10 Highest Grossing Movies of All Times (1)

1. Avatar (2009): Topping the list as the highest earning movie of all times is the James Cameron-directed movie, Avatar. Starring Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington, the movie cost a whopping $237 million to make but recouped every last cent of the investment as it went on to earn $2,782,275,172 at the international box-office.

Movie trivia: The look of the N'avi in the movie was inspired by a dream James Cameron's movie had a long time ago in which she saw a blue-skinned woman who was 12 feet tall.

2. Titanic (1997): Next on the list is another James Cameron movie, Titanic. The movie which was written, produced, directed, edited and written by James had Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role and cost $200 million to make; the most expensive movie to be made in the 20th century. Again as with Avatar, the efforts paid off as the movie grossed $2,185,372,302 at the box office.

Movie Trivia: Several big Hollywood names were considered for the role of Rose and Jack including Gwyneth, Nicole Kidman, Madonna, Jodie Foster, Cameron Diaz and Sharon Stone for Rose and Matthew McConaughey, Christian Bale and Tom Cruise as Jack. The movie was also the highest grossing movie of all times till James Cameron broke his own record with Avatar.

3. The Avengers (2012): Marvel's The Avengers packed an ensemble cast including Robert Downey Jr, Samuel Jackson,Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson. This is in part believed to be why the movie was so successful as it grossed a total of $1,511,757,910. Its also earned the highest number of Oscar nominations for a comic book movie.

Movie Trivia: Chris Hemsworth who reprised his role as Thor in the movie had to increase his food intake in order to maintain the physique he had built for the movie, Thor. His diet included chicken breasts, steak, egg, steak and fish.

4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011): The last of the Harry Potter movie series, the movie earned a total of $1,341,511,219 worldwide. It also holds the record of the highest opening weekend of all times with $483.2 million.

Movie Trivia: Kate Winslet was first considered for the role of Helena Ravenclaw but her agent turned it down before she got a chance to decide because she didn't think Kate would want to «follow suit with every other actor in Britain by being a part of Harry Potter»

5. Iron Man 3 (2013): Starring Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle, Iron Man 3 has been the most successful of the Iron Man movies thus far grossing a total of $1,212,795,494 worldwide.

Movie Trivia: The character of Happy Hogan, Tony Starke's Head of Security who falls into a coma after an attack by the Mandarin is actually Jon Favreau who directed the first two Iron Man movies. Iron Man 3 is the first movie of the series he did not direct which he deliberately turned down so he could concentrate on his role as Happy.

6. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011): The 3rd of the Transformers movies ranks as the 6th highest grossing movies of all times with $1,123,746,996. A sequel to the movie starring mark Wahlberg is set to hit the box office in 2014.

Movie Trivia: According to director Michael Bay, 532 cars were destroyed in the film; they were actually given away by the insurance company, with no charge as all of them were flood-damaged.

7. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003): The movie was the most successful of the Lord of the Rings movies with a total of $1,119,929,521. It also won the most awards nabbing all 11 of the Oscar awards it was nominated for including Best Picture.

Movie Trivia: In the movie, Shelob's shriek is the combination of several elements, including the sounds of a plastic alien toy, steam hisses (inspired by an incident where an alligator hissed at Peter Jackson's daughter Katie Jackson)and the shriek of a Tasmanian Devil.

8. Skyfall (2012): With a total of $1,108,561,013, Skyfall is the first James Bond movie to enter the billion dollar club after 23 movies.

Movie Trivia: This was the first James Bond movie which referred to its leading actresses as 'Bond Women' rather than 'Bond Girls'.

9. The Dark Knight Rises (2012): With an ensemble cast including Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Anne Hathaway and Michael Cain, tickets for the IMAX movie premiere reportedly sold out 6 months ahead of time in New York. Gross total at the box office worldwide: $1,084,439,099.

Movie Trivia: Movie director, Christopher Nolan told the cast the end of the movie verbally to avoid any leaks.

10. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006): The first of the two Pirates of the Caribbean movies which makes the billion dollar movie club, Dead Man's Chest raked in a total of $1,066,179,725 worldwide. Johnny Depp is also the only actor to star in three billion dollar movies.

Movie Trivia: During filming, the cast and crew had to be evacuated to Los Angeles because of Hurricane Wilma. Also, two ships: The Black Pearl and The Flying Dutchman were actually built for the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series.

As the biggest movie industry in the world, Hollywood pretty much calls the shots as far as movies are concerned.