Thursday Trivia: Domestic vs. World-Wide

With the crazy success of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, I thought my first Thursday Trivia piece could highlight world-wide gross in terms of what makes a movie truly successful.

Through Wednesday, June 8, Pirates has grossed a respectable $196 million domestically, but with its $250 million production budget, it still has a lot of work to do to reach that total.  But, because of its world-wide take, it has already become a humungous hit -- with $615 million currently and a shot of grossing a billion world-wide.  Currently, it is the highest grossing film of the year by a wide margin, with Fast Five #2 at $574 million ($203 domestically).

In the US, we obviously prioritize hits in terms of domestic box office, but most mega-hits and franchise films do a staggering amount of their business overseas.  In fact, of the all-time world-wide (non-adjusted) gross, there is only one film in the top 30 that had more than 50% of their box office coming from American dollars.  And most of the numbers aren't even close.  Of the top 5 world-wide grosses, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (#4 on the list) had the highest percentage of domestic box office at only 39.7% -- the others are Avatar (27.3% -- over $2 billion just overseas), Titanic (32.6% -- 1.2 billion overseas), Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (33.7%) and Toy Story 3 (39%).

As of now, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is #28 even though it has grossed as much overseas as many of the films ahead of it.  It's putrid 24.2% of domestic take shows exactly how much importance studios put on marketing to our neighbors across the oceans.

So, really, if you want to blame Hollywood for make so many adaptations, sequels and loud, stupid blockbusters, stop blaming Middle America.  Because foreign populations naturally aren't going to be as attracted to small dramas or character pieces, the studios are going to drive out these films that can do well in a world-wide market.

Here's your trivia question for the week:  I mentioned that only one film in the top 30 all-time world-wide grosses made more than 50% of their overall gross domestically.  NAME IT (in the comments below)!