Welcome to The Numbers' reference library analyzing trends in the US movie industry since 1995. In this area of the site, you'll find over 2,000 pages of information detailing the changes that have shaped the industry.

Our market analysis is built on The Numbers' unique categorization system, which uses six different criteria to identify a movie. Every movie released since 1995 is categorized according to the following attributes: Creative Type (factual, contemporary fiction, fantasy etc.), Source (book, play, original screenplay...), Genre (drama, horror, documentary etc.), MPAA Rating, Production Method (live action, digital animation etc.) and Distributor. Our market charts provide year-by-year analysis across these categories, allowing analysis of market trends. See, for example, how horror movie revenues have varied, the emergence of digital animation and live action/CGI animated movies, and the decline of R-rated movies. To explore, click on an individual year, distributor, genre, creative type, production method or MPAA rating to see annual trends in a particular category.

Note: in order to provide a fair comparison between movies released in different years, all rankings are based on ticket sales, which are calculated using average ticket prices announced by the MPAA in their annual state of the industry report.

Annual Ticket Sales

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

Tickets (billion) 1.22 1.26 1.42 1.44 1.44 1.39 1.44 1.58 1.55 1.49 1.40 1.41 1.40 1.39 1.44 1.21

Revenue ($bn) $5.29 $5.59 $6.51 $6.77 $7.30 $7.48 $8.13 $9.19 $9.35 $9.27 $8.95 $9.25 $9.65 $9.95 $10.80 $9.11

Note: Figures for 2010 are at an annualized rate.

Top Movie of Each Year

This table lists the top-grossing movie for each year. Click on the year to see a detailed breakdown for the market as a whole in that year.

Year Movie Categorization
- Creative Type
- Production Method
- Source
- Genre MPAA
Rating Distributor Total for Year Total in 2010 dollars Tickets Sold

1995 Batman Forever - Super Hero
- Live Action
- Sequel
- Action PG-13 Warner Bros. $183,997,904 $317,237,768 42,298,369

1996 Independence Day - Science Fiction
- Live Action
- Original Screenplay
- Adventure PG-13 20th Century Fox $306,124,059 $519,441,278 69,258,837

1997 Men in Black - Science Fiction
- Live Action
- Based on Comic/Graphic Novel
- Adventure PG-13 Sony Pictures $250,107,128 $408,671,775 54,489,570

1998 Titanic - Dramatization
- Live Action
- Based on Real Life Events
- Drama PG-13 Paramount Pictures $443,319,081 $708,932,430 94,524,324

1999 Star Wars Ep. I: The Phantom Menace - Science Fiction
- Animation/Live Action
- Sequel
- Adventure PG 20th Century Fox $430,443,350 $635,497,073 84,732,943

2000 How the Grinch Stole Christmas - Kids Fiction
- Live Action
- Based on Book/Short Story
- Comedy PG Universal $253,367,455 $352,552,118 47,006,949

2001 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - Fantasy
- Animation/Live Action
- Based on Book/Short Story
- Adventure PG Warner Bros. $291,594,218 $386,388,098 51,518,413

2002 Spider-Man - Super Hero
- Live Action
- Based on Comic/Graphic Novel
- Adventure PG-13 Sony Pictures $403,706,375 $521,135,595 69,484,746

2003 Finding Nemo - Kids Fiction
- Digital Animation
- Original Screenplay
- Adventure G Buena Vista $339,714,367 $422,530,305 56,337,374

2004 Shrek 2 - Kids Fiction
- Digital Animation
- Sequel
- Adventure PG Dreamworks SKG $436,471,036 $527,138,933 70,285,191

2005 Star Wars Ep. III: Revenge of the Sith - Science Fiction
- Animation/Live Action
- Sequel
- Adventure PG-13 20th Century Fox $380,262,555 $444,924,990 59,323,332

2006 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - Fantasy
- Live Action
- Sequel
- Adventure PG-13 Buena Vista $423,315,812 $484,712,760 64,628,368

2007 Spider-Man 3 - Super Hero
- Live Action
- Sequel
- Adventure PG-13 Sony Pictures $336,530,303 $366,857,160 48,914,288

2008 The Dark Knight - Super Hero
- Live Action
- Sequel
- Action PG-13 Warner Bros. $531,001,578 $554,667,390 73,955,652

2009 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Science Fiction
- Animation/Live Action
- Sequel
- Action PG-13 Paramount Pictures $402,111,870 $402,111,870 53,614,916

2010 Avatar - Science Fiction
- Animation/Live Action
- Original Screenplay
- Action PG-13 20th Century Fox $246,338,139 $246,338,138 32,845,085

Top-Grossing Distributors 1995 to 2010

		Movies	Total Gross	Average Gross	Market Share
1	Buena Vista	411	$22,949,885,265	$55,839,137	14.29%
2	Warner Bros.	449	$22,752,995,633	$50,674,823	14.16%
3	Sony Pictures	447	$19,994,625,848	$44,730,707	12.45%
4	Paramount Pictures	304	$18,163,865,063	$59,749,556	11.31%
5	20th Century Fox	321	$18,045,059,520	$56,215,139	11.23%
6	Universal	298	$16,688,305,703	$56,001,026	10.39%
7	New Line	203	$8,352,251,063	$41,144,094	5.20%
8	Dreamworks SKG	77	$5,692,389,953	$73,927,142	3.54%
9	Miramax	373	$5,316,536,843	$14,253,450	3.31%
10	MGM	228	$4,837,105,253	$21,215,374	3.01%

See complete chart

Top-Grossing Genres 1995 to 2010

		Movies	Total Gross	Average Gross	Market Share
1	Comedy	1,532	$38,902,126,448	$25,393,033	24.25%
2	Adventure	432	$30,791,130,975	$71,275,766	19.20%
3	Drama	2,648	$29,780,251,155	$11,246,318	18.57%
4	Action	482	$27,551,111,468	$57,159,982	17.18%
5	Thriller/Suspense	428	$10,803,306,758	$25,241,371	6.74%
6	Romantic Comedy	333	$9,592,651,605	$28,806,762	5.98%
7	Horror	274	$7,726,891,448	$28,200,334	4.82%
8	Documentary	794	$1,787,232,143	$2,250,922	1.11%
9	Musical	100	$1,616,738,003	$16,167,380	1.01%
10	Black Comedy	65	$705,251,640	$10,850,025	0.44%

See complete chart

Top-Grossing MPAA Ratings 1995 to 2010

		Movies	Total Gross	Average Gross	Market Share
1	PG-13	1,760	$72,796,714,238	$41,361,769	44.68%
2	R	3,153	$47,574,211,920	$15,088,554	29.20%
3	PG	836	$30,090,321,300	$35,993,207	18.47%
4	G	243	$9,040,057,620	$37,201,883	5.55%
5	Not Rated	2,296	$1,987,330,748	$865,562	1.22%
6	NC-17	17	$56,306,318	$3,312,136	0.03%
7	Open	5	$7,298,775	$1,459,755	0.00%

See complete chart

Top-Grossing Sources 1995 to 2010

		Movies	Total Gross	Average Gross	Market Share
1	Original Screenplay	3,514	$67,872,225,390	$19,314,805	42.33%
2	Based on Book/Short Story	1,142	$32,429,320,485	$28,396,953	20.23%
3	Sequel	326	$24,196,724,670	$74,223,082	15.09%
4	Remake	186	$8,983,054,943	$48,295,994	5.60%
5	Based on Real Life Events	1,116	$8,737,067,220	$7,828,913	5.45%
6	Based on TV	123	$6,185,877,923	$50,291,690	3.86%
7	Based on Comic/Graphic Novel	68	$4,877,449,875	$71,727,204	3.04%
8	Based on Play	151	$1,597,159,418	$10,577,215	1.00%
9	Traditional/Legend/Fairytale	24	$838,403,340	$34,933,473	0.52%
10	Based on Musical/Opera	27	$802,931,160	$29,738,191	0.50%

See complete chart

Top-Grossing Production Methods 1995 to 2010

		Movies	Total Gross	Average Gross	Market Share
1	Live Action	6,725	$135,165,692,678	$20,098,988	84.29%
2	Animation/Live Action	68	$10,772,153,423	$158,414,021	6.72%
3	Digital Animation	108	$9,649,779,765	$89,349,813	6.02%
4	Hand Animation	94	$3,671,039,408	$39,053,611	2.29%
5	Stop-Motion Animation	19	$457,072,560	$24,056,451	0.29%
6	Hand/Digital Hybrid Animation	2	$100,352,363	$50,176,181	0.06%
7	Rotoscoping	3	$10,119,675	$3,373,225	0.01%
8	Multiple Production Methods	6	$1,735,208	$289,201	0.00%

See complete chart

Top-Grossing Creative Types 1995 to 2010

		Movies	Total Gross	Average Gross	Market Share
1	Contemporary Fiction	3,346	$78,872,156,453	$23,572,073	49.19%
2	Kids Fiction	269	$16,997,609,693	$63,188,140	10.60%
3	Science Fiction	287	$16,034,170,605	$55,868,190	10.00%
4	Fantasy	365	$15,872,273,633	$43,485,681	9.90%
5	Historical Fiction	691	$13,759,408,350	$19,912,313	8.58%
6	Dramatization	456	$9,355,712,078	$20,516,912	5.84%
7	Super Hero	51	$6,732,115,680	$132,002,268	4.20%
8	Factual	834	$2,117,328,810	$2,538,764	1.32%
9	Multiple Creative Types	11	$10,907,760	$991,615	0.01%

See complete chart

US Movie Market Summary 1995 to 2010

Annual Ticket Sales

Top Movie of Each Year

Top-Grossing Distributors 1995 to 2010

Top-Grossing Genres 1995 to 2010

Top-Grossing MPAA Ratings 1995 to 2010

Top-Grossing Sources 1995 to 2010

Top-Grossing Production Methods 1995 to 2010

Top-Grossing Creative Types 1995 to 2010