Highest Grossing Horror Movies Ever: IT And The Rest
The economic side of horror films is complex. On the one hand, these are often films that do not require huge budgets, so their profit potential is high. Another advantage is that they are very suitable for watching on the big screen. On the other hand, horror films are often not well received by critics – which sometimes affects the audience’s desire to see them – and the age limit hurts the potential revenue potential.
Every year, several horror films have impressive box office success. The trends from the last few years, especially after the recovery from Covid-19, are positive. So what are the highest-grossing horror films of all time? And what can we expect if the following years?
The Numbers Are Not Always As It Seems
In the current review, we refer to the total revenues of the films, in dollars, worldwide (weighting of the revenues in the United States and other countries of the world). We do not calculate the increase in ticket prices and inflation, which occurred in recent decades.
Without being a great genius in economics, these data explain why a movie today needs fewer viewers to reach a certain revenue threshold, so the top films on the list are not necessarily the ones watched by the largest amount of viewers. It is no coincidence that out of the current list of 50 grossing horror films, there are only four films from the 70s, one from the 80s, and seven from the 90s. The rest – about 15 films from the 2000s and almost 25 films from the 2010s – are products of recent years. We should mention that classic films that were shown on the big screen a few decades ago can increase their income, thanks to repeat screenings. As part of this welcome trend, which can expose the best horror works to a new audience and give these films the respect they deserve, we can mention, for example, the latest re-screenings of “Jaws”.
Another important trend that can explant this list, not surprisingly, is that the list of high-grossing horror films has many sequels, reboots, prequels and other films based on a certain franchise or series. Just very few are original and independent works.
Soon we will present here the list of the most successful horror movie series, but now you can see, for example, the special place of the films of the cinematic universe of “The Conjuring”, a good representation of the franchise “Alien” and “Resident Evil” and more. However, most of the most successful film series only managed to make a few films on the list, if at all. That’s how it is when quantity comes at the expense of quality.
Top 10 Highest-Grossing Horror Movies Of All Time
So here’s the official top 10 highest grossing horror movies of all time, as for 2022. The fact that one of “The Conjuring” films is in tenth place should not surprise you, being the most successful horror franchise of all time. What is perhaps surprising, or maybe disappointing, is that this place – the highest among the films of the cinematic universe that includes Eddie and Lauren Warren, Annabelle doll, and more – is occupied by the film that many (including the writer of these lines) consider being one of the weakest in the franchise: “The Nun” from 2018, which earned over $365 million worldwide. In September 2023, the sequel, “The Nun 2”, is expected to be released, which may be able to surpass the first in box office achievements and especially in terms of quality.
We continue to ninth place, with another film that rides mainly on the waves of the magnificent franchise it belongs to: “Prometheus” by Ridley Scott from 2012. The film, which can be described as an indirect prequel to the “Alien” movies, grossed a little over $403 million worldwide.
Eighth place goes to “Signs” by M. Nate Shymelan from 2002, with revenues of over 408 million dollars. This Alien invasion film starring Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix is not the most successful of the former acclaimed but mostly maligned Indian director. Later we will understand why.
Next, the seventh place is occupied by one of the greatest classics of horror cinema: “The Exorcist” (1973), with a gross of over 441 million dollars worldwide. This amount includes the screenings at the time of its release and also some additional screenings that were made over the years. For example, the version from 2000 included improved sound and 11 minutes that did not appear in the original version.
The film in sixth place, “Jaws” from 1975, also received several repeat screenings. Steven Spielberg’s film is considered by many to be the first blockbuster in the history of cinema, certainly if you focus on horror cinema, and the big screen does him a real favor. If you take the ticket price into account, it is the most profitable movie of all time. If ticket prices in the 70s and 80s were similar to their level in recent years, the film would have grossed no less than about 1.154 million dollars. In the second place, a little behind him in the “real” highest grossing horror movies list as some would say, you’ll find “The Exorcist”.
If we go back to the list without the same adjustment of the ticket prices, we find a menacing clown in the fifth place. “It: Part 2”, the 2019 blockbuster, grossed around $473 million worldwide. The film, which takes place 27 years after the first film, focuses on the members of the Losers Club and their attempts to survive against Pennywise. This horror movie box office super hit is not surprising, considering the first movie, despite its unreasonable (and mostly unjustified) length of over two and a half hours and a “R” MPAA Rating.
The fourth place is occupied by the post-apocalyptic “World War Z” starring Brad Pitt, which generated revenues of more than 540 million dollars.
The fact that the audience apparently dies (literally) for apocalyptic movies perhaps explains why “I Am Legend” from 2009 takes third place with revenues of about 585 million dollars. The film, which was made when Will Smith punched zombies on the screens and not Oscar hosts on stage, generated most of its income overseas. It will be interesting to see if its sequel, which was announced at the beginning of the year, will smash the box office. The answer depends, to a large extent, on how much Americans will forgive Will Smith for THAT Chris Rock incident. Our guess is that we won’t see sequel much high on the highest grossing horror movies list, but who knows?
M. Nate Shyamalan, thanks to the hit “The Sixth Sense” from 1999, takes second place with almost 673 million dollars across the globe. The horror thriller starring Bruce Willis and the boy Haley Joel Osment, who “sees dead people” (umm…umm), is considered one of the most surprising twist movies of all time. It is interesting to ask whether today, in the age of social networks, the fact that it is revealed at the end of the film that Bruce Willis is a ghost could have been kept a secret.
So… What Is The Highest Grossing Horror Movie Of All Time?
Finally, we come to the highest-grossing horror movie of all time. 2017’s “It”, based on Stephen King’s bestseller, was produced on a budget of about $35 million and grossed more than $700 million worldwide. The Film grossed just over 123 million Dollars on it’s opening weekend and had very long legs, it seems. What’s more impressive is that the film got a “R” MPAA Rating, so with a PG-13 Rating for example it could get a much more.
It’s hard to see a movie right now that will threaten the debut of Pennywise in the coming years and prevent it from “floating” at the top of the chart of highest grossing horror films ever. We must remember Pennywise is a cultural hero right now, resulting in a dozens of marchands with his scary figure on it. In our reviews we mentioned, for example, an IT Monopoly, some cool doormats and much more… So stay tuned and read our reviews here.
The Full List
|
Rank |
Film |
Year |
Gross (Worldwide) |
|
1
|
IT |
2017 |
$700,381,759 |
|
2 |
The Sixth Sense
|
1999
|
$672,806,292 |
|
3 |
I Am Legend
|
2007
|
$585,349,010 |
|
4 |
World War Z
|
2013
|
$540,007,876 |
|
5 |
IT: Chapter Two
|
2019
|
$473,093,228
|
|
6 |
Jaws
|
1975
|
$470,653,000
|
|
7 |
The Exorcist
|
1973
|
$441,306,145 |
|
8
|
Signs
|
2002
|
$408,247,917
|
|
9 |
Prometheus
|
2012
|
$403,354,469
|
|
10 |
The Nun
|
2018
|
$365,550,119
|
|
11 |
Hannibal
|
2001
|
$351,692,268
|
|
12 |
A Quiet Place
|
2018
|
$340,939,361
|
|
13 |
The Conjuring 2
|
2016
|
$320,392,818
|
|
14 |
The Conjuring
|
2013
|
$319,494,638
|
|
15 |
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter
|
2017
|
$312,242,626
|
|
16 |
Annabelle: Creation
|
2017
|
$306,515,884
|
|
17 |
Van Helsing
|
2004
|
$300,257,475
|
|
18 |
Resident Evil: Afterlife
|
2010
|
$300,228,084
|
|
19
|
A Quiet Place Part 2
|
2020
|
$296,324,169
|
|
20
|
Split
|
2017
|
$278,454,358
|
|
21
|
Scary Movie
|
2000
|
$278,019,771
|
|
22
|
The Silence Of The Lambs
|
1991
|
$272,742,922 |
|
23
|
Annabelle
|
2014
|
$257,047,661 |
|
24
|
The Village
|
2004
|
$256,697,520 |
|
25
|
Halloween
|
2018
|
$255,498,536 |
|
26
|
Get Out
|
2017
|
$255,407,663 |
|
27
|
Us
|
2019
|
$254,732,150 |
|
28
|
The Blair Witch Project
|
1999
|
$248,639,099 |
|
29
|
The Ring
|
2002
|
$248,218,486 |
|
30
|
Dark Shadows
|
2012
|
$245,527,149 |
|
31
|
Alien: Covenant
|
2017
|
$240,891,763 |
|
32
|
Resident Evil: Retribution
|
2012
|
$240,004,424 |
|
33
|
Constantine
|
2005
|
$230,884,728 |
|
34
|
Annabelle Comes Home
|
2019
|
$228,552,591 |
|
35
|
Interview With A Vampire
|
1994
|
$223,564,608 |
|
36
|
Scary Movie 3
|
2003
|
$220,673,217 |
|
37
|
Smile
|
2022
|
$216,021,694 |
|
38
|
Brah Stoker’s Dracula
|
1992
|
$215,862,692 |
|
39
|
Jaws 2
|
1978
|
$208,900,376 |
|
40
|
The Others
|
2001
|
$207,765,056 |
|
41
|
Sleepy Hollow
|
1999
|
$207,068,340 |
|
42
|
Paranormal Activity 3
|
2011
|
$207,039,844 |
|
43
|
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
|
2021
|
$200,271,845 |
|
44
|
Paranormal Activity
|
2007
|
$194,183,034 |
|
45
|
Hollow Man
|
2000
|
$191,200,000 |
|
46
|
The Final Destination
|
2009
|
$187,384,627 |
|
47
|
The Grudge
|
2004
|
$187,281,115 |
|
48
|
Alien
|
1979
|
$184,655,794 |
|
49
|
Aliens
|
1986
|
$183,300,764 |
|
50
|
The Haunting
|
1999
|
$180,188,905 |
