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
The original 1977 “Star Wars” comes in high on this list, and you might be surprised by some of the other titles.
Paul Schrodt contributed to a previous version of this post.
10. “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937)
Adjusted gross: $1,000,620,000 Unadjusted gross: $184,925,486 Walt Disney’s first cel-animated feature-length film, about the princess and the queen fearful of her beauty, is also the company’s biggest hit in adjusted dollars.
9. “The Exorcist” (1973)
Adjusted gross: $1,015,300,400 Unadjusted gross: $232,906,145
8. “Doctor Zhivago” (1965)
Adjusted gross: $1,139,563,500 Unadjusted gross: $111,721,910
7. “Jaws” (1975)
Adjusted gross: $1,175,763,500 Unadjusted gross: $260,000,000 Steven Spielberg created the summer blockbuster with his thriller starring Richard Dreyfuss about the great white shark lurking just beneath.
6. “The Ten Commandments” (1956)
Adjusted gross: $1,202,580,000 Unadjusted gross: $65,500,000
5. “Titanic” (1997)
Adjusted gross: $1,244,347,300 Unadjusted gross: $65,500,000
4. “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” (1982)
Adjusted gross: $1,302,222,800 Unadjusted gross: $435,110,554
3. “The Sound of Music” (1965)
Adjusted gross: $1,307,373,200 Unadjusted gross: $158,671,368 By far the most well-known and beloved musical film of all time, starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer.
2. “Star Wars” (1977)
Adjusted gross: $1,635,137,900 Unadjusted gross: $460,998,007 Spielberg may have given rise to the modern blockbuster as we know it now, but George Lucas gave us the biggest blockbuster, and the most successful cinematic sci-fi series ever, which now continues under Disney with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” And Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher are back again.
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