List of Highest-grossing Films - High-grossing Films By Year

High-grossing Films By Year

Box-office figures are reported in the form of gross or distributor rentals, the latter being especially true of older films. Commonly mistaken for home video revenue, the rentals are the distributor's share of the film's theatrical revenue i.e. the box office gross less the exhibitor's cut. Historically, the rental price averaged at 35–40% when the distributors owned the theater chains, equating to just over a third of the gross being paid to the distributor of the film. In the modern marketplace, rental fees can vary greatly—depending on a number of factors—although the films from the major studios average out at 43%.

Audience tastes were fairly eclectic during the 20th century, but several trends did emerge. During the silent era, films with war themes were popular with audiences, with The Birth of a Nation (American Civil War), The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Big Parade and Wings (all World War I) becoming the most successful films in their respective years of release, with the trend coming to an end with All Quiet on the Western Front in 1930. With the advent of sound in 1927, the musical—the genre best placed to showcase the new technology—took over as the most popular type of film with audiences, with 1928 and 1929 both being topped by musical films. The genre continued to perform strongly in the 1930s, but the outbreak of World War II saw war themed films dominate again during this period, starting with Gone with the Wind (American Civil War) in 1939, and finishing with The Best Years of Our Lives (World War II) in 1946. Samson and Delilah (1949) saw the beginning of a trend of increasingly expensive historical dramas set during Ancient Rome/biblical times throughout the 1950s as cinema competed with television for audiences, with Quo Vadis, The Robe, The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur and Spartacus all becoming the highest-grossing film of the year during initial release, before the genre started to wane after the financially catastrophic Cleopatra in 1963. The success of White Christmas and South Pacific in the 1950s foreshadowed the comeback of the musical in the 1960s with West Side Story, Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music and Funny Girl all among the top films of the decade. The 1970s saw a shift in audience tastes to high concept films, with six such films made by either George Lucas or Steven Spielberg topping the chart during the 1980s. The 21st century has seen an increasing dependence on franchises and adaptations, with Avatar in 2009 being the only chart-topper forming an original work.

Steven Spielberg is the most represented director on the chart with six films to his credit, occupying the top spot in 1975, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1989 and 1993. William Wyler (1942, 1946, 1959 and 1968) and Cecil B. DeMille (1947, 1949, 1952 and 1956) are in second place, each with four films, while Leo McCarey (1932, 1944 and 1945), George Roy Hill (1966, 1969 and 1973) and James Cameron (1991, 1997 and 2009) all feature heavily with three films apiece. George Lucas directed two chart-toppers in 1977 and 1999, but also served in a strong creative capacity as a producer and writer in 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984 and 1989 as well. The following directors have also all directed two films on the chart: D. W. Griffith, Frank Lloyd, King Vidor, Frank Capra, Michael Curtiz, Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean, Stanley Kubrick, Guy Hamilton, Mike Nichols, Peter Jackson and Gore Verbinski; Mervyn LeRoy, Ken Annakin and Robert Wise are each represented by one solo credit and one shared credit, and John Ford co-directed two films. Disney films are usually co-directed and some directors have served on several winning teams: Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronimi, David Hand, Ben Sharpsteen, Wolfgang Reitherman and Bill Roberts have all co-directed at least two films on the list. Only five directors have topped the chart in consecutive years: McCarey (1944 and 1945), Nichols (1966 and 1967), Spielberg (1981 and 1982), Jackson (2002 and 2003) and Verbinski (2006 and 2007).

Due to release schedules—especially in the case of films released towards the end of the year—and different release patterns across the world, many films can do business in two or more calendar years; therefore the grosses documented here are not confined to just the year of release. Grosses are not limited to original theatrical runs either, with many older films often being re-released periodically so the figures represent all the business a film has done since its original release; a film's first-run gross is included in brackets after the total if known. In the cases where estimates conflict both films are recorded, and in cases where a film has moved into first place due to being re-released the previous record-holder is also retained. Due to incomplete data it cannot be known for sure how much money some films have made and when they made it, but generally the chart chronicles the films from each year that went on to earn the most. Every highest-grossing film of the year since 1918 has earned a million dollars in distributor rentals, and since 1949 every chart-topper has taken over $10 million in rentals. At least one film every year has generated $100 million in gross revenue at the box office since 1967, and from 2008 each year has succeeded in producing a billion dollar grossing film.

Background shading indicates films playing in the week commencing 23 November 2012 in theaters around the world.

• ( ... ) Since grosses are not limited to original theatrical runs, a film's first-run gross is included in brackets after the total if known.
• *Canada and U.S. gross only.
• RDistributor rental.
• TBATo be ascertained.
• ASNo contemporary sources provide figures for Aloma of the South Seas, so it is unclear what the $3 million figure relates to. If it were the rental gross then that would have made it not only the highest-grossing film of the year, but one of the highest-grossing films of the silent era, and if that is the case it would be unsual for both International Motion Picture Almanac and Variety to omit it from their lists.
• SSIt is not clear if the figure for Sunny Side Up is for North America or worldwide. Other sources put its earnings at $2 million, which may suggest the higher figure is the worldwide rental, given the confusion over international figures during this period.
• KSThe figures for Whoopee ($2,655,000), The Kid from Spain ($2,621,000), Roman Scandals ($2,443,000) and Palmy Days ($1,601,000) are provided by Eddie Cantor who starred in them. The International Motion Picture Almanac conflates worldwide and North American grosses, but the figure for Whoopee! is corroborated as the worldwide earnings.
• ONThe figure for It Happened One Night is not truly representative of its success: it was distributed as a package deal along with more than two dozen other Columbia films, and the total earnings were averaged out; the true gross would have been much higher.
• S7Snow White's $416 million global cume omits earnings outside of North America from the 1987 and 1993 re-releases. Up to and including the 1983 re-release, Snow White had grossed $330 million, with $98 million coming from the North American market. As a guide to its potential earnings from those releases, this equates to Snow White generally doubling its American earnings in foreign territories, with the 1987 reissue earning about $45 million in North America, and the 1993 reissue $41 million.
• GWIt is not absolutely clear how much Gone with the Wind earned from its initial release. Contemporary accounts often list it as earning $32 million in North American rentals and retrospective charts have often duplicated this claim; however, it is likely this was the worldwide rental figure. Trade journals would collate the data by either obtaining it from the distributors themselves, who were keen to promote a successful film, or by surveying theaters and constructing an estimate. Distributors would often report the worldwide rental since the higher figure made the film appear more successful, while estimates were limited to performance in North America; therefore it was not unusual for worldwide and North American rentals to be mixed up. Following the outbreak of World War II, many of the foreign markets were unavailable to Hollywood so it became standard practice to just report on North American box-office performance. In keeping with this new approach, the North American rental for Gone with the Wind was revised to $21 million in 1947 ($11 million lower than the previous figure), and as of 1953—following the 1947 re-release—Variety was reporting earnings of $26 million. Through 1956, MGM reported cumulative North American earnings of $30,015,000 and foreign earnings of $18,964,000, from three releases. Worldwide rentals of $32 million from the initial release is consistent with the revised figures and later reported worldwide figures: they indicate that the film earned $21 million in North America and $11 million overseas from the initial release, and added a further $9 million in North America and $8 million overseas from subsequent re-releases up to 1956.
• MDMom and Dad does not generally feature in 'high-gross' lists such as those published by Variety due to its independent distribution. Essentially belonging to the exploitation genre, it was marketed as an educational sex hygiene film in an effort to circumvent censorship laws. Falling foul of the Motion Picture Production Code, Mom and Dad was prevented from obtaining mainstream distribution and restricted to independent and drive-in theaters. It was the biggest hit of its kind, and remained in continual distribution until the 1970s when hardcore pornography eventually took over. At the end of 1947 it had earned $2 million, and by 1949, $8 million; by 1956 it had earned $22 million in rentals, representing a gross of $80 million, and would have easily placed in the top ten films in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Estimates of its total earnings are as high as $100 million.
• UNChopra-Gant stipulates that the figure given for Unconquered is for North American box-office, but as was common at the time, the chart confuses worldwide and North American grosses. Other sources state that the takings for Forever Amber ($8 million) and Life with Father ($6.5 million) were in fact worldwide rental grosses, so it is possible this is also true of Unconquered.
• CIThe Cinerama figures represent gross amounts. Since the Cinerama corporation owned the theaters there were no rental fees for the films, meaning the studio received 100% of the box-office gross, unlike the case with most other films where the distributor typically receives less than half the gross. Since Variety at the time ranked films by their US rental, they constructed a hypothetical rental figure for the Cinerama films to provide a basis for comparison to other films in their chart: in the case of This Is Cinerama, the $50 million worldwide gross was reconfigured as a $12.5 million US rental gross; this is exactly 25% of the amount reported by Cinerama, so Variety's formula seemingly halved the gross to obtain an estimate for the US share, and halved it again to simulate a rental fee. Variety's 'rental' amounts are often repeated, but have no basis in the reality of what the films actually earned—they are hypothetical figures conceived for comparative analysis. All five Cinerama features collectively generated $120 million in worldwide box office receipts.
• SWThe 'first run' Star Wars grosses do not include revenue from the 1997 special edition releases; however, the figure does include revenue from the re-releases prior to the special editions.
• HPProduction costs were shared with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1.