Science fiction allows us a chance to escape to a different world. If there’s a genre that begs to be scene on the big screen, it’s undoubtedly sci-fi. So perhaps it should come as no surprise that some of the highest grossing films of all time are members of the genre. What follows are the ten biggest of the big deals. The movies that proved to be substantial returns on the producers and studios’ investment. And believe it or not, not every last one of them was a part of the Star Wars universe (though of course a few of them are).

We intentionally left off superhero movies, as they would end up comprising most of the list. The following ranking is based on the films’ domestic haul adjusted for inflation. If the film has had multiple releases, the original release was adjusted and then the re-releases were adjusted separately. However, while the ranking is based on domestic haul alone, we will go into the movies’ performances worldwide, as well.

10) Avatar: The Way of Water — $764 Million

On a budget ranging from $350 million to $460 million, James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water pulled in an impressive $2.343 billion worldwide (in 2022 dollars). $688.5 million of that came from the United States and Canada while $1.65 billion came from overseas territories.

If the budget was on the high end, that would still make for a gross that was five times the expenditure. In other words, it did more than well enough to guarantee we’d end up getting Avatar: Fire and Ash, even if it didn’t perform quite as well as the 2009 film.

Stream Avatar: The Way of Water on Disney+.

9) Jurassic Park — $868.9 Million

When it debuted in 1993, the tooth-gnashing, danger-laden Jurassic Park netted $357 million domestically. Adjust that domestic figure to 2025 dollars and you get $802.6 million. It then received a 3D re-release in 2013 to the tune of $45.4 million, which equates to $63.3 now. Toss in $3 million from a smaller re-release in 2023 and you get $868.9 million all told.

Furthermore, Jurassic Park played phenomenally overseas. During its 1993 debut, it netted an astronomical $621.1 million overseas, or about $1.4 billion now. Factor that in (not to mention the money it made overseas from its 3D re-release), and Jurassic Park was even more successful than the next entry on our list.

Stream Jurassic Park on Peacock.

8) Jurassic World — $895.4 Million

When Jurassic Park hit theaters, its domestic revenue accounted for about 36.5% of its worldwide haul. With Jurassic World, however, its domestic revenue counted for 39% of the worldwide gross. That may not seem like a huge jump, but the point is that it was a gargantuan movie stateside.

If you look at it in 2015 dollars, Jurassic World made $653.4 million, or $895.4 million today. Overseas it raked in just over $1 billion, which equates to just under $1.4 billion now. Its three sequels may have experienced some diminishing returns, but the fact remains that Jurassic World was the event of 2015’s summer movie season. And if it wasn’t for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, it would have been the event film of the entire year.

Stream Jurassic World on Peacock.

7) Star Wars: The Phantom Menace — $914.9 Million

It’s hard to believe, but we’re now at the point in time where the three installments of the Star Wars prequel trilogy are receiving multiple re-releases, just like the original trilogy before it. Though the trend remains the same: it’s the first release that is far and away the most lucrative.

When Star Wars: The Phantom Menace hit theaters in 1999, it was quite possibly the most highly anticipated cinematic event of all time. It ended up disappointing a lot of people, sure, but that great number of people paid for a ticket. They even bought tickets to movies released beforehand just to get a glimpse at its trailer. When The Phantom Menace hit theaters, it made a massive $431 in 1999 dollars. That comes out to $840.4 million in mid 2020s bucks. Toss in its moderately successful 2012 3D run ($43.5 million then, $61.5 million now) and $13 million from its 2024 release, and The Phantom Menace has made nearly $915 million in domestic dollars. You can more than double that when it comes to its worldwide total.

Stream Star Wars: The Phantom Menace on Disney+.

6) Star Wars: Return of the Jedi — $957 Million

As mentioned, the Star Wars original trilogy movies have found themselves in theaters multiple times. And while the starts of the three trilogies tend to be the most successful of the saga as a whole, every single one of the first three movies was a monster success.

As far as Star Wars: Return of the Jedi goes, its original 1983 release netted $252.6 million, or $823.7 million now. Its $11.3 million 1985 re-release equates to $34 million, the debut of its special edition in 1997 accrued $92 million in 2025 dollars, and its 2023 release brought in a further $7.3 million. Add all that up and you get $957 2025 domestic dollars.

Stream Star Wars: Return of the Jedi on Disney+.

5) Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back — $1.01 Billion

As was the case with the sequel trilogy, the original trilogy experienced diminishing returns. And, as was seen with Return of the Jedi‘s aforementioned haul, even diminishing returns times two came out to a Godzilla-sized return on investment.

All told, Return of the Jedi only experienced a marginal drop from the expectation smashing Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back which, between four releases, made just over $1 billion in 2025 domestic dollars. It was far and away the highest grossing movie of 1980.

Stream Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back on Disney+.

4) Avatar — $1.178 Billion

Thanks to its revolutionary and gorgeous special effects, Avatar was a movie everyone felt the urge to see on the biggest screen possible, especially once word started circulating. It played and played and played in theaters.

And, while The Way of Water‘s quintupling of its budget was certainly impressive, it didn’t hold a candle to the fact that Avatar managed to take a $237 million price tag, which was a huge gamble for an original IP, and rake in over a dozen times that. No matter how well Fire and Ash or any later installments make, there’s nothing more than a microscopic chance they’ll beat that.

Stream Avatar on Disney+.

3) Star Wars: The Force Awakens — $1.283 Billion

As was the case with The Phantom Menace, anticipation was at an absolute fever pitch for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It was both the beginning of a new era and the return to the original trilogy vibes that many fans felt was sorely missing from the prequel trilogy.

The result was a movie that shattered records across the board, even if many viewers also felt it played things a bit too safe in the narrative department. But the fact remains, The Force Awakens was made on a $245 million budget and made 3.8 tiems that. As far as its worldwide haul went, it pulled in nearly eight and a half times its price tag.

Stream Star Wars: The Force Awakens on Disney+.

One of the ’80s most iconic sci-fi films, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was on the big screen for about a year straight. By the time it left theaters, it had multiplied its $11.8 million opening weekend haul (a figure that already beat its $10.5 million budget) by over 30.

If you adjust the film’s 1982 domestic haul to 2025 dollars, it translates to $1.2 billion. It then had successful re-releases in 1985 ($122 million in 2025) and 2002 ($64 million in 2025). It also did well overseas, though not quite as well as it did domestically. And, considering it’s a movie that most people grow up on, E.T. has continued to print money via home video and streaming releases for over 40 years.

Stream E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial on Starz.

1) Star Wars: A New Hope — $1.979 Billion

It’s hilarious now to think that, in the late ’70s, the $11 million budget for Star Wars: A New Hope was seen as a huge gamble. Even its distributor had no idea what its potential was.

But here we are now, and it’s one of the most attended movies of all time. In fact, if you take its $307.3 million made in 1977 and adjust that, it comes out to nearly $1.65 billion. And that’s before factoring in the further $100 or so million it made overseas at that point. Toss in its hugely successful special edition release in 1997 ($138.3 million then, $280 million now) and A New Hope is far and away the biggest ticket-seller of the sci-fi genre.

Stream Star Wars: A New Hope on Disney+.