Talk:List of highest-grossing films

Sourcing...

Looking at the list, one can't help but notice a) Box Office Mojo (BOM) is by far the most cited source, and b) the long list of footnotes explaining all the problems and errors with BOM, and the (skirting-with-OR?) actions taken as apparent remedies? Should BOM still be considered as a reliable source? Is BOM the only website we can rely on here? Or are there others? What would we do if BOM went offline tomorrow? Thanks

(While all are obviously welcome to respond, I'm particularly interested in Betty Logan's reply, considering the extensive work she has put into this page.) - \\'cԼF 00:58, 16 March 2025 (UTC)

If BOM went offline tomorrow we would still have the archived sources, and also The Numbers. The problem with The Numbers is that it doesn't track films for as long (and it often ignores re-releases), so we ultimately end up with less accurate figures. Even with all of its problems, BOM is still by far the most accurate and comprehensive source. We can identify the double-counting issue and address it, although it is far from ideal. If there was another comprehensive source available I would advocate switching in a heartbeat. What gets me is that BOM actually charges for premium access—it's a travesty and possibly fraudulent that they know they are selling corrupted data! Betty Logan (talk) 01:28, 16 March 2025 (UTC)

Another source for Hong Kong (particularly relevant for Ne Zha 2)

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council keeps track of the box office numbers in Hong Kong every week, which they post on this page. Their figures are in HKD only, but Wikipedia has templates to convert HKD to USD (here and here). Also note that HKD is pegged to USD within a narrow band (1 USD equals between 7.75 and 7.85 HKD). It appears that HKTDC updates their information much more frequently than Box Office Mojo does for Hong Kong, so this might be useful as an alternative source, since people have been talking about that. If so, the HKTDC page might need to be archived weekly, as I'm not sure whether there is an easily accessible archive of previous weeks. 2001:56A:F06C:F200:3840:48A8:AD61:90AE (talk) 06:48, 17 March 2025 (UTC)

Ne Zha 2 sources

Two sources that give different numbers are cited. Isn't that an issue? Spectritus (talk) 23:42, 19 March 2025 (UTC)

It appears that the Chinese gross is being taken from the Chinese source and the grosses for the other territories are being taken from Box Office Mojo. It's a slightly unusual approach but it is permitted per WP:CALC. Betty Logan (talk) 04:24, 20 March 2025 (UTC)

@Betty Logan But Mojo seem to have stopped reporting North American box office figures for the film since March 11 Tuesday for strange reasons though the film is still earning a decent sum according to trade analyst Luiz Fernando in his March 17 post. [1] Its been over a two week and no updates by them when usually they update 2-3 times a week. Also no updates from SE Asian markets yet such as Singapore which has finished two weeks since its debut in 6 march and Malaysia since 13 March. I'm not sure if they will update the numbers as similar incidents were observed with One Piece Film: Red where they suddenly stopped updating its domestic figure after 10 days for no reason. Arorapriyansh333 (talk) 14:45, 23 March 2025 (UTC)

The Birth of a Nation

The topic of it's inflation adjusted earnings have been long subject of debate however it's status as one of the highest grossing movies is not, i tried to compile some reliable media sources citing figures for it to see if there's any general consensus that could help us.

Time Magazine - 18,000,000 gross earnings ("First few years") [2]

The Library of Congress - 50,000,000 Tickets Sold (1915-1919) [3]

Hollywood Reporter - 50,000,000 Tickets Sold (1915-1919) [4]

Oxford University Press - 50,000,000 Tickets Sold (1915-1919) [5]

The Independent - Over 50,000,000 Tickets Sold [6]

Taylor and Francis Publishing - Over 50,000,000 tickets [7]

MovieWeb - 50,000,000 ticket sold (During it's run) [8]

Los Angeles Times - 60,000,000 Earnings (Lifetime Revenue) [9]

The NewYorker - 18,000,000 (Likely same as Time Magazine) [10]

Every source repeats that it sold 50 million tickets within the first 5-6 years of it's release, however the total gross ranges widely. Various sources like PBS claim 2 dollars per ticket [11][12]

If anyone has sources to add feel free Never17 (talk) 21:15, 3 April 2025 (UTC)

It is next to impossible to pin down how much The Birth of a Nation has earned. The most reliable estimates put its gross rental at about $15–18 million ($35–45 million gross) around the time Gone with the Wind came out, but that is likely to be an under-estimate because it was sold on a "states rights" basis in the early years. Variety once estimated it had earned $50 million gross but later retracted the claim, and in fairness that's probably at the lower end. Some estimates run as high as $100 million gross (which is unlikely IMO, given how long it took Gone with the Wind to get there). The truth is that nobody knows how much it earned, and is unlikely to ever know. Richard Corliss estimated it had grossed $1.8 billion adjusted ten years ago, which would put it in the $2–2.5 billion range today, but that is based on some very subjective estimates. Betty Logan (talk) 00:46, 4 April 2025 (UTC)

Yeah there are various estimates of it's gross, the only thing we know is that it sold 50 million tickets. I thought maybe us knowing that would help narrow it down but it's very complex Never17 (talk) 00:55, 4 April 2025 (UTC)