Ask Mike: The Biggest Box Office
Hey Guys,
Last weekend, “Iron Man” rocked the box office for over $100 million. Even for a summer blockbuster, that’s an impressive amount of money. Time will tell if “Iron Man” ends up approaching the glorious grosses of “Titanic,” “Star Wars,” and… “Gone with the Wind”?
Yep, “Gone with the Wind.” I asked the community for help in tracking down the highest grossing movie adjusted for inflation. This was sort of a dirty trick on my part as I already knew the answer. Forgive me.
Anyway, as you’ve probably guessed by now, the title belongs to “Gone with the Wind.” According to filmsite.org, the 1939 Civil War epic is the most successful movie ever made, bringing in well over a billion bucks in today’s dollars. Number two is the original “Star Wars,” while “The Sound of Music,” “E.T.,” and “The Ten Commandments” round out the top five.
One might think more recent films like “Spider-Man or “Lord of the Rings” might make the cut. They’re definitely up there, but not in the top five. Inflation is indeed a powerful thing. Just ask Greenspan.
Do you think any of this summer’s crop of flicks has a chance to one day topple “Gone with the Wind”? The new “Indiana Jones,” perhaps? Got any other predictions on this summer’s box office? Leave a note below. I promise — I really do give a damn.
Thanks for reading,
Well, I think that Gone with the Wind and Star wars are definitely classics that worth to be in the top 5 of best movies…a timeless story, compelling scenario, dazzling actors…
I don’t think they can be compare to ‘Ironman” or any new blockbusters…they are rather commercialy orientated and target a specific public…. I can’t wait for the new India Jonhes to be released but Harrison Ford seems quite old, despite some serious IT correction…and the trail gave me a sense of deja v….I am waiting also for the release of the new Sex and the City !!!
I really enjoyed Iron Man. I am glad Robert Downey Jr got a second chance..and his personality matches Tony Stark’s (Iron Man) very well. The movie was well done, with a little bit of everything for any fan. The choice for Nick Fury (an officer of S.H.I.E.L.D) was perfect as well. I think Samuel L. Jackson and Downey will make an amazing team.
I am really looking forward to the fourth Indiana Jones film as well. However, I do not think it will do as well as Iron Man on the opening weekend.
By the way, to another earlier poster, the “Dude” in the aforementioned “Big Lebowski” was Jeff Bridges, not Beau (Bo).
I own Star Wars and Gone With The Wind. Love them. Titanic, not so much, because I knew how it ended, lol. My 13-year-old son loved “Iron Man.” I haven’t seen it yet. I do love the song by Black Sabbath though, ha. ha. My only hope is that Robert Downey Jr. is making good use of his second chance at a film career, because he is a very good actor and it would be a shame if he were to screw this up again. Most people don’t get one chance, let alone two.
Yeah Mike I suppose it’s a cool diversion to talk about movies, but tell me… what’s going on with all of the y/a glitches lately. Shouldn’t that be the real topic of today? The 1×5″ box that you can’t read the answer behind, no avatars, not being able to delete your own question, not being able to add to the comments, the glitch in the thumbs up and down. THESE are the real issues we should be seeing in your ASK MIKE section… not some meaningless fluff abour movies. When is some serious programming attention going to be given to y/a?
Does this list take into account that movies like Star Wars, Gone With the Wind and Snow White have had several releases to the theaters and not all money is from the original release? Not all $200 million from Gone With The Wind is from 1939. I’d like to see the formula.
WOW, Indie Jones is gonna rock!!!!
I can’t wait!!!
i have loved those movies since I was a small child!
Finally I can live again!
So despite recessions, despressions the Entertainment business still booms.Well even if one attends a movie, do theatres refund money? Is there a way for the public to say NOT! a good movie, because despite what is said they still have your money. I mean every movie can’t Share the #1 spot but still they are making money. At what point can one make a statement that this is a bad movie and I want my money back?
The new Indiana Jones will do somewhere between the new Star Wars movies and the latest Rocky installment. It won’t be breaking any records though it will give George Lucas a nice profit, as usual.
Well first of all, much to my continual dismay, the largest grossing movie of all time is “Titanic” (over $600 million in a single release). Those other lists that incorporate inflation fail to take into account the fact that back when “Gone With The Wind” hit the silver screen, there wasn’t much else to choose from. IF you went to see a “moving picture”, it was “Gone With The Wind”. “Titanic” did what it did in modern times with many other choices at the box offices. I know of women that inexplicably went to see it 6 times during it’s theatrical run!
The lists that incorporate inflation for decades past take into account the percentage of the population that went to see the movie. Back then, of the % of the population that could afford a movie, everyone was sure to see “Gone…” sice there were many “wanna-be” movie makers at that time and there was a new release every week. And most times a movie only played for 1 week and a new one went up the next week. So what happened when an actual GOOD MOVIE hit the screens is that everyone either chased the good movie around the larger cities, or they cried havoc to the theater owners to keep “Gone…”. Because then, just as now, most people would rather watch a good movie over and over again rather than a poor movie once. Hence, today’s huge success of pay TV movie channels such as HBO.
I think that back in the GWTW days ( which by the way, is my favorite movie of all time) people did not have the entertainment options they have today. I think the movie industry was not churning out blockbusters every other month. Actors and actresses were something of a novelty, just like today, only that in modern times, anybody is a celebrity for just about nothing. (uh, Paris Hilton has made movies). As for the recent blockbusters, well, I think Indiana Jones has a shot but again, not in the same degree. You may see it go big due to the age of the original dating over 20 years, but as far as the mass following, it doesn’t even come close.
For the record, here’s the inflation-adjusted list, at the URL I’ve included: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm
today… there are no those big movies that will create the history some day…. or, there are only few…. movies like star wars, 2001. space odissey, ben hur or gone with the wind were the moveis that brought something new, never seen before…. they were master pieces of their time… today, it’s hard to find a good movie that is also different and new in something…
About the prices, i was speaking in terms of prices in Trinidad not America so it costs about 1USD to buy a pirated movie and about 6USD to see it in a cinema.
People especially in 2nd and 3rd world countries would rather watch a pirated DVD costing a buck than pay 6 bucks to get into a cinema. pirating has greatly influenced box office sales and quite frankly a lot of people would rather watch a movie from the privacy and comfort of their own homes than rush to the premier of a film. Also for those who would say that pirated DVDs are of a lower quality they are mistaken because screeners of movies are leaked and sold on the bootleg market which is almost the same quality as the movie you watch in the cinema. The only thing you’re really missing out on at a cinema is a lineup to buy tickets and the big screen and a more expensive fee to watch a movie.
This is all irrelevant nowadays!! We can watch movies on DVD, on TV, the Internet, etc. we have so many ways to obtain a movie that going to the cinema isn’t the main option anymore!! Back then there wasnt much choice so going to see it was the main option for them but now we now have other forms of entertainment which means our lives are very busy. Other movies may be more successful due to popularity but statistically that movie will stay at no.1 because times have changed and we no longer live like they did so there’s no way we’ll beat it.
I’m also waiting for the Indian Jones sequel…but I don’t think it’ll beat any of the top five. If you adjust box office earnings with inflation!
Despite the first 2 weeks success of Iron Man, I am absolutely confident it will not even come close to reaching the all time block buster rankings such as Gone With the Wind (1939) and Star Wars (1977). Adjusted for inflation from 1939 dollars to 2008 dollars, Iron Man or Indiana Jones or anyone else would need to rake in $1,390,067,001 (that’s $1.39 Billion) in global box offices sales to take out the #1 1939 classic, and $1.225+ Billion to take out Star Wars (1977). These two movies where a phenomena and nothing else has ever come close.
One reason movies aren’t as popular as they were 60 years ago is because, let’s face it, it was that long ago they actually had origional stories to tell. A lot of films to coume out in the last 15 years or so jusr re-hash previously used story lines or adapt slightly other stories to seem new.
Besides, during Iron Man a few times I almost laughed out loud becasue Bo Bridges was “The Dude” in The Big Lebowski. How can you take a villian serious when the actor did a role of an aging hippie with penchant for white russians???
After having seen all the credits, it better have made $100 million to pull off a hefty profit.
i havent seen ethier but it looks good i thought that speed racer looked bad and it proved that it was look at the numbers
I was the guy that made the first reply to Mike’s question. I was POSITIVE it was Star Wars but I guess I’ve been proven wrong. Now I feel like crap THANKS!
I think the number of cheap American dollars something makes is pretty irrelevant. It will cost 100M USD for a loaf of bread in the future, then movie studios will be making hollow boasts about how their latest predictable superhero movie grossed hundreds of trillions and is therefore superior to classics from the past.
It says nothing about how many people watched and enjoyed it
I agree with those saying the new Indiana Jones film will break blockbuster records. Fans have been waiting too long for one more Jones movie.