G IS FOR GROSS

Little Big Picture

Movies are a family business: The highest-grossing G- and PG-rated films are also the top-earning domestic movies of all time, according to IMDb and Box Office Mojo. The more restrictive the rating, the lower the gross: The top-earning G earned 90% more than the highest-grossing R (and 10 times that of the most lucrative NC-17 flick). Here are the releases with the biggest lifetime earnings (in 2020 dollars) by current Motion Picture Association rating.

G: Gone with the Wind (1939) $1.9 bil

PG: Star Wars—A New Hope (1977) $1.7 bil

PG-13: Titanic (1997) $1.3 bil

R: The Exorcist (1973) $1 bil

NC-17: Last Tango in Paris (1973) $191 mil