All-Time Worldwide Box office

[steverhcp02]

ioi said:

The whole inflation works both ways. Movies like "Gone With the Wind" had far less competition than movies do these days, also re-releases obviously add to tickets sales and so on. Also, DVD, Video, Pirating is much more common these days as are other forms of entertainment (videogames for example) which could be seen as being in competition with movies.

So yes, larger population today, vastly inflated ticket prices vs 1939 or whatever, 3D movies selling at a premium, hype etc - but that doesn't take away from Avatar in my opinion. It has a good shot at $700m uninflated in the US, and well over $2b worldwide - this would easily put it in the top 10-15 movies of alltime in the US and probably top 5 worldwide. And that is without any re-releases.

What impresses me most is that Cameron has two films around $2b (like I say, Avatar could get close to $2.5b before it is finished) while no other film has managed to pass $1.2b. To beat your peers so effortlessly with both Titanic (which doubled any other film at the time) and Avatar (which will double every other film bar Titanic) is an impressive achievement.

I was just going to post this. Times change in more ways than inflation. In my opinion, the inflation is offset by a rental industry, people waiting to see it for cheap in their housholds. TV shows, other forms of entertainment, pirating, obvious other expenditures like college, autos, videogames....not to mention things like restraunts, night life and less of an emphasis on "theaters" as the premiere form of entertainment as was such in the past.