Highest-grossing Films
With a worldwide box-office gross of about $2.8 billion, Avatar is often proclaimed to be the "highest-grossing" film, but such claims usually refer to theatrical revenues only and do not take account of home video and television income, which can form a significant portion of a film's earnings. Once revenue from home entertainment is factored in it is not immediately clear which film is the most successful. In addition to the $1.8 billion Titanic grossed during its original theatrical run, it also earned a further $1.2 billion from video and DVD sales and rentals. While complete sales data is not available for Avatar, it earned $190 million from the sale of 10 million DVD and Blu-ray units in North America, and sold a total of 30 million units worldwide. After home video income is accounted for, both films have earned over $3 billion. Television broadcast rights will also substantially add to a film's earnings, with a film often earning as much as 20–25% of its theatrical box-office for a couple of television runs on top of pay-per-view revenues; Titanic earned $55 million from just the US broadcast rights alone for its initial television run (equating to about 9% of its North American gross).
When a film is highly exploitable as a commercial property, its ancillary revenues from merchandising can dwarf its income from direct film sales. Pixar's Cars earned $461 million in theatrical revenues—which was only a modest hit by comparison to other Pixar films—but generated merchandise sales approaching $10 billion in the five years after its 2006 release, the most revenue ever generated by a single film.
Only the revenues from theatrical exhibition at their nominal value are included here, which sees Avatar rank in the top position. Thirteen films in total have grossed in excess of $1 billion worldwide. The films on this chart have all had a theatrical run (including re-releases) since 1993, and films that have not played since then do not appear on the chart due to ticket-price inflation, population size and ticket purchasing trends not being considered. The most represented years are 2009 and 2012, with six films apiece.
- Background shading indicates films playing in the week commencing 23 November 2012 in theaters around the world.
| Rank | Title | Worldwide gross | Year | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Avatar | $2,782,275,172 | 2009 | |
| 2 | Titanic | $2,185,372,302 | 1997 | |
| 3 | The Avengers | $1,511,757,910 | 2012 | |
| 4 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 | $1,328,111,219 | 2011 | |
| 5 | Transformers: Dark of the Moon | $1,123,746,996 | 2011 | |
| 6 | Lord of the Rings: Return of the King !The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | $1,119,929,521 | 2003 | |
| 7 | Dark Knight Rises !The Dark Knight Rises | $1,080,839,188 | 2012 | |
| 8 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest | $1,066,179,725 | 2006 | |
| 9 | Toy Story 3 | $1,063,171,911 | 2010 | |
| 10 | Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides | $1,043,871,802 | 2011 | |
| 11 | Star Wars Episode 1 !Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace | $1,027,044,677 | 1999 | |
| 12 | Alice in Wonderland | $1,024,299,904 | 2010 | |
| 13 | Dark Knight !The Dark Knight | $1,004,558,444 | 2008 | |
| 14 | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | $974,755,371 | 2001 | |
| 15 | Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End | $963,420,425 | 2007 | |
| 16 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 | $956,399,711 | 2010 | |
| 17 | Lion King !The Lion King | $951,583,777 | 1994 | |
| 18 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | $939,885,929 | 2007 | |
| 19 | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | $934,416,487 | 2009 | |
| 20 | Lord of the Rings: Two Towers !The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | $926,047,111 | 2002 | |
| 21 | Finding Nemo | $921,131,184 | 2003 | |
| 22 | Shrek 2 | $919,838,758 | 2004 | |
| 23 | Jurassic Park | $914,691,118 | 1993 | |
| 24 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | $896,911,078 | 2005 | |
| 25 | Spider-Man 3 | $890,871,626 | 2007 | |
| 26 | Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | $886,686,817 | 2009 | |
| 27 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | $878,979,634 | 2002 | |
| 28 | Ice Age: Continental Drift | $874,288,899 | 2012 | |
| 29 | Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring !The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | $871,530,324 | 2001 | |
| 30 | Star Wars Episode 3 !Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith | $848,754,768 | 2005 | |
| 31 | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | $836,303,693 | 2009 | |
| 32 | Inception | $825,532,764 | 2010 | |
| 33 | Spider-Man | $821,708,551 | 2002 | |
| 34 | Independence Day | $817,400,891 | 1996 | |
| 35 | Shrek the Third | $798,958,162 | 2007 | |
| 36 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | $796,688,549 | 2004 | |
| 37 | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | $792,910,554 | 1982 | |
| 38 | Skyfall | $790,120,000 | 2012 | |
| 39 | Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull | $786,636,033 | 2008 | |
| 40 | Spider-Man 2 | $783,766,341 | 2004 | |
| 41 | Star Wars Episode 4 !Star Wars | $775,398,007 | 1977 | |
| 42 | 2012 | $769,679,473 | 2009 | |
| 43 | Da Vinci Code !The Da Vinci Code | $758,239,851 | 2006 | |
| 44 | Shrek Forever After | $752,600,867 | 2010 | |
| 45 | The Amazing Spider-Man | $752,216,557 | 2012 | |
| 46 | Chronicles of Narnia: Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe !The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | $745,013,115 | 2005 | |
| 47 | Matrix Reloaded !The Matrix Reloaded | $742,128,461 | 2003 | |
| 48 | Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted | $740,491,482 | 2012 | |
| 49 | Up | $731,342,744 | 2009 | |
| 50 | The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 | $712,171,856 | 2011 |
Read more about this topic: List Of Highest-grossing Films
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