Although I only contributed the cost of a couple of tickets – so far – I was pleased to hear that Joss Whedon’s “The Avengers” passed the $600 million box office milestone this week.
That puts “The Avengers” in third place, behind James Cameron’s “Titanic” and “Avatar,” in terms of total box office haul.
“Titanic” has topped a cool billion, so I’m not sure “Avengers” will be able to reach that peak.
Each time a new box office threshold is crossed, of course, some history-minded person considers the increase, over the decades, of ticket prices.
Boxofficemojo.com’s list of movie box office – as adjusted for inflation – is pretty illuminating and also a little disheartening for movie lovers.
Considering that ticket prices were less than a quarter in 1939, how amazing is it that “Gone With the Wind” sold enough tickets (in its original release and subsequent re-releases) to still top the charts, with a an-adjusted-for-inflation take of $1.6 billion? That’s a paltry $198 million in unadjusted numbers.
On the Boxofficemojo list, “The Avengers” and its $600 million haul come in at 27th place.
Here are the top ticket sellers of all time via Boxofficemojo:
| 1 | Gone with the Wind | MGM | $1,600,193,400 | $198,676,459 | 1939^ |
| 2 | Star Wars | Fox | $1,410,707,200 | $460,998,007 | 1977^ |
| 3 | The Sound of Music | Fox | $1,127,929,800 | $158,671,368 | 1965 |
| 4 | E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial | Uni. | $1,123,486,300 | $435,110,554 | 1982^ |
| 5 | Titanic | Par. | $1,074,383,500 | $658,672,302 | 1997^ |
| 6 | The Ten Commandments | Par. | $1,037,520,000 | $65,500,000 | 1956 |
| 7 | Jaws | Uni. | $1,014,384,200 | $260,000,000 | 1975 |
| 8 | Doctor Zhivago | MGM | $983,152,800 | $111,721,910 | 1965 |
| 9 | The Exorcist | WB | $875,945,400 | $232,906,145 | 1973^ |
| 10 | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | Dis. | $863,280,000 | $184,925,486 | 1937^ |
| 11 | 101 Dalmatians | Dis. | $791,344,600 | $144,880,014 | 1961^ |
| 12 | The Empire Strikes Back | Fox | $777,590,600 | $290,475,067 | 1980^ |
| 13 | Ben-Hur | MGM | $776,160,000 | $74,000,000 | 1959 |
| 14 | Avatar | Fox | $770,261,700 | $760,507,625 | 2009^ |
| 15 | Return of the Jedi | Fox | $744,950,500 | $309,306,177 | 1983^ |
| 16 | Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace | Fox | $715,276,800 | $474,544,677 | 1999^ |
| 17 | The Sting | Uni. | $706,011,400 | $156,000,000 | 1973 |
| 18 | The Lion King | BV | $705,680,400 | $422,783,777 | 1994^ |
| 19 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | Par. | $698,083,500 | $242,374,454 | 1981^ |
| 20 | Jurassic Park | Uni. | $682,750,300 | $357,067,947 | 1993^ |
| 21 | The Graduate | AVCO | $677,755,200 | $104,931,637 | 1967^ |
| 22 | Fantasia | Dis. | $657,704,300 | $76,408,097 | 1941^ |
| 23 | The Godfather | Par. | $625,066,700 | $134,966,411 | 1972^ |
| 24 | Forrest Gump | Par. | $622,081,300 | $329,694,499 | 1994 |
| 25 | Mary Poppins | Dis. | $619,200,000 | $102,272,727 | 1964^ |
| 26 | Grease | Par. | $609,596,100 | $188,755,690 | 1978^ |
| 27 | Marvel’s The Avengers | BV | $600,377,080 | 2012 | 1978^ |
| 28 | Thunderball | UA | $592,416,000 | $63,595,658 | 1965 |
| 29 | The Dark Knight | WB | $588,314,100 | $533,345,358 | 2008 |
| 30 | The Jungle Book | Dis. | $583,544,900 | $141,843,612 | 1967^ |
keithroysdon 