There are so many records to be had and to be broken in the movie world. Biggest Thursday, Best Four Day Weekend, Tops in September, and so on.
But there are only three records that really count: Biggest Domestic Gross Ever, Biggest Gross Adjusted for Inflation, and Top Worldwide Movie– meaning domestic plus international.
For that third title, “Avengers: Endgame” has snatched the title from James Cameron’s “Avatar.” This was Marvel’s stated goal, so they added extras to the original film and sent it out again. Over the weekend, “Endgame” nosed out “Avatar,” with over $2.7889 billion.
It’s a record. Congrats, get out the confetti. But “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” remains the number 1 movie ever at the domestic box office. It’s about $78 million ahead of “Endgame.”
And the biggest movie of all, with domestic box office adjusted for inflation? That’s “Gone with the Wind,” with $1.8 billion. “Endgame” is number 16 on that list. Purists will go with that list because it consists of real movies, classics, that reflects cinema before everything went to hell. That list continues with “Star Wars (A New Hope),” “The Sound of Music,” “ET,” “Titanic,” “The Ten Commandments,” “Jaws,” “Dr. Zhivago,” “The Exorcist,” and “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.”
The adjusted for inflation list is also popular with those of us who still consider the Empire State Building the world’s largest, Hank Aaron the all time home run hitter, and Al Gore elected president in 2000.
