Today

Over the past few decades there have been many global box office successes. We take a look at some of the very best.

Figures from the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) show that Titanic is the highest-grossing film of all time.

The romantic drama, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, generated a whopping $1.83bn in worldwide ticket sales.

Titanic, which was released back in 1997, made a profit of 768 per cent over production and marketing costs, according to an article on Wikipedia.

The fictional tale of a rich girl and poor boy who meet on the ill-fated voyage of the 'unsinkable' ship also scooped a staggering 11 Academy Awards in 1998.

Directed by James Cameron, the film also stars Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Gloria Stuart and Bill Paxton.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is second on the top-grossing movie list.

The third film in the popular franchise made $1.2bn at the global box office in late 2003 and early 2004.

The Return of the King made a 1,408 per cent profit over the original outlay from distributor New Line Studios - making it one of the most lucrative movie investments of all time.

The film, like Titanic, won 11 Academy Awards in 2004, including the coveted best picture gong, the only time in history a fantasy film has done so.

Johnny Deep’s Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest comes in at number three, with global takings of $1.06bn.

Fourth place goes to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Directed by Chris Columbus, the first movie in the popular Harry Potter series took $969m worldwide after it was released in November 2001.

Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End generated $958m at the global box office in 2007, making it the fifth highest-grossing film on the IMDB list.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ($936m) is currently sixth, followed by Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace ($922m) in seventh and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers ($921m) in eighth.

Steven Spielberg’s 1993 dinosaur film Jurassic Park ($920m) and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ($892m) complete the top 10.

Spider-Man 3, the most expensive movie ever made at $258m, earned $885m at the worldwide box office in 2007. This makes it the eleventh highest-grossing movie in cinema history.

Other films in the top 20 include Finding Nemo ($865m), Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith ($848m), Independence Day ($811m), Spider-Man ($807m) and Shrek the Third ($791m).

X-Men: The Last Stand, which cost a whopping $210m to produce (second only to Spider-Man 3), comes in at a lowly 66th, with ticket sales of just $455m.

Gangster drama The Godfather, IMDB’s highest-rated film, took an impressive $245m back in 1972, while The Shawshank Redemption, second on IMBD’s top-rated list, pulled in nearly $50m worldwide in 1994.

Please note that ticket prices have not been adjusted for inflation.