List of highest-grossing musicals


The following is a list of highest-grossing musicals, including musical theatre productions and musical films.

Highest-grossing musical theatre franchises

Worldwide revenue

The following is a list of the top 10 highest grossing musical theatre franchises worldwide based on limited available data. The following figures include revenue grossed from ticket sales in theatres across the world.
Note that the following gross figures are nominal, not adjusted for inflation, and do not take into account rising ticket prices. As such, the list gives far more weight to more recent musicals.
The Lion King sits at the top, with a gross of $8.2 billion worldwide.
RankMusicalDebut yearGross revenue
1The Lion King1997$8,251,556,700
2The Phantom of the Opera1986$6,060,000,000
3Wicked2003$3,530,000,000
4Cats1981$2,865,624,091
5Les Misérables1980$2,708,535,588
6Mamma Mia!1999$2,086,773,150
7Miss Saigon1989$1,636,259,976
8Jersey Boys2004$1,644,848,098
9Beauty and the Beast1993$1,600,000,000
10Starlight Express1984$1,200,000,000

Broadway revenue (since 1982)

The following is a list of the top 25 highest grossing Broadway musicals since 1982, based on data collected by the Broadway League. These grosses do not take into account the effects of inflation and as such the list is heavily skewed in favor of more recent Broadway shows. Moreover, the Broadway League did not begin collecting gross data until June 1984. Hence, accurate pre-1984 gross data is not available and this list should not be considered accurate for musicals that premiered on Broadway before that year.
The Lion King sits at the top, with a Broadway gross of $1.6 billion.
Dates refer to original Broadway productions, with notes added for future productions that outran the Broadway run.

Highest-grossing musical films

Box office revenue

Note that the following gross figures are nominal, not adjusted for inflation, and do not take into account rising ticket prices, or differences in ticket prices between different countries. When adjusted for inflation, the highest grossing musical films are The Sound of Music, with an inflation-adjusted worldwide gross of $2,564,000,000; followed by Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, with an inflation-adjusted worldwide gross of $1,971,000,000. the top seven films are among the Highest grossing films of all time.
RankFilmYearWorldwide gross
1The Lion King 2019$1,656,943,394
2Frozen II2019$1,450,026,933
3Frozen2013$1,290,000,000
4Beauty and the Beast2017$1,263,521,126
5Aladdin2019$1,050,693,953
6The Lion King1994$968,483,777
7The Jungle Book2016$966,550,600
8Bohemian Rhapsody2018$903,655,259
9Moana2016$643,331,111
10Sing2016$634,151,679
11Mamma Mia!2008$609,881,238
12Tangled2010$591,794,936
13Aladdin1992$504,050,219
14Rio 22014$500,101,972
15Rio2011$484,635,760
16Charlie and the Chocolate Factory2005$474,968,763
17Tarzan1999$448,191,819
18La La Land2016$446,092,357
19'2009$443,140,005
20Les Misérables2012$441,809,770
21The Greatest Showman2017$434,993,183
22A Star Is Born2018$434,888,866
23Beauty and the Beast1991$424,967,620
24Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs1937$418,229,510
25Grease1978$396,169,103
26'2018$394,745,881
27Home2015$386,041,607
28Happy Feet2006$384,335,608
29The Jungle Book1967$378,000,000
30Alvin and the Chipmunks2007$361,336,633
31Mary Poppins Returns2018$349,537,494
32The Lorax2012$348,840,316
33Trolls2016$346,864,462
34Pocahontas1995$346,079,773
35'2011$342,695,435
36Enchanted2007$340,487,652
37The Hunchback of Notre Dame1996$325,338,851
38The Polar Express2004$311,365,072
39Chicago2002$306,776,732
40Mulan1998$304,320,254
41Pitch Perfect 22015$287,506,194
42The Sound of Music1965$286,214,286
43Saturday Night Fever1977$282,400,000
44'2017
45The Princess and the Frog2009$267,045,765
46Cinderella1950$263,591,415
47'2008$252,909,177
48Hercules1997$252,712,101
49Brother Bear2003$250,397,798
50'2015$234,798,636

Timeline of highest-grossing musical films

TitleEstablishedRecord-setting grossRef
The Jazz Singer1927
The Singing Fool1928
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs1938$8,000,000
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs1940$8,500,000
This Is the Army1946
This Is the Army1951
White Christmas1954
Awaara 1954
Awaara 1955
Mother India1957
Mughal-e-Azam 1960
White Christmas1960
South Pacific1961
West Side Story1961
Mary Poppins1966–
The Sound of Music1966
The Sound of Music1978
Grease1978
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs1993$418,200,000
Aladdin 1993$504,050,219
The Lion King1994$768,000,000
The Lion King2002$783,841,776
The Lion King2011$968,483,777
Frozen 2014$1,287,000,000
Frozen 2017$1,290,000,000
The Lion King2019$1,656,943,394




Highest-grossing opening weekends

The following is a list of the biggest opening weekends for musical films worldwide.
RankFilmOpening weekendYear
1Frozen II$358,503,2932019
2Beauty and the Beast$357,026,5932017
3The Lion King$245,953,7032019
4Aladdin$214,700,0002019
5The Jungle Book$132,200,0002016
5Frozen$110,600,0002013
6Rio$94,164,4142011
7'$84,652,6892007
8'2017
92.02018
10Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again$77,852,1802018
11Moana$73,809,1952016
12'$72,362,8472009
13The Lorax$70,580,9862012
14Tangled$66,140,7372010
15Bohemian Rhapsody$63,541,0552018
16A Star Is Born$57,108,0512018
17Charlie and the Chocolate Factory$56,178,4502005
18Home$52,107,7312015
19Rio 2$49,919,4852014
20Sultan2016
21Trolls$46,581,1422016
22Mary Poppins Returns$45,616,9292018
23Alvin and the Chipmunks$44,307,4172007
24Happy Feet$42,508,4322006
25Enchanted$42,204,9132007
26The Lion King$40,888,1941994
27'$36,563,3642011
28Sing$35,258,1452016
29Tarzan$34,221,9681999
30Padmaavat2018
31Dhoom 3$33,160,0002013
32Rocketman$32,525,7222018
33$32,421,5212009
34Hairspray$31,682,1142007
35Les Misérables$31,481,7352012
36Kabali2016
37Thugs of Hindostan2018
38Sanju2018
39The Muppets$30,839,0262011
40Sarkar2018
41The Lion King in 3D$30,151,6142011
42Secret Superstar$30,000,0002018
43Pitch Perfect 3$29,728,5252017
44Dangal2016
45Pocahontas$29,531,6191995
46Mamma Mia!$29,353,8862008
47Bajrangi Bhaijaan2015
48Tiger Zinda Hai2017
49Prem Ratan Dhan Payo2015
50Happy New Year2014

Timeline of highest-grossing openings

TitleYearRecord-setting gross
Awaara 1955$114,000
Mughal-e-Azam 1960
Saturday Night Fever1977$3,878,099
Grease1978$8,941,717
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas1982$11,874,268
Staying Alive1983$12,146,143
Aladdin1992$25,784,522
The Lion King1994$40,888,194
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory2005$56,178,450
2008$84,652,689
Rio2011$94,164,414
Frozen2013$110,600,000
The Jungle Book2016$132,200,000
Beauty and the Beast2017$357,026,593
Frozen II2019$358,503,293






Highest-grossing musical films by year

The following is a list of highest grossing musical film by year. Disney top the list 26 times. All films in The Jungle Book, Saturday Night Fever, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Rio are on the list, along with Alvin and the Chipmunks franchises are the most represented Franchises each have two films on the list.
YearTitleWorldwide grossBudget
1937Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
1943This Is the Army
1951Awaara
1952Aan
1953Peter Pan –4000000
1954White Christmas
1955Oklahoma!
1955Guys and Dolls
1955Shree 420
1955Lady and the Tramp
1956The King and I
1957Mother India$ $
1958South Pacific
1959Sleeping Beauty
1960Mughal-e-Azam $ $
1961West Side Story$$
1962The Music Man$
1963The Sword in the Stone
1964Mary Poppins$102,272,727 $4,400,000-$4,600,000
1965The Sound of Music$ $
1966Phool Aur Patthar$
1967The Jungle Book$ $
1968Funny Girl$$
1969Paint Your Wagon$$
1970The Aristocats$ $
1970Hello Dolly!$$
1971Fiddler on the Roof$$
1972Cabaret$$
1973Bobby$
1974That's Entertainment!$
1975The Rocky Horror Picture Show$$
1976A Star is Born$$
1977Saturday Night Fever$$
1978Grease$ $
1979The Muppet Movie$ $
1980The Blues Brothers$$
1981The Fox and the Hound
1982Disco Dancer$
1983Staying Alive$$
1984Footloose$$
1985Ram Teri Ganga Maili$
1986Little Shop of Horrors$$
1987Dirty Dancing$$
1988Oliver and Company+ +
1989The Little Mermaid$ $
1990Dil$
1991Beauty and the Beast$ $
1992Aladdin$$
1993The Nightmare Before Christmas$ $
1994The Lion King$ $
1995Pocahontas$$
1996The Hunchback of Notre Dame$$
1997Hercules$$
1998Mulan$$
1999Tarzan$$
2000Coyote Ugly$$
2001Moulin Rouge!$$
2002Chicago$$
2003Brother Bear$$
2004The Polar Express$ $
2005Charlie and the Chocolate Factory$$
2006Happy Feet$$
2007Alvin and the Chipmunks$$
2008Mamma Mia!$$
2009$$
2010Tangled$$
2011Rio$$
2012Les Misérables$$
2013Frozen$ $
2014Rio 2$$
2015Home$$
2016The Jungle Book$$
2017Beauty and the Beast$$
2018Bohemian Rhapsody$$
2019The Lion King$$
2020Tanhaji$$

Note that the following gross figures are nominal, not adjusted for inflation, and do not take into account increasing ticket prices.
A series must have at least two theatrically released films.

Box office admissions (ticket sales)

Musical theatre

The following is a list of the top 10 musical theatre franchises with the highest theatre admissions. The list includes worldwide ticket sales as well as Broadway ticket sales since 1984.
The Broadway League did not begin collecting admissions data until June 1984. Hence, pre-1984 Broadway admissions data is not available and the Broadway figures should not be considered accurate for musicals that premiered on Broadway before that year.
RankMusicalDebut yearWorldwide ticket salesBroadway ticket sales
1The Phantom of the Opera 1988130,000,00018,000,000
2The Lion King 1997100,000,00015,000,000
3Cats198273,000,0009,333,667
4Les Misérables198770,000,00010,600,947
5Mamma Mia!200165,000,0007,566,124
6Wicked 200355,000,00011,000,000
7Beauty and the Beast199435,000,0007,609,397
8Miss Saigon199135,000,0006,584,913
9Chicago 197531,000,0009,000,000
10Jersey Boys200525,000,0005,150,298
10Starlight Express198425,000,0001,153,702

Musical films

The following table lists known estimated box office ticket sales for various high-grossing musical films that have sold at least 75million tickets worldwide.
Note that some of the data are incomplete due to a lack of available admissions data from a number of countries. Therefore, it is not an exhaustive list of all the highest-grossing musical films by ticket sales, so no rankings are given.
FilmYearKnown ticket sales
The Sound of Music1965283,300,000
Sholay1975250,000,000
Awaara 1951217,000,000
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs1937214,900,000
The Lion King1994140,108,836
The Jungle Book1967137,915,958
Disco Dancer1982135,000,000
Frozen2013133,013,967
Beauty and the Beast2017123,766,498
The Jungle Book2016123,663,450
Caravan1971119,000,000
Grease1978117,075,584
Bobby1973116,400,000
The Lion King2019116,060,166
Mary Poppins1964105,507,268
2017105,003,001
Mughal-e-Azam 1960100,041,453
Mother India1957100,011,812
Aladdin201997,106,238
Muqaddar Ka Sikandar197891,800,000
Fantasia194087,649,246
Aladdin199287,108,669
Cinderella195084,458,172
Ganga Jamna196183,800,000
Pinocchio194083,739,255
Bohemian Rhapsody201880,322,547
Kidnapping, Caucasian Style196776,540,000

Footnotes