Gone with the Wind still pwns Avatar when it comes to ticket sales

Yesterday I posted that Avatar is #1. Today I would like to retract that statement. True, if you look at the gross international ticket sales it is #1.

1. Avatar (2009) $1,846,179,737
2. Titanic (1997) $1,835,300,000
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) $1,129,219,252
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) $1,060,332,628
5. The Dark Knight (2008) $1,001,921,825

BUT international sales weren’t very well tracked until recently so those numbers are a little skewed.

A more accurate comparison would be domestic ticket sales as those have been well monitored for many, many years. In that comparison Avatar is now #2.

1. Titanic  $600,788,188 1997
2. Avatar  $558,179,737 2009
3. The Dark Knight  $533,345,358 2008
4. Star Wars  $460,998,007 1977
5. Shrek 2  $441,226,247 2004

BUT if you account for inflation (and really, why wouldn’t you?) that list changes again.

1. Gone with the Wind $1,507,252,900
2. Star Wars $1,328,772,200
3. The Sound of Music $1,062,418,700
4. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial $1,058,233,300
5. The Ten Commandments $977,260,000

BUT this still only counts for money made and not for the actual number of tickets sold. Students & kids pay less for tickets but still fill theatres and on the flip side if you sell your tickets for $5 more than every other movie (*cough* Avatar) you’re gross sales will be higher, but the number of people who actually went to see your movie could be dramatically less. So if we take the number of actual ticket sales into account we have this list of the Top 5 Selling Movies:

1. “Gone With the Wind” (1939) 202,044,600
2. “Star Wars” (1977) 178,119,600
3. “The Sound of Music” (1965) 142,415,400
4. “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” (1982) 141,854,300
5. “The Ten Commandments” (1956) 131,000,000

If you’re counting ticket sales, Avatar is #26. Still impressive, but not as impressive. For the full top 20 movie of all time by ticket sales head on over to THR.

Stacey: While that is all really interesting (thanks for compiling the info, Tanya) I would have to say that Avatar is the best movie on any of those lists.  I know we can’t grade that, because it is all opinion, but Avatar is my fav.  And that’s really what matters, right?

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