Avatar Trumps Titanic: [Insert 'King of the World' Reference Here]

It always angers me when people compare movies in raw dollars. Star Wars’ ticket sales ought to be adjusted from the 1977 dollars. Gone With the Wind ought be ranked adjusted for the yesteryear dollars. Comparing dollar values from years that far apart is completely apples to oranges.

So true. I read somewhere that if you adjusted the amounts for inflation Gone With the Wind would be at like $6 billion. It’s insane.

Allie: actually a little over $1.5. It’s the top grossing, though, with star Wars and Sound of Music following at $1.3 and 1.06 respectively.

The statistic that I would like to see is money made divided by cost to make the movie. If anyone has figured out the top five for that it would be interesting.

Pretty sure the highest grossing movie percentage wise is the Blair Witch Project because it cost under $20k to make and made tens of millions.

@tereglith – it’s still apples and oranges even if you count simple ticket sales or grosses adjusted for inflation. Gone with the Wind came out in 1939 – uh, no TV, no waiting for it on DVD, in short no competition. Today’s films have to compete with far more competitive entertainment options – and with folks knowing they can own the film in less than six months. Plus, it’s also a little unfair to dismiss Avatar’s gross simply because IMAX 3-D tickets cost so much more. Titanic was ground-breaking because millions of people were willing to pay not once, not twice but multiple times to see it. Avatar is ground-breaking because millions of people are willing to shell out nearly twenty bucks to see it (often multiple times)!

@herenotthere – boxofficemojo does a good job of doing just that kind of comparison (gross – cost) for films where that information is available. I agree that is abetter judge of how well a movie performed.