Highest grossing movie worldwide, annually 1915-2021

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 ten million dollars by the end of 2019, however 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 midnight releases of it's four sequels (the first of which is due 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 considered the highest grossing film of all time, with some sources claiming that it has generated approximately 3.4 billion dollars in today's money***.

Recent developments

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, 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 has seen many of the previous year's postponements released simultaneously in theaters and online (often at a premium). It remains to be seen how these developments will impact overall box office grosses, however, a strong domestic performance of Spider-Man: No Way Home at the end of 2021 is a sign that attendance in the U.S. could return to pre-pandemic levels in 2022.

Recurring figures

Throughout 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 female 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 23 of the films on this list, at the time of their release.

Disney dominates

Between 1999 and 2021, 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.