TITANIC Still Atop the Domestic Top 100

The '90s took a big hit last year in the US domestic (unadjusted) top 100 films, down three films, but reigning champ TITANIC held firm against THE DARK KNIGHT. 2008 also saw the oldest film in the top 100 get knocked out-- SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS-- leaving GONE WITH THE WIND as the only classic Hollywood film in the rankings. Of course, in the adjusted for inflation list GONE WITH THE WIND is #1.

Last year I noted in my blog entry of 1/3/08 that the trend for the classics to be bumped is not merely a factor of inflation, but rather of (a) abnormally soaring ticket sales and (b) the fact that older films no longer get re-releases to the extent that they once did.

Of interest this year will be TOY STORYs re-release. At #96, TOY STORY is likely to get bumped from the top 100 by the time it gets its October re-release, positioning it to be one of the first films in years to vault itself back into the top 100 following a re-release. This used to happen all the time-- now it never does. THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS and THE POLAR EXPRESS have not pulled off this feat despite their annual re-releases.

If the 3-D trend continues, there will certainly be a vogue of taking older films and re-releasing them in 3-D (until, as with NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, the audience discovers that it doesn't really "work" too well). Wonder if James Cameron (a big fan of 3-D) is secretly prepping a TITANIC 3-D re-release for the 1912 centennial of the Titanic's sinking.

So-- time for the annual breakdown of the US domestic (unadjusted) top 100 films to see where the reigning moneymakers stand.

Here is the current breakdown, year-end 2008:

Number of films in the US TOP 100 DOMESTIC MOVIES GROSSES released from 1998-2008: 71.

By decade:
1930s: 1 (GONE WITH THE WIND [at #90])
1940s: 0
1950s: 0
1960s: 0
1970s: 4 (STAR WARS [#3], JAWS [#42], THE EXORCIST [#60], GREASE [at #98])
1980s: 9 (lowest ranked: INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE [#93])
1990s: 20 (lowest ranked: TOY STORY [#95])
2000s: 66

Link to US TOP 100 DOMESTIC MOVIES GROSSES on boxofficemojo.