This is IMDb’s top 25 all-time box office hits. Bold the ones you saw in theater, italicize the ones you saw some other way instead, and leave the unseen ones alone.
1. Titanic (1997) $600,779,824
2. Star Wars (1977) $460,935,665
3. Shrek 2 (2004) $436,471,036
4. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) $434,949,459
5. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) $431,065,444
6. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) $423,032,628
7. Spider-Man (2002) $403,706,375
8. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005) $380,262,555
9. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) $377,019,252
10. Spider-Man 2 (2004) $373,377,893
11. The Passion of the Christ (2004) $370,270,943
12. Jurassic Park (1993) $356,784,000
13. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) $340,478,898
14. Finding Nemo (2003) $339,714,367
15. Spider-Man 3 (2007) $336,530,303
16. Forrest Gump (1994) $329,691,196
17. The Lion King (1994) $328,423,001
18. Shrek the Third (2007) $320,706,665
19. Transformers (2007) $318,759,914
20. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) $317,557,891
21. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) $313,837,577
22. Iron Man (2008) $311,708,133
23. Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) $310,675,583
24. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007) $309,404,152
25. Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983) $309,125,40
The number of ones I’ve seen in theaters surprises me, when I consider the fact that I rarely go to theaters anymore. For example, last year the only movie I can recall seeing at the theater was Transformers, and this year the only movie I’m probably going to see at the theater is The Dark Knight. (I’m waiting for Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk to hit DVD.) Most of the other movies are on a “get around to it” basis, except for the Spider-Man movies and The Passion of the Christ. I lost interest in Spider-Man back in the 90s when it became mostly, “Let’s see how we can fuck up Peter Parker’s life next.” As for the latter, well… I’d just as soon not watch someone get the shit kicked out of him for two hours, thank you very much. :-)