“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” will pass “Avatar” as the top-grossing film ever in North America on Wednesday as Tuesday’s $8 million take puts it just $2 million short of the previous record of $760.5 million.
But that hugely impressive number doesn’t take soaring ticket prices — seeing it in 3-D IMAX in Manhattan can set you back as much as $21.59 — into account.
If you factor in inflation, “The Force Awakens” currently ranks in 21st place among all films in terms of actual tickets sold, just behind “Raiders of the Lost Ark” but far, far behind the two chart-toppers: “Gone With the Wind” ($1.7 billion) and the original “Star Wars” ($1.5 billion). (Various factors make it impossible to adjust international grosses, an increasingly important source of Hollywood revenue, for inflation.)
Due to increased ticket prices (and a rerelease), the 2009 “Avatar” — whose adjusted total is $837 million — has still sold more tickets than “The Force Awakens” at this point.
The force of rising ticket prices is clearly illustrated in Box Office Mojo’s chart of the top 100 North American grossers — the one not adjusted for inflation. There are just 12 titles that were released before “Titanic” became the first megablockbuster in 1997, reigning until “Avatar” took the top spot 12 years later.
The list is crowded with franchise films from the “Star Wars,” “Lord of the Rings,” “Hobbit,” “Transformers,” “Twilight” series and superhero movies, with very few stand-alones such as “E.T.: The Extraterrestrial” (No. 12), “The Passion of the Christ’’ (No. 28), “Forrest Gump’’ (No. 40) and “Jaws” (No. 82).
The highest-ranking older film on the chart (at No. 8) is the original “Star Wars,” released in 1977, when the average movie ticket cost just $2.22, according to the Motion Picture Association of America. By 2015, that number had nearly quadrupled, to $8.34.
Due to steep inflation since 1965 (when the average ticket cost $1.01), “The Sound of Music,” with a once-gigantic $198 million domestic gross, doesn’t crack this top 100. But when Box Office Mojo adjusts the top 100 for ticket inflation, the musical classic comes in at No. 3 with $1.22 billion, followed by “E.T.” ($1.22 billion), “Titanic” ($1.16) billion, 1956’s “The Ten Commandments” ($1.12 billion), 1975’s “Jaws” ($1.1 billion), 1965’s “Dr. Zhivago” ($1 billion), 1973’s “The Exorcist” ($952 million) and 1937’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” ($938 million).
Currently ranked 11th to 20th ahead of “The Force Awakens” on that list:
- 1961’s “101 Dalmations” ($860 million)
- 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back” ($845 million)
- 1959’s “Ben-Hur” ($843 million)
- “Avatar” ($837 million)
- 1983’s “Return of the Jedi” ($809 million)
- 1993’s “Jurassic Park” ($791 million)
- “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace” ($777 million)
- “The Lion King” ($767 million)
- 1973’s “The Sting” (767 million)
- 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark” ($762 million)
“The Force Awakens” will pass at least some of the films at the lower end of this adjusted-for-inflation list before the end of its run — and quite possibly even “Avatar” if it can rustle up another $85.5 million on top of Tuesday’s $758.2 million cumulative North American gross (the worldwide figure for “Avatar” is an astounding $2.7 billion).
After all, in recent days it’s passed the adjusted numbers for 1967’s “The Graduate,” 1941’s “Fantasia,” 2015’s “Jurassic World,” 1972’s “The Godfather,” 1994’s “Forrest Gump,” 1964’s“Mary Poppins,” 1978’s “Grease,” 2012’s “Marvel’s The Avengers,” 1965’s “Thunderball” and 2008’s “The Dark Knight.”