Top Grossing Broadway-Based Movie Musicals. Interesting.

[Marquise]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 10:38am

The top-grossing Broadway-based movie musicals.

1. GREASE [1978] Paramount Pictures. John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing. Dir: Randal Kleiser. $188.4M

2. CHICAGO (2002) Miramax Films. Richard Gere, Renee Zellwegger, Catherine Zeta-Jones. Dir: Rob Marshall. $170.7M

3. THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) 20th Century-Fox. Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick. Dir: Jim Sharman. $112.9M

4. THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS (1982) Universal Pictures. Burt Reynolds, Dolly Parton, Dom DeLuise. Dir: Colin Higgins. $69.7M

5. ANNIE (1982) Columbia Pictures. Albert Finney, Carol Burnett, Aileen Quinn. Dir: John Huston. $57.1M

6. ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER'S THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (2004) Warner Bros. Pictures. Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum. Dir: Joel Schumacher. $51.2M

7. EVITA (1996) Hollywood Pictures. Madonna, Antonio Banderas, Jimmy Nail. Dir: Alan Parker. $50M

8. LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1986) Warner Bros. Pictures. Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Steve Martin. Dir: Frank Oz. $38.7M

9. HAIR (1979) United Artists. John Savage, Treat Williams, Beverly D'Angelo. Dir: Milos Forman $15.3M

and . . .


10. A CHORUS LINE (1985) Embassy Pictures. Michael Douglas, Alyson Reed, Audrey Landers. Dir: Sir Richard Attenborough $14.2M

Source: Box Office Mojo

Updated On: 8/14/05 at 10:38 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 10:50am

...And inaccurate. Where's "The Sound of Music?"

Plus, Little Shop was an Off-Broadway show only, when this film was made.

Also M.I.A.: My Fair Lady & West Side Story, and... Did anyone fact-check this list first?

Updated On: 8/14/05 at 10:50 AM

[Marquise]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 10:59am

I don't know you would have to take it up with the people over at Box Office Mojo. They are the ones that compiled the list.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 11:23am

These kind of lists are ridiculous anyway, since you can't compare a movie's box office gross to one of 40 to 60 years ago. Mojo isn't the only one spouting out inaccurate info. I always laugh at these numbers when they're released each year (or each week) in the trade papers.

It's the same thing as saying, "I sold my house last year for WAY more money than my great-grandmother sold hers for in 1938." Well, I should hope so! And what exactly is that saying?

If you compare per-unit ticket prices for movies, and factor in inflation, "The Sound of Music" would still be the biggest Broadway-based movie musical, probably for all-time. And "Gone With the Wind" (which in today's dollars would have grossed well over 1 billion just domestically) would even leave Titanic in the dust. So when movie studios start to shout, "It's the biggest, highest-grossing..." etc., take it with a huge grain of salt.

Updated On: 8/14/05 at 11:23 AM

[perfectliar]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 11:24am

I'm guessing they didn't allow for inflation when they compiled this list.

Hair and A Chorus Line both came out over twenty years ago when the price to see a movie was probably still about $2. Chicago and Phantom came out at a time when the average price is about $8.

And I think that Box Office Mojo is basing this list based JUST on box office gross, not including rentals or video/DVD sales.

[kjklo]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 11:26am

There's nothing on that list earlier than 1975. Maybe they meant in the last thirty years? I know that Oliver!, Fiddler on the roof, Funny Girl, Cabaret, South Pacific, and others already mentioned did much better than Hair or Chorus Line--up in the 40 to 80 mil. range. And that was when ticket prices were a fraction of what they later became.

[TabooPhan1]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 11:28am

Was "Gone With the Wind" a musical? lol...

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 11:32am

Actually, it was! But it flopped and closed out of town before making it to Broadway. (I had a friend that was in it!)

I assume you know I was using the 1939 classic as an example of how box office numbers get skewed these days. But sing along with it, if you want to!

[kjklo]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 11:39am

Even going by gross and not adjusting for inflation, the list is simply wrong. Looks like yet another example of the unreliability of many internet sources,

[mikem]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 12:48pm

Actually, the list on the website specifies that it is from 1975 onwards and that it may be incomplete between 1975 and 1982. It also says that it is box office gross only and not adjusted for inflation. The Wiz at $21 million also somehow got left off the list, although it's listed on the website under "musicals." Except for that error, the list is probably pretty accurate for what it is. Box Office Mojo is a generally accurate site.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 1:04pm

So... they tell you it's from 1975 on, and it may be incomplete from '75 to '82? And it doesn't adjust for inflation?

Then... what's the point of this list?

For the sake of my argument again, let's all compare the sale prices of houses from 1975 up to today on a ranked list, then not account for inflation, and not include everything on our list. What would be the point?

Mojo ought to be ashamed. As should most publications that go on about box office grosses today. They're really trying to pull a fast one on the public, aren't they? Just so they can say, "It's the biggest..." "It's the best..." "It's the most..." When it's all just a scam based on non-related numbers and facts.

[TabooPhan1]

Posted: 8/14/05 at 1:25pm

bestbars, sorry, I wasn't trying to sound b!tchy, I was actually curious. I got the idea though...