Here are the top 10 movies ever at the U.S. box office, adjusted for inflation.
If you look up the top grossing domestic film of all time, you’ll see that the winner is 2015’sStar Wars: The Force Awakens,which has raked in $936.7 million.
But if you factor in inflation, it’s far from the top-grossing movie domestically.
Let’s look at the top 10 movies ever at the U.S. domestic box office, adjusted for inflation. But first…
All of these numbers are from Box Office Mojo, a terrific site we recommend.
The adjusted figures are based on the estimated number of tickets sold, which allows for an apples-to-apples comparison of movies released years or decades apart. It’s one of the best ways to compare a film released in, say, 1939, with a movie released in 2026.
We’re going by the 2022 ticket price, because 2022 is the most recent year for which data is available. We checked, and no film released since 2022 would change what you’re about to read.
So with that out of the way, here are the top 10 movies ever at the U.S. domestic box office, adjusted for inflation.
Technically groundbreaking and still beautiful to watch, this Walt Disney adaptation of a Grimm fairy tale earned $184.9 million in its initial release and subsequent re-releases. Adjusted, it’s earned $1.02 billion, enough to buy a lot of shiny red apples.
The film had estimated ticket sales of 109,000,000 — slightly more than the 108,115,100 who bought seats forStar Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens.Adjusted for inflation, its the 11th highest grossing movie ever at the domestic box office.
Source: Drudge Report
