US Movie Market Summary 1995 to 2012
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
Note: Figures for 2012 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 MPAA Distributor Total for Year Total in 2012 dollars Tickets Sold
1995
Batman Forever
- Super Hero Live Action Original Screenplay Action
PG-13
Warner Bros.
$183,997,904
$333,734,131
42,298,369
1996
Independence Day
- Science Fiction Live Action Original Screenplay Adventure
PG-13
20th Century Fox
$306,124,059
$546,452,224
69,258,837
1997
Men in Black
- Science Fiction Live Action Based on Comic/Graphic Novel Adventure
PG-13
Sony Pictures
$250,107,128
$429,922,707
54,489,570
1998
Titanic
- Historical Fiction Live Action Original Screenplay Thriller/Suspense
PG-13
Paramount Pictures
$443,319,081
$745,796,916
94,524,324
1999
Star Wars Ep. I: The Phantom Menace
- Science Fiction Animation/Live Action Original Screenplay Adventure
PG
20th Century Fox
$430,443,350
$668,542,920
84,732,943
2000
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- Live Action Based on Book/Short Story Comedy
PG
Universal
$253,367,455
$370,884,828
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
$406,480,279
51,518,413
2002
Spider-Man
- Super Hero Live Action Based on Comic/Graphic Novel Adventure
PG-13
Sony Pictures
$403,706,375
$548,234,646
69,484,746
2003
Finding Nemo
- Kids Fiction Digital Animation Original Screenplay Adventure
G
Walt Disney Pictures
$339,714,367
$444,501,881
56,337,374
2004
Shrek 2
- Kids Fiction Digital Animation Based on Book/Short Story Adventure
PG
Dreamworks SKG
$436,471,036
$554,550,157
70,285,191
2005
Star Wars Ep. III: Revenge of the Sith
- Science Fiction Animation/Live Action Original Screenplay Adventure
PG-13
20th Century Fox
$380,262,555
$468,061,089
59,323,332
2006
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
- Fantasy Live Action Disney Ride Adventure
PG-13
Walt Disney Pictures
$423,315,812
$509,917,824
64,628,368
2007
Spider-Man 3
- Super Hero Live Action Based on Comic/Graphic Novel Adventure
PG-13
Sony Pictures
$336,530,303
$385,933,732
48,914,288
2008
The Dark Knight
- Super Hero Live Action Based on Comic/Graphic Novel Action
PG-13
Warner Bros.
$531,001,578
$583,510,094
73,955,652
2009
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
- Science Fiction Animation/Live Action Based on TV Action
PG-13
Paramount Pictures
$402,111,870
$423,021,687
53,614,916
2010
Toy Story 3
- Kids Fiction Digital Animation Original Screenplay Adventure
G
Walt Disney Pictures
$415,004,880
$415,004,879
52,598,844
2011
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II
- Fantasy Animation/Live Action Based on Book/Short Story Adventure
PG-13
Warner Bros.
$381,011,219
$379,089,347
48,046,812
2012
The Hunger Games
- Science Fiction Live Action Based on Book/Short Story Thriller/Suspense
PG-13
Lionsgate
$248,483,901
$247,230,515
31,334,666
Top-Grossing Distributors 1995 to 2012
Movies Total Gross Average Gross Market Share 1
Warner Bros.
532
$29,135,050,869
$54,765,133
15.25%
2
Walt Disney Pictures
453
$27,024,974,288
$59,657,780
14.15%
3
Sony Pictures
534
$24,744,320,642
$46,337,679
12.96%
4
Paramount Pictures
352
$22,915,131,099
$65,099,804
12.00%
5
20th Century Fox
364
$21,288,127,358
$58,483,866
11.15%
6
Universal
338
$19,832,959,028
$58,677,394
10.38%
7
New Line
196
$7,407,184,271
$37,791,756
3.88%
8
Dreamworks SKG
77
$5,988,394,230
$77,771,354
3.14%
9
Miramax
377
$5,621,593,306
$14,911,388
2.94%
10
MGM
229
$5,059,893,917
$22,095,607
2.65%
See complete chart
Top-Grossing Genres 1995 to 2012
Movies Total Gross Average Gross Market Share 1
Comedy
1,751
$44,792,158,044
$25,580,901
23.48%
2
Adventure
521
$38,199,674,469
$73,319,913
20.03%
3
Drama
3,132
$33,621,012,632
$10,734,678
17.63%
4
Action
570
$32,066,637,809
$56,257,259
16.81%
5
Thriller/Suspense
561
$15,495,734,985
$27,621,631
8.12%
6
Romantic Comedy
403
$11,286,883,357
$28,007,155
5.92%
7
Horror
329
$9,093,205,812
$27,638,923
4.77%
8
Documentary
1,076
$2,063,950,710
$1,918,170
1.08%
9
Musical
113
$1,865,013,970
$16,504,548
0.98%
10
Black Comedy
85
$781,440,299
$9,193,415
0.41%
See complete chart
Top-Grossing MPAA Ratings 1995 to 2012
Movies Total Gross Average Gross Market Share 1
PG-13
2,028
$85,955,147,762
$42,384,195
45.08%
2
R
3,575
$54,833,115,390
$15,337,934
28.76%
3
PG
986
$36,830,727,925
$37,353,679
19.32%
4
G
276
$10,634,593,071
$38,531,134
5.58%
5
Not Rated
2,279
$1,760,744,156
$772,595
0.92%
6
NC-17
21
$72,872,987
$3,470,142
0.04%
7
Open
5
$7,678,311
$1,535,662
0.00%
See complete chart
Top-Grossing Sources 1995 to 2012
Movies Total Gross Average Gross Market Share 1
Original Screenplay
4,372
$93,337,986,618
$21,349,036
48.82%
2
Based on Book/Short Story
1,351
$42,732,118,849
$31,629,992
22.35%
3
Remake
243
$12,198,347,542
$50,198,961
6.38%
4
Based on TV
172
$10,545,801,765
$61,312,801
5.52%
5
Based on Comic/Graphic Novel
109
$9,432,906,250
$86,540,424
4.93%
6
Based on Real Life Events
1,482
$9,297,787,641
$6,273,811
4.86%
7
Based on Magazine Article
62
$2,440,949,404
$39,370,152
1.28%
8
Based on Play
179
$2,135,717,747
$11,931,384
1.12%
9
Disney Ride
7
$1,626,298,611
$232,328,373
0.85%
10
Traditional/Legend/Fairytale
35
$1,477,688,363
$42,219,668
0.77%
See complete chart
Top-Grossing Production Methods 1995 to 2012
Movies Total Gross Average Gross Market Share 1
Live Action
8,036
$158,174,499,158
$19,683,238
82.91%
2
Animation/Live Action
105
$14,433,864,669
$137,465,378
7.57%
3
Digital Animation
145
$12,837,560,468
$88,534,900
6.73%
4
Hand Animation
112
$4,195,530,200
$37,460,091
2.20%
5
Stop-Motion Animation
20
$481,507,093
$24,075,355
0.25%
6
Rotoscoping
3
$10,645,898
$3,548,633
0.01%
7
Multiple Production Methods
13
$5,925,453
$455,804
0.00%
See complete chart
Top-Grossing Creative Types 1995 to 2012
Movies Total Gross Average Gross Market Share 1
Contemporary Fiction
3,993
$87,731,318,391
$21,971,279
46.01%
2
Kids Fiction
323
$20,447,016,938
$63,303,458
10.72%
3
Fantasy
467
$18,487,186,258
$39,587,123
9.70%
4
Science Fiction
338
$17,701,317,278
$52,370,761
9.28%
5
Historical Fiction
823
$17,006,323,922
$20,663,820
8.92%
6
Dramatization
553
$9,323,312,841
$16,859,517
4.89%
7
Super Hero
55
$7,245,650,889
$131,739,107
3.80%
8
Factual
1,113
$2,627,873,051
$2,361,072
1.38%
9
Multiple Creative Types
15
$27,334,858
$1,822,324
0.01%
See complete chart
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
