WASHINGTON 鈥斕鼺or the past week, Hollywood听headlines have been astounding: Move over “Avatar,”听there’s a new听highest grossing movie of all time: “Star Wars: The Force Awakens!”
But amid the studio celebrations, cinephiles听can’t help but feel a disturbance in The Force.
These box-office听claims听are shortsighted, misleading and even insulting to movie buffs.
So you听think “The Force Awakens” is the all-time top grosser?
Frankly my dear, film history doesn’t听give a damn 鈥� at least not yet.
It’s true,听“The Force Awakens” (2015) just surpassed the $760.5 million domestic gross of “Avatar” (2009) to become the top domestic grosser ever at $812,734,828听and counting.
But听today’s money is worth听way more than it used to be. Ridiculously more.听As your grandparents might say, “Bread once cost a nickel.” Imagine what that does to ticket prices.
Before we proceed any further, let’s state for the record that this听isn’t some hate piece on “The Force Awakens,”听which I thoroughly as听the best “Star Wars” since “Empire Strikes Back.” Rather, it’s a love note to film history and a plea for a more nuanced, historical conversation. The discussion we should be having is how听“Force” just听passed “Jurassic Park,” “Forrest Gump,” “The Godfather,” “The Graduate” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” in adjusted gross!听This is a听huge accomplishment.
Still,听reasonable heads should prevail. While “Force Awakens” is No. 1 in听sheer dollars, it听falls to No. 15听鈥� the听only fair way to do it听unless you like comparing apples and oranges.
Here’s what the all-time domestic gross list looks like in terms of sheer dollars:
UNFAIR:
Top 25 Domestic Box Office听(Today’s Dollars)
1. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (2015)
2. “Avatar” (2009)
3. “Titanic” (1997)
4. “Jurassic World” (2015)
5. “Marvel’s The Avengers” (2012)
6. “The Dark Knight” (2008)
7. “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” (1999)
8. “Star Wars” (1977)
9. “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015)
10. “The Dark Knight Rises” (2012)
11. “Shrek 2” (2004)
12. “E.T. The Extra Terrestrial” (1982)
13. “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” (2013)
14. “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (2006)
15. “The Lion King” (1994)
16. “Toy Story 3” (2010)
17. “Iron Man 3” (2013)
18. “The Hunger Games” (2012)
19. “Spider-Man” (2002)
20. “Jurassic Park” (1993)
21. “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (2009)
22. “Frozen” (2013)
23. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” (2011)
24. “Finding Nemo” (2003)
25. “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith” (2005)
Something look wrong here? Of the supposed “all-time top grossers,” only听two听movies听predate 1993. That’s a major red flag. By this rubric, “Jurassic World” was a bigger hit than “Jurassic Park,” “Avatar” was a bigger hit than “Titanic,” and “Force Awakens” was a bigger hit than “Star Wars.” If you lived through any of these blockbuster phenomena, you realize that such assertions are just plain false.
Conversely, here’s what the all-time domestic gross list looks like when :
FAIR:
Top 25 Domestic Box Office听(Adjusted for Inflation)
1. “Gone With the Wind” (1939)
2. “Star Wars” (1977)
3. “The Sound of Music” (1965)
4. “E.T. The Extra Terrestrial” (1982)
5. “Titanic” (1997)
6. “The Ten Commandments” (1956)
7. “Jaws” (1975)
8. “Doctor Zhivago” (1965)
9. “The Exorcist” (1973)
10. “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937)
11. “101 Dalmatians” (1961)
12. “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980)
13. “Ben-Hur” (1959)
14. “Avatar” (2009)
15. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (2015)听
16. “Return of the Jedi” (1983)
17. “Jurassic Park” (1993)
18. “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” (1999)
19. “The Lion King” (1994)
20. “The Sting” (1973)
21. “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981)
22. “The Graduate” (1967)
23. “Fantasia” (1940)
24. “Jurassic World” (2015)
25. “The Godfather” (1972)
As you can see, adjusting for inflation听provides a much more realistic听Box Office Mount Rushmore with听No. 1 鈥淕one With the Wind鈥� (1939), No. 2 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� (1977), No. 3 鈥淭he Sound of Music鈥� (1965) and No. 4 鈥淓.T. The Extra Terrestrial鈥� (1982). That’s four hits from four different decades. Classics听were not made a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. The hills are very much still alive.
In the end, there is no way to completely compare eras fairly,听unless you compare number of tickets sold, but Hollywood keeps that under pretty tight wraps.听Today’s movies have the advantage听of higher prices for 3D IMAX, while films of yesteryear had the advantage of longer theatrical runs 鈥� some up to a year in theaters 鈥� without the competition of television and streaming content.
It’s like comparing听baseball’s Steroid Era 鈥� when Barry Bonds hit 73听home runs in a single season 鈥� to the Deadball Era when Cy Young racked up 511 wins as a pitcher.听Still, the听very least we can do is adjust the numbers for inflation. It may not be the perfect measure, but it’s the best we’ve got.
So next time you’re talking with friends, acknowledge the amazing feat of “Force Awakens” cracking the Top 15, but remind them that it has a way to go to catch the听original “Star Wars.” Jedis should take heart.听Even adjusted for inflation, the听“Star Wars” franchise accounts for five of the Top 20听spots: “Star Wars” (1977) at No. 2, “The Empire Strikes Back” at No. 12, “The Force Awakens” at No. 15,听“Return of the Jedi” at No. 16 and听“The Phantom Menace” at No. 18.
Regardless of how you adjust the list, one thing is certain: The Force is strong.
