What is the most widely seen movie of all time?

15,257 Views | 230 Replies | Last: 6 yr ago by schmendeler
Farmer1906
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How about this angle? Everyone watches Christmas movies right so how about claymation Rudolph, a Christmas Story, Home Alone, etc.

While they may not top any box office anywhere, I feel like they may be up there based on being on TV and it being a tradition.
Brian Earl Spilner
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Oh, good call on Home Alone.
Sex Panther
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****, I think it might be Home Alone
The Debt
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For Christmas movies I would say Its a Wonderful Life and Christmas Story are both more seen than Home Alone.
Cinco Ranch Aggie
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Brian Earl Spilner said:

Quote:

Avatar and Titanic? Sure, lots of people saw those, but I don't think they belong in the conversation.
The #5 movie of all time adjusted (Titanic) doesn't belong in the conversation?

Where do we think Sound of Music (#3) and ET (#4) stand?

I've never seen SoM and feel like many under 30 have not either. ET, I've seen countless times and is one of my favorite movies of all time, but I feel like most people under 20 or so haven't seen it.

#1 GotW has been "phased out" by Star Wars (#2) and other modern movies by now.
Titanic made a bunch of that money on repeated viewings from teenage girls. Not to belittle the girls who liked that movie, but I don't see Titanic as having the same broad appeal to pretty much everyone that something like Star Wars does.

And yeah, I know that Star Wars was released theatrically many times and made a lot of money on repeat viewings, but that one had a far wider appeal than Titanic (of which the best part remains the part where the boat sank, the rest of it is just utter horse crap as with much of what Cameron has done since after True Lies).
The Debt
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Box office doesn't mean "total viewership". It just means money, which doesn't even mean "tickets sold." It just means the amount of currency collected given the value of a dollar at that time for the duration of theatrical running.
Duncan Idaho
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What every the correct answer is, my wife and I watched it on the festival circuit. /Bluerock
schmendeler
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Duncan Idaho said:

What every the correct answer is, my wife and I watched it on the festival circuit. /Bluerock

ISWYDT
Brian Earl Spilner
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The Debt said:

For Christmas movies I would say Its a Wonderful Life and Christmas Story are both more seen than Home Alone.


Home Alone beats It's a Wonderful Life. Without question.
OldShadeOfBlue
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Probably Star Wars just because how surprised most people are when they hear someone hasn't seen it. It's the most talked about and referenced movie even to this day.
OldShadeOfBlue
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What about Jurassic Park?
OldShadeOfBlue
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Or Forrest Gump?
OldShadeOfBlue
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Back to the Future?

Okay, I'll stop.
The Debt
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Brian Earl Spilner said:

The Debt said:

For Christmas movies I would say Its a Wonderful Life and Christmas Story are both more seen than Home Alone.


Home Alone beats It's a Wonderful Life. Without question.

You really think more people have seen Home Alone than Its a Wonderful Life?
M.C. Swag
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Farmer1906 said:

I feel like all kids run through the Disney library growing up even if it came out before they were born.
Forreal. Cinderella, Fantasia, Sleeping Beauty....each of those movies came out 2 generations ago and I don't know anyone that hasn't seen them at least once.
mhayden
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The Disney moves lose a lot from the random TV broadcasts.

I feel like people have seen Forest Gump and Titanic simply because it seemed like it is on TBS every weekend.
Brian Earl Spilner
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The Debt said:

Brian Earl Spilner said:

The Debt said:

For Christmas movies I would say Its a Wonderful Life and Christmas Story are both more seen than Home Alone.


Home Alone beats It's a Wonderful Life. Without question.

You really think more people have seen Home Alone than Its a Wonderful Life?
I don't think it's even close, really.

Home Alone came out in 1990 and was a huge box office success. That's 28 years ago.

Almost everyone born since then will have seen it at least once, since it's on TV from Thanksgiving to New Years.

I know this is anecdotal, but I don't think the same is true of It's a Wonderful Life. In my case, nobody in my direct family has seen it and it was never a tradition to watch it.
Sex Panther
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Yeah, I really don't think its close. I don't know a single person who hasn't seen Home Alone. Its A Wonderful Life is certainly one of the most famous movies of all time, but I don't think as many people have seen it the last 30 years or so as you think.
Waltonloads08
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The Debt said:

I would say Wizard of Oz.

You also have to realize age is not evenly distributed. While most people under 50 will see avengers films, I would bet Oz takes nearly everyone over 25.


This was my first thought as well.
Farmer1906
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Brian Earl Spilner said:

The Debt said:

Brian Earl Spilner said:

The Debt said:

For Christmas movies I would say Its a Wonderful Life and Christmas Story are both more seen than Home Alone.


Home Alone beats It's a Wonderful Life. Without question.

You really think more people have seen Home Alone than Its a Wonderful Life?
I don't think it's even close, really.

Home Alone came out in 1990 and was a huge box office success. That's 28 years ago.

Almost everyone born since then will have seen it at least once, since it's on TV from Thanksgiving to New Years.

I know this is anecdotal, but I don't think the same is true of It's a Wonderful Life. In my case, nobody in my direct family has seen it and it was never a tradition to watch it.
I'm in the same boat. I don't know if I watched it yearly, but I have seen it a ton and never seen It's a Wonderful Life.
expresswrittenconsent
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There are plenty of people (young and old) who never saw home alone. That doesnt mean it isn't the correct answer but off the top of my head i can think of lots of people I know who are over 40 now who never saw it when it came out in the theatre because it was a kids movie and they were teens/adults when it came out. I also can think of several children under 12 in my family/friends circle who haven't seen it. Obviously those kids may eventually see it.


What movies are still watched by most public school students at some point? Do current kids still watch old yeller or Romeo and Juliet? Probably not, right?
schmendeler
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when I read "most widely" seen movie, I think of the movie that almost everyone has seen at least once, not the one that people have seen lots of times.

in that, I think the wizard of oz is the clear winner. you will be hard pressed to find an adult of any age in the US that has never seen the wizard of oz at least once.
M.C. Swag
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hi
The Collective
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Christmas movies is a good call. I'm going with a Charlie Brown Christmas.
Duncan Idaho
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M.C. Swag said:

hi

Why would you make the pukey face if you haven't seen it?

It is a brilliant work of art the greatly improved on the source material.
Duncan Idaho
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Brian Earl Spilner said:

Wait for the new one. You'll see how culturally relevant it is. I bet it tops $1B easily.

A billion aint what it used to be.

Disney should be disappointed if it of hits a billion.
M.C. Swag
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Duncan Idaho said:

M.C. Swag said:

hi

Why would you make the pukey face if you haven't seen it?

It is a brilliant work of art the greatly improved on the source material.
haha i never thought if as 'pukey' face, always thought it was one of those 'i shouldnt say this/shouldn't have said that' face.

Either way, wasn't meant as an indictment on the film.
Duncan Idaho
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Wow we we're pretty far apart on how we used that emoticon.

Next you are going to tell me that the text my son got last night wasn't really just his girlfriend saying she was going to make him an eggplant and peach cobbler. I thought that sounded like a strange thing to for him to want to eat
AggieOO
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expresswrittenconsent said:

_lefraud_ said:

I'd say most everyone born between 1978-2018 will see Infinity War sometime during their lifetime.

That is crazy. Do you really believe this or are you just intentionally exaggerating for effect? I would doubt that 10yrs from now even half of all Americans born btwn 78-18 will have seen this film. This is bubble gum puff piece fluff. They make a dozen plus films per year just like it.
i'll never see it. have no desire. I was born in 78, so count me in the "not most everyone" category.
Bruce Almighty
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A Christmas Story?
Inspector Spacetime
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expresswrittenconsent said:

_lefraud_ said:

I'd say most everyone born between 1978-2018 will see Infinity War sometime during their lifetime.

That is crazy. Do you really believe this or are you just intentionally exaggerating for effect? I would doubt that 10yrs from now even half of all Americans born btwn 78-18 will have seen this film. This is bubble gum puff piece fluff. They make a dozen plus films per year just like it.


A dozen movies per year that make $250m on opening weekend?

Do you really believe this or are you just intentionally exaggerating for effect?
expresswrittenconsent
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You seem to confuse revenue with cultural impact. A group of teens seeing a movie 20 times (whether super hero flick for teen boys or the reference to teen girls and titanic mentioned before) isnt an indication that a majority of the country will see a movie.
Further, my response was to someone claiming that an overwhelming majority of people (not 50%+1, but like 95%) in the USA born from 1978-2018 will see this avengers flick in their lifetime. And while you seem impressed about whatever the opening box office of this movie was, that still doesn't disprove my point that each year there are lots of these kind of bubble gum hero movies and so there is very little reason to believe that 15 or 25 or 50 years from now there will be any cultural significance or impact to this one super hero film relative to the hundreds of other ones that have come out previously and will come out over the coming decades.
62strat
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Inspector Spacetime said:

expresswrittenconsent said:

_lefraud_ said:

I'd say most everyone born between 1978-2018 will see Infinity War sometime during their lifetime.

That is crazy. Do you really believe this or are you just intentionally exaggerating for effect? I would doubt that 10yrs from now even half of all Americans born btwn 78-18 will have seen this film. This is bubble gum puff piece fluff. They make a dozen plus films per year just like it.


A dozen movies per year that make $250m on opening weekend?

Do you really believe this or are you just intentionally exaggerating for effect?
I had to google infinity war.. yeh the first quote in this chain is totally incorrect. Comic book action movies do not attract everyone.

Bunk Moreland
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agree on the side debate re: the comic book/big blockbuster movies not being culturally relevant in years to come.

Whatever you consider the beginning of the modern super-hero movie era....I think the only movie(s) that truly had a permanent cultural impact outside of anything other than good o'l fashion fun was Nolan's Batman trilogy (decide if you want to pinpoint TDK or just use the trilogy as a whole).

I could probably also argue the first Iron Man and the first Avengers but that's it. Throw in Wonder Woman for the ladies if necessary.

I'm prime Infinity War demographic and I have zero interest in seeing it. I've gotten so tired of all them that I see maybe 1 or 2 a year, and I usually hold out for a Guardians, Thor, or now Deadpool.
Sex Panther
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You're missing out Bunk. The more I think about it, the more in awe I am of what they pulled off. And if you like Thor and the Guardians then I think it's safe to say you'd enjoy it.
 
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