25 Highest Grossing Films of All Time

By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Apr 6, 11:19AM EDT · Published Feb 22, 11:49AM EST

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25 Highest Grossing Films of All Time — © Thinkstock

[cnxvideo id=”508885″ placement=”ros”]”Gone with the Wind” — one of the most famous movies in the history of cinema — earns the distinction of highest grossing movie of all time, bringing in a total of $1.74 billion since it was made in 1939. In fact, 14 of the 25 highest grossing films were released prior to 1980.

While a film’s primary release almost always grosses more money than subsequent releases, 17 of the top grossing films have been released more than once — either as reissues or special editions, or in new formats such as IMAX or 3-D. “Star Wars,” for example, grossed more than $307 million when it was first released in 1977. When the special edition trilogy was released in theaters in 1997, the film brought in another $138 million. Adjusted to today’s ticket prices, the first “Star Wars” movie might have grossed more than $1.5 billion, the second highest of all time.

Not all initial releases are the most profitable. Disney’s 1937 release of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” grossed just $66.6 million, while three subsequent releases after 1980 grossed the film an additional $118 million. In today’s ticket prices, the Disney classic might have made $940 million.

Click here to see the 25 highest grossing films of all time.

Creating multiple installments of popular franchises is another way studios can drive up revenues. After adjusting for ticket prices, five of the seven “Star Wars” movies land in the top 25 grossing films of all time. Additionally, the original “Jurassic Park,” as well as the 2015 revival, “Jurassic World,” both make the list. Disney classics, such as “The Lion King,” “101 Dalmatians,” “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” and “Fantasia,” are also among history’s top grossing films.

To identify the top grossing films of all time, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed gross domestic movie theater ticket sales for U.S. films from movie ticket tracking website Box Office Mojo. Ticket prices are inflation adjusted to 2016 ticket prices.

These are the top-grossing films of all time.

1. Gone with the Wind
> Total adjusted sales: $1.74 billion
> Year released: 1939
> Studio: MGM
>Parent corporation: MGM Holdings, Inc.

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2. Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
> Total adjusted sales: $1.53 billion
> Year released: 1977
> Studio: 20th Century Fox Film Corporation
>Parent corporation: Fox Entertainment Group

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3. The Sound of Music
> Total adjusted sales: $1.23 billion
> Year released: 1965
> Studio: 20th Century Fox Film Corporation
>Parent corporation: Fox Entertainment Group

4. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
> Total adjusted sales: $1.22 billion
> Year released: 1982
> Studio: Universal
>Parent corporation: Comcast

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5. Titanic
> Total adjusted sales: $1.17 billion
> Year released: 1997
> Studio: Paramount Pictures
>Parent corporation: Viacom

6. The Ten Commandments
> Total adjusted sales: $1.13 billion
> Year released: 1956
> Studio: Paramount Pictures
>Parent corporation: Viacom

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7. Jaws
> Total adjusted sales: $1.10 billion
> Year released: 1975
> Studio: Universal
>Parent corporation: Comcast

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8. Doctor Zhivago
> Total adjusted sales: $1.07 billion
> Year released: 1965
> Studio: MGM
>Parent corporation: MGM Holdings, Inc.

9. The Exorcist
> Total adjusted sales: $952.3 million
> Year released: 1973
> Studio: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
>Parent corporation: Time Warner

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10. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
> Total adjusted sales: $938.5 million
> Year released: 1937
> Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
>Parent corporation: Walt Disney Co.

11. 101 Dalmatians
> Total adjusted sales: $860.3 million
> Year released: 1961
> Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
>Parent corporation: Walt Disney Co.

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12. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
> Total adjusted sales: $845.3 million
> Year released: 1980
> Studio: 20th Century Fox Film Corporation
>Parent corporation: Fox Entertainment Group

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13. Ben-Hur
> Total adjusted sales: $843.8 million
> Year released: 1959
> Studio: MGM
>Parent corporation: MGM Holdings, Inc.

14. Avatar
> Total adjusted sales: $837.4 million
> Year released: 2009
> Studio: 20th Century Fox Film Corporation
>Parent corporation: Fox Entertainment Group

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15. Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi
> Total adjusted sales: $809.9 million
> Year released: 1983
> Studio: 20th Century Fox Film Corporation
>Parent corporation: Fox Entertainment Group

16. Jurassic Park
> Total adjusted sales: $791.4 million
> Year released: 1993
> Studio: Universal
>Parent corporation: Comcast

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17. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
> Total adjusted sales: $777.6 million
> Year released: 1999
> Studio: 20th Century Fox Film Corporation
>Parent corporation: Fox Entertainment Group

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18. The Lion King
> Total adjusted sales: $767.6 million
> Year released: 1994
> Studio: Buena Vista
>Parent corporation: Walt Disney Co.

19. The Sting
> Total adjusted sales: $767.5 million
> Year released: 1973
> Studio: Universal
>Parent corporation: Comcast

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20. Raiders of the Lost Ark
> Total adjusted sales: $762.2 million
> Year released: 1981
> Studio: Paramount Pictures
>Parent corporation: Viacom

21. Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens
> Total adjusted sales: $758.2 million
> Year released: 2015
> Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
>Parent corporation: Walt Disney Co.

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22. The Graduate
> Total adjusted sales: $736.8 million
> Year released: 1967
> Studio: Avco Embassy Pictures
>Parent corporation: N/A

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23. Fantasia
> Total adjusted sales: $715.0 million
> Year released: 1941
> Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
>Parent corporation: Walt Disney Co.

24. Jurassic World
> Total adjusted sales: $680.6 million
> Year released: 2015
> Studio: Universal
>Parent corporation: Comcast

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25. The Godfather
> Total adjusted sales: $679.5 million
> Year released: 1972
> Studio: Paramount Pictures
>Parent corporation: Viacom

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.