Avatar (2009) and Box Office Trends
Peter Krämer

Avatar Box Office in 2009/10	Total Box Office in 2009
$0.76 billion in the US and Canada	$10.6b in US/Canada
$2.02b outside US/Canada	$19.3b outside US/Canada
$2.78b worldwide	$29.9b worldwide

Top Grossing Films in US/Canada	Top Grossing Films Outside US/Canada
Source: Internet Movie Database, http://www.imdb.com/boxoffice/alltimegross, http://www.imdb.com/boxoffice/alltimegross?region-non-us; accessed 3 November 2010. Box office figures are not adjusted for inflation or for changing exchange rates. They include revenues from re-releases.
Italics are used to highlight films which did not make it into both top ten lists. 

1977-1981	

1   Star Wars (1977, $461m)	Star Wars (1977, $337m)	
2   The Empire Strikes Back (1980, $290m)	The Empire Strikes Back (1980, $244m)
3   Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981, $242m)	Grease (1978, $199m)
4   Grease (1978, $181m)	Close Encounters... (1977, $172m)
5   Animal House (1978, $142m)	Superman (1978, $155m)
6   Superman (1978, $134m)	Saturday Night Fever (1977, $143m)
7   Close Encounters... (1977, $128m)	Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981, $142m)
8   Smokey and the Bandit (1977, $127m)	Moonraker (1979, $140m)
9   On Golden Pond (1981, $119m)	The Spy Who Loved Me (1977, $139m)
10 Superman II (1980, $108m)	For Your Eyes Only (1981, $133m)

1982-86

1   E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982, $435m)	E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982, $322m)
2   Return of the Jedi (1983, $309m)	Return of the Jedi (1983, $264m)
3   Ghostbusters (1984, $239m)	Rocky IV (1985, $173m)
4   Beverly Hills Cop (1984, $235m)	Top Gun (1986, $168m)
5   Back to the Future (1985, $211m)	Crocodile Dundee (1986, $154m)
6   Indiana Jones...Temple... (1984, $180m)	Indiana Jones...Temple... (1984, $153m)
7   Tootsie (1982, $177m)	Out of Africa (1985, $152m)
8   Top Gun (1986, $177m)	Rambo...II (1985, $150m)
9   Crocodile Dundee (1986, $175m)	Back to the Future (1985, $140m)
10 Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985, $150m)	Octopussy (1983, $116m)

1987-91

1   Home Alone (1990, $286m)	Terminator 2 (1991, $312m)
2   Batman (1989, $251m)	Ghost (1990, $300m)
3   Ghost (1990, $218m)	Indiana Jones...Crusade (1989, $298m)
4   Terminator 2 (1991, $205m)	Pretty Woman (1990, $285m)
5   Indiana Jones...Crusade (1989, $197m)	Home Alone (1990, $248m)
6   Dances With Wolves (1990, $184m)	Dances With Wolves (1990, $240m)
7   Pretty Woman (1990, $178m)	Robin Hood (1991, $225m)
8   Rain Man (1988, $173m)	Back to the Future II (1989, $214m)
9   Beauty and the Beast (1991, $171m)	Beauty and the Beast (1991, $207m)
10 Three Men and a Baby (1987, $168m)	Who Framed Roger … (1988, $195m)

1992-96

1   Jurassic Park (1993, $357m)	Jurassic Park (1993, $563m)
2   Forrest Gump (1994, $330m)	Independence Day (1996, $505m)
3   The Lion King (1994, $328m)	The Lion King (1994, $455m)
4   Independence Day (1996, $306m)	Forrest Gump (1994, $350m)
5   Twister (1996, $242m)	The Bodyguard (1992, $289m)
6   Mrs. Doubtfire (1993, $219m)	Aladdin (1992, $285m)
7   Aladdin (1992, $217m)	Mission: Impossible (1996, $272m)
8   Toy Story (1995, $192m)	Die Hard...Vengeance (1995, $265m)
9   Batman Forever (1995, $184m)	Twister (1996, $253m)
10 The Fugitive (1993, $184m)	Se7en (1995, $250m)

1997-2001

1   Titanic (1997, $601m)	Titanic (1997, $1,235m)
2   Star Wars: Episode I... (1999, $431m)	Harry Potter...Stone (2001, $651m)
3   Harry Potter...Stone (2001, $318m)	The Lord...Fellowship... (2001, $547m)
4   The Lord...: ...Fellowship... (2001, $314m)	Star Wars: Episode I... (1999, $493m)
5   The Sixth Sense (1999, $294m)	The Lost World...  (1997, $385m)
6   Shrek (2001, $268m)	The Sixth Sense (1999, $368m)
7   How the Grinch... (2000, $260m)	Armageddon (1998, $353m)
8   Monsters, Inc. (2001, $256m)	Men in Black (1997, $337m)
9   Men in Black (1997, $250m)	Mission: Impossible II (2000, $330m)
10 Toy Story 2 (1999, $246m)	The Matrix (1999, $285m)

2002-2006

1   Shrek 2 (2004, $436m)	The Lord...: ...Return... (2003, $752m)
2   Pirates...: Dead Man’s Chest (2006, $423m)	Pirates...: Dead Man’s... (2006, $637m)
3   Spider-Man (2002, $404m)	Harry Potter...Chamber... (2002, $604m)
4   Star Wars: Episode III... (2005, $380m)	Harry Potter...Goblet... (2005, $602m)
5   The Lord...: The Return... (2003, $377m)	The Lord...: ...Towers (2002, $583m)
6   Spider-Man 2 (2004, $373m)	Harry Potter...Azkaban (2004, $546m)
7   The Passion of the Christ (2004, $370m)	The Da Vinci Code (2006, $541m)
8   The Lord..: ...Two Towers (2002, $340m)	Finding Nemo (2003, $525m)
9   Finding Nemo (2003, $340m)	Star Wars: Episode III... (2005, $468m)
10 Star Wars: Episode II... (2002, $311m)		The Matrix Reloaded (2003, $454m)

2007-October 2010

1…Avatar (2009, $760m)				Avatar (2009, $2,021m)
2…The Dark Knight (2008, $533m)			Ice Age: Dawn … (2009, $691m)
3…Toy Story 3 (2010, $414m)			Alice in Wonderland (2010, $689m)
4…Transformers: Revenge … (2009, $402m)	Pirates… World’s End (2007, $649m)
5…Spider-Man 3 (2007, $337m)			Toy Story 3 (2010, $647m)
6…Alice in Wonderland (2010, $334m)		Harry Potter…Phoenix (2007, $645m)
7…Shrek the Third (2007, $321m)			Harry Potter…Prince (2009, $632m)
8…Transformers (2007, $319)			2012 (2009, $601m)
9…Iron Man (2008, $318m)				Spider-Man 3 (2007, $549m)
10 Indiana Jones…Crystal Skull (2008, $317m)	Inception (2010, $525m)