Will Star Wars be the highest-grossing film series at the box office forever?

Happy Star Wars Day, and May the 4th be with you!

Today is all about celebrating the epic sci-fi film series that holds the Guinness World Records title for highest-grossing film series at the global box office.

But the question is, can it hold on to the record forever?

Star Wars has held the record since 2018, taking the title from Harry Potter, who took it from James Bond, and when it was last updated in March 2021, the 12 films in the franchise had collectively grossed $10,320,189,178 (£7,417,740,000) worldwide.

But there’s certainly some stiff competition out there.

The biggest contender is Avatar, with the 2009 original and 2022’s The Way Of Water both grossing over $2 billion each so far.

With three more sequels in the works, James Cameron’s visual epics could snatch the crown away one day.

But one person hoping to see Star Wars hold on to the record forever is Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief Craig Glenday.

He told us: “I’m a die-hard Star Wars fan – I have been for longer than I can remember – so I must admit to being very biased.

“However, with my objective Guinness World Records helmet on, I must consider the success of Star Wars alongside that of other big-budget, high-grossing sci-fi series. If we take a purely numbers-based approach – indeed, here at GWR, we work with film industry data website The Numbers to analyse pure box-office data – then the only franchise close to touching Lucas’s epic saga is James Cameron’s Avatar series – a pair of movies that I also enjoyed immensely.

“Movie-goers have a curiosity about the Avatar films – can they be as technologically innovative and as grand as the hype would suggest? Well, yes, they’re both stunning visually and responsible for enormous leaps ahead in movie-making technology, raising a tide that will lift all future releases. Standing on the shoulders of blue giants, and all that.

“But I do wonder if there’s a morbid curiosity about them too – almost as if the public are looking to scoff at the technological (and Titanic!) hubris of Cameron. Of course, two hit movies have proved that there’s nothing to scoff at here, and there’s no doubt that James Cameron understands movies.”

While the success of the franchises is being measured simply by their box office gross for this record, it’s important to look at the wider picture too.

As surely the more the franchises are embedded into popular culture the more money they’ll make as a whole, right?

Star Wars arguably has a wider money-making scope than Avatar, with everything from action figures to video games, and numerous TV series spin-offs, the Force is pretty much everywhere you look.

Craig added: “While it’s definitely called showbusiness for a reason, box-office figures are just one marker of success.

“For me, looking beyond just the number-crunching, the Avatar movies don’t quite have the galaxy-wide potential that the Star Wars movies do. I’m much less emotionally invested in Jake and Neytiri et al. The Avatar storylines have a classical simplicity, with the familiar tropes resonating deeply within us. 

“But it also means it’s all rather predictable – or has been to date – and so the marvel comes in the presentation: the whizbang of the 3D and the motion-capture and all that. And that’s fine – I like a movie movie that makes the most of the medium. And while the same can be said of Star Wars’s archetypal storylines and mythology-inspired adventures, there’s a much deeper connection to be made with the heroes... and the villains. There’s also just more of them.”

While Avatar built up a lot of suspense by making us wait 13 whole years for a sequel, Star Wars has been coming at us thick and fast ever since 1977’s Episode IV: A New Hope with around 20 film and TV releases so far, and more in the works.

Craig went on: “Star Wars offers us that galaxy-wide potential for characters, scenarios and settings, yet all under the same umbrella. There’s also a lot of tonal potential too: look at how different the likes of the TV series Andor is compared with, say, Rebels. There’s something for everyone in the Star Wars universe. 

“Some of it might miss the mark (for the record, I really enjoyed The Last Jedi!) but on saying that, even the least successful Star Wars movie to date, Solo, which is considered to have underperformed and reported a loss, still earned close to $400 million.”

We also need to consider if Avatar could have the same kind of longevity that Star Wars has enjoyed, and Craig’s not too sure.

“All of this is to say nothing of the satellite records surrounding the sci-fi franchises," he said. "Star Wars outstrips Avatar comfortably with records for things like videogames, cosplay costumes, memorabilia collections, trading cards, action-figure sales, LEGO builds, and so on.

“This is undoubtedly due to the longevity of Star Wars compared with Avatar, but it’s also a reflection of how deeply embedded Star Wars is in popular culture. Can you sing any Avatar theme tunes? Can you name any more than a couple of Avatar characters? Did you ever sleep under an Avatar duvet? Can you quote any lines?

“Maybe ultimately I’m just showing my age – I was spoon-fed Star Wars (literally, thanks to Kellogg’s C-3PO’s!) from childhood, so perhaps this new generation of moviegoers will live a long Avatar-filled life. 

“There’s much to enjoy in both franchises, and of course they’re not mutually exclusive. If you’re a sci-fi nerd like me, you’ll likely be looking forward to many years of sensational, action-packed movies to come. And while you’re at it, throw in some Dune and Star Trek, and whatever new franchises lie around the corner. There’s a big universe out there and room for all manner of droids, Wookies, Skimwings and Na’vi – bring them all on!”

And if you’ve read this entire article thinking, ‘hang on, what about the Marvel movies?’, well… the debate over whether or not the MCU is in itself a film series is one for another time.

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