Top 10 Largest Box Office Hits

This is the list top 10 largest box office hits. Rankings of both US (Domestic) and Worldwide Box-Office blockbusters have been compiled from various recent sources. A few other sites post all-time box-office information.

10. Spider-Man (2002) - $403,706,375

Spider-Man is a 2002 American superhero film, the first in the Spider-Man film series based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. It was directed by Sam Raimi and written by David Koepp. This largest box office hits stars Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, a high-school student who turns to crimefighting after developing spiderlike powers, along with Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn (a.k.a. the Green Goblin), Kirsten Dunst as Peter’s love interest Mary-Jane Watson, and James Franco as his best friend Harry Osborn.

9. Toy Story 3 (2010) - $414,984,497

Toy Story 3 is a 2010 American 3D computer-animated comedy-adventure film, and the third installment in the Toy Storyseries. This largest box office hits was produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Lee Unkrich. The film was released worldwide from June through October in Disney Digital 3-D, RealD and IMAX 3D. Toy Story 3 was also the first film to be released theatrically with 7.1 surround sound.

8. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) - $423,032,628

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest is a 2006 American adventure fantasy film and the second film of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, following Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl(2003). This largest box office hits was directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. In the film, the marriage of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) is interrupted by Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander).

7. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) - $431,065,444

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is a 1999 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. This largest box office hits is the fourth film to be released in the Star Wars saga, as the first of a three-part prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy, as well as the first film in the saga in terms of story chronology. The Phantom Menace was also Lucas’ first product as a film director after 22 years, and only his fourth overall.

6. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - $434,949,459

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Melissa Mathison and starring Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, and Peter Coyote. This largest box office hits tells the story of Elliott (played by Thomas), a lonely boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dubbed “E.T.”, who is stranded on Earth. Elliott and his siblings help the extraterrestrial return home while attempting to keep it hidden from their mother and the government.

5. Shrek 2 (2004) - $436,471,036

Shrek 2 is a 2004 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film, produced by DreamWorks Animation and directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon. It is the second installment in the Shrek film series and the sequel to 2001’s Shrek. The largest box office hits film features the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Rupert Everett and Jennifer Saunders.

4. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) - $460,935,665

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope is one of the largest box office hits, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Warssaga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the six-film saga. It is the fourth film in terms of the series’ internal chronology.

3. The Dark Knight (2008) - $533,316,061

The Dark Knight is a 2008 American superhero film directed, produced and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the largest box office hits film is part of Nolan’s Batman film series and a sequel to 2005’s Batman Begins. Christian Bale reprises the lead role of Bruce Wayne/Batman, with a returning cast of Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth, Gary Oldman as James Gordon and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox.

2. Titanic (1997) - $600,779,824

At the second of the list largest box office hits is Titanic. Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater, Gloria Stuart as Old Rose, and Billy Zane as Rose’s fiancé, Cal Hockley. Jack and Rose are members of different social classes who fall in love aboard the ship during its ill-fated maiden voyage.

1. Avatar (2009) - $760,505,847

Avatar is a 2009 American epic science fiction motion capture film written and directed by James Cameron, and starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Joel David Moore, Giovanni Ribisi and Sigourney Weaver. The film is set in the mid-22nd century, when humans are mining a precious mineral called unobtanium on Pandora, a lush habitable moon of a gas giant in the Alpha Centauri star system. The expansion of the mining colony threatens the continued existence of a local tribe of Na’vi—a humanoid species indigenous to Pandora. The largest box office hits film’s title refers to the genetically engineered Na’vi-human hybrid bodies used by a team of researchers to interact with the natives of Pandora.