The 12 Highest Grossing Steven Spielberg Movies
Amblin Entertainment
Steven Spielberg has been thrilling cinema goers since the early 70s. He’s released hit after hit throughout his career, but which movies scored the most at the box office? Here are the 12 highest grossing movies directed by Steven Spielberg, adjusted for inflation…
12) Ready Player One
Full to the brim with characters and references from some of our favourite movie franchises, Ready Player One is a visually stunning thrill-ride! In the future, most humans use VR headsets to enter a virtual world named the Oasis, where they get to engage as their avatars. When the Oasis’ creator dies, he leaves three Easter Eggs hidden in this digital world. The first to find all three wins ownership of the Oasis! Wade and his friends race against an evil corporation to find the Easter Eggs.
Worldwide box office in 2018: $579,055,653
Adjusted for inflation for 2021: $608,008,436
11) Saving Private Ryan
After several of a woman’s children are killed during the storming of Normandy, a small group of soldiers is sent to pull her only surviving child – a paratrooper – from behind enemy lines, and send him home to his mother. Captain Miller (played by Tom Hanks) leads the all-star group across the perilous terrain in this blood-thirsting 1998 epic.
Worldwide box office in 1998: $485,035,08
Adjusted for inflation for 2021: $780,906,487
10) War of the Worlds
Spielberg’s modernised take on H. G. Wells’ classic novel landed in 2005. Ray Ferrier, a dock worker played by Tom Cruise, fights to reunite his children with their mother after aliens begin to invade Earth.
Worldwide box office in 2005: $606,836,535
Adjusted for inflation for 2021: $819,229,322
9) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Harrison Ford returned for Temple of Doom; the 1984 prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark. After fleeing Shanghai in a hurry, Indy finds himself crash-landed in India, where he discovers a village that has had all its children taken, and its sacred Sankara Stone stolen. Indy journeys to Pankot Palace to investigate and finds a dangerous cult at work.
Worldwide box office in 1984: $333,080,271
Adjusted for inflation for 2021: $842,693,086
8) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom Crystal Skull
Harrison Ford’s fourth (and poorest) outing as Indiana Jones hit cinemas in 2008 and saw him battling against Russians to return a mysterious crystal skull to an ancient temple; encountering some ‘interdimensional beings’ along the way.
Worldwide box office in 2008: $786,635,413
Adjusted for inflation for 2021: $959,695,204
7) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
In the third installment in the Indy series, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade hit screens in 1989, the archaeologist teams up with his father (played by Sean Connery) in the search for the Holy Grail; the cup of Christ, which is said to grant everlasting life. Once again, Indy is racing against Nazis to stop Hitler from getting his hands on such a powerful historical artefact.
Worldwide box office in 1989: $474,171,806
Adjusted for inflation for 2021: $1,005,244,229
6) The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Jeff Goldblum returns as Dr Ian Malcolm to head up this 1997 Jurassic sequel! Hammond has sent Ian Malcolm’s girlfriend Sarah to a second island, filled with dinosaurs, to study them before the animals are taken away by Ingen. Keen to bring her home, Malcolm joins a small team travelling to the island, only to find that his young daughter has stowed away onboard, and the island is swarming with mercenaries who are there to catch all the animals and bring them home to a new park in San Diego.
Worldwide box office in 1997: $618,638,999
Adjusted for inflation for 2021: $1,014,567,958
5) Raiders of the Lost Ark
The first time audiences were introduced to daring archaeologist Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark exploded onto screens in 1981. We got to see Harrison Ford race against the Nazis to find the Ark of the Covenant – a historical artefact that could help Hitler secure victory.
Worldwide box office in 1981: $367,452,079
Adjusted for inflation for 2021: $1,061,936,508
4) Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Starring Richard Dreyfuss, who Spielberg had previously worked with on Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind hit cinemas in 1977. Electrician Roy Neary comes to a desert town to investigate serious power outages, and soon witnesses UFO visitation. Following the close encounter, he becomes obsessed with the image of a mountain. But what does it mean?
Worldwide box office in 1977: $340,800,479
Adjusted for inflation for 2021: $1,479,074,079
3) Jurassic Park
Topping our list is the 1993 instant classic, Jurassic Park. The film sees mega-wealthy businessman John Hammond bring two paleontologists, a chaos theorist, a lawyer, and his two grandchildren to an island attraction filled with real, living, breathing dinosaurs. But things soon go wrong when IT worker Dennis Nedry turns the power off so that he can steal some DNA, and the creatures all escape from their paddocks.
Worldwide box office in 1993: $1,045,573,035
Adjusted for inflation for 2021: $1,902,942,924
2) E.T. the Extra Terrestrial
Released in 1982, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial is one of Spielberg’s most celebrated movies. Stranded on Earth, a young alien finds its way into the care of a boy named Elliot. He names the creature E.T. and tries to hide it from his family. It’s not long before the government tracks him down, and Elliot must race against time to get E.T. home.
Worldwide box office in 1982: $792,962,972
Adjusted for inflation for 2021: $2,164,788,914
1) Jaws
1975’s shark thriller, Jaws, sees the sunny seaside resort of Amity Island ramping up for the summer season when a couple of shark attacks offshore send the town into chaos. Chief Police Brody, a marine biologist, and a grizzled old fisherman team up to hunt down the beast before it can kill again, but they soon realise they’ve bitten off more than they can chew.
Worldwide box office in 1975: $470,700,000
Adjusted for inflation for 2021: $2,301,723,000
There you have it – the 12 highest grossing Steven Spielberg movies!