List of highest-grossing films in the United States and Canada

The following is a list of the highest-grossing films in the United States and Canada, a market known in the film industry as the North American box office and the domestic box office, and where "gross" is defined in US dollars.

Not adjusted for inflation
This is a list of the highest-grossing films in the U.S. and Canada, a market known in the film industry as the North American box office, or as the domestic box office within the U.S. itself. The chart is ranked by lifetime gross, and for comparison, the figures adjusted for the effects of inflation are also listed, using the U.S. consumer price index; a film's earnings from its initial release are also included to provide a basis for comparison between films released around the same time.

These films fall outside the top 100 when considering only initial gross, and would be replaced by Despicable Me 3 ($264.62m), The Amazing Spider-Man ($262.03m), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ($261.98m), and The Incredibles ($261.44). The initial gross of Star Wars is up to the date of its expansion on July 21, 1978. It was still in theatres at the time of the expansion so it could be argued that the initial run should include the expansion. If the expansion gross is included, the initial gross is $265.06m and therefore would not fall outside the top 100 at present.

Adjusted for ticket-price inflation
This chart was compiled based on data from Box Office Mojo, by dividing the gross by the average ticket price to calculate an estimate of the total number of admissions. Admissions better reflect the popularity of older films, since they are less susceptible to the effects of inflation.

Many of the films on this list were released prior to the availability of home video and have had multiple releases.

Factors in determining "adjusted gross"
No one yet has calculated a truly precise and definite referential adjusted gross for a film, since doing so would have to take into account most (or all) of the following:
 * Box office gross on initial release
 * Ticket price at time of release, or its relative price to other commodities in a given year, in relation to general inflation and gross domestic product. Related to that:
 * economic conditions that may help or hurt the entertainment industry as a whole (theaters in 2008 lowered ticket prices to attract more viewers though the average ticket cost $7.00)
 * Population at time of release—to be used to calculate:
 * Availability of films (number of theaters and screens, number of prints)
 * Competition of other media (television, internet, home video, film piracy)
 * Total number of films in the marketplace at a given time
 * Screen quotas (no influence on U.S. box office)
 * Price differences: matinee and evening tickets, roadshow tickets, or difference between rural and urban cinemas
 * Length of release (number of weeks)

Further explanation of issues with calculating an adjusted gross can be found in the article for List of highest-grossing films.

Franchises and film series not adjusted for inflation
This is a list of highest-grossing franchises and film series in the U.S. and Canada.

Franchises and film series adjusted for inflation
This chart was compiled based on data from Box Office Mojo, by dividing the gross by the average ticket price to calculate an estimate of the total number of admissions.