Movies The Highest Grossing Films From 1939 - 2025

[GoodBadHBK]

*Gone With the Wind is the only film to rank in the top 10 at the box office 4 years in a row. (Released on Dec 15 1939 it was ranked #3 at the box office despite only being released for 2 weeks in 1939, then it ranked #2 back to back years in 1940 & 1941 before falling down to #9 in 1942.)

Avatar was released in the last 2 weeks of 2009 and was the #2 highest Grossing film of 2009 and 2010.

Star wars the force Awakens was released in the last 2 weeks of 2015 and became the highest Grossing film of the year.


1939 - The Wizard of Oz
1940 - Pinocchio
1941 - Sergeant York
1942 - Bambi
1943 - This Is The Army
1944 - Going My Way
1945 - The Bells of St. Mary's
1946 - Song of the South
1947 - Forever Amber
1948 - The Snake Pit
1949 - Samson and Delilah
1950 - Cinderella
1951 - Quo Vadis?
1952 - The Greatest Show on Earth
1953 - Peter Pan
1954 - White Christmas
1955 - Lady & The Tramp
1956 - The 10 Commandments
1957 - The Bridge on the River Kwai
1958 - South Pacific
1959 - Ben Hur
1960 - Swiss Family Robinson
1961 - 101 Dalmatians
1962 - The Longest Day
1963 - Cleopatra
1964 - Mary Poppins
1965 - The Sound of Music
1966 - The Bible
1967 - The Graduate
1968 - Funny Girl
1969 - Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid
1970 - Love Story
1971 - Billy Jack
1972 - The Godfather
1973 - The Exorcist
1974 - Blazing Saddles
1975 - Jaws
1976 - Rocky
1977- Star Wars
1978 - Grease
1979 - Superman
1980 - Star Wars Empire Strikes Back
1981 - Raiders of the Lost Ark
1982 - ET
1983 - Star Wars Return of the Jedi
1984 - Ghostbusters
1985 - Back to the Future
1986 - Top Gun
1987 - Beverly Hills Cop 2
1988 - Who Framed Roger Rabbit
1989 - Batman
1990 - Ghost
1991 - T2 Judgement Day
1992 - Batman Returns
1993 - Jurassic Park
1994 - Forrest Gump
1995 - Batman Forever
1996 - Independence Day
1997 - Men In Black
1998 - Titanic
1999 - Star Wars Phantom Menace
2000 - How The Grinch Stole Christmas
2001 - Harry Potter & The Sorcerers Stone
2002 - Spider-Man
2003 - Finding Nemo
2004 - Shrek 2
2005 - Star Wars Revenge of the Sith
2006 - Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest
2007 - Spider-Man 3
2008 - The Dark Knight
2009 - Transformers Revenge of the Fallen
2010 - Toy Story 3
2011 - Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 2
2012 - The Avengers
2013 - Iron Man 3
2014 - Guardians of the Galaxy
2015 - Star Wars The Force Awakens
2016 - Finding Dory
2017 - Star Wars The Last Jedi
2018 - Black Panther
2019 - Avengers End Game
2020 - Bad Boys For Life
2021 - Spider-Man No Way Home
2022 - Top Gun Maverick
2023 - Barbie
2024 - Inside Out 2
2025 - A Minecraft Movie (so far)


The box office winners are Disney, Star Wars and Superhero movies and Disney owns it all. Go figure.

 

[Kardashians]

saw titanic on the list. leaving satisfied.

 

[Fedorgasm]

Billy Jack was the highest grossing movie of 1971???

That's crazy. That's before my time but as a kid it would come on TV sometimes and I'd watch it. I always assumed it was some low budget B movie

 

[GoodBadHBK]

Billy Jack was the highest grossing movie of 1971???

That's crazy. That's before my time but as a kid it would come on TV sometimes and I'd watch it. I always assumed it was some low budget B movie

I never even heard of it. 2 sources listed Billy Jack as #1 (box office mojo being one) while Wikipedia listed Fiddler on the Roof.

 

[Gene Tunney]

I would have guessed that 1990 would be either Edward Scissorhands, Home Alone, Hunt for the Red October, or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

 

[GoodBadHBK]

I would have guessed that 1990 would be either Edward Scissorhands, Home Alone, Hunt for the Red October, or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

1. Ghost
2. Pretty woman
3. Home Alone
4. TMNT
5. Hunt for red October
6. Total recall
7. Die Hard 2

 

[Fedorgasm]

I never even heard of it. 2 sources listed Billy Jack as #1 (box office mojo being one) while Wikipedia listed Fiddler on the Roof.

Oh I believe you, I'm just shocked. I never realized it was such a big hit. I was always told enter the dragon was the first huge martial arts movie in the US but that must be wrong if Billy Jack was the top movie of '71

 

[MarloStanfield]

I never even heard of it. 2 sources listed Billy Jack as #1 (box office mojo being one) while Wikipedia listed Fiddler on the Roof.

There was a fiddler on the roof just down the street from me, he got dealt with

 

[SmoothPies]

Cool list! Im surprised LOTR didnt make the #1 spot in any of the films. Also thought Harry Potter would win more than just the first, but that was a big period for movies

 

[Lycandroid]

saw titanic on the list. leaving satisfied.

That is the only movie I remember where people would go see it in theaters multiple times, I remember people bragging about seeing it 6 or 7 times. I can't even think of any modern movie I would do that for.

 

[Gene Tunney]

1. Ghost
2. Pretty woman
3. Home Alone
4. TMNT
5. Hunt for red October
6. Total recall
7. Die Hard 2

I do remember Pretty Woman being huge. Directed by Garry Marshall.

What was it about Ghost? The special effects, the love story?

It's fascinating that from 1980 - 1990, two of the top performing films involved the paranormal, three involved outer space, three action/comedy romps, one superhero and one military film, and a live-action movie starring a cartoon. The variety was splendid.

 

[Spam On Rye]

Interesting. Lots of good and lots of garbage in there. I wonder who was the top prior? I imagine Chaplin's in there and The Jazz Singer and maybe a DW Griffith film or two and Capra, Sturges, Ford, and McCarey.

 

[Madmick]

Billy Jack was the highest grossing movie of 1971???

That's crazy. That's before my time but as a kid it would come on TV sometimes and I'd watch it. I always assumed it was some low budget B movie

I never even heard of it. 2 sources listed Billy Jack as #1 (box office mojo being one) while Wikipedia listed Fiddler on the Roof.

Billy Jack was definitely NOT the highest grossing film of 1971.

List of 1971 box office number-one films in the United States - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

If it must have been released in 1971, then yeah, Fiddler on the Roof is it (this website is maintained by film historian Tim Dirks):

All-Time Top Box-Office Films By Decade and Year

 

[Batjester]

Blazing Saddles in 1974 really stands out to me, mainly because I can't believe it came out in 1974... And how the fuck do I remember seeing it at the drive through with my parents when I was 4?

 

[Streeter]

Last 3

Barbie
Inside out 2
Minecraft



Okay I have now lost faith in humanity

 

[Streeter]

Blazing Saddles in 1974 really stands out to me, mainly because I can't believe it came out in 1974... And how the fuck do I remember seeing it at the drive through with my parents when I was 4?

Well I saw it in 81 at a drive through double feature with History of the world pt 1. With my folks. Maybe it was that

 

[Fedorgasm]

Billy Jack was definitely NOT the highest grossing film of 1971.

List of 1971 box office number-one films in the United States - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

If it must have been released in 1971, then yeah, Fiddler on the Roof is it (this website is maintained by film historian Tim Dirks):

All-Time Top Box-Office Films By Decade and Year

This is super weird.

The Wikipedia page for Billy Jack says:

Still, the film lacked distribution, so Laughlin booked it into theaters himself in 1971.[1] The film grossed $10 million in its initial run, but eventually added close to $50 million in its re-release,[2] with distribution supervised by Laughlin.

So if you include that re-release then it made more than any of the movies on that other list you posted.

I guess the question is did the re-release happen in 1971, and if so, do re-releases count?

Also, can we even trust this info? The AI response was that Billy Jack made 98 million, so there's gotta be a site they got that from. So who do we believe?

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

Blazing Saddles in 1974 really stands out to me, mainly because I can't believe it came out in 1974... And how the fuck do I remember seeing it at the drive through with my parents when I was 4?

2015 and 2017

Winning

 

[GoodBadHBK]

This is super weird.

The Wikipedia page for Billy Jack says:

So if you include that re-release then it made more than any of the movies on that other list you posted.

I guess the question is did the re-release happen in 1971, and if so, do re-releases count?

Also, can we even trust this info? The AI response was that Billy Jack made 98 million, so there's gotta be a site they got that from. So who do we believe?

Im tempted just to put them both up there, either way i dont think either film are anything anyone cares too much about. I have no interest in seeing either movie.

 

[HUGHPHUG]

*Gone With the Wind is the only film to rank in the top 10 at the box office 4 years in a row. (Released on Dec 15 1939 it was ranked #3 at the box office despite only being released for 2 weeks in 1939, then it ranked #2 back to back years in 1940 & 1941 before falling down to #9 in 1942.)

Avatar was released in the last 2 weeks of 2009 and was the #2 highest Grossing film of 2009 and 2010.

Star wars the force Awakens was released in the last 2 weeks of 2015 and became the highest Grossing film of the year.


1939 - The Wizard of Oz
1940 - Pinocchio
1941 - Sergeant York
1942 - Bambi
1943 - This Is The Army
1944 - Going My Way
1945 - The Bells of St. Mary's
1946 - Song of the South
1947 - Forever Amber
1948 - The Snake Pit
1949 - Samson and Delilah
1950 - Cinderella
1951 - Quo Vadis?
1952 - The Greatest Show on Earth
1953 - Peter Pan
1954 - White Christmas
1955 - Lady & The Tramp
1956 - The 10 Commandments
1957 - The Bridge on the River Kwai
1958 - South Pacific
1959 - Ben Hur
1960 - Swiss Family Robinson
1961 - 101 Dalmatians
1962 - The Longest Day
1963 - Cleopatra
1964 - Mary Poppins
1965 - The Sound of Music
1966 - The Bible
1967 - The Graduate
1968 - Funny Girl
1969 - Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid
1970 - Love Story
1971 - Billy Jack
1972 - The Godfather
1973 - The Exorcist
1974 - Blazing Saddles
1975 - Jaws
1976 - Rocky
1977- Star Wars
1978 - Grease
1979 - Superman
1980 - Star Wars Empire Strikes Back
1981 - Raiders of the Lost Ark
1982 - ET
1983 - Star Wars Return of the Jedi
1984 - Ghostbusters
1985 - Back to the Future
1986 - Top Gun
1987 - Beverly Hills Cop 2
1988 - Who Framed Roger Rabbit
1989 - Batman
1990 - Ghost
1991 - T2 Judgement Day
1992 - Batman Returns
1993 - Jurassic Park
1994 - Forrest Gump
1995 - Batman Forever
1996 - Independence Day
1997 - Men In Black
1998 - Titanic
1999 - Star Wars Phantom Menace
2000 - How The Grinch Stole Christmas
2001 - Harry Potter & The Sorcerers Stone
2002 - Spider-Man
2003 - Finding Nemo
2004 - Shrek 2
2005 - Star Wars Revenge of the Sith
2006 - Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest
2007 - Spider-Man 3
2008 - The Dark Knight
2009 - Transformers Revenge of the Fallen
2010 - Toy Story 3
2011 - Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part 2
2012 - The Avengers
2013 - Iron Man 3
2014 - Guardians of the Galaxy
2015 - Star Wars The Force Awakens
2016 - Finding Dory
2017 - Star Wars The Last Jedi
2018 - Black Panther
2019 - Avengers End Game
2020 - Bad Boys For Life
2021 - Spider-Man No Way Home
2022 - Top Gun Maverick
2023 - Barbie
2024 - Inside Out 2
2025 - A Minecraft Movie (so far)


The box office winners are Disney, Star Wars and Superhero movies and Disney owns it all. Go figure.

How many of those movies would actually make your top 100 favourites of all time? I counted around 7 for me