Claim: Minions out-grossed other films.

Films generate income from several revenue streams , including theatrical exhibition , home video , television broadcast rights and merchandising . However , theatrical box office earnings are the primary metric for trade publications in assessing the success of a film , mostly because of the availability of the data compared to sales figures for home video and broadcast rights , but also because of historical practice . Included on the list are charts of the top box office earners -LRB- ranked by both the nominal and real value of their revenue -RRB- , a chart of high-grossing films by calendar year , a timeline showing the transition of the highest-grossing film record , and a chart of the highest-grossing film franchises and series . All charts are ranked by international theatrical box office performance where possible , excluding income derived from home video , broadcasting rights and merchandise .   Traditionally , war films , musicals and historical dramas have been the most popular genres , but franchise films have been among the best performers in the 21st century . Seven Harry Potter films and five films from Peter Jackson 's Middle-earth series are included in the nominal earnings chart , while the Jurassic Park , Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises feature prominently . There is also continued interest in the superhero genre : Batman and Superman from DC Comics and films based on the Marvel Comics brand , such as Spider-Man , X-Men and films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe , have generally done well . The only films in the top ten that are not adapted from a pre-existing property or a sequel are the top two , Avatar and Titanic , both directed by James Cameron . Animated family films have performed consistently well , with Disney films enjoying lucrative re-releases prior to the home-video era . Disney also enjoyed later success with films such as Frozen -LRB- the highest-grossing animated film -RRB- , Zootopia and The Lion King , as well as with its Pixar brand , of which the Toy Story and Finding Nemo films have been the best performers . Beyond Pixar animation , the Shrek , Ice Age and Despicable Me series have met with the most success .   While inflation has eroded away the achievements of most films from the 1960s and 1970s , there are franchises originating from that period that are still active . Besides the Superman franchise , James Bond , Planet of the Apes , Star Wars and Star Trek films are still being released periodically ; all five are among the highest-grossing franchises . Some of the older films that held the record of highest-grossing film still have respectable grosses by today 's standards , but no longer compete numerically against today 's top-earners in an era of much higher individual ticket prices . When properly adjusted for inflation , however , on that comparative scale Gone with the Wind -- which was the highest-grossing film outright for twenty-five years -- is still the highest-grossing film of all-time . All grosses on the list are expressed in U.S. dollars at their nominal value , except where stated otherwise .