Could Ep III beat Titanic?

[reveal]

http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/boxoffice/alltime/

US Box office:
Titanic is #1 at $600,788,188
Star Wars (Ep4) is #2 at $460,998,007
RotK is #7 at $377,027,325

 

[Dimwhit]

http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/boxoffice/alltime/

US Box office:
Titanic is #1 at $600,788,188
Star Wars (Ep4) is #2 at $460,998,007
RotK is #7 at $377,027,325

Worldwide has more interesting numbers (in millions):

0001 $ 1835.4 Titanic (1997)
0002 $ 1129.2 Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The (2003)
0003 $ 975.8 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
0004 $ 925.5 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

I could see it topping 1 billion. Maybe beating RotK.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Adjusted for inflation, US box office, released 1977 or later.

1	1977	Star Wars		$1,012,785,986	
2	1982	ET:                     $836,075,432	
3	1997	Titanic			$801,330,773	
4	1980	Empire Strikes Back	$591,388,817	
5	1983	Return of the Jedi	$578,423,035	
6	1993	Jurassic Park		$536,911,818	
7	1999	The Phantom Menace	$529,866,325	
8	1981	Raiders of the Lost Ark	$515,440,596	
9	1994	Forrest Gump		$499,673,369	
10	1994	Lion King, The		$475,768,310	
11	1977	Close Encounters 	$463,013,454	
12	1978	Grease			$444,630,884	
13	1984	Ghostbusters		$441,694,049	
14	2004	Shrek 2			$436,721,700	
15	2002	Spider-Man  		$432,940,282	
16	1996	Independence Day	$430,853,566	
17	1990	Home Alone	        $421,602,958	
18	1984	Beverly Hills Cop	$421,137,739	
19	1989	Batman			$391,577,724	
20 	2003	The Return of the King	$386,177,918

Average ticket price in the US has gone from $4.59 in 1997 to $6.21 in 2004, so EPIII would have to sell around 2/3rds the same number of tickets as Titanic to have the equivalent box-office.

It would be kind of amusing to have the top two grossing movies be films in which the vast majority of the audience knew pretty much how the story ended before they even entered the theater.

 

[barsoomcore]

Titanic also benefited from being almost alone in the box-office for weeks (if not months) after its release. Nobody wanted to go up against the big boat, so it faced very little serious competition for movie-goers' dollars as it sailed along, which contributed to the "going again and again" thing. In the years since, the release skeds have gotten a lot more competitive, so I dunno if we'll see that kind of performance any time soon.

But you never know. If people were any good at predicting the future, we'd all be rich.

And I quite liked Titanic. Didn't quite earn its melodrama, but lots of good stuff. Including Kate Winslet.

 

[jasper]

Money wise maybe. # of Tickets sold no. No one can beat the # 1 movie . Gone with the Wind.

 

[John Crichton]

I used to think that one of the only reasons that Titanic did well was the romance and "girl factor." While that did contribute, it's really not why the movie broke records. It broke records because it was a movie done right about The Titanic. It is a subject that has facinated millions of people for generations since it sank. Way before the movie came out there were plenty of TV specials done that got great ratings so the public was already in love with the subject matter.

The movie had these things going for it:

- Topic that could appeal to anyone
- Director who knew what he was doing
- Terrific cast
- The benefit of truly cutting-edge special effects (CG & model) that were used seamlessly

It really was just a flat-out good movie. It satisfied the mystery element of the ship as it showed realistically what life was like aboard it. It satisfied women because of the romance angle.

Can Revenge of the Sith top it, even with inflation? If it does, it will be awfully close but I doubt it. We are now in the days of a movie only staying the theater for a short time. Titanic was still playing in my area 8-9 months after its release which is unheard of today. Heck, Return of the King was gone in 3-4 months in most areas and that movie did great.

Companies typically leave the movie out there until the ticket sales drop and then prep for a DVD release which will make them more money. That and the theaters want to keep cycling in newer films. And Titanic was a December release rather than a summer release. December is typically lower key than summer for a movie release. If Titanic was released in the summer it may not have stayed in the theater as long as it did as newer blockbusters would have pushed it out of the way.

And a final note: Gone With the Wind was seen by 4/5 (or a similarly high percentage that I can't recall at the moment) of America when it was released. That is a feat that will most likely never be duplicated.

 

[The_lurkeR]

Average ticket price in the US has gone from $4.59 in 1997 to $6.21 in 2004, so EPIII would have to sell around 2/3rds the same number of tickets as Titanic to have the equivalent box-office.

Average $6.21 ?!
I wonder where it's $3 to balance out the $9.50 we pay around here lately :\


Oh and my vote is no, it won't beat Titanic.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Average $6.21 ?!
I wonder where it's $3 to balance out the $9.50 we pay around here lately :\

Gotta remember those children's tickets, senior citizen discounts, matinees, etc. Seemed kinda low to me, too, but it was published in 2004, and I know every theater around here jumped at least a buck this year.

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

And a final note: Gone With the Wind was seen by 4/5 (or a similarly high percentage that I can't recall at the moment) of America when it was released. That is a feat that will most likely never be duplicated.

Of course not, it can never be duplicated cause America has other avenues of entertainment now.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Titanic also benefited from being almost alone in the box-office for weeks (if not months) after its release. Nobody wanted to go up against the big boat, so it faced very little serious competition for movie-goers' dollars as it sailed along, which contributed to the "going again and again" thing.

THat was largely a part of when it was released - it came out around Christmas, and the post-Christmas film schedule is always devoid of blockbuster type movies. So it had little competition in that time frame to knock it out of #1. On top of being a good flick, and appealing to all age and sex groups, etc. Titanic was the "perfect storm" of movies in that sense, and I don't think Ep III will be able to match it.