CT ANH will soon leave the top 10 boxoffice list for the first time in 4 decades

CONGRATS TO STAR WARS FOR SUCH AN AMAZING RUN. Beauty and the Beast will soon knock Star Wars: Episode 4 out of the top 10 All Time domestic boxoffice list (unadjusted). While it's obviously one of the highest grossing films, adjusted for inflation, the unadjusted list is more frequently cited and referenced. I remember a time when Raiders of the Lost Ark was in the top 10. It goes to show the mass appeal and enduring popularity of Star Wars that a film from the 1970s remained there for so long.

 

The box office achievements of the original Star Wars are a once-in-a-generation occurrence Even rarer than that, honestly. Gone with the Wind and Star Wars stand alone as the most successful movies of all time.

 

Consider this: you could re-release "Star Wars" in theaters today, forty years after its original release, and it would be a big success. How many of the other movies on the unadjusted list would do as well in theaters, forty years after their initial release?

 

There was a brief time after ROTS came out where all 6 films were in the top 15 I believe. At least 3 of them were in the top 10.

 

the thing is unadjusted means nothing to me. every time they say a film breaks a record they're really misleading people and they know it.

 

Mhm, I don't think that was the case. ANH, TPM and ROTS were at 2, 5 and 7 at that point, but AOTC, ROTJ and ESB only at 18, 19 and 23. It's true shortly after the release of AOTC though. ANH and TPM were at 2 and 4, while AOTC, ROTJ and ESB were at 11, 12 and 15.

What's really funny is looking at the alltime list at the end of 1984 though:
#1 ET (Spielberg)
#2 Star Wars (Lucas)
#3 Jaws (Spielberg)
#4 Return of the Jedi (Lucas)
#5 Raiders of the Lost Ark (Spielberg+Lucas)
#6 Empire strikes Back (Lucas)
...
#10 Temple of Doom (Spielberg+Lucas)

 

A re-release could propel it back into the top 10 (unadjusted) but perhaps not. Lion King and maybe 1 or 2 of the Avengers movies stands at chance of reaching the top 10 (the bar for entry is insanely high now).

Yes, yes, the adjusted list is more accurate and I agree. Still, seeing Lucas/Spielberg films in the unadjusted top 10 gives me the feels because that's the list everyone references.

 

Almost all of those are Kathleen Kennedy movies right?

 

Ahh yeah I think I remember now... ET was the first movie she produced IIRC

Lesson - never post before you spend 30 seconds on google

 

Wow, to be dethroned by Beauty and the Beast. I can't imagine a more lowly and embarrassing event.

 

Sad news, but nevertheless impressive for how long it's been there. I've noticed a lot more "fad" movies that bank on current trends are more often making the cut with a short but powerful surge of popularity.

Though remember, Star Wars being re-released was an event in itself. Every few years or so it would come back, and people would still flock to the theaters in droves. There was a big gap before the Special Editions, and then poof, nothing afterwards. The interest is still there, and back then, it wasn't even though of as competition with the other movies because there was at least one re-release between all the sequels. I've said before how pleased I was with the 3D re-release of The Phantom Menace, and how that got me more excited than ever to see the rest of the films in theaters (The Original Trilogy!), and then Disney happened.

 

I agree. I wish I could see ANH on the big screen...and I'd see it more than once for sure!

 

Yes....but a thing isn't beautiful because it lasts.

 

The unadjusted list is a load of meaningless cobblers.

 

Update the special edition special effects, take out the Jabba scene and the Han shoots at the same time as Greedo mess, and ANH will still make bank at the box office.

 

Not sure if you're being serious. The all time adjusted for inflation list still has ANH at #2. Beauty and the Beast is at #94. Sure doesn't look like there's any danger there.

The question now is....its the 40th Anniversary of ANH this year. Why not do a global re-release for a week or 2 in celebration? I've only seen the SE in theaters. I'd love to see the original version.

 

Because Fox, I imagine.

 

I've seen three versions in theaters so far. "Star Wars." The "Episode IV, A New Hope" re-release and the special edition re-release. I'm ready for a restoration of the original theatrical release, but I doubt we'll ever see that in theaters.

 

It's actually arguable whether or not SW is the true #1 adjusted film. There's a decent amount of evidence that the Gone with the Wind data may not be very accurate.

 

All those box office stats get pretty murky when you add time to the mix or when you look at international box office.

I wouldn't count the original Star Wars out just yet. A 3D re-release of ANH could very well add another 70 million or to it's box office total keeping it in the top 10 longer.

 

The adjusted data on boxofficemojo is only domestic. I think the numbers for the original SW are pretty accurate...but yeah, when you go back to the WW2 era the data is definitely going to get murky.... a lot of estimating involved.

 

Agreed. I guess number of tickets sold would be the fairest way to decide something but those numbers are even harder to find and there are theories that discount that. And the way World Wide Box Office is impacted by the strength of the US Dollar and other factors that number becomes almost meaningless. Apparently before TV a much much larger percentage of the population went to the movies everyday than does now. But with a growing population you can still get more people going to the movies even if it's a smaller part of the population. So that means number of tickets sold might not mean that much.

Then you factor in TV, Home Video, and all the other ways you can see something. I wonder have more people actually seen The Force Awakens than Gone with the Wind? Surely more people saw the first Star Wars than The Force Awakens? It's impossible to know for sure.