
Highest grossing movie worldwide, annually 1915-2020
record had been held by 1997's Titanic (both of which were directed by James Cameron). When adjusted for inflation, 1939's Gone With the Wind is the highest grossing film of all time, with some sources claiming that it has generated approximately 3.4 billion dollars in today's money***. The 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, which saw the closure of thousands of movie theaters across the world; although the varying restrictions per country eventually saw Asian markets 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. Additionally, many major Hollywood releases have been delayed until 2021 or beyond, while a significant number of films had their theatrical release cancelled and were instead released via online streaming services; it remains to be seen what the long-term impact of the pandemic will be on the entertainment industry, or the extent of the economic damage caused to movie theaters around the world.
In 2019, Avengers: Endgame overtook 2009's Avatar as the highest grossing film of all time at the international Box Office. As of 2020, the difference between Endgame and Avatar's totals is fewer than ten million dollars, however this may change over the next few years as Avatar is likely to be shown again in theaters prior to midnight releases of it's four sequels (the first of which is due in 2022). Before Avatar, the