Star Wars makes a BILLION dollars at the domestic Box Office

Kai Lord · Jan 24, 2004

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted/

Isn't it amazing to think that Star Wars' equivalent earnings in 1977 would translate to a 2004 movie making a billion dollars at the box office domestically!? That would be high by about 15-20% or so to account for the 100 million dollars+ earned in the SE rerelease but still...

Puts it into perspective vs. the runaway success of ROTK's 330 million and counting.

If Raiders of the Lost Ark was released today and sold the same amount of tickets now as in 1981 it would gross 531 million dollars! Second in earnings only to Titanic! Ooooh, Spider-Man made 400, and with 10 times the screenings. People used to really love going to the movies.

Obviously DVD's have changed the figures a lot (and probably put current releases on par with films from the past when you combine the theatrical and home sales) but Titanic earned its adjusted 779 million in an era prolific with home entertainment.

I wonder if we'll ever see that again, with audiences flocking to see films on the big screen for up to a year at the first run theaters.

EDIT: Oh, and check out the adjusted earnings for The Exorcist. Ain't that just a little creepy?

Tarrasque Wrangler · Jan 24, 2004

Actually, it might make even more if it were released today, considering that they didn't have multiplexes in 1977. Most movie theaters had one, maybe two screens. Thus, theaters could only show 6-12 screenings on a weekend (less during the week). Nowadays, with the advent of 16 screen behemoths like the place I saw RotK at, they can put it on 4 or 5 screens and do 20-25 screenings a day (probably even more if a movie like RotK wasn't so pleasantly long).

Crothian · Jan 24, 2004

It seems neat, but I never liked the adjustment theory that it would be so big. Too many factors between now and then. It's an interesting in theory sort of thing.

Kai Lord · Jan 24, 2004

Crothian said:
It seems neat, but I never liked the adjustment theory that it would be so big. Too many factors between now and then. It's an interesting in theory sort of thing.

Just imagine the impact the LOTR would have had, if somehow you could take the films as-is, travel back through time, and then release them in theaters in the 30's, 50's, or 70's.

In the 70's it would have been the blockbuster of blockbusters. In the 30's the violence and intensity probably would have caused an uproar, but would audiences have been able to resist not seeing it? Interesting to imagine.

Endur · Jan 24, 2004

There are a lot of differences between now and then.

I think I saw Star Wars seven times in the theatre as a kid. I think it was in secondary theatres for at least two years. Nowadays, a movie is on pay-per-view and in DVD's within six months.

Kai Lord · Jan 24, 2004

Endur said:
Nowadays, a movie is on pay-per-view and in DVD's within six months.

Yes, and that was noted in the original post. Makes Titanic's VHS/DVD/pay-per-view era theatrical earnings that much more impressive.

Bass Puppet · Jan 24, 2004

With HDTV screens and digital AC3 surround sound, I doubt it. Now that digital projectors are becoming more reasonable today, you can watch any movie on a 7' screen. Maybe if they made the movie experience more enjoybable, more people would go to the movies. *coughalcoholcough*

Kai Lord · Jan 24, 2004

Bass Puppet said:
Maybe if they made the movie experience more enjoybable, more people would go to the movies. *coughalcoholcough*

Or installed Dr. Evil-style trapdoor seating for cell phone users/talkers/baby bringers.

Umbran · Jan 24, 2004

Kai Lord said:
I wonder if we'll ever see that again, with audiences flocking to see films on the big screen for up to a year at the first run theaters.

With cable movie channels and DVDs, not bloody likely.

It is also important to note that in the past decade or so, the amount of disposable income available to the average middle-class family with kids has dropped. After housing and education costs, there's less left over than there was back in 1977.

Effectively, then, the kids who went and saw Star Wars a whole mess of times have less wealth to spend, on average. They still have money to see movies, but they aren't going to spend so much of it on seeing the same thing over and over. Especially when those $8 to $10 movie tickets are in competition with video games and such for those $$.

Kai Lord · Jan 24, 2004

Umbran said:
With cable movie channels and DVDs, not bloody likely.

And as noted by Bass Puppet, growing (and cheapening) HDTV screens and home digital sound go a long way toward bringing that theatrical experience home. And really, if ROTK doesn't draw audiences for a year, I don't see how any film will again, ever.