I think considering that we're in a year where opening weekend rankings will be changing quite a bit, that it would be worthwhile to see adjusted opening weekend figures, to see where certain sequels and films may end up if we compare the admissions of their predecessors...

I'm using an estimated ticket price of $6.78. In my calculations, I found the adjusted openings for all the current $20 m + openers ever. I have only listed the top ones. Please also remember that adjusted for inflation is difficult to do with perfect accuracy, as I am using the 2003 ticket price, even for films to come out in December 2003 for instance.

Here are the top 100 adjusted openings of all time:

[table]1 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest $135,634,554 7/7/2006 $139,757,184.82
2 Spider-Man $114,844,116 5/3/2002 $134,017,746.38
3 Shrek 2 $108,037,878 5/19/2004 $117,954,398.20
4 Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith $108,435,841 5/19/2005 $114,874,219.06
5 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire $102,685,961 11/18/2005 $108,782,939.93
6 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone $90,294,621 11/16/2001 $108,162,107.84
7 The Lost World: Jurassic Park $72,132,785 5/23/1997 $106,549,081.11
8 X-Men: The Last Stand $102,750,665 5/26/2006 $105,873,785.52
9 The Matrix Reloaded $91,774,413 5/15/2003 $103,189,140.99
10 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets $88,357,488 11/15/2002 $103,109,082.38
11 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban $93,687,367 6/4/2004 $102,286,690.54
12 Spider-Man 2 $88,156,227 6/30/2004 $96,247,861.36
13 X2: X-Men United $85,558,731 5/2/2003 $96,200,364.21
14 Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones $80,027,814 5/16/2002 $93,388,739.92
15 The Passion of the Christ $83,848,082 2/25/2004 $91,544,282.76
16 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace $64,820,970 5/19/1999 $86,513,026.89
17 Austin Powers in Goldmember $73,071,188 7/26/2002 $85,270,680.66
18 Batman Forever $52,784,433 6/16/1995 $82,270,909.37
19 Planet of the Apes $68,532,960 7/27/2001 $82,094,252.44
20 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King $72,629,713 12/17/2003 $81,663,259.39
21 The Mummy Returns $68,139,035 5/4/2001 $81,622,377.61
22 Rush Hour 2 $67,408,222 8/3/2001 $80,746,951.44
23 The Da Vinci Code $77,073,388 5/19/2006 $79,416,044.17
24 Finding Nemo $70,251,710 5/30/2003 $78,989,484.88
25 Independence Day $50,228,264 7/3/1996 $77,046,975.10
26 Jurassic Park $47,026,828 6/11/1993 $77,014,950.20
27 The Incredibles $70,467,623 11/5/2004 $76,935,665.69
28 Toy Story 2 $57,388,839 11/24/1999 $76,593,765.44
29 Bruce Almighty $67,953,330 5/23/2003 $76,405,236.72
30 Men in Black $51,068,455 7/2/1997 $75,434,449.87
31 The Day After Tomorrow $68,743,584 5/28/2004 $75,053,381.57
32 Monsters, Inc. $62,577,067 11/2/2001 $74,959,808.17
33 Batman Returns $45,687,711 6/19/1992 $74,641,609.78
34 Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me $54,917,604 6/11/1999 $73,295,542.35
35 Mission: Impossible II $57,845,297 5/24/2000 $72,762,729.81
36 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers $62,007,528 12/18/2002 $72,359,903.59
37 Pearl Harbor $59,078,912 5/25/2001 $70,769,438.76
38 Signs $60,117,080 8/2/2002 $70,153,838.62
39 Ice Age: The Meltdown $68,033,544 3/31/2006 $70,101,432.88
40 300 $70,025,000 3/9/2007 $70,025,000.00
41 Hulk $62,128,420 6/20/2003 $69,855,835.42
42 Mission: Impossible $45,436,830 5/22/1996 $69,697,218.87
43 Hannibal $58,003,121 2/9/2001 $69,480,770.39
44 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe $65,556,312 12/9/2005 $69,448,718.03
45 How the Grinch Stole Christmas $55,082,330 11/17/2000 $69,287,235.14
46 Batman $40,489,746 6/23/1989 $69,148,734.98
47 War of the Worlds $64,878,725 6/29/2005 $68,730,899.30
48 X-Men $54,471,475 7/14/2000 $68,518,849.81
49 The Lion King $40,888,194 6/24/1994 $66,321,041.94
50 Godzilla $44,047,541 5/20/1998 $63,676,402.55
51 Batman and Robin $42,872,605 6/20/1997 $63,328,161.63
52 Scooby-Doo $54,155,312 6/14/2002 $63,196,732.42
53 Twister $41,059,405 5/10/1996 $62,982,526.22
54 Cars $60,119,509 6/9/2006 $61,946,849.70
55 Men in Black II $52,148,751 7/3/2002 $60,855,168.98
56 Jurassic Park III $50,771,645 7/18/2001 $60,818,330.94
57 8 Mile $51,240,555 11/8/2002 $59,795,346.45
58 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory $56,178,450 7/15/2005 $59,514,045.47
59 Deep Impact $41,152,375 5/8/1998 $59,491,066.63
60 Fantastic Four $56,061,504 7/8/2005 $59,390,155.80
61 Interview with the Vampire $36,389,705 11/11/1994 $59,024,449.74
62 Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls $37,804,076 11/10/1995 $58,922,215.01
63 The Mummy $43,369,635 5/7/1999 $57,883,095.53
64 The Bourne Supremacy $52,521,865 7/23/2004 $57,342,712.51
65 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider $47,735,743 6/15/2001 $57,181,685.08
66 The Waterboy $39,414,071 11/6/1998 $56,978,123.96
67 I, Robot $52,179,887 7/16/2004 $56,969,345.23
68 2 Fast 2 Furious $50,472,480 6/6/2003 $56,750,151.64
69 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring $47,211,490 12/19/2001 $56,553,692.97
70 Van Helsing $51,748,040 5/7/2004 $56,497,860.10
71 Big Daddy $41,536,370 6/25/1999 $55,436,336.34
72 The Village $50,746,142 7/30/2004 $55,404,000.44
73 Die Another Day $47,072,040 11/22/2002 $54,930,883.17
74 Air Force One $37,132,505 7/25/1997 $54,849,321.11
75 The Matrix Revolutions $48,475,154 11/5/2003 $54,504,402.01
76 Lethal Weapon 3 $33,243,086 5/15/1992 $54,310,391.10
77 Superman Returns $52,535,096 6/28/2006 $54,131,907.43
78 Scary Movie 3 $48,113,770 10/24/2003 $54,098,069.75
79 American Pie 2 $45,117,985 8/10/2001 $54,045,925.49
80 Ice Age $46,312,454 3/15/2002 $54,044,481.60
81 The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps $42,518,830 7/28/2000 $53,483,797.29
82 Mr. & Mrs. Smith $50,342,878 6/10/2005 $53,331,986.38
83 Scary Movie $42,346,669 7/7/2000 $53,267,238.56
84 King Kong $50,130,145 12/14/2005 $53,106,622.36
85 Star Wars (Special Edition) $35,906,661 1/31/1997 $53,038,597.29
86 Ransom $34,216,088 11/8/1996 $52,485,311.46
87 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl $46,630,690 7/9/2003 $52,430,527.06
88 Bad Boys II $46,522,560 7/18/2003 $52,308,948.06
89 Armageddon $36,089,972 7/1/1998 $52,172,710.06
90 The Perfect Storm $41,325,042 6/30/2000 $51,982,149.31
91 Shark Tale $47,604,606 10/1/2004 $51,974,110.90
92 XXX $44,506,103 8/9/2002 $51,936,553.93
93 Batman Begins $48,745,440 6/15/2005 $51,639,700.50
94 101 Dalmatians (Live Action) $33,504,025 11/27/1996 $51,393,051.92
95 Troy $46,865,412 5/14/2004 $51,167,068.17
96 Terminator 2: Judgment Day $31,765,506 7/3/1991 $51,156,800.64
97 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom $25,337,110 5/23/1984 $51,126,668.39
98 Home Alone 2: Lost in New York $31,126,882 11/20/1992 $50,853,074.69
99 Shrek $42,347,760 5/16/2001 $50,727,528.76
100 Charlie's Angels $40,128,550 11/3/2000 $50,477,100.00 [/table]

So we have one month this year which contains the 3rd films of 3 biggest adjusted opening weekends of all time. Wow!

It would be interesting to somehow incorporate 4 or 5 day opening weekend grosses - ie. Spidey 2, LOTR, TPOTC, ID4 etc.

May 07 is so incredibly big - the fact that 300 did so well being released w/o competition bodes well for the Big 3 in May.

Toy Story 2 would have had the second-largest opening weekend of all time at the time had it been released on a 3-day weekend (might have even topped The Lost World unadjusted), which is why I think the third one could top Shrek 2.

While I like the logic, I think films like Spidey 2 and Revenge of the Sith would have opened over 120 million had it not been for opening on a non weekend day. Do you think it works better if you simply use the PSA of films that opened wide (standard wide for their time) and use a current average of around 4000 theaters?

For Instance, with your relation, Return of the Jedi would have opened to 49 million today. And this was a opening weekend record. If you change it to using it's insane PSA over 23,000 on 1000 theaters and adjust that to 4000 which most high profile films would get today, it would be 92 million. The only wide release films to ever beat that numer was 14 films. Ironically as the films are more current there more in line with your list.

ROTS- 118 million
Goblet of Fire- 106 million
Reloaded 102 million
Spiderman 121 million.

Its a good list but list but I think its safe to say that Return of the Jedi would have opened higher than 49 million if released today. Your list is very comprehensive though, just trying to give out another factor to look at.

Definitely. It's so difficult to do adjusted for inflation lists, and openings are especially tricky. I'll try and incorporate averages somehow.

92mln unadjusted for inflation? Cool...

Just looking at this chart, if the new films do what their predecessors did admissions wise hypothetically, here is what we'd expect for the year:

1 POTC 3 $139,757,184.82
2 Spider-Man 3 $134,017,746.38 (I used Spider-man 1, as they are both May releases)
3 Shrek 3 $117,954,398.20
4 Harry Potter 5 $108,782,939.93
5 Rush Hour 3 $80,746,951.44
6 300 $70,885,000.00
7 Ratatouille $61,946,849.70
8 Fantastic Four 2 $59.39 m
9 Bourne 3 $57,342,712.51
10 Ghost Rider $45,388,836
11 Ocean's 13 $42.75 m
12 Chuck and Harry $41.22 m (Click's adjusted opening)
13 Wild Hogs $39,699,023
14 National Treasure 2 $38.37 m
15 Fred Clause $34.98 m (Used Elf)
16 Saw 4 $34.63 m
17 Die Hard 4 $34.54 m
18 Norbit $34,195,434
19 The Brave One $26.1 m (Used Flightplan to compare)
20 Beowolf $25.5 m

I didn't even include alot of big films like Tranformers or The Simpsons, but as you can see, we're getting sequels this year to some of the biggest franchises ever. The only thing missing really is a SW film.

Since I have a new 2024 annual ticket price ($11.784), based on a +3% increase in 2025 ticket prices, here is an updated list for the top OW's of all time for 2025:

1 Avengers: Endgame $473,197,657
2 Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens $357,022,595
3 Avengers: Infinity War $343,338,842
4 The Avengers $316,305,461
5 Spider-Man: No Way Home $303,599,720
6 Jurassic World $300,639,416
7 Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi $297,700,192
8 Avengers: Age of Ultron $275,392,279
9 Black Panther $269,135,784
10 The Dark Knight $267,788,655
11 Spider-Man 3 $266,595,892
12 Iron Man 3 $259,985,656
13 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 $258,958,393
14 The Lion King $254,107,142
15 Captain America: Civil War $251,364,730
16 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest $251,338,490
17 The Dark Knight Rises $245,323,211
18 Incredibles 2 $243,400,450
19 Spider-Man $239,917,858
20 Beauty and the Beast $236,459,208
21 The Hunger Games: Catching Fire $235,993,826
22 Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker $235,043,690
23 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice $232,938,439
24 The Hunger Games $232,588,653
25 The Twilight Saga: New Moon $231,161,718

26 Deadpool & Wolverine $217,778,350
27 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story $217,607,746
28 Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness $216,032,869
29 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 $215,101,913
30 Shrek the Third $214,575,247
31 Furious 7 $211,920,005
32 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 $211,407,529
33 Shrek 2 $211,161,337
34 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever $209,023,265
35 Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith $205,326,395
36 Captain Marvel $203,307,996
37 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End $202,408,706
38 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 $198,246,301
39 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom $197,217,526
40 Iron Man 2 $197,096,218
41 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire $194,438,831
42 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone $193,631,231
43 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 $192,319,500
44 The Lost World: Jurassic Park $190,743,599
45 X-Men: The Last Stand $190,402,786
46 Finding Dory $189,514,077
47 Suicide Squad $187,580,458
48 Deadpool $185,829,836
49 The Matrix Reloaded $184,728,652
50 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets $184,585,332

51 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban $183,113,090
52 Barbie $182,425,399
53 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 $181,093,632
54 Alice in Wonderland $178,603,104
55 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen $176,344,097
56 Man of Steel $174,104,531
57 Frozen II $172,606,344
58 Spider-Man 2 $172,302,410
59 X2: X-Men United $172,217,381
60 Toy Story 3 $169,690,204
61 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull $169,279,244
62 Jurassic World Dominion $167,223,010
63 Deadpool 2 $167,216,858
64 Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones $167,184,026
65 It $166,980,097
66 Iron Man $166,711,150
67 Minions $166,611,442
68 Thor: Love and Thunder $166,173,492
69 Thor: Ragnarok $166,089,159
70 The Super Mario Bros. Movie $164,793,141
71 The Passion of the Christ $163,882,089
72 Toy Story 4 $160,210,050
73 Inside Out 2 $158,827,723
74 Spider-Man: Homecoming $158,352,693
75 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace $154,875,161

76 Avatar: The Way of Water $154,572,096
77 The Batman $154,466,510
78 Austin Powers in Goldmember $152,651,120
79 Transformers: Dark of the Moon $149,771,892
80 Transformers: Age of Extinction $148,619,089
81 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 $147,818,553
82 Batman Forever $147,280,945
83 Planet of the Apes $146,964,695
84 The Secret Life of Pets $146,426,066
85 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King $146,193,133
86 The Mummy Returns $146,119,947
87 Top Gun: Maverick $146,050,742
88 Fast & Furious 6 $145,374,414
89 The Jungle Book $144,894,576
90 Rush Hour 2 $144,552,764
91 Moana 2 $143,981,007
92 The Da Vinci Code $142,821,342
93 Finding Nemo $141,406,556
94 Captain America: The Winter Soldier $141,169,194
95 Guardians of the Galaxy $140,125,043
96 Wonder Woman $139,712,017
97 Godzilla $138,442,580
98 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides $137,985,018
99 Independence Day $137,929,086
100 Jurassic Park $137,871,755

Forgot how big this one was. Also 450 adjusted total.

How is The Lion King ($40m OW 1994) #14 and Jurassic Park ($47m OW 1993) #100 ??

That's the 2019 Lion King

Nothing's ever going to beat Endgame

There is always a new record breaker, might take years but something always breaks the record.

Where is the 1994 TLK on the update list???

Based on 1994 ticket price ($4.08), TLK 1994's $40.89M wide OW would now adjust to $121.6M.

Insane how Moana 2 and Wicked are aiming for domestic grosses in line with Endgame's OW!!!

Also that Mufasa's total gross will be around what TLK 2019's adjusted opening weekend will be!

Insane. A huge drop, though glad it is self-correcting to a decent gross.

This is why ticket sales are well down - even if the overall BO numbers are looking good.

Other surprising #'s below the top 100, so much box office $$$ untapped from comedies:

Bruce Almighty $137M
Hangover Part II $132M
The Lego Movie $103M
The Waterboy $102M
Scary Movie 3 $100M

If Happy Gilmore 2 theatrical release, think it could have done $70M+. Also how far the Lego movie brand has gone that they are making Pharrell films.

Batman & Robin even now adjusts to $113M. A superhero film would be lucky to get there.

Yeah, comedy could really open big.

I think Bruce and Hangover are the three-day portion of Memorial Day weekend too - so they are even bigger.

It's sad to see the Lego Movie franchise never live up to the first one. I loved Lego Batman but it did fall short.

Prime Sandler and Carey were untouchable. Perhaps only Will Ferrel ever came close.

Carrey was another level. Sandler was very consistent but never true blue mega smash breakout. Ferrell oversaturated himself.

Carrey mid to late 1990s run was epic, peaking with the mega hyped Grinch.

Sandler consistently adjusts over 60 million for at least 10 films, and he broke every single Netflix record at the time with terrible films, hard to write that off. Too bad Happy Gilmore 2 isn’t going theatrical, think it could have outgrossed the original in 1 day

Scary Movie 3's is bigger than I expected considering it was coming off the 2nd movie which while an underrated classic to me was not that appreciated with 13% RT and making half as much as the first.

Bruce Almighty was definitely a "super bowl spot" type of event. The days when a comedy could pull that off let alone an original one...