List of highest-grossing science fiction films
The following is a list of highest-grossing science fiction films of all time.
Highest-grossing sci-fi films
The following is a list of the highest-grossing science fiction films of all time., 27 of the top-50 are superhero films, many of which are among the highest-grossing superhero films. Such films include science fiction elements but are most associated with the superhero genre. These are marked with "S" in the Type column, which can be sorted separately by clicking on the column header. The top 20 are among the highest-grossing films of all time.| Rank | Film | Type | Worldwide gross | Year | |
| 1 | ' | $2,797,800,564 | 2019 | ||
| 2 | Avatar | $2,789,679,794 | 2009 | ||
| 3 | ' | $2,068,223,624 | 2015 | ||
| 4 | ' | S | $2,048,359,754 | 2018 | |
| 5 | Jurassic World | $1,671,713,208 | 2015 | ||
| 6 | The Avengers | S | $1,518,812,988 | 2012 | |
| 7 | ' | S | $1,405,403,694 | 2015 | |
| 8 | Black Panther | S | $1,346,913,161 | 2018 | |
| 9 | ' | $1,332,539,889 | 2017 | ||
| 10 | ' | $1,308,467,944 | 2018 | ||
| 11 | Iron Man 3 | S | $1,214,811,252 | 2013 | |
| 12 | ' | S | $1,153,304,495 | 2016 | |
| 13 | Aquaman | S | $1,148,161,807 | 2018 | |
| 14 | ' | S | $1,131,927,996 | 2019 | |
| 15 | Captain Marvel | S | $1,128,274,794 | 2019 | |
| 16 | ' | $1,123,794,079 | 2011 | ||
| 17 | ' | $1,104,054,072 | 2014 | ||
| 18 | ' | $1,074,144,248 | 2019 | ||
| 19 | Rogue One | $1,056,057,273 | 2016 | ||
| 20 | Jurassic Park | $1,029,939,903 | 1993 | ||
| 21 | ' | $1,027,044,677 | 1999 | ||
| 22 | Spider-Man 3 | S | $890,871,626 | 2007 | |
| 23 | ' | S | $880,166,924 | 2017 | |
| 24 | ' | S | $873,634,919 | 2016 | |
| 25 | ' | $865,011,746 | 2013 | ||
| 26 | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 | S | $863,756,051 | 2017 | |
| 27 | Venom | S | $856,085,151 | 2018 | |
| 28 | ' | S | $853,977,126 | 2017 | |
| 29 | ' | $848,754,768 | 2005 | ||
| 30 | ' | $836,303,693 | 2009 | ||
| 31 | Wonder Woman | S | $821,847,012 | 2017 | |
| 32 | Spider-Man | S | $821,708,551 | 2002 | |
| 33 | Independence Day | $817,400,891 | 1996 | ||
| 34 | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | $792,910,554 | 1982 | ||
| 35 | Deadpool 2 | S | $785,046,920 | 2018 | |
| 36 | Spider-Man 2 | S | $783,766,341 | 2004 | |
| 37 | Deadpool | S | $783,112,979 | 2016 | |
| 38 | Star Wars | $775,398,007 | 1977 | ||
| 39 | Guardians of the Galaxy | S | $773,328,629 | 2014 | |
| 40 | The Amazing Spider-Man | S | $757,930,663 | 2012 | |
| 41 | ' | S | $747,862,775 | 2014 | |
| 42 | Suicide Squad | S | $746,846,894 | 2016 | |
| 43 | The Matrix Reloaded | $741,846,459 | 2003 | ||
| 44 | Gravity | $723,192,705 | 2013 | ||
| 45 | ' | S | $714,264,267 | 2014 | |
| 46 | Dawn of the Planet of the Apes | $710,644,566 | 2014 | ||
| 47 | Transformers | $709,709,780 | 2007 | ||
| 48 | The Amazing Spider-Man 2 | S | $708,982,323 | 2014 | |
| 49 | The Wandering Earth | $699,760,773 | 2019 | ||
| 50 | The Hunger Games | $694,394,724 | 2012 |
S: Superhero film
Highest-grossing films adjusted for inflation
Because of the long-term effects of inflation, notably the significant increase of movie theater ticket prices, the list unadjusted for inflation gives far more weight to later films. The unadjusted list, while commonly found in the press, is therefore largely meaningless for comparing films widely separated in time, as many films from earlier eras will never appear on a modern unadjusted list, despite achieving higher commercial success when adjusted for price increases. To compensate for the devaluation of the currency, some charts make adjustments for inflation, but not even this practice fully addresses the issue, since ticket prices and inflation do not necessarily parallel one another. For example, in 1970, tickets cost $1.55 or about $6.68 in inflation-adjusted 2004 dollars; by 1980, prices had risen to about $2.69, a drop to $5.50 in inflation-adjusted 2004 dollars. Ticket prices have also risen at different rates of inflation around the world, further complicating the process of adjusting worldwide grosses.Another complication is release in multiple formats for which different ticket prices are charged. One notable example of this phenomenon is Avatar, which was also released in 3D and IMAX: almost two-thirds of tickets for that film were for 3D showings with an average price of $10, and about one-sixth were for IMAX showings with an average price over $14.50, compared to a 2010 average price of $7.61 for 2D films. Social and economic factors such as population change and the growth of international markets also impact on the number of people purchasing theater tickets, along with audience demographics where some films sell a much higher proportion of discounted children's tickets, or perform better in big cities where tickets cost more.
The measuring system for gauging a film's success is based on unadjusted grosses, mainly because historically this is the way it has always been done because of the practices of the film industry: the box office receipts are compiled by theaters and relayed to the distributor, which in turn releases them to the media. Converting to a more representative system that counts ticket sales rather than gross is also fraught with problems because the only data available for older films are the sale totals. As the motion picture industry is highly oriented towards marketing currently released films, unadjusted figures are always used in marketing campaigns so that new blockbuster films can much more easily achieve a high sales ranking, and thus be promoted as a "top film of all time", so there is little incentive to switch to a more robust analysis from a marketing or even newsworthy point of view.
| Rank | Title | Worldwide gross | Year |
| 1 | Avatar | $ | 2009 |
| 2 | Star Wars | $ | 1977 |
| 3 | ' | $ | 2019 |
| 4 | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | $ | 1982 |
| 5 | ' | $ | 2015 |
| 6 | $ | 2018 |
Timeline of highest-grossing sci-fi films
| Established | Title | Record setting gross | Reference |
| 1954 | 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea | $28,200,000 | |
| 1968 | Planet of the Apes | $32,600,000 | |
| 1970 | ' | $138,000,000-193,000,000 | |
| 1978 | Star Wars | $410,000,000/$268,500,000 | |
| 1982 | Star Wars | $530,000,000 | |
| 1983 | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | $619,000,000–664,000,000 | |
| 1985 | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | $701,000,000 | |
| 1993 | Jurassic Park | $914,691,118 | |
| 2010 | Avatar | $ | |
| 2010 | Avatar | $2,789,679,794 | |
| 2019 | ' | $2,797,800,564 |
Highest-grossing sci-fi film franchises and film series
Highest-grossing sci-fi films by year
| Year | Film | Gross | Ref |
| 2019 | ' | $2,797,800,564 | |
| 2018 | ' | $2,048,359,754 | |
| 2017 | ' | $1,332,539,889 | |
| 2016 | ' | $1,153,304,495 | |
| 2015 | ' | $2,068,223,624 | |
| 2014 | ' | $1,104,039,076 | |
| 2013 | Iron Man 3 | $1,214,811,252 | |
| 2012 | The Avengers | $1,518,812,988 | |
| 2011 | ' | $1,123,794,079 | |
| 2010 | Iron Man 2 | $623,933,331 | |
| 2009 | Avatar | $2,789,679,794 | |
| 2008 | Iron Man | $585,174,222 | |
| 2007 | Spider-Man 3 | $890,871,626 | |
| 2006 | ' | $459,359,555 | |
| 2005 | ' | $848,754,768 | |
| 2004 | Spider-Man 2 | $783,766,341 | |
| 2003 | The Matrix Reloaded | $742,128,461 | |
| 2002 | Spider-Man | $821,708,551 | |
| 2001 | Jurassic Park III | $368,780,809 | |
| 2000 | X-Men | $296,339,527 | |
| 1999 | ' | $1,027,044,677 | |
| 1998 | Armageddon | $553,709,788 | |
| 1997 | ' | $618,638,999 | |
| 1996 | Independence Day | $817,400,891 | |
| 1995 | Waterworld | $264,218,220 | |
| 1994 | Stargate | $196,567,262 | |
| 1993 | Jurassic Park | $1,029,528,120 | |
| 1992 | Alien 3 | $159,814,498 | |
| 1991 | ' | $520,881,154 | |
| 1990 | Total Recall | $261,317,921 | |
| 1989 | Back to the Future Part II | $331,950,002 | |
| 1988 | Akira | $49,000,000 | |
| 1987 | Predator | $98,267,558 | |
| 1986 | ' | $133,000,000 | |
| 1985 | Back to the Future | $381,109,762 | |
| 1984 | Ghostbusters | $295,212,467 | |
| 1983 | Return of the Jedi | $475,106,177 | |
| 1982 | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | $792,910,554 | |
| 1981 | Superman II | $190,400,000 | |
| 1980 | The Empire Strikes Back | $547,969,004 | |
| 1979 | ' | $139,000,000 | |
| 1978 | Superman | $300,451,603 | |
| 1977 | Star Wars | $775,398,007 | |
| 1976 | Logan's Run | $25,000,000 | |
| 1975 | Rollerball | $30,000,000 |
Highest-grossing opening weekends for sci-fi films
The following is a list of the highest worldwide openings for sci-fi films.| Rank | Film | Worldwide opening | Year | Ref |
| 1 | ' | $1,223,641,414 | 2019 | |
| 2 | ' | $640,521,291 | 2018 | |
| 3 | ' | $528,966,675 | 2015 | |
| 4 | Jurassic World | $524,909,010 | 2015 | |
| 5 | Captain Marvel | $456,718,598 | 2019 | |
| 6 | ' | $450,821,889 | 2017 | |
| 7 | ' | $422,507,347 | 2016 | |
| 8 | The Avengers | $392,538,708 | 2012 | |
| 9 | ' | $392,471,109 | 2015 | |
| 10 | ' | $382,425,000 | 2011 | |
| 11 | Spider-Man 3 | $381,660,892 | 2007 | |
| 12 | ' | $379,539,142 | 2016 | |
| 13 | ' | $373,500,000 | 2019 | |
| 14 | Iron Man 3 | $372,553,677 | 2013 | |
| 15 | Black Panther | $371,367,531 | 2018 | |
| 16 | ' | $303,949,700 | 2005 | |
| 17 | ' | $302,138,390 | 2011 | |
| 18 | Deadpool 2 | $300,386,357 | 2018 | |
| 19 | ' | $298,924,610 | 2018 | |
| 20 | ' | $295,800,000 | 2019 | |
| 21 | Rogue One: A Star Wars Story | $290,049,210 | 2016 | |
| 22 | Justice League | $278,842,239 | 2017 | |
| 23 | ' | $273,897,634 | 2014 | |
| 24 | Suicide Squad | $266,982,248 | 2016 | |
| 25 | Deadpool | $264,711,361 | 2016 |