It seems like if a movie wants to even be considered one of the highest-grossing movies of all time today, they need to at least crack the $2 million mark. But that wasn’t always the case. And if you took today’s ticket prices and compared them to the sales of previous decades, the goalpost switches dramatically.
Let’s take a look at the highest-grossing movies of all time adjusted for inflation.
Gone With the Wind
'Gone with the Wind' CREDIT: MGM
Gone With the Wind has historically always been at the top of this list. It has been estimated that, over the years, the film has sold over 200 million tickets worldwide from its initial release, all throughout its various re-releases over the years. In total, once tracking ended, the film grossed roughly $390 million at the global box office. The film was awarded the most profitable film of all time honor by Guinness World Records in 2014, where it was estimated for inflation to have grossed roughly $3.44 billion worldwide. Using 2025 ticket prices, the milestone shoots up dramatically to just over 4.5 billion.
Avatar
‘Avatar’Credit: Walt Disney Studios
Avatar is probably the film that most people would associate with being the highest-grossing film of all time, period. There was a time when it would battle with Avengers: Endgame during re-releases to maintain the top spot, where it currently remains with over $2.9 billion, but when adjusted from 2009 to 2025 numbers, the film sits just behind Gone With the Wind with a whopping $4.16 billion lifetime achievement.
Titanic
'Titanic' Credit: Paramount Pictures
Big Jim Cameron strikes again. Not everyone out there can say that they have two films in the top ten highest-grossing of all time. In fact, precisely two people can say that. James Cameron, and one other we’ll get to by the end of the list. Titanic’s total earnings just miss Avatar’s, and bring the total gross into a modest $3.86 billion when taking modern prices into account.
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
‘Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope’Credit: Walt Disney Studios
This one probably doesn’t come as a surprise. What might surprise you, though, is that this is the only Star Wars film to be included in the top ten of this esteemed list. According to Box Office Mojo, The Force Awakens sits at number eleven, having just missed the cut.
Those unfamiliar with the power that this film had when it came out, and only ever experienced the prequels or the sequels, may find it hard to believe that the original film, with no name recognition, could still hold the number one spot in the franchise. But when people say that Star Wars changed the world, they really mean it.
Avengers: Endgame
'Avengers: Endgame' Credit: Walt Disney StudiosMotion Pictures
For how far Marvel has seemed to fall out of our good graces immediately following Endgame, it can be fun remembering how much of a cultural moment this all was. It couldn’t have come out at a more perfect time for me, personally, as I was sixteen years old and had followed these movies meticulously throughout their prime years. The new encore rerelease set to lead up to Avengers: Doomsday may or may not affect its standings, but as of now, the film sits at the number five spot with an adjusted gross of $3.44 billion.
The Sound of Music
‘The Sound of Music’Credit: 20th Century Studios
It’s truly a challenge to not be romantic about The Sound of Music. From the moment the opening scene begins, and Julie Andrews’ angelic voice graces your ears, you’ll almost certainly fall in love with it. And audiences in 1965 seemed to think so too. Even after 60 years, the film has completely endured, maintaining an estimated lifetime adjusted gross of $3.14 billion worldwide.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' Credit: Universal Pictures
Whenever I need a good cry, I throw on E.T. The score, the characters, the action, the themes, and the direction never fail to move me to a level of utter inconsolability. If I were around and had the money in 1982, I would have made it my personal mission to make this film a whole lot higher on this list. As for now, it sits with an estimated adjusted gross of $3.1 billion.
The Ten Commandments
‘The Ten Commandments’Credit: Paramount Pictures
This classic, historical biblical epic clocks in at just shy of four hours. Far from the only epic on this list, and somehow not even the longest (a title that cheekily also belongs to Gone With the Wind), it has captured the hearts of moviegoers for over seven decades. In those seven decades, it’s estimated that the film’s adjusted gross lies in the $2.9 billion range. Not bad for an oldie.
Doctor Zhivago
'Doctor Zhivago' Credit: MGM
Possibly the most “obscure” entry on the list, a word that feels impossible to accurately attribute to any of these films, Doctor Zhivago is the film on this list that I see discussed the least in popular cinema culture. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t have a lasting impact. Aggregators estimate that its lifetime gross is somewhere between $2.7 and $2.8 billion. You don’t want to miss out on being a part of that club, do you?
Jaws
‘Jaws’Credit: Universal Pictures
And with a buzzer beater, the only other filmmaker to have two entries in the top ten is Steven Spielberg! Likely guess, and what better companion to E.T. than Jaws.
Jaws made so much money that it not only changed how movies were made, but how they were distributed as well. It is basically credited with inventing the modern wide release strategy. It may be in the number ten spot on the list, but it still changed how we consume art forever. It’s estimated to have grossed $2.7 billion by today’s standards. Almost as big a fish as the shark!
