When A New Hope was first released in 1977, it had a slow start. But then word of mouth spread, and suddenly the movie was a literal blockbuster. People were queuing around the block to see it. It was making ticket sale records by the week.
Back then, you couldn't book tickets to see movies on your cellphone, you had to do it the old fashion way, and if you wanted to see a film at a peak demand period, you had to take a place on the sidewalk.
Anyway, ticket sales were massive, and Star Wars (before it became known as A New Hope) became one of the biggest money-making movies ever.
Collectively, the 12 Star Wars movies on this list have a worldwide cume of over 10 billion dollars.
Star Wars Box Office Sales:
Star Wars Box Office Ticket Sales Facts
- Six months after its release, it was the number one box office champion in North American history, overtaking Steven Speilberg's Jaws in revenue. It held that record until Speilberg's follow-up to Jaws, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, claimed it back.
- If you adjust ticket sale prices for inflation, Star Wars is the fourth highest-grossing film in history, sitting behind Gone With the Wind, Avatar, and Titanic.
- Side fact – Lucas put E.T. aliens in The Phantom Menance.
- When the special edition of A New Hope was released, ticket sales saw it go up to number two on the all-time list until Titantic drowned it.
- J.J. Abrams' turn at the helm, The Force Awakens, sits at the number ten spot on the adjusted for inflation list.
- That said, even though Avengers: Endgame is the current number one box office champ worldwide, The Force Awakens is the number one movie in the North American market. That's some pretty good mojo, eh?
- Six Star Wars movies have been the highest-grossing films for their release year – all three of the original trilogy's films, The Phantom Menace, The Force Awakens, and The Last Jedi.
Which Star Wars Actor Has the Highest Movie Grosses?
This is a trick question. Given his career's success and many movies, you may think Harrison Ford would have sold the most tickets when you add up all of his movies.
But one Star Wars actor who has sold more tickets than Ford when you add up all the sales of the movies they have been in? Well, you know that guy in The Empire Strikes Back when Han Solo tells that guy he'll “see him in Hell”? That guy is a well-known actor called John Ratzenberger.
You may know him as Cliff from the classic comedy show Cheers. Your kids might know him as Mr. Potato Head from Toy Story and about every Pixar film. That's right; his voice-over work means that he is the Star Wars actor with the second-highest career box office gross.
But “hold on to your butts!”
The truth is that Samuel L. Jackson has a higher earnings total than Ford. That's right; the Mace Windu actor has had more earnings, thanks to three Star Wars prequels, Jurassic Park, a turn as Frozo in The Incredibles, and various other big-selling tent poles such as a few Avengers movies, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Captain Marvel, etc. give him the advantage over Jackson.
Believe it or not, Ford isn't even in the top 20 of the all-time list, while Jackson sits at number two.
Mark Hamill comes in about 50th when you add in the recent billion-dollar performance of The Rise of Skywalker and Carrie Fisher around 45th (she had a better post-Star Wars career than Hamill).
The number one player across all movies? The cameo king, the late, great Stan Lee, who appeared in most Marvel movies until his death.