Biggest Box Office hit of all time–all things considered (Poll)

[Moviedweeb]

All things considered–inflation, rereleases, DOM/int./WW grosses, advent of home video, technology, ticket sales etc.–what do you think is the biggest box office hit of all time?Edit: If anyone has other films that they think are legitimate to add, feel free to let me know and I will put them in the poll.

Edited January 6, 2013 by Clavius

[Jack Nevada]

Deep Throat. No seriously, look it up

[Moviedweeb]

I think the cake goes to Titanic--an unprecedented performance during a time where there was huge competition from home video. I think it is is the single most impressive performance in box office history (not exactly an original opinion but still mine nonetheless).

[ChD]

Deep Throat. No seriously, look it up

See you're back to derailing threads, John... Or at least trying to. Edited January 1, 2013 by ChD

[ChD]

I think the cake goes to Titanic--an unprecedented performance during a time where there was huge competition from home video. I think it is is the single most impressive performance in box office history (not exactly an original opinion but still mine nonetheless).

I'd go with Avatar. That movie grossed more in theaters than Titanic will ever do with TV Rights, Home video and everything else.Edit: Oh, counting inflation... Yeah, Titanic then. Edited January 1, 2013 by ChD

[chasmmi]

Obviously Titanic, Avatar are incredible for what they did.But I feel like putting a shout out to Blair Witch Project. I feel that film achieved something harder to repeat than Cameron's films.

[Lumos]

From the last 20 years....1. Titanic2. Shrek 23. Passion of the Christ4. Spiderman (2002)5. The Dark Knight

Edited January 1, 2013 by Mr Potter

[fishstick]

From the last 20 years....1. Titanic2. Shrek 23. Passion of the Christ4. Spiderman (2002)5. The Dark Knight

Avatar over spots 2-5. Even when 3D isn`t caluclated (and Avatar 3D was cheaper because they raised prices from AIW onwards) , Avatar blows the rest except Titanic, of course.I also expect that Star Wars had insane run for its time not counting re-releases.

[druv10]

Blair Witch Project making nearly 250M WW with only 60K budget.Paranormal Activity 1 making 193M+ WW with only 15K budget.

[Ajde]

Titanic, duh!

[Moviedweeb]

Blair Witch Project making nearly 250M WW with only 60K budget.Paranormal Activity 1 making 193M+ WW with only 15K budget.

Although both are beyond outstanding, those films cost much more when considering P&A.

[Moviedweeb]

Titanic, duh!

lol, but I am also interested in the subtleties of each performance. Good arguments can be made for Star Wars Ep 4 and E.T. Jurassic Park had a ridiculously long theatrical run and ushered a new era of Special effects driven films. Dr. Zhivago did insane numbers at the time of its release. TDK set a new standard for blockbuster flmaking despite being released with heavy competition from other emerging forms of media and during difficult economic times. The unique triumphs of each "box office King" are extremely interesting.

[Lumos]

Avatar over spots 2-5. Even when 3D isn`t caluclated (and Avatar 3D was cheaper because they raised prices from AIW onwards) , Avatar blows the rest except Titanic, of course.I also expect that Star Wars had insane run for its time not counting re-releases.

I choose not to acknowledge Avatar. The films success comes more from the 3D gimmick than the film itself....it's box office haul though impressive would not make my top 5. Shrek 2 is likely the biggest ticket seller of the 2000-2009 decade. BOM has Shrek 2's adjusted gross at 552M, TDK at 579M and Avatar at 756M. However a HUGE chunk of ticket sales for Shrek came from kids under the age of 12, far more than TDK or Avatar. And obviously Avatar was inflated due to 3D so Shrek's audience is probably the biggest of any film since Phantom Menace.

[baumer]

Star Wars to me cannot be replaced. It was the first enormous hit that we really know of WW. Titanic is up there too of course.

[SchumacherFTW]

I think it's unfair attributing Avatar's success soley to 3D technology. I remember when I was at college Avatar was simply described as epic, 3D wasn't mentioned. I believe it was simply a bonus boon for the film considering people love the world of Pandora. Even my sister who never watches stuff twice at cinema went back for seconds. I think people should ask their friends again why they saw Avatar, and I doubt i'll be too wrong.As for BO hits? It's hard not to discount anything by Cameron at any turn. Even excluding Avatar and Titanic, he still creates awesome BO runs. Like T2 beconing one of the biggest movies of all time when it was released, even with an R rating is still damned impressive to me.

[peludo]

I agree with Baumer. Star Wars is still the most impressive. Beyond Jaws, it started the blockbuster era. Both Titanic and Avatar were awesome, but for me, Star Wars is the best. Special mentions to The Dark Knight, The Avengers, My big fat Greek wedding, Shrek 2 and The Passion of the Christ (biggest R rated movie)

[Rovex]

Has to be Titanic. Sure SW was huge, but it didnt destroy everything else in the way Titanic did, Jaws kind of stopped that claim, indeed Jaws was a bigger step up from The Exorcist than SW was over Jaws. In fact given that Jaws and especially The Exorcist excludes kids i'd say they were far more impressive.Only 5 Movies in the 90s took more than half as much Domestic as Titanic and nothing took even half WW (possibly just EP1, i forget non-3D release figure). Nothing compares. What really sets Titanic ahead is the ticket sales, excuses like inflation and surcharges simply dont stand up against those sales.

[efialtes76]

Star Wars sucess isn't more impresive than Titanic.No videogames,no internet,no Dvd,no piracy....

[Sims]

E.T.

[peludo]

Well, in 1998 there were not too much piracy, internet access was very limited and Playstation was released in 2000. And we must remember that Titanic had a 200 million budget. Star Wars budget was 11. Even with inflation, there too much difference between both budgets.

Edited January 1, 2013 by peludo