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Movies That Found Early Success
In the past, we've talked about history's best-selling books, top rated TV shows, most popular video games, best-selling albums, and the albums that topped the charts the longest.
After reading that The Simpsons notched the seventeenth-best opening day of all time, I was curious about the top sixteen (and subsequent three). Here's the list, courtesy of Box Office Mojo:
1 Spider-Man 3, $59,841,919
2 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, $55,830,600
3 Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, $50,013,859
4 X-Men: The Last Stand, $45,102,265
5 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, $44,232,338
6 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, $42,910,392
7 Spider-Man 2, $40,442,604
8 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, $40,118,363
9 Spider-Man, $39,406,872
10 Shrek the Third, $38,426,991
11 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, $38,268,295
12 The Matrix Reloaded, $37,508,303
13 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, $34,450,834
14 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, $32,333,203
15 X2: X-Men United, $31,247,979
16 Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, $30,141,471
17 The Simpsons Movie, $30,000,000
18 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, $29,631,453
19 The Da Vinci Code, $28,630,324
20 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, $28,542,349
I took a long lunch on Friday to contribute to that seventeenth-place finish, my second Simpsons-related field trip this month (see Kwik-E-Mart pics here). Actually, I didn't technically contribute, since I cashed in a Fandango gift card from my good friend "“and new father "“ Matt Hall, the pride of Wantage, NJ. For the record, I thoroughly enjoyed the film.
And for all of you asking about inflation-adjusted figures, here's the list of the top twenty highest-grossing movies since 1977, adjusted for inflation, courtesy of The-Numbers.com (total, not just on day one):