Movies That Sold More Tickets Than Avengers: Endgame

No, we aren't talking about the infamous 2016 bomb that lost its chariot wheels right out of the gate and lost Paramount a mind-numbing $120 million. Younger filmgoers may not have known it, but Ben-Hur was based on a 1959 multimillion-dollar epic that was one of the biggest hits of all time, showing just how much times have changed in the past 60 years. 

Ben-Hur starred Charlton Heston, Hollywood's go-to epic actor, as Moses and was directed by one of old Hollywood's most bankable hitmakers of the era, William Wyler. The Academy-Award winning director of The Best Years Of Our Lives, Roman Holiday, Jezebel and numerous other classics certainly had his work cut out for him. With a then-astronomical budget of $15 million, Ben-Hur was a massive gamble by its studio MGM, which was hoping that Ben-Hur could pull it out of impending bankruptcy. If Ben-Hur was their Hail Mary pass, it connected. Fortunately for the studio, the epic made $74 million domestically (or $883 million today) and $147 million worldwide. All told, Ben-Hur saved MGM from bankruptcy and became acknowledged as a classic that's still being talked about today.

Everyone loves dogs, Disney, and cartoons, so it's no surprise that 1961's 101 Dalmatians, which combines all three, was a huge moneymaker for the Mouse House. The film is a classic from the tail end of Disney's golden era, with a quirky story, some catchy tunes, and an iconic villain in Cruella de Vil (if you're going to name your kid Cruella, she's gotta be a villain). 101 Dalmatians was a big hit in its initial run, earning $14 million. But the film had a connection with audiences, and made most of its change in subsequent re-releases, including two huge rereleases in 1985 and 1991. In fact, the 1991 release, 30 years after the film was first released, made $60 million. So clearly the spotted pups had more staying power than the movie's initial release would have suggested. No wonder it inspired a live-action remake in 1996 — as well as the 2000 sequel, 102 Dalmatians — long before remaking animated classics was Disney's thing. All told, 101 Dalmatians has made $144 million domestically, or just over $900 million when adjusted for inflation. Like they say, every dog has its day. Hopefully they get royalties too.

Disney's had a remarkable run of box office success in the 21st century, but its all-time biggest ticket-seller didn't come from Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar or any of the massive conglomerate's other properties. No, their biggest hit comes from their golden age of animation. In fact, it's their oldest movie — the animated classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. 

Hollywood thought Walt Disney was nuts when he set out to release a feature-length animated film. Less than a decade after Mickey Mouse debuted in "Steamboat Willie," cartoons were strictly the domain of shorts that played before the main feature. Disney changed all that — and the movie business too — with Snow White. It earned impressive numbers during its initial release in 1937, becoming the top-grossing film that year, earning more than four times the second-place release. Snow White was rereleased eight times, culminating in a total domestic gross of more than $184 million, or $982 million adjusted for inflation.

Doctor Zhivago is the very definition of epic historical romance, a genre that doesn't get a lot of love from movie studios anymore. Why's that? Well, for one they're incredibly expensive. They're also very risky. Most problematic, you can't turn them into a franchise. That said, when they hit, they hit big. 

Doctor Zhivago definitely qualifies. It features stunning visuals, a memorable score, captivating melodrama, and beautiful leads playing lovers whose doomed romance is torn asunder by the ambivalent winds of history, as if monumental historic events happened merely to keep lovers apart. Based on Russian novelist Boris Pasternak's book, and directed by the king of the epic, David Lean, Doctor Zhivago stars Omar Sharif and Julie Christie as people in love with each other, but married to others, during the Russian Revolution. It proved a significantly bigger hit than Lean's other epics, earning $111 million — or an inflation-adjusted gross of over $1 billion. Incredibly, it wasn't even the biggest hit in 1965, the year it was released, but more on that later; for now, suffice it to say that Doctor Zhivago was the Titanic of its time, minus Celine Dion.

Before Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Peter Jackson or James Cameron, there was Cecil B. DeMille. DeMille's name is practically a synonym for "epic," as his lavish productions achieved a scope and grandeur that will simply never be matched by the CGI pumping up today's blockbusters. He was also a risk-taker, and The Ten Commandments is proof. Who else but DeMille would remake one of the biggest films of all time, especially when he was the one who directed the original? DeMille first filmed the story found in Exodus in 1923, turning it into a two-hour silent film that cut between the Biblical story and a contemporary drama. 

More than 30 years later DeMille abandoned the modern tale, focusing exclusively on the story of Moses during this adaptation's massive 220-minute runtime. Facing stiff competition from TV, movies had to get bigger to compete, and The Ten Commandments is as big as it gets. It opened on October 5, 1956, and earned $85 million by the end of its run, more than doubling Around the World In 80 Days' gross of $42 million and easily becoming the highest-grossing film of 1956. With massive numbers like that, it's clear that audiences took DeMille's commandment "Thou shalt see this movie" very seriously.

Film buffs will argue over Steven Spielberg's defining masterpiece for decades to come. What isn't up for debate is his biggest hit — E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. In a career full of box office glory, including one record-breaking mega-hit after another, the fact that E.T. is Spielberg's biggest blockbuster says a lot. 

It opened to $11 million on June 11, 1982, and much like Titanic, kept making money. It holds the record for most non-consecutive weekends at No. 1, with 16, and fluctuated between the first and second positions on the box office charts until October. For five solid months, E.T. was the No. 1 or No. 2 film at the box office every weekend. Considering many modern movies are on streaming services within four months of opening, a five-month reign at the top of the charts is pretty amazing. By the end of its first theatrical run, E.T. had earned $359 million, surpassing Star Wars as the highest-grossing film ever. E.T. earned another $40 million in 1985 and then $35 million in 2002 in a 20th anniversary reissue, bringing its total cume to $435 million, or $1.278 billion adjusted for inflation — which is something you'd definitely want to phone home about.

Star Wars is arguably the most popular franchise ever. It's second only to the MCU in total box office, but while the Star Wars series has achieved its $4.22 billion total with only 11 films (average: $383.7M), the MCU has earned $8.506 billion from 23 movies (average: $369.7). 

The phenomenon began in 1977 with Star Wars. Initially, only a handful of theaters ordered the movie, so Fox forced theaters to show it if they wanted The Other Side of Midnight, their surefire summer box office hit. Opening in only 43 theaters on the same weekend as another surefire hit, Smokey and the Bandit, Fox was sure their sci-fi swashbuckler would crash. History had other ideas. Star Wars  earned $1.5 million its opening weekend limited release. Fox broadened its release to meet demand, which kept growing. And growing. During its first 18-month run it made a mind-boggling $307 million, which grew with rereleases in 1978, 1979, 1981, and 1982. It return to theaters yet again as Star Wars: Special Edition in 1997 and held the No. 1 position for three weeks, earning a blockbuster $137 million. All told, Star Wars has earned $460 million, $1.604 billion adjusted for inflation. For the record, The Other Side of Midnight earned $24 million, while Smokey earned $126 million. Not bad, but not Star Wars.