I remember Titanic becoming the first billion dollar film

axisus

 ...... In terms of box office takings. It seemed an incredible thing at the time, that one movie could make SO much money! Well, the new surprising fact is that there are now an eye-watering 60 movies that have made over a billion! The film industry generates serious money these days if you pick a winning formula.

So how many of the 60 have you seen?
A mere 21 for me.

1 Avatar $2,923,710,708

2 Avengers: Endgame $2,799,439,100

3 Avatar: The Way of Water $2,334,484,620

4 Titanic $2,264,812,968

5 Ne Zha 2 $2,259,822,417

6 Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens $2,071,310,218

7 Avengers: Infinity War $2,052,415,039

8 Spider-Man: No Way Home $1,921,426,073

9 Inside Out 2 $1,698,863,816

10 Jurassic World $1,671,537,444

11 The Lion King $1,662,020,819

12 Zootopia 2 $1,657,599,388

13 The Avengers $1,520,538,536

14 Furious 7 $1,515,342,457

15 Top Gun: Maverick $1,495,696,292

16 Frozen II $1,453,683,476

17 Barbie $1,447,138,421

18 Avengers: Age of Ultron $1,405,018,048

19 The Super Mario Bros. Movie $1,360,879,735

20 Black Panther $1,349,926,083

21 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 $1,342,942,050

22 Deadpool & Wolverine $1,338,073,645

23 Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi $1,334,407,706

24 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom $1,308,566,455

25 Frozen $1,286,513,286

26 Beauty and the Beast $1,266,115,964

27 Incredibles 2 $1,243,225,667

28 Avatar: Fire and Ash $1,237,075,726

29 The Fate of the Furious $1,236,009,236

30 Iron Man 3 $1,215,577,205

31 Minions $1,159,457,503

32 Captain America: Civil War $1,155,046,416

33 Aquaman $1,152,028,393

34 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King $1,140,558,597

35 Spider-Man: Far from Home $1,132,723,226

36 Captain Marvel $1,131,416,446

37 Transformers: Dark of the Moon $1,123,794,079

38 Skyfall $1,108,594,137

39 Transformers: Age of Extinction $1,105,261,713

40 Jurassic Park $1,103,096,466

41 The Dark Knight Rises $1,085,199,115

42 Joker $1,078,958,629

43 Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker $1,077,022,372

44 Toy Story 4 $1,073,841,394

45 Toy Story 3 $1,067,316,101

46 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest $1,066,179,747

47 Moana 2 $1,059,242,164

48 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story $1,058,684,742

49 Aladdin $1,054,304,000

50 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides $1,046,721,266

51 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace $1,046,515,409

52 Lilo & Stitch $1,038,027,526

53 Despicable Me 3 $1,034,800,131

54 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone $1,029,374,615

55 Finding Dory $1,029,266,989

56 Zootopia $1,025,521,689

57 Alice in Wonderland $1,025,468,216

58 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey $1,017,453,991

59 The Dark Knight $1,008,294,632

60 Jurassic World: Dominion $1,001,978,080

Revolutions

What happened to the glory days when the sinking of the Waterworld island made it the most expensive film ever made?

Oops, missed the first line of your post 

stickyfiddle

Bear in mind a billion dollars is worth a hell of a lot less than it was 30 years so… 

darthed1981

I've seen 47 of them...

Would happily watch the rest though - but to have the time.

Of course, also interesting to see the list adjusted for inflation.  Some movies (famously "Gone With The Wind") made a staggering amount of money in modern terms because they were on for so long globally.

theatreanchor

44

Danny1969

I've seen a few of them but dear lord, what a pile of shit films! (Disney  / Pixar aside)

I've found as I've got older the less the general public seem like a film the more It appeals to me. I go to the cinema a lot anf have seen some great films over the last 5 years but none of them are on that list.

BillDL

I've seen 10, 11, 15, 38, and 46.  I thought 11, 38 and 46 were OK, but I certainly wouldn't willingly subject myself to any of the others.

theatreanchor

Danny1969 said:

I've seen a few of them but dear lord, what a pile of shit films! (Disney  / Pixar aside)

I've found as I've got older the less the general public seem like a film the more It appeals to me. I go to the cinema a lot anf have seen some great films over the last 5 years but none of them are on that list.

Yeah it’s not like any of these would be in my top 100 best films, but do have a broad enough appeal to generate the dollars. Ultimately, that's what the business wants. 

axisus

darthed1981 said:

Of course, also interesting to see the list adjusted for inflation.  

Good point! It actually makes for a more interesting list. Here's one below. I highlighted the interesting ones

1.     Gone with the Wind (1939)

2.     Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (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.  Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)

12.  101 Dalmatians (1961)

13.  Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

14.  Ben-Hur (1959)

15.  Avatar (2009)

16.  Avengers: Endgame (2019)

17.  Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)

18.  Jurassic Park (1993)

19.  Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

20.  The Lion King (1994)

21.  The Sting (1973)

22.  Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

23.  The Graduate (1967)

24.  Fantasia (1940)

25.  The Godfather (1972)

26.  Forrest Gump (1994)

27.  Mary Poppins (1964)

28.  Grease (1978)

29.  Marvel's The Avengers (2012)

30.  Jurassic World (2015)

31.  Black Panther (2018)

32.  Thunderball (1965)

33.  The Dark Knight (2008)

34.  The Jungle Book (1967)

35.  Sleeping Beauty (1959)

36.  Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

37.  Ghostbusters (1984)

38.  Shrek 2 (2004)

39.  Spider-Man (2002)

40.  Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

41.  Love Story (1970)

42.  Independence Day (1996)

43.  Home Alone (1990)

44.  Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)

45.  Pinocchio (1940)

46.  Cleopatra (1963)

47.  Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

48.  Goldfinger (1964)

49.  Incredibles 2 (2018)

50.  Airport (1970)

51.  American Graffiti (1973)

52.  The Robe (1953)

53.  Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

54.  Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

55.  Bambi (1942)

56.  Blazing Saddles (1974)

57.  Batman (1989)

58.  The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)

59.  The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

60.  Finding Nemo (2003)

61.  The Towering Inferno (1974)

62.  Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

63.  The Lion King (2019)

64.  Cinderella (1950)

65.  Spider-Man 2 (2004)

66.  My Fair Lady (1964)

67.  The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

68.  National Lampoon's Animal House (1978)

69.  The Passion of the Christ (2004)

70.  Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)

71.  Back to the Future (1985)

72.  The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

73.  The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

74.  The Sixth Sense (1999)

75.  Superman (1978)

76.  Tootsie (1982)

77.  Beauty and the Beast (2017)

78.  Smokey and the Bandit (1977)

79.  Finding Dory (2016)

80.  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)

81.  West Side Story (1961)

82.  Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977/1980)

83.  Lady and the Tramp (1955)

84.  Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

85.  The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

86.  Rocky (1976)

87.  The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

88.  Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

89.  The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

90.  The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

91.  Twister (1996)

92.  Men in Black (1997)

93.  The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)

94.  Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

95.  It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)

96.  Swiss Family Robinson (1960)

97.  One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

98.  M*A*S*H (1970)

99.  Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

100. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

 

Keiko

The era of the CGI fest. 

Never got into all the Marvel stuff, and no intention to. Although I have seen and liked the spiderman movies.

Modern Star Wars I can happily live without. 

In the case of the Barbie movie, they must have spent a billion or so promoting the damn thing. It almost felt as if you had to watch it at the time. Thankfully I had the brains to avoid it. 

EricTheWeary

Of that original 60 I think I've seen 11 and only 1 that I'd count as a good film. Which leaves 10 that I've pretty much just seen to be polite with family. 
The adjusted for inflation one is much better. As I've often said Hollywood makes films for adolescents now whereas once upon a time it assumed that grown ups were watching. 

ICBM

13

58 of the inflation-adjusted ones.

darthed1981

I'm not sure anyone can justify a drop in movie quality just on the basis of how the SFX was done, or that a film was made in the last few years...

There is a bit of a dearth of new ideas in Hollywood, but what do people want to see as a model?

If we take Star Wars as an example - and only "A New Hope" here because none of the others would happen without it - it was a cheap, hack sci-fi film made by a director who had vision, incredible vision in fact, but no clue how to make a film.  It was saved, by his wife, in the edit.  It was considered so likely to fail that the studio gave Lucas the merchandising rights to screw him over on his fee.

You'd have to be very damn brave indeed to commission something today on that basis.

I'll assume that the original, and visionary, property making billions at the minute... Avatar... everyone on here hates.

So what's the model?  There are some wonderful old films on the list adjusted for inflation ... and some pretty good new ones.  So what should be made as blockbusters?

Sassafras

It seems many are sequels. Originality is no longer valued.

Sporky

darthed1981 said:

I'll assume that the original, and visionary, property making billions at the minute... Avatar... everyone on here hates.

I've only seen the first one. It was OK. I don't need to see it again.

I've seen six of the first list (unless I'd seen the Pirates of the Caribbean one, I'm not sure - then it'd be seven). 36 of the other list. I'm only counting films that I've seen all the way through in one go.

Philly_Q

37 on the first list.  I haven't seen many of the Disney or Pixar ones.  I'm surprised to see the two Avatar sequels are on there, I honestly thought they'd tank.

85 of the inflation-adjusted list.  Maybe 2 or 3 more which I'm not sure about.

darthed1981

Sassafras said:

It seems many are sequels. Originality is no longer valued.

It is... but it really struggles to turn a profit.

In this respect, movies are in the same situation as music... the creative grass-roots are struggling because people would rather spend £100 on a Coldplay ticket than 10 x £10 to see ten new bands - probably only one of whom will be any good.

You can't blame people for this... but if nobody had gone to see American Graffiti... nobody would have made a punt on Star Wars.

The other problem again both industries have is a massive back catalogue of stuff people know they like already.  You could watch the latest indie horror film... or just watch your DVD of Jaws again... in this respect, nostalgia is a self-fulfilling prophecy... if you only like or watch what you know, then before too long there isn't anything good and new.. because there is no money in it.

thecolourbox

I'm very disappointed to see that "Marcelle the Shell with Shoes On" didn't make it onto the list

nero1701

13

Philly_Q

darthed1981 said:

The other problem again both industries have is a massive back catalogue of stuff people know they like already.  You could watch the latest indie horror film... or just watch your DVD of Jaws again... in this respect, nostalgia is a self-fulfilling prophecy... if you only like or watch what you know, then before too long there isn't anything good and new.. because there is no money in it.

I nearly always go out of my way to watch something I haven't seen before, despite the fact there are thousands of films I have seen which I know are good.  It often feels like shooting myself in the foot, because most of the things I take a punt on are rubbish, or at best OK.  There's also the feeling that there are films I love which I might never get round to watching again...

I don't think I'll change though.  I've never understood people who've watched the same film dozens of times and can recite the dialogue.  But of course it's their choice.

darthed1981

Philly_Q said:

darthed1981 said:

The other problem again both industries have is a massive back catalogue of stuff people know they like already.  You could watch the latest indie horror film... or just watch your DVD of Jaws again... in this respect, nostalgia is a self-fulfilling prophecy... if you only like or watch what you know, then before too long there isn't anything good and new.. because there is no money in it.

I nearly always go out of my way to watch something I haven't seen before, despite the fact there are thousands of films I have seen which I know are good.  It often feels like shooting myself in the foot, because most of the things I take a punt on are rubbish, or at best OK.  There's also the feeling that there are films I love which I might never get round to watching again...

I don't think I'll change though.  I've never understood people who've watched the same film dozens of times and can recite the dialogue.  But of course it's their choice.

I agree completely - both love finding something new and brilliant, plus FOMO at missing same...

Avoid the new Luc Besson Dracula though ...