What is notable about this list is that not many films released before the mid-to-late 1990s are on it. This is mainly because movies used to have small (by today's standards) opening weekends yet would go on to become blockbusters, whereas today, filmgoers tend to want to see the film when it first comes out, and for the most part, begin to lose interest in it after about its second weekend.
Perhaps the most important issue with this list is that it does not consider inflation whatsoever. For example, on the latter list, Return of the Jedi grossed about $23M on its opening weekend at 1983 pricing. However, using the consumer price index to adjust for inflation, the film grossed about $43M (2005 dollars), which would place it roughly halfway up this list. Due to the inherent instability of a monetary rating system, it could prove more accurate to rate films according by ticket sales rather than gross figures, but it definitely is more accurate to at least consider inflation.
Biggest worldwide openings
Main source: BoxOfficeMojo
Note: The number of countries the film was released in during its opening weekend is listed. Most films don't open in all markets at once, but expand worldwide during a couple of weeks. These figures are not for opening weekends, but figures from the opening to the first Sunday as most films don't open worldwide on a Friday. Figures before the year 2002 are not available.
Biggest opening weekends in the U.S. and Canada
Main source: IMDb
| Rank | Film | Year | Opening Three Day Weekend |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Dark Knight | 2008 | $158,411,483 |
| 2 | Spider-Man 3 | 2007 | $151,116,516 |
| 3 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest | 2006 | $135,634,554 |
| 4 | Shrek the Third | 2007 | $121,629,270 |
| 5 | Spider-Man | 2002 | $114,844,116 |
| 6 | Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End | 2007 | $114,732,820 |
| 7 | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | 2009 | $112,000,000 |
| 8 | Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith | 2005 | $108,435,841 |
| 9 | Shrek 2 | 2004 | $108,037,878 |
| 10 | X-Men: The Last Stand | 2006 | $102,750,665 |
| 11 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | 2005 | $102,685,961 |
| 12 | Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull | 2008 | $100,137,835 |
| 13 | Iron Man | 2008 | $98,618,668 |
| 14 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | 2004 | $93,687,367 |
| 15 | The Matrix Reloaded | 2003 | $91,774,413 |
| 16 | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone | 2001 | $90,294,621 |
| 17 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | 2002 | $88,357,488 |
| 18 | Spider-Man 2 | 2004 | $88,156,227 |
| 19 | X2 | 2003 | $85,558,731 |
| 20 | X-Men Origins: Wolverine | 2009 | $85,058,003 |
| 21 | The Passion of the Christ | 2004 | $83,848,082 |
| 22 | Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones | 2002 | $80,027,814 |
| 23 | I Am Legend | 2007 | $77,211,321 |
| 24 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | 2007 | $77,108,414 |
| 25 | The Da Vinci Code | 2006 | $77,073,388 |
| 26 | Star Trek | 2009 | $75,204,209 |
| 27 | The Simpsons Movie | 2007 | $74,036,787 |
| 28 | Austin Powers in Goldmember | 2002 | $73,071,188 |
| 29 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | 2003 | $72,629,713 |
| 30 | The Lost World: Jurassic Park | 1997 | $72,135,785 |
| 31 | Fast & Furious | 2009 | $70,950,500 |
| 32 | 300 | 2007 | $70,885,301 |
| 33 | Transformers | 2007 | $70,502,384 |
| 34 | The Incredibles | 2004 | $70,467,623 |
| 35 | Finding Nemo | 2003 | $70,251,710 |
| 36 | Twilight | 2008 | $69,637,740 |
| 37 | The Bourne Ultimatum | 2007 | $69,283,690 |
| 38 | The Day After Tomorrow | 2004 | $68,743,584 |
| 39 | Planet of the Apes | 2001 | $68,532,960 |
| 40 | The Mummy Returns | 2001 | $68,139,035 |
| 41 | Up | 2009 | $68,108,790 |
| 42 | Ice Age: The Meltdown | 2006 | $68,033,544 |
| 43 | Bruce Almighty | 2003 | $67,953,330 |
| 44 | Quantum of Solace | 2008 | $67,528,882 |
| 45 | Rush Hour 2 | 2001 | $67,408,222 |
| 46 | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | 2005 | $65,556,312 |
| 47 | War of the Worlds | 2005 | $64,878,725 |
| 48 | Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace | 1999 | $64,810,970 |
| 49 | Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa | 2008 | $63,106,589 |
| 50 | WALL-E | 2008 | $63,087,526 |
| 51 | Hancock | 2008 | $62,603,879 |
| 52 | Monsters, Inc. | 2001 | $62,577,067 |
| 53 | Hulk | 2003 | $62,128,420 |
| 54 | Kung Fu Panda | 2008 | $60,239,130 |
| 55 | Signs | 2002 | $60,117,080 |
| 56 | Monsters vs. Aliens | 2009 | $59,321,095 |
| 57 | Pearl Harbor | 2001 | $59,078,912 |
| 58 | Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer | 2007 | $58,051,684 |
| 59 | Hannibal | 2001 | $58,003,121 |
| 60 | Mission: Impossible II | 2000 | $57,845,297 |
| 61 | Toy Story 2 | 1999 | $57,388,839 |
| 62 | Sex and the City | 2008 | $57,038,404 |
| 63 | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | 2005 | $56,178,450 |
| 64 | Fantastic Four | 2005 | $56,061,504 |
| 65 | The Incredible Hulk | 2008 | $55,414,050 |
| 66 | Watchmen | 2009 | $55,214,334 |
| 67 | How the Grinch Stole Christmas | 2000 | $55,082,330 |
| 68 | Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me | 1999 | $54,917,604 |
| 69 | X-Men | 2000 | $54,471,475 |
| 70 | Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian | 2009 | $54,173,286 |
| 71 | Scooby-Doo | 2002 | $54,155,312 |
| 72 | Batman Forever | 1995 | $52,784,433 |
| 73 | Superman Returns | 2006 | $52,535,096 |
| 74 | The Bourne Supremacy | 2004 | $52,521,865 |
| 75 | I, Robot | 2004 | $52,179,887 |
| 76 | Men in Black II | 2002 | $52,148,751 |
| 77 | Van Helsing | 2004 | $51,748,040 |
| 78 | 8 Mile | 2002 | $51,240,555 |
| 79 | Men in Black | 1997 | $51,068,455 |
| 80 | The Village | 2004 | $50,746,142 |
| 81 | Jurassic Park III | 2001 | $50,771,645 |
| 82 | 2 Fast 2 Furious | 2003 | $50,472,480 |
| 83 | Independence Day | 1996 | $50,228,264 |
| 84 | King Kong | 2005 | $50,130,145 |
| 85 | Batman Begins | 2005 | $48,745,440 |
| 86 | The Matrix Revolutions | 2003 | $48,475,154 |
| 87 | Scary Movie 3 | 2003 | $48,113,770 |
| 88 | Mission: Impossible III | 2006 | $47,743,273 |
| 89 | Lara Croft: Tomb Raider | 2001 | $47,735,743 |
| 90 | Jurassic Park | 1993 | $47,026,828 |
| 91 | Ratatouille | 2007 | $47,027,395 |
| 92 | Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby | 2006 | $47,042,215 |
| 93 | Die Another Day | 2002 | $47,072,040 |
| 94 | Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl | 2003 | $46,630,690 |
| 95 | Bad Boys II | 2003 | $46,522,560 |
| 96 | Angels & Demons | 2009 | $46,204,168 |
| 97 | Batman Returns | 1992 | $45,687,711 |
| 98 | Mission: Impossible | 1995 | $45,436,830 |
| 99 | The Hangover | 2009 | $44,979,319 |
| 100 | Godzilla | 1998 | $44,047,541 |
Opening weekend record holders in U.S. and Canada
These are the films that, when first released, set the opening weekend record.
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