Highest Grossing Movies US - What Makes a Box Office Smash Movie?

Rank: 1
Year Released: 1997
US Box Office: $600,779,824

Up until recently, the undisputed box office champ. (I only say recently because The Dark Knight gave it a run for its money.)

A combination historical epic combined with a full blown romance novel, Titanic caught everyone's attention and despite its 194 minute running time, it inspired many people to see it multiple times.

Directed by James Cameron, the Story-in-a-Flashback epic cashed in on Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, particularly among women aged 9-99.

As a money maker, it is also one of the most honored high grossers, earning 11 Oscars.

What specifically makes Titanic such a draw is hard to discern. It's not a one note movie, but rather a blending of many elements that made it so successful.

Arguably Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are a draw, but neither of them have produced box office pull before Titanic, and even after Titanic, their best pull combined is Catch Me If You Can (#144 earning $164,435,221), and that also starred Tom Hanks during the period in which he was in everything (which hasn't ended).

They were even reunited in Revolutionary Road, and it has yet to crack $100 million gross box office.

What about high-priced period movies? There is something to be said for epic period pieces, but not much as far as the highest grossing movies go. There are the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, but these are also fantastical (although epic in scope and have many reasonable constructions for the time period). You have to go all the way to the #90 spot, Gone With The Wind (earning $197,992,827) to find a movie that takes place in a certain time period that has scope, conflict and romantic subplots to be considered comparable as a period success.

What about Director James Cameron? Titanic was written and directed by Cameron so he gets a lot of the credit for Titanic's success. He's also responsible for Terminator 2: Judgement Day (#85 - $204,843,350) but this is about as contrary to Titanic as movie goers could hope for. Certainly his reputation as a great writer and director helped drive traffic, but are Titanic repeat viewers the same repeat viewers of Aliens and Terminator?

Finally, there's the Titanic mythos itself. There have been countless books, documentaries, games and other movies that have touched on the fateful maiden voyage of the Titanic.

It seems that all of these elements combine to help make Titanic the movie that it is. Movie studios in the future should note this, that the name Titanic (or whatever the new plot vehicle is) alone isn't sufficient, but that they must surround their project with the best visuals, writing, story, plot, characters and actors possible.

Rank: 2
Year Released: 2008
U.S. Box Office: $533,316,061

The Dark Knight takes advantage of the long-lived Batman franchise, building on the success of Batman Begins where the Batman mythos has been reset, placing Christian Bale in the cowl as the Caped Crusader.

The Dark Knight also benefits from the Oscar-Winning performance of the late Heath Ledger, bringing out the darkest and most maniacal Joker committed to celluloid.

Comic fans and action fans as a whole flocked to the Dark Knight to break the half billion mark and it took home 2 Oscars.

But what about the Batman Franchise? The other new Batman movie, Batman Begins, clocks in at 84 and made a respectable $205,343,774. The previous 4 Batman movies starring Michael Keaton, George Clooney and Val Kilmer clocked in at:

Batman

#45

$251,188,924

Batman_Forever

#104

$184,031,112

Batman_Returns

#147

$162,831,698

Batman_and_Robin

#356

$107,285,004

Rank: 3
Year Released: 1977
U.S. Box Office: $460,935,665

For 20 years, George Lucas' popular space epic Star Wars (Episode IV - A New Hope) dominated the U.S. Box Office, standing at the top of the heap until being beaten out by Titanic.

Star Wars has generations of fans, and has been followed rabidly by all of them. Each succeeding movie in the trilogy has been unable to meet the earnings of the original, but they have been well ranked.

Star Wars' multitudes of fans also came out in droves when the prequel trilogy debuted in theaters, driving ticket sales through sheer force of fandom and multiple viewings. Although none but the original were able to break the 450 million mark, the Star Wars saga still provided tremendous figures for 20th Century Fox and makes it the highest grossing series of all time, with 3 of the 6 in the top ten, and all 6 in the top 35.

Episode_I

#6

$431,065,444

Episode_III

#9

$380,262,555

Episode_II

#25

$310,675,583

Episode_VI

#27

$309,125,409

Episode_V

#33

$290,158,751

Rank: 4
Year Released: 2004
U.S. Box Office: $436,471,036

It is the sequel to the DreamWorks Animation original Shrek that takes the #4 all time U.S. Box Office spot. The original was good for number 38, earning $267,652,016, which was not only respectable for an animated film, but was unbeaten save for The Lion King as top grossing animated film in 2001.

Shrek is a perfect example of a great movie driving fans to a sequel, and fortunately, Shrek 2 was so good that fans' word of mouth drove more viewers and encouraged repeat viewings.

As a result, three years later, Shrek 2 would blow the doors off the original earning $436,471,036, the highest of any animated film. Suddenly DreamWorks was a big competitor for Disney and Pixar, and Mike Meyers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz were topping the box office draw.

Shrek the Third, the final installment, maintained a respectable level finishing at 19, earning $320,706,665.

A fourth Shrek movie would obviously be a high grosser, but it doesn't seem likely. Some animated features return as direct to video adventures, but as a feature film, Shrek is finished, and it finished strong.

Rank: 5
Year Released: 1982
U.S. Box Office: $434,949,459

A continuing theme in the top grossing movie list: Movies directed by Steven Spielberg.

In 1982, ET: The Extra Terrestrial wowed adults and children alike and has stood in the top five grossing movies and highest grossing family movie ever since.

Earning $434,949,459, it is one of eight movies to break $400 million, and that is in 1982 dollars. Along with Star Wars made 5 years earlier, their positions reflect a great deal of repeat viewings by families that could enjoy the movie together.

Spielberg doesn't often make sequel films, but rather goes on to make other great films, and simply provides great visuals and inspiration to bring new viewers and more theater dollars. We'll see a lot more of him down the line.

Rank: 7
Year Released: 2006
U.S. Box Office: $423,032,628

Johnny Depp took Captain Jack Sparrow and ran with it to movie gold three separate times. Although the second movie in the series, Dead Man's Chest, was the most successful coming in at #7 and earning $423,032,628, it was the first movie that set the groundwork for the trilogy, dazzling audiences by creating characters and a complete movie experience from nothing more than a Disney Ride.

The Curse of the Black Pearl clocked in at 29th earning $305,388,685, and the final film, At World's End, did slightly better closing at 26th with $309,404,152. All 3 movies earned at least $300 million and finished in the top 30.

Of all of Disney's many movies, only The Lion King and Finding Nemo earned more, making Pirates of the Caribbean one of it's most lucrative series, and it's highest grossing live action films.

Rank: 8
Year Released: 2002
U.S. Box Office: $403,706,375

Spider Man is probably the most consistent of the high grossing movies. Each sequel has earned a little less than each preceding movie, but the earnings are still nothing to sneeze at.

Spider Man is #8 all time U.S. Box Office breaking the $400 million mark at $403,706,375, followed by Spider Man 2 with $373,377,893 and Spider Man 3 with $336,530,303. Sam Raimi has come a long way since Evil Dead and has created a Marvel super hero movie that is not only exciting and visually stunning, but also provides for the best storylines and pathos for characters.

The exciting thing for movie execs is that not only has the series been lucrative and consistent, but it isn't done yet.

Spider Man 4 is in the making and they're talking about a Venom spin-off.

Rank: 10
Year Released: 2003
U.S. Box Office: $377,019,252

Peter Jackson directed movies from the source novels of J.R.R. Tolkien leading to 3 of the highest grossing movies of all time, scooping up the 10th, 14th and 24th spots.

More to the point, Lord of the Rings' success is shown as building from its fan base to just about everyone every summer a sequel was released. Where Star Wars came out huge and then each sequel did well but failed to surpass the original, each subsequent LOTR film went beyond its predecessor by earning more money, bringing more people to the franchise and promoting more repeat viewings. As the longest of the trilogy at 201 minutes (with a special edition staggering in at 251 minutes), repeat viewings would seem like a chore, but moviegoers returned again and again to drive gross sales to $377,019,252.

The previous entry, The Two Towers, finished at 14th with $340,478,898, and the first installment, The Fellowship of the Ring, ended its run at 24th making $313,837,577.

Like Spider Man, the LOTR saga cleared over a billion dollars in U.S. Box Office sales, but unlike Spider Man is not ripe for sequels.

However, fans have been clamoring for a live action rendering of The Hobbit, and a tentative release date of 2012 has been set. There is little doubt that the Tolkien fanbase will drive traffic to the Hobbit, and everyone who enjoyed the trilogy will be eager to return to theaters for the prequel.