The 14 Highest-Grossing Tim Burton Movies
Warner Bros
Starting off making short films for Disney in the early 80s, Tim Burton has stunned us with his unique style and incredible story-telling for almost four decades! Here are the 14 highest-grossing Tim Burton movies, adjusted for inflation…
14) Corpse Bride
A much-loved stop motion animation, Corpse Bride hit cinemas in 2005. When he’s practising his vows in the woods, a soon-to-be-wed Groom named Vincent (voiced by Johnny Depp) accidentally marries the corpse of a woman named Emily (Helena Bonham Carter), who takes him with her to the land of the dead.
Worldwide box office in 2005: $114,770,654
Adjusted for inflation in 2021: $154,940,383
13) Beetlejuice
Exploding onto the silver screen in 1988, Beetlejuice remains one of Tim Burton’s most-loved creations. A newly-wed couple move into their dream home, only to die in a car accident a short time later. They return to the house as ghosts, and are disgusted when a new family moves in and starts redecorating. They decide to go against the advice of their afterlife case worker and hire the talents of charismatic bio-exorcist Beetlejuice (played by Michael Keaton) in an attempt to scare the family away.
Worldwide box office in 1988: $74,456,266
Adjusted for inflation in 2021: $165,292,911
12) Mars Attacks!
Inspired by a Topps Trading Card series from the 1960s, Mars Attacks! Hit screens in 1996, and features an all-star cast including Jack Nicholson, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Jessica Parker and more. As the name suggests, the film focuses on Martians that come to Earth to take over.
Worldwide box office in 1996: $101,371,017
Adjusted for inflation in 2021: $170,303,309
11) Big Fish
When he finds out his father is on his death bed, Will Bloom travels home to care for him. When recounting his life, Will’s father, Ed, would always tell fantastical stories that Will never believed. Now, one last time, he asks for the truth.
Worldwide box office in 2003: $123,954,323
Adjusted for inflation in 2021: $177,254,682
10) Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Although the story of Sweeney Todd dates back to an 1846 penny dreadful (a dark serialised story from a Victorian magazine), the movie is based on the musical, which hit Broadway in 1979. This blood-thirsty movie adaptation landed in 2007, and saw Johnny Depp play the murderous titular barber, whose victims ends up baked into the pies of Helena Bonham Carter’s Mrs Lovett.
Worldwide box office in 2007: $153,329,844
Adjusted for inflation in 2021: $194,728,902
9) Dark Shadows
Based on a gothic soap opera from the 1960s, Dark Shadows focuses on Barnabus Collins; a vampire who has been buried in the ground for centuries. When he’s unearthed by workers constructing a new McDonalds, he travels to his family estate and attempts to reconnect with his descendents.
Worldwide box office in 2012: $238,202,668
Adjusted for inflation in 2021: $273,933,068
8) Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Based on the 2011 novel by Ransom Riggs, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children starts with Jake Portman finding his dying grandfather, whose eyes have been removed, who tells him to travel to the loop of September 3, 1943. Jake travels to the UK to visit a children’s home where his grandfather had stayed when he was younger, and after travelling back in time through a portal, discovers a gaggle of children with unusual gifts, under the protection of Miss Peregrine (Eva Green), who are hiding from the evil Mr Barron (Samuel L Jackson) – a dangerous being who is hunting them down.
Worldwide box office in 2016: $295,986,876
Adjusted for inflation in 2021: $325,585,564
7) Sleepy Hollow
Inspired by a short story from 1820, the film sees New York police constable Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) sent to the small hamlet of Sleepy Hollow to investigate a string of decapitations. The locals are all convinced that the beheadings are the doing of a headless horseman; the ghost of a mercenary from the American Revolutionary war. As more victims start losing their heads, Ichabod races to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Worldwide box office in 1999: $207,068,340
Adjusted for inflation in 2021: $327,167,977
6) Dumbo
Part of Disney’s ongoing spell of adapting its classic animations into stunning live-action movies, Dumbo hit cinemas in 2019. Like the original, this star-studded film focuses on the adventure of Jumbo Jr – a baby circus elephant with ears so big, he has the ability to fly.
Worldwide box office in 2019: $353,166,307
Adjusted for inflation in 2021: $363,761,296
5) Batman Returns
Burton’s 1989 adaptation of Batman was such a huge hit, the studio demanded a sequel. With Burton back at the helm, and Michael Keaton once again donning the cowl, this gothic follow-up sees the Dark Knight face off across Danny Devito’s grotesque Penguin and Michelle Pfieffer’s seductive, whip-wielding Catwoman.
Worldwide box office in 1992: $266,824,291
Adjusted for inflation in 2021: $498,961,424
4) Planet of the Apes
A retelling of the 1968 classic of the same name, Tim Burton’s version of Planet of the Apes sees astronaut Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) accidentally crash land on a world where humans have been enslaved by talking apes. Can he free his fellow men?
Worldwide box office in 2001: $362,211,740
Adjusted for inflation in 2021: $539,695,493
3) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Roald Dahl’s much-loved book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, was famously brought to the big screen once before, with Gene Wilder playing the unforgettable Willy Wonka in the colourful 1971 version. 2005 saw Burton bring his own unique style to the story, with Johnny Depp in the lead, and Kenyan-British actor Deep Roy playing all of the Oompa Loompas.
Worldwide box office in 2005: $475,825,484
Adjusted for inflation in 2021: $642,364,403
2) Batman
When it came to putting the Dark Knight on the big screen for the first time since Adam West’s 1966 Batman: The Movie, Tim Burton chose none other than Beetlejuice star Michael Keaton for the lead role. The caped crusader is pitted against Jack Nicholson’s terrifying and engrossing Joker in this celebrated comic book caper.
Worldwide box office in 1989: $411,348,924
Adjusted for inflation in 2021: $872,059,719
1) Alice in Wonderland
One of Disney’s first live action retellings of its classic animations, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is full of colour and stunning visual effects. The film serves as a sequel to the original animation. Alice, who is now 19, dismisses her memories of Wonderland as a dream she had when she was a child. When she receives an unwanted marriage proposal at a garden party, she promptly chases after a rabbit in a waistcoat, and tumbles down a rabbit hole, arriving back in Wonderland, which is under the terrible reign of the Red Queen.
Worldwide box office in 2010: $1,025,491,110
Adjusted for inflation in 2021: $1,240,844,243
There you have it – the 14 highest-grossing Tim Burton movies!