If you wanted to create a film, but wanted to know what genres are the most popular movie genres, you could start by analyzing the top box office movies of all time.
Similarly, if you completed your film and want to successfully promote it, you might see from the list of the top 50 box office movies below that your film might not fit into the most popular movie genres using this research below. For example, since comedy is one of the most popular genres, you could decide to add a cutscene(s) of a humorous conversation between two people if the movie can accommodate it in terms of plot. That way, when you go to a distributor, you could find “yet” another way to market your film!
There are many variations you could come up with, you just have to be creative and find new ways to market your film! A chart is below of the top 50 Top Box Office Movies, their top grosses, what genre(s) they are and out of the top 50 films, how popular is their genre(s).
Please let me know if you had any creative thoughts and still want to explore them by posting a comment and/or emailing me, Jonathan at moviedistributionfacts@gmail.com.
The results from the graph below show the top 50 box office gross hit movies of all time. They are separated into multi genre movies with information from IMDB.com categorizing them into genres. The top movie genres are Drama, Romance, Action, Adventure, Animation, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Comedy, Crime, Family & Thriller. Other genres did not make the list. The results are not out of 100%, rather 50 x the number of genres.)The movies are with their respective genres the highest in obviously Action- 52% (26 out of the top 50 movies had the action genre in the film) of the 50 movies and even higher in Adventure- at 66% (33 out of the top 50 movies had adventure.) This is of course obvious that people go to see action and adventure the most.
Lets concentrate on the other most popular genres below :
Sci Fi, Comedy, Fantasy and Romance are the most popular. 16 Sci Fi movies have made over 200 million box office receipts, the same as comedy. Following this Fantasy and Romance share the same split, 20% each of the top 50 movies.
What to learn from this research?
To add as many genres to your film as possible to market it!
| Top Box Office Movies | Total Box Office Film Gross (In Millions) | Genre(s) | Total Movies % out of 50 movies – genre popularity |
| #1 Titanic | $600,788 | Drama, Romance | Drama-8/50=16%
Romance-10/50 =20% |
| #2 Star Wars : Episode III Revenge of the Sith | $460,998 | Action, Adventure, Sci Fi | Action-26/50= 52%, Adventure-33/50=66% Sci Fi-16/50=32% |
| #3 Shrek 2 | $437,212 | Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Romance | Animation-7/50=16%
Adventure-33/50=66% Comedy-16/50=32% |
| #4 E.T: the Extra Terrestrial | $434,974 | Adventure, Drama, Sci Fi | Adventure-33/50=66%
Drama-8/50=16% Sci Fi-16/50=32% |
| #5 Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace | $431,088 | Action, Adventure, Sci Fi | Action-26/50= 52% Adventure-33/50=66% Sci Fi-16/50=32% |
| #6 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest | $423,416 | Action, Adventure, Comedy | Action-26/50= 52% Adventure-33/50=66% Comedy-16/50=32% |
| #7 Spider Man | $407,681 | Action, Crime. Romance, Sci-Fi | Action-26/50= 52%
Crime-4/50=8% Drama-8/50=16% Sci Fi-16/50=32% |
| #8 Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith | $380,270 | Action, Adventure, Sci Fi | Action-26/50= 52% Adventure-33/50=66% Sci Fi-16/50=32% |
| #9 Lord of the Rings : Return of the King | $377,192 | Action, Adventure, Fantasy | Action-26/50= 52% Adventure-33/50=66% Fantasy-10/50=20% |
| #10 Spider-Man 2 | $373,377 | Action, Crime, Romance, Sci-Fi | Action-26/50= 52%
Crime-4/50=8% Romance-10/50=20% Sci Fi-16/50=32% |
| #11 The Passion Of Christ | $370,773 | Drama | Drama-8/50=16% |
| #12 Jurassic Park | $357,067 | Action, Adventure, SciFi | Action-26/50= 52% Adventure-33/50=66% Sci Fi-16/50=32% |
| #13 The Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers | $341,748 | Action, Adventure, Fantasy | Action-26/50= 52% Adventure-33/50=66% Fantasy-10/50=20% |
| #14 Finding Nemo | $339,714 | Action, Adventure, Comedy | Action-26/50= 52% Adventure-33/50=66%
Comedy-16/50=32% |
| #15 Spider Man 3 | $336,530 | Action, Crime, Romance, Sci-Fi | Action-26/50= 52%
Crime-4/50=8% Romance-10/50=20% Sci-Fi-16/50=32% |
| #16 Forrest Gump | $329,693 | Comedy, Drama, Romance | Comedy-16/50=32%
Drama-8/50=16% Romance-10/50=20% |
| #17 The Lion King | $328,538 | Animation, Adventure, Drama | Animation-7/60=14%
Adventure-33/50=66% Drama-8/50=16% |
| #18 Shrek the Third | $320,706 | Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Romance | Animation-7/60=14%
Adventure-33/50=66% Comedy-16/50=32% Romance-10/50=20% |
| #19 Transformers | $319,222 | Action, Adventure, SciFi | Action-26/50= 52% Adventure-33/50=66% Sci Fi-16/50=32% |
| #20 Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone | $317,575 | Family, Adventure, Fanatsy | Family-8/50=165 Adventure-33/50=66% Fantasy-10/50=20% |
| #21 The Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship of the Ring | $314,163 | Action, Adventure, Fantasy | Action-26/50= 52% Adventure-33/50=66% Fantasy-10/50=20% |
| #22 Star Wars: Episode II – Attack Of The Clones | $310,676 | Action, Adventure, Sci Fi | Action-26/50= 52% Adventure-33/50=66% Sci Fi-16/50=32% |
| #23 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End | $309,302 | Action, Adventure, Comedy | Action-26/50= 52% Adventure-33/50=66% Comedy-16/50=32% |
| #24 Star Wars: Episode VI – Return Of The Jedi | $309,206 | Action, Adventure, Sci Fi | Action-26/50= 52% Adventure-33/50=66% Sci Fi-16/50=32% |
| #25 Independence Day | $306,169 | Action, Sci Fi | Action-26/50= 52% Sci Fi-16/50=32% |
| #26 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl |
$305,411 | Action, Adventure, Comedy | Action-26/50= 52% Adventure-33/50=66% Comedy-16/50=32% |
| #27 The Sixth Sense | $293,506 | Drama, Thriller | Drama-8/50=16%
Thriller-3/50=6% |
| #28 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | $292,000 | Family, Adventure, Fantasy | Family-8/50=16%
Adventure-33/50=66% Fantasy-10/50=20% |
| #29 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe |
$291,709 | Action, Adventure, Fanatsy | Action-26/50= 52% Adventure-33/50=66% Fantasy-10/50=20% |
| #30 Iron Man | $290,601 | Action, Adventure. Drama | Action-26/50= 52% Adventure-33/50=66% Drama-8/50=16% |
| #31 Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back | $209,272 | Action, Adventure, Sci Fi | Action-26/50= 52% Adventure-33/50=66% Sci Fi-16/50=32% |
| #32 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | $290,013 | Family, Adventure, Fantasy | Family-8/50=165
Adventure-33/50=66% Fantasy-10/50=20% |
| #33 Home Alone | $285,761 | Family, Comedy, Crime | Family-8/50=16%
Comedy-16/50=32% Crime-4/50=8% |
| #34 The Matrix Reloaded | $281,538 | Action, Adventure, Sci Fi | Action-26/50= 52% Adventure-33/50=66% Sci Fi-16/50=32% |
| #35 Meet the Fouckers | $279,167 | Comedy, Romance | Comedy-8/50=16%
Romance-10/50=20% |
| #36 Shrek | $267,665 | Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Romance | Animation-7/50=14%
Adventure-33/50=66% Comedy-8/50=16% Romance-10/50=20% |
| #37 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | $261,979 | Family, Adventure, Fantasy | Family-8/50=16%
Adventure-33/50=66% Fantasy-10/50=20% |
| #38 The Incredibles | $261,435 | Animation, Adventure, Action | Animation-7/50=14%
Adventure-33/50=66% Action-26/50= 52% |
| #39 Dr. Suess, How the Grinch Stole Christmas | $260,031 | Comedy, Family | Comedy-8/50=16%
Family-8/50=32% |
| #40 Jaws | $260,000 | Adventure, Thriller | Adventure-33/50=66%
Thriller-3/50=6% |
| #41 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Scull | $257,620 | Adventure/Action | Adventure-33/50=66%
Action-26/50= 52% |
| #42 I Am Legend | $256,386 | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller | Drama-8/50=16%
Sci-Fi-16/50=32% Thriller-3/50=6% |
| #43 Monsters Inc. | $255,870 | Animation, Comedy, Family, |
Animation-7/50=14%
Adventure-33/50=66% Thriller-3/50=6% |
| #44 Batman (Original, 1989) | $251,190 | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi | Action-26/50=32%
Crime-4/50=8% Sci-Fi-16/50=32% |
| #45 Night At the Museum | $250,863 | Adventure, Family, Comedy | Adventure-33/50=66%
Comedy-8/50=16% Family-8/50=16% |
| #46 Men In Black | $250,156 | Action, Comedy, Sci-fi | Action-26/50= 52%
Comedy-8/50=16% Sci-Fi-16/50=32% |
| #47 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | $249,538 | Family, Adventure, Fantasy | Family-8/50=16%
Adventure-33/50=66% Fantasy-8/50=16% |
| #48 Toy Story 2 | $245,852 | Animation, Adventure, Family | Animation-7/50=14%
Adventure-33/50=66% Family-8/50=16% |
| #49 Cars | $244,082 | Family, Animation, Comedy | Family-8/50=16%
Animation-7/50=14% Comedy-8/50=16% |
| #50 Bruce Almighty | $242,704 | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance | Comedy-8/50=16%
Fantasy-8/50=16% Romance-10/50=20% |
For any questions, please reply to the post or to moviedistributionfacts@gmail.com.
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