Reel Inequality

Charting the Vanishing Middle Class of Movies in a Post-COVID World

How Inequality is Measured

Interact with the slider below to see how the Gini coefficient is calculated

Lorenz Curve

Cumulative box-office revenue plotted against ranked films, from lowest to highest earners.

What is the Gini Coefficient?

The Lorenz Curve plots the cumulative box-office earnings of the top 100 movies.
A straight diagonal line represents an ideal, equal distribution. The area between this ideal line and the actual curve (often bowing away) is filled in red to highlight the disparity.
To calculate the Gini coefficient, this red area is divided by the total area under the diagonal line. The resulting Gini coefficient ranges from 0 to 1: a coefficient of 0 would mean no red area and perfect equality in earnings, while a coefficient of 1 would indicate that one movie hauled in all the earnings, making the red area as large as possible.

See the Gini Coefficient in Action

Drag the slider to see how the area in red changes as the Gini coefficient increases.

Gini: 0.50

2006: Cinematic Equality

2006 Marked the Lowest Box Office Inequality Since 1980 with a Gini Coefficient of 0.35

Domestic

Worldwide

Lorenz Curve

Cumulative box-office revenue plotted against ranked films, from lowest to highest earners.

Table

Rank	Movie	$ Gross	% Total
1	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest	$423m	5.4%
2	Night at the Museum	$251m	3.2%
3	Cars	$244m	3.1%
4	X-Men: The Last Stand	$234m	3%
5	The Da Vinci Code	$218m	2.8%
6	Superman Returns	$200m	2.5%
7	Happy Feet	$198m	2.5%
8	Ice Age: The Meltdown	$195m	2.5%
9	Casino Royale	$167m	2.1%
10	The Pursuit of Happyness	$164m	2.1%
11	Over the Hedge	$155m	2%
12	Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby	$148m	1.9%
13	Click	$137m	1.7%
14	Mission: Impossible III	$134m	1.7%
15	The Departed	$132m	1.7%
16	Borat	$129m	1.6%
17	The Devil Wears Prada	$125m	1.6%
18	The Break-Up	$119m	1.5%
19	Dreamgirls	$103m	1.3%
20	Scary Movie 4	$91m	1.2%
21	Failure to Launch	$89m	1.1%
22	Inside Man	$89m	1.1%
23	Open Season	$85m	1.1%
24	The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause	$85m	1.1%
25	Charlotte's Web	$83m	1.1%
26	The Pink Panther	$82m	1%
27	Eight Below	$82m	1%
28	Saw III	$80m	1%
29	Nacho Libre	$80m	1%
30	You, Me and Dupree	$76m	1%
31	Eragon	$75m	1%
32	Monster House	$74m	0.9%
33	Jackass Number Two	$73m	0.9%
34	Barnyard	$73m	0.9%
35	RV	$72m	0.9%
36	V for Vendetta	$71m	0.9%
37	World Trade Center	$70m	0.9%
38	Rocky Balboa	$70m	0.9%
39	Big Momma's House 2	$70m	0.9%
40	Step Up	$65m	0.8%
41	Flushed Away	$65m	0.8%
42	Deja Vu	$64m	0.8%
43	Miami Vice	$63m	0.8%
44	Madea's Family Reunion	$63m	0.8%
45	The Holiday	$63m	0.8%
46	The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift	$63m	0.8%
47	Underworld: Evolution	$62m	0.8%
48	The Shaggy Dog	$61m	0.8%
49	Poseidon	$61m	0.8%
50	The Good Shepherd	$60m	0.8%
51	Little Miss Sunshine	$60m	0.8%
52	The Benchwarmers	$60m	0.8%
53	Little Man	$59m	0.7%
54	Curious George	$58m	0.7%
55	Invincible	$58m	0.7%
56	Blood Diamond	$57m	0.7%
57	The Queen	$56m	0.7%
58	The Guardian	$55m	0.7%
59	The Omen	$55m	0.7%
60	Final Destination 3	$54m	0.7%
61	The Prestige	$53m	0.7%
62	The Lake House	$52m	0.7%
63	Apocalypto	$51m	0.6%
64	Firewall	$49m	0.6%
65	Date Movie	$49m	0.6%
66	When a Stranger Calls	$48m	0.6%
67	Hostel	$47m	0.6%
68	Nanny McPhee	$47m	0.6%
69	Silent Hill	$47m	0.6%
70	Deep Sea	$46m	0.6%
71	We Are Marshall	$44m	0.6%
72	Glory Road	$43m	0.5%
73	Lady in the Water	$42m	0.5%
74	The Hills Have Eyes	$42m	0.5%
75	John Tucker Must Die	$41m	0.5%
76	Stranger Than Fiction	$41m	0.5%
77	The Illusionist	$40m	0.5%
78	The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning	$40m	0.5%
79	The Grudge 2	$39m	0.5%
80	Gridiron Gang	$38m	0.5%
81	Last Holiday	$38m	0.5%
82	Pan's Labyrinth	$38m	0.5%
83	The Nativity Story	$38m	0.5%
84	The Wild	$37m	0.5%
85	Man of the Year	$37m	0.5%
86	16 Blocks	$37m	0.5%
87	Accepted	$36m	0.5%
88	The Sentinel	$36m	0.5%
89	Children of Men	$36m	0.5%
90	Deck the Halls	$35m	0.4%
91	Take the Lead	$35m	0.4%
92	Babel	$34m	0.4%
93	Snakes on a Plane	$34m	0.4%
94	She's the Man	$34m	0.4%
95	Flags of Our Fathers	$34m	0.4%
96	United 93	$31m	0.4%
97	Employee of the Month	$28m	0.4%
98	Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties	$28m	0.4%
99	The Ant Bully	$28m	0.4%
100	Crank	$28m	0.4%

2023: Cinematic Inequality

2023 Marks a New Normalized Box Office Inequality Trend with a Gini Coefficient of 0.61

Domestic

Worldwide

Lorenz Curve

Cumulative box-office revenue plotted against ranked films, from lowest to highest earners.

Table

Rank	Movie	$ Gross	% Total
1	Barbie	$636m	8.5%
2	The Super Mario Bros. Movie	$575m	7.7%
3	Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse	$381m	5.1%
4	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3	$359m	4.8%
5	Oppenheimer	$325m	4.4%
6	The Little Mermaid	$298m	4%
7	Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania	$215m	2.9%
8	John Wick: Chapter 4	$187m	2.5%
9	Sound of Freedom	$184m	2.5%
10	Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour	$179m	2.4%
11	Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny	$174m	2.3%
12	Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One	$172m	2.3%
13	Transformers: Rise of the Beasts	$157m	2.1%
14	Creed III	$156m	2.1%
15	Elemental	$154m	2.1%
16	Fast X	$146m	2%
17	Five Nights at Freddy's	$137m	1.8%
18	The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes	$121m	1.6%
19	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem	$119m	1.6%
20	Scream VI	$108m	1.5%
21	The Flash	$108m	1.5%
22	M3GAN	$95m	1.3%
23	Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves	$93m	1.3%
24	The Equalizer 3	$92m	1.2%
25	The Nun II	$86m	1.2%
26	Meg 2: The Trench	$83m	1.1%
27	Insidious: The Red Door	$82m	1.1%
28	The Marvels	$81m	1.1%
29	Trolls Band Together	$75m	1%
30	Blue Beetle	$72m	1%
31	Haunted Mansion	$68m	0.9%
32	Evil Dead Rise	$67m	0.9%
33	Killers of the Flower Moon	$67m	0.9%
34	The Exorcist: Believer	$66m	0.9%
35	PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie	$65m	0.9%
36	Cocaine Bear	$64m	0.9%
37	Shazam! Fury of the Gods	$58m	0.8%
38	Saw X	$54m	0.7%
39	Air	$52m	0.7%
40	Jesus Revolution	$52m	0.7%
41	No Hard Feelings	$50m	0.7%
42	Talk to Me	$48m	0.7%
43	Napoleon	$46m	0.6%
44	Gran Turismo	$44m	0.6%
45	The Boogeyman	$43m	0.6%
46	A Haunting in Venice	$42m	0.6%
47	Wish	$42m	0.6%
48	The Creator	$41m	0.6%
49	80 for Brady	$39m	0.5%
50	Knock at the Cabin	$35m	0.5%
51	Missing	$33m	0.4%
52	Plane	$32m	0.4%
53	65	$32m	0.4%
54	My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3	$28m	0.4%
55	Thanksgiving	$28m	0.4%
56	Asteroid City	$28m	0.4%
57	Magic Mike's Last Dance	$26m	0.4%
58	Strays	$24m	0.3%
59	Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.	$20m	0.3%
60	Priscilla	$20m	0.3%
61	The Pope's Exorcist	$20m	0.3%
62	The Blackening	$18m	0.2%
63	Book Club: The Next Chapter	$18m	0.2%
64	Pathaan	$17m	0.2%
65	The Blind	$17m	0.2%
66	Renfield	$17m	0.2%
67	The Covenant	$17m	0.2%
68	Expend4bles	$17m	0.2%
69	Champions	$16m	0.2%
70	Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken	$16m	0.2%
71	Jawan	$15m	0.2%
72	The Holdovers	$15m	0.2%
73	Titanic25 Year Anniversary	$15m	0.2%
74	Dumb Money	$14m	0.2%
75	The Last Voyage of the Demeter	$14m	0.2%
76	Joy Ride	$13m	0.2%
77	His Only Son	$12m	0.2%
78	About My Father	$12m	0.2%
79	Bottoms	$12m	0.2%
80	Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce	$12m	0.2%
81	After Death	$11m	0.2%
82	Godzilla Minus One	$11m	0.2%
83	Suzume	$11m	0.2%
84	Past Lives	$11m	0.2%
85	The Machine	$10m	0.1%
86	The Nightmare Before Christmas30th Anniversary Re-Release	$10m	0.1%
87	Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba - To the Swordsmith Village	$10m	0.1%
88	House Party	$9m	0.1%
89	Radical	$8m	0.1%
90	Beau Is Afraid	$8m	0.1%
91	BTS: Yet to Come in Cinemas	$8m	0.1%
92	The Hill	$8m	0.1%
93	Sisu	$7m	0.1%
94	Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi	$7m	0.1%
95	Coraline (remastered)	$7m	0.1%
96	Retribution	$7m	0.1%
97	Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre	$6m	0.1%
98	Next Goal Wins	$6m	0.1%
99	Saltburn	$6m	0.1%
100	Love Again	$6m	0.1%

Inequality Over Time

Domestic

Worldwide

Gini Coefficient

The data on the Gini coefficient for movie box office returns from 1980 to 2023 indicates a complex picture of evolving inequality. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Gini coefficient generally fluctuated within a moderate range of 0.35 to 0.54, signaling a relatively stable yet gradually increasing inequality in box office earnings.
However, a sharp and pronounced uptick is evident from 2020 onwards, soaring to levels above 0.70. This escalation likely exacerbated pre-existing trends and could potentially signify a permanent structural change in the industry's box office dynamics.

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