Right - this thread may be completely wrong in every way. 

Secondly, the thread title is a bit misleading. I'm comparing the top of the video game industry (in 2007 and 2008) to the top in the movie industry.

The numbers from the movie industry come from Wikipedia, which sources from Boxoffice. I'm not completely sure if they track Dvds, or if it's just the cinemas (I believe they track both, but any evidence for or against would be awesome). The number is the revenue, not the profit.

What I do to figure out the video game numbers is a bit harder.

I take the VGChartz total sold, and multiply it with what I believe is the average price. If you believe I over- or under- estimate anything, please tell.

All numbers are in US dollars.

2007 releases

Movies:

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - 961M

2.  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - 938M

3.  Spider-Man 3 - 890M

4.  Shrek the Third - 798M

5.  Transformers - 708M

6.  Ratatouille - 621M 

7.  I Am Legend - 585M

8. The Simpsons Movie - 527M

9.  National Treasure: Book of Secrets - 457M

10.  300 - 456M

Games.

These are the 2007 sales. The numbers come from here : http://vgchartz.com/forum/thread.php?id=35619 (All credit to Nutboy).

Remember, this is WorldWide, so the average price is higher than Americans would expect.

It goes like this.

Name - sold - estimated average price - total revenue.

1. Halo 3 - 7.0M - 60 dollars - 420M

2. Wii Play - 8.3M - 40 dollars - 290.5M

3. Halo 3 - 7.0M - 60 dollars - 420M

4. Super Mario Galaxy - 4.8M - 60 dollars - 288M

5. Call of Duty 4 - 4.1M - 60 dollars - 246M

6. Mario Party 8 - 4.0M - 55 dollars - 220M

7. Assassin's Creed - 3.0M - 60 dollars - 180M

8. Twilight Princess - 2.2M - 60 dollars - 132M

9. Mario & Sonic Wii - 2.6M - 50 dollars - 130M

10. Super Paper Mario - 2.1M - 50 dollars - 105M

Over to 2008

In films:

1 The Dark Knight - 1001M

2 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - 786M

3 Kung Fu Panda - 631M

4 Hancock - 624M

5 Mamma Mia! - 601M

6 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - 584M

7 Iron Man - 582M

8 Quantum of Solace - 576M

9 WALL-E - 534M

10 The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian - 419M

Video games in 2008

(Source: http://news.vgchartz.com/news.php?id=2856) 

1. Wii Fit Wii Nintendo 13.05m - 100 dollars - 1305M

2. Mario Kart Wii Wii Nintendo 13.64m - 60 dollars - 818M

3.  Super Smash Brothers Brawl Wii Nintendo 8.31m - 60 dollars - 498M

4. Wii Play Wii Nintendo 11.00m - 40 dollars - 440M

5 Grand Theft Auto IV X360 Take Two 6.64m - 60 dollars - 398M

6.  Grand Theft Auto IV PS3 Take Two 5.25m - 60 dollars - 315M

7.  Call of Duty: World at War X360 Activision 4.13m - 60 dollars - 248M

8.  Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Wii Sega 3.97m - 60 dollars 238.2M

9 Super Mario Galaxy Wii Nintendo 3.34m - 55 dollars - 183.7M

10 Nintendogs DS Nintendo 4.52m - 40 dollars - 180.8M

So, comparing the spots in 2008

Spot - movie - game 

1. 1001M - 1305M

2. 786M - 818M

3. 631M - 498M

4. 624M - 440M

5. 601M -  398M

6. 584M - 315M

7. 582M -  248M

8. 576M - 238M

9. 534M - 184M

10. 419M - 181M

And remember - if you don't like the thread, don't blame the thread - blame yourself. (I'm so nice)

Is analysing this based on top 10 alone really the best way to do it. I mean, it's interesting to see, but as no 1 and 2 the VG win, then from 3-10 the VG sales drop off much quicker afterwards

Also, these numbers don't include PC games
Nor downloadable movies
If they include BluRay+DVD revenue then you should include multiplat games as a single game, rather than one per platform

SOMEONE REPLIED!!!

Um, I don't think you should have both versions of GTA IV separately here - they are both the same game, with the same dev team and budget, and at the end of the day, the combined 713M is what Take Two will take for the game, the platform versions are irrelevant - we're talking about what companies make.

Kung Fu Panda!!?? Hancock??!! Boy people watch some thrash.

 Grand Theft Auto IV!!?? Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games!!?? Boy people do play trash.

This can never really be found out as the Movie industry would also count DVDs.

Good analysis though

Too difficult to track for a number of reasons.

Both industries have a huge number of revenues beyond their primary markets.

Remember that films get distributed not only at the cinema, but also on television, dvd, BR, sound tracks, games, digital distribution, toys, rental markets, in planes and streaming/on demand services.

Games also have subscriptions, micro-transactions, digital distribution plus many more.

I think the answer really is, both are bloody huge.

Movies Beat games hands down....The Game industry is Big...But Factor in all the Movies made all over the world...(Since Game Industry is International) Movies Win Hands Down...

Yeah, this isn't an easy characteristic to make.

1. You have a plethora of other sources of revenue to take into account. DVDs, Blu-Rays, rentals, console sales, accessories for video games, etc. etc.

2. There are far more games released than movies, and movies tend to have their sales focused on a few blockbusters. Game sales stretch across the Wii, DS, ps2, ps3, PSP, PC, 360, Steam, PSN, XBLA, WiiWare, VC, etc.

People forget that the film industry isn't just the american market. The indian film industry releases nearly 1000 films a year for example.

EDIT some sources I've read put it at over 1000 films a year. But you get the picture.