Highest grossing movie worldwide, annually 1915-2022

In 2019, Avengers: Endgame overtook 2009's Avatar as the highest grossing film of all time at the international Box Office. The difference between Endgame and Avatar's totals was fewer than 100 million dollars by the end of 2019, yet Avatar re-took the top spot in 2021 due to theatrical re-releases in China; this gap is likely to grow in the coming years as Avatar will be shown again in theaters prior to the release of it's four sequels (the first of which was released in 2022). Before Avatar, the record had been held by 1997's Titanic (also directed by James Cameron). When adjusted for inflation, 1939's Gone With the Wind is generally cited as the most successful film of all time, with a total gross between three and four billion (including theatrical re-releases) - however, Gone With the Wind is estimated to have sold fewer tickets than Avatar, Star Wars, Titanic, and many Chinese releases.Recent developmentsThe highest grossing film of 2020 was The Eight Hundred, which took over 460 million dollars worldwide; the first ever non-Hollywood production to feature on this list. The significant drop off in global revenues in 2020 was due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where lockdowns saw thousands of movie theaters close across the world. Varying restrictions per country saw Asian markets eventually overtake North American and European markets as the largest worldwide, and five of the ten highest grossing films in 2020 were either Chinese or Japanese productions. The pandemic also accelerated the trend of major releases coming to streaming platforms, and 2021 saw many of the previous year's postponements released simultaneously in theaters and online (often at a premium). It remains to be seen what the dominant method of big-budget releases will be in the coming years, as major studios such as Disney may look to draw consumers to their streaming platforms, however a strong domestic performance of Spider-Man: No Way Home in late-2021 shows optimism for the box office.Recurring figuresThroughout the list, many of the same directors and actors appear in multiple films. Stephen Spielberg has directed more of these films than any other director, with six titles to his name. Cecil B. DeMille, a "founding father" of American Cinema, and Disney's Hamilton Luske, have each directed (or co-directed) five movies on this list. 2012's Frozen is the only film made by a woman director; Jennifer Lee, and until 2020, Mission: Impossible 2 was the only film made by a non-white director; John Woo. Looking at those in front of the camera, Harrison Ford, through his roles in the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films, has appeared in the highest number of films listed here; featuring in seven titles. His Star Wars co-star, Carrie Fisher, has appeared in five films listed here, more than any other actress. When looking at the companies behind the films featured on this list, we can see that Disney and Paramount Pictures (in all of their forms) have each produced and/or distributed 24 of the films on this list, at the time of their release.Disney dominatesSince 1999, all but one of the highest grossing films were sequels or part of franchises. Although this is not a new trend in Hollywood, the box office pull of such "extended universes" has exploded in recent years, and these films dominate the annual lists; Disney in particular has been the most successful studio in this regard. After acquiring Marvel Entertainment in 2009 and Lucasfilm in 2012, in deals worth 4.24 billion and 4.05 billion dollars respectively, Disney built upon its position as the largest entertainment company in the world and has dominated the international box office over the last decade. With the continued success of the Marvel and Star Wars universes and the expansion of these products in series form, along with a number of planned live action remakes and Pixar titles, it is likely that Disney films will feature at the top of this list for years to come.

于2019年，超级英雄电影《复仇者联盟4：终局之战》超越2009年的《阿凡达》，成为全球票房总收入最高的电影。至2019年底，两者之间的总收入差距不足10亿美元，然而《阿凡达》因在中国大陆的院线重映而重新夺回榜首之位；预计在未来几年，这一差距将进一步扩大，因为《阿凡达》的四部续集（其中第一部已于2022年上映）在院线上映之前，还将再次进入院线。在《阿凡达》之前，1997年的《泰坦尼克号》（同样由詹姆斯·卡梅隆执导）保持了票房纪录。经过通货膨胀调整，1939年的《飘》通常被公认为史上最成功的电影，其总收入介于30亿至40亿美元（包括院线重映），然而《飘》的票房收入估计低于《阿凡达》、《星球大战》、《泰坦尼克号》以及许多中国电影。近期发展2020年全球票房最高的电影是《八佰》，其全球票房收入超过4.6亿美元；这是首次有非好莱坞制作的电影登上此榜单。2020年全球票房收入的大幅下降归因于新冠疫情，封锁期间全球数千家电影院关闭。不同国家实施的限制措施各异，最终亚洲市场取代北美和欧洲市场成为全球最大的电影市场，2020年全球票房收入最高的十部电影中有五部是中国的或日本制作。疫情也加速了电影大片向流媒体平台的趋势，2021年许多原计划推迟上映的电影同时在线上线下（通常以溢价形式）发布。未来几年大预算电影的发行主导方式仍有待观察，因为像迪士尼这样的主要工作室可能会试图吸引消费者到他们的流媒体平台，然而《蜘蛛侠：无路可退》在2021年底的强劲国内表现显示了对院线票房的乐观。常客名单在整个榜单中，许多相同的导演和演员出现在多部电影中。史蒂文·斯皮尔伯格执导了这些电影中的最多，共有六部作品。塞西尔·B·德米尔，美国电影界的“奠基人”，以及迪士尼的汉密尔顿·卢斯克，各自执导（或联合执导）了五部电影。2012年的《冰雪奇缘》是唯一一部由女性导演制作的电影；詹妮弗·李，而直到2020年，《碟中谍2》是唯一一部由非裔导演制作的电影；约翰·伍。在镜头前，哈里森·福特通过在《星球大战》和《印第安纳·琼斯》电影中的角色，出现在了榜单中电影的数量最多，共有七部作品。他的《星球大战》合作伙伴凯莉·费舍尔出现在了五部榜单中的电影中，是女演员中出场次数最多的。当我们审视这些电影的背后公司时，我们可以看到迪士尼和派拉蒙影业（包括其所有形式）在发布时各自制作和/或发行了榜单中的24部电影。迪士尼称霸自1999年以来，除了第一部之外，所有全球票房最高的电影都是续集或系列电影的一部分。尽管这不是好莱坞的新趋势，但近年来这种“扩展宇宙”的票房吸引力爆炸式增长，这些电影主导了年度榜单；特别是迪士尼在这一点上取得了最成功的成绩。迪士尼于2009年以42.4亿美元的价格收购了漫威娱乐，2012年以40.5亿美元的价格收购了卢卡斯影业，从而巩固了其作为全球最大娱乐公司的地位，并在过去十年中主导了国际票房。随着漫威和《星球大战》宇宙的持续成功以及这些产品的系列化扩展，以及一系列计划中的真人电影重拍和皮克斯电影，预计迪士尼的电影将在未来几年继续占据榜单前列。