Pirates 4 about to become the 8th film to earn $1 billion

Many online are cheering or booing as another film approaches the honor of earning $1 billion in worldwide box office sales. With only seven films to have ever achieved that goal, it’s nowhere near being a common occurrence yet, but it should be no surprise that almost all of them are films from recent years:

1. Avatar (2009) $2,782,300,000
2. Titanic (1997) $1,843,200,000
3. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003) $1,119,100,000
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) $1,066,200,000
5. Toy Story 3 (2010) $1,063,200,000
6. Alice in Wonderland (Ugh) (2010) $1,024,300,000
7. The Dark Knight (2008) $1,001,900,000
8. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) $987,100,000
9. Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone (2001) $974,700,000
10. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007) $963,400,000

It’s worth reminding everyone that these are not adjusted for inflation. It’s hard to believe that with inflation included, Titanic topped $1 billion just domestically in 1997, and that without inflation, Jurassic Park — my favorite film of all time — still managed to make about $914,700,000 worldwide back in 1993!