Wednesday, 12 March 2008
List of biggest opening weekends
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What is notable about this list is that not many films released before the mid-to-late 1990s are on it. This is mainly because movies used to have small (by today's standards) opening weekends yet would go on to become blockbusters, whereas today, filmgoers tend to want to see the film when it first comes out, and for the most part, begin to lose interest in it after about its second weekend.
Perhaps the most important issue with this list is that it does not consider inflation whatsoever. For example, on the latter list, Return of the Jedi grossed about $23M on its opening weekend at 1983 pricing. However, using the consumer price index to adjust for inflation, the film grossed about $43M (2005 dollars), which would place it roughly halfway up this list. Due to the inherent instability of a monetary rating system, it could prove more accurate to rate films according by ticket sales rather than gross figures, but it most definitely is more accurate to at least consider inflation.
[edit] Biggest worldwide openings
Main source: BoxOfficeMojo
Spider-Man 3 (2007) ($381,660,892) - 108 countries
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) ($343,972,864) - 103 countries
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) ($332,715,157) - 45 countries
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) ($303,949,700) - 114 countries
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) ($250,000,534) - 29 countries
The Da Vinci Code (2006) ($232,074,037) - 71 countries
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) ($207,197,367) - 25 countries
War of the Worlds (2005) ($203,061,125) - 81 countries
The Matrix Revolutions (2003) ($201,390,000) - 110 countries
Transformers (2007) ($191,659,373) - 11 countries
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) ($189,946,212) - 15 countries
Spider-Man 2 (2004) ($189,364,483) - 30 countries
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) ($188,185,961) - 20 countries
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) ($182,270,554) - 8 countries
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) ($179,269,285) - 74 countries
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) ($179,012,790) - 83 countries
The Simpsons Movie (2007) ($170,890,984) - 72 countries
The Matrix Reloaded (2003) ($165,882,716) - 14 countries
X2 (2003) ($154,829,031) - 94 countries
The Day After Tomorrow (2004) ($151,443,584) - 111 countries
Note: The number of countries the film was released in during its opening weekend is listed. Most films don't open in all markets at once, but expand worldwide during a couple of weeks. These figures are not for opening weekends, but figures from the opening to the first Sunday as most films don't open worldwide on a Friday.
[edit] Biggest opening weekends in the U.S. and Canada
Main source: BoxOffice Mojo
Spider-Man 3 (2007) ($151,116,516)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) ($135,634,554)
Shrek the Third (2007) ($121,629,270)
Spider-Man (2002) ($114,844,116)
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) ($114,732,820)
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) ($108,435,841)
Shrek 2 (2004) ($108,037,878)
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) ($102,750,665)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) ($102,335,066)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) ($93,687,367)
The Matrix Reloaded (2003) ($91,774,413)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) ($90,294,621)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) ($88,357,488)
Spider-Man 2 (2004) ($88,156,227)
X2 (2003) ($85,558,731)
The Passion of the Christ (2004) ($83,848,082)
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) ($80,027,814)
I Am Legend (2007) ($77,211,321)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) ($77,108,414)
The Da Vinci Code (2006) ($77,073,388)
The Simpsons Movie (2007) ($74,036,787)
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) ($73,071,188)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) ($72,629,713)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) ($72,135,785)
300 (2007) ($70,885,301)
Transformers (2007) ($70,502,384)
The Incredibles (2004) ($70,467,623)
Finding Nemo (2003) ($70,251,710)
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) ($69,283,690)
The Day After Tomorrow (2004) ($68,743,584)
Planet of the Apes (2001) ($68,532,960)
The Mummy Returns (2001) ($68,139,035)
Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006) ($68,033,544)
Bruce Almighty (2003) ($67,953,330)
Rush Hour 2 (2001) ($67,408,222)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) ($65,556,312)
War of the Worlds (2005) ($64,878,725)
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999) ($64,810,970)
Monsters, Inc. (2001) ($62,577,067)
Hulk (2003) ($62,128,420)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) ($62,007,528)
Cars (2006) ($60,119,509)
Signs (2002) ($60,117,080)
Pearl Harbor (2001) ($59,078,912)
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)($58,051,684)
Hannibal (2001) ($58,003,121)
Mission: Impossible II (2000) ($57,845,297)
Toy Story 2 (1999) ($57,388,839)
[edit] Opening weekend record holders in the U.S. and Canada
These are the films that, when first released, set the opening weekend record.
Year
Title
Opening weekend
1933
King Kong
$90,000
1939
Gone with the Wind
$945,000
1965
The Sound of Music
$3,212,764
1975
Jaws
$7,061,513
1978
Jaws 2
$9,866,023
1979
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
$11,926,421
1981
Superman II
$14,100,523
1982
Rocky III
$16,015,408
1983
Return of the Jedi
$23,019,618
1984
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
$25,337,100
1985
Rambo: First Blood Part II
$25,520,843
1987
Beverly Hills Cop II
$26,348,555
1989
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
$29,355,021
1989
Ghostbusters II
$29,472,894
1989
Batman
$40,505,884
1992
Batman Returns
$45,687,710
1993
Jurassic Park
$47,026,828
1995
Batman Forever
$52,784,433
1997
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
$72,132,785
2001
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
$90,294,621
2002
Spider-Man
$114,844,116
2006
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
$135,634,554
2007
Spider-Man 3
$151,116,516
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_biggest_opening_weekends"
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