Has Hollywood peaked? The top performing movies of all-time took place decades ago
Bottom Line: The recreation of the Lion King brought in huge money and set several records in the process, despite reviews suggesting it’s not very good (highly predictable considering how well done the original one – there’s nowhere to go but down in my opinion). Anyway. The thing is, all of these “records” you hear about these days aren’t records at all. At least when you compare apples to apples. To get an accurate read of the performance of movies over the years you have to adjust for inflation. That’s exactly what CNBC did to compare the all-time best performing movies. And when they did – guess what – the newest movie to crack the top ten is 22 years old. Truth is Hollywood hasn’t produced an all-time performer in decades. Here’s the top ten scorecard:
10. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
9. The Exorcist (1973)
8. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
7. Jaws (1975)
6. The Ten Commandments (1956)
5. Titanic (1997)
4. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
3. The Sound of Music (1965)
2. Star Wars (1977)
1. Gone with the Wind (1939)
Yes, the top performing movie is now eighty years ago and the most recent top ten production was 22 years ago. With Hollywood’s best ideas now seemingly being about trying to playoff of previous hits and endless media options available, the question is highly relevant. Has Hollywood peaked? It sure looks like it and actually quite some time ago.