7. Star Wars (1977) - $775.4 million
If the release of Jaws the year previously has signaled the dawn of the blockbuster movie, Star Wars changed the entire business forever. It became a cultural phenomenon, altered the way Hollywood merchandised and marketed their products, and made George Lucas a very, very, very rich man. More than enough has been written about Star Wars over the last 36 years, both positive and negative. Despite the opinions on the sequels (yay!), prequels (boo!), and the upcoming new movies (cynical cash grab?), the original remains one of the most entertaining adventures of all time. Before George Lucas became bogged down in midichlorians, flat dialogue and CGI overload (and thus pretty much ruining his reputation as a filmmaker), Star Wars revolutionized the visual effects industry and most importantly, was two hours of escapist
fun. As we all know, the franchise would go on to score over four billion dollars at the box office and remain an important part of the zeitgeist almost 40 years on, before Lucasfilm was acquired by Disney in October of last year. And despite feelings of apprehension about new Star Wars films being released annually, they are all but guaranteed to be massive money-makers for the Mouse House.