WASHINGTON — For the past week, Hollywood headlines have been astounding: Move over “Avatar,” there’s a new highest grossing movie of all time: “Star Wars: The Force Awakens!”
But amid the studio celebrations, cinephiles can’t help but feel a disturbance in The Force.
These box-office claims are shortsighted, misleading and even insulting to movie buffs.
So you think “The Force Awakens” is the all-time top grosser?
Frankly my dear, film history doesn’t give a damn — at least not yet.
It’s true, “The Force Awakens” (2015) just surpassed the $760.5 million domestic gross of “Avatar” (2009) to become the top domestic grosser ever at $812,734,828 and counting.
But today’s money is worth way more than it used to be. Ridiculously more. As your grandparents might say, “Bread once cost a nickel.” Imagine what that does to ticket prices.
Before we proceed any further, let’s state for the record that this isn’t some hate piece on “The Force Awakens,” which I thoroughly enjoyed as the best “Star Wars” since “Empire Strikes Back.” Rather, it’s a love note to film history and a plea for a more nuanced, historical conversation. The discussion we should be having is how “Force” just passed “Jurassic Park,” “Forrest Gump,” “The Godfather,” “The Graduate” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” in adjusted gross! This is a huge accomplishment.
Still, reasonable heads should prevail. While “Force Awakens” is No. 1 in sheer dollars, it falls to No. 15 adjusted for inflation — the only fair way to do it unless you like comparing apples and oranges.
Here’s what the all-time domestic gross list looks like in terms of sheer dollars:
UNFAIR:
Top 25 Domestic Box Office (Today’s Dollars)
1. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (2015)
2. “Avatar” (2009)
3. “Titanic” (1997)
4. “Jurassic World” (2015)
5. “Marvel’s The Avengers” (2012)
6. “The Dark Knight” (2008)
7. “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” (1999)
8. “Star Wars” (1977)
9. “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015)
10. “The Dark Knight Rises” (2012)
11. “Shrek 2” (2004)
12. “E.T. The Extra Terrestrial” (1982)
13. “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” (2013)
14. “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (2006)
15. “The Lion King” (1994)
16. “Toy Story 3” (2010)
17. “Iron Man 3” (2013)
18. “The Hunger Games” (2012)
19. “Spider-Man” (2002)
20. “Jurassic Park” (1993)
21. “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (2009)
22. “Frozen” (2013)
23. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” (2011)
24. “Finding Nemo” (2003)
25. “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith” (2005)
Something look wrong here? Of the supposed “all-time top grossers,” only two movies predate 1993. That’s a major red flag. By this rubric, “Jurassic World” was a bigger hit than “Jurassic Park,” “Avatar” was a bigger hit than “Titanic,” and “Force Awakens” was a bigger hit than “Star Wars.” If you lived through any of these blockbuster phenomena, you realize that such assertions are just plain false.
Conversely, here’s what the all-time domestic gross list looks like when adjusted for inflation:
FAIR:
Top 25 Domestic Box Office (Adjusted for Inflation)
1. “Gone With the Wind” (1939)
2. “Star Wars” (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. “101 Dalmatians” (1961)
12. “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980)
13. “Ben-Hur” (1959)
14. “Avatar” (2009)
15. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (2015)
16. “Return of the Jedi” (1983)
17. “Jurassic Park” (1993)
18. “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” (1999)
19. “The Lion King” (1994)
20. “The Sting” (1973)
21. “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981)
22. “The Graduate” (1967)
23. “Fantasia” (1940)
24. “Jurassic World” (2015)
25. “The Godfather” (1972)
As you can see, adjusting for inflation provides a much more realistic Box Office Mount Rushmore with No. 1 “Gone With the Wind” (1939), No. 2 “Star Wars” (1977), No. 3 “The Sound of Music” (1965) and No. 4 “E.T. The Extra Terrestrial” (1982). That’s four hits from four different decades. Classics were not made a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. The hills are very much still alive.
In the end, there is no way to completely compare eras fairly, unless you compare number of tickets sold, but Hollywood keeps that under pretty tight wraps. Today’s movies have the advantage of higher prices for 3D IMAX, while films of yesteryear had the advantage of longer theatrical runs — some up to a year in theaters — without the competition of television and streaming content.
It’s like comparing baseball’s Steroid Era — when Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs in a single season — to the Deadball Era when Cy Young racked up 511 wins as a pitcher. Still, the very least we can do is adjust the numbers for inflation. It may not be the perfect measure, but it’s the best we’ve got.
So next time you’re talking with friends, acknowledge the amazing feat of “Force Awakens” cracking the Top 15, but remind them that it has a way to go to catch the original “Star Wars.” Jedis should take heart. Even adjusted for inflation, the “Star Wars” franchise accounts for five of the Top 20 spots: “Star Wars” (1977) at No. 2, “The Empire Strikes Back” at No. 12, “The Force Awakens” at No. 15, “Return of the Jedi” at No. 16 and “The Phantom Menace” at No. 18.
Regardless of how you adjust the list, one thing is certain: The Force is strong.
