According to viewers, “The Shawshank Redemption” is the most popular film of all time, with a 9.3 out of 10 rating. on IMDb. It is followed by “The Godfather” with 9.2 out of 10 stars and “The Dark Knight” with 9.1 out of 10 stars. However, a film’s popularity often says little about its financial success — especially since some titles have been around for far longer. Or to put it another way: all three films are far behind on IMDb’s revenue list. “The Dark Knight” reached 59th place with around $1 billion. While it is a good box office result, it could do much better.
The Most Financially Successful Film
With a budget of $237 million and an outstanding box office result of $2.92 billion, Avatar is the most financially successful film of all time. It was released in 2009 and was written by the star director James Cameron (director and screenplay).
What is interesting in this context is that the film was not well-received by viewers. The current rating stands at 7.9 out of 10 stars. So how did this huge financial success come about? Quite simply: if you search the dictionary for “visually stunning cinema”, you will find the movie poster for Avatar next to the entry.
Okay, it doesn’t go quite that far, but the movie offered numerous breathtaking scenes, and in IMAX 3D to boot. Incidentally, the fact that cinema tickets for 3D screenings are usually more expensive certainly also played a part in the success of Avatar. But on the other hand, the title almost single-handedly sparked the 3D hype at the time. So it certainly wasn’t just down to the higher ticket prices as such.
What about the story? This is the reason why the financial high-flyer underperformed in the ratings. Not because the plot is bad. It is because James Cameron largely recycled it for Avatar: An outsider arrives in a new environment as part of a foreign culture, falls in love with the customs and the people, and therefore, fights against his former comrades-in-arms to preserve what he has come to cherish.
Does this sound familiar? If so, it’s not surprising. This is the story found in “Dances with Wolves” (1990), “Pocahontas” (1995), “The Last Samurai” (2003), and many other films. It is a point of criticism that viewers keep picking up on — even until today.
One Financial Hit Snowballs
For many years, Avatar stood on its own as an individual film. But what modern Hollywood doesn’t remake becomes a franchise. And so, in 2022 and 2025, two follow-up titles were released: “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash” — for the moment. Both were praised and criticized for exactly the same things as the original film. But in the end, visually stunning cinema always seems to be superior to a creative plot. Hence, the second part ranks third worldwide, with box office takings of just under $2.33 billion. And the second most successful film of all time? Avengers: Endgame, with around $2.8 billion.
If you would like to know which four films broke the magical $1 billion mark in 2025, you will find the answer in the following article:
