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Here's how we estimated international box office where figures weren't available at any of our sources:
We looked at the numbers where both US domestic and International BO is known and calculated how the International BO measured up to the US domestic BO in % for all movies where the figures are known. [formula: Int'l BO times 100 divided on US BO] We then calculated the average % contribution of International BO vs. US domestic BO. [formula: sum of all percentage values divided on the number of items]
Many may find this surprising, but the data indicate that on average international BO is 100.74% of US BO for Harrison's movies. We calculated the missing figures [formula: US Domestic BO x 100.74%]. and finally added up all the nice, big numbers to get the totals in the bottom line of the table below.
For those of you who don't care for tables: here's the executive overview:
- US domestic BO: roughly 3.6 billion dollars
- International BO (including our estimates): 3.3 billion dollars
- Total: 6.9 billion dollars.
You prefer a graphical overview? Just hit the button below:
|
| Movie |
US Domestic |
Int'l |
Est. lnt'l |
Total |
| Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull |
290,961,044 |
392,000,000 |
|
682,961,044 |
| Firewall |
48,751,189 |
34,000,000 |
|
80,410,604 |
| Hollywood Homicide
| 30,940,691 |
20,201,968 |
|
51,142,659 |
| K-19 The Widowmaker |
35,168,966 |
30,547,160 |
|
65,716,126 |
| What Lies Beneath |
155,464,351 |
135,956,000 |
|
291,420,351 |
| Random Hearts |
31,502,583 |
43,105,987 |
|
74,608,570 |
| Six Days Seven Night |
74,339,294 |
90,500,000 |
|
164,839,294 |
| Air Force One |
172,956,409 |
142,200,000 |
|
315,156,409 |
| The Devil's Own |
42,868,348 |
97,939,199 |
|
140,807,547 |
| Sabrina |
53,672,080 |
33,600,000 |
|
87,272,080 |
| Clear and Present Danger |
122,187,717 |
93,700,000 |
|
215,887,717 |
| The Fugitive |
183,875,760 |
185,000,000 |
|
368,875,760 |
| Patriot Games |
83,351,587 |
94,700,000 |
|
178,051,587 |
| Regarding Henry |
43,001,500 |
|
42,489,782 |
85,491,282 |
| Presumed Innocent |
86,303,188 |
135,000,000 |
|
221,303,188 |
| Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade |
197,171,806 |
277,000,000 |
|
474,171,806 |
| Working Girl |
63,779,477 |
|
63,020,501 |
126,799,978 |
| Frantic |
17,637,950 |
|
17,428,058 |
35,066,008 |
| The Mosquito Coast |
14,302,779 |
|
14,132,576 |
28,435,355 |
| Witness |
68,706,993 |
|
67,889,380 |
136,596,373 |
| Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom |
179,870,271 |
153,237,000 |
|
333,107,271 |
| Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi |
309,306,177 |
165,800,000 |
|
475,106,177 |
| Blade Runner |
31,320,441 |
|
30,947,728 |
62,268,169 |
| Raiders of the Lost Ark |
242,274,454 |
141,766,000 |
|
384,040,454 |
| Star Wars Ep. V: The Empire Strikes Back |
290,475,067 |
247,900,000 |
|
538,375,067 |
| Apocalypse Now |
83,471,511 |
|
82,478,200 |
165,949,711 |
| Hanover Street |
2,969,275 |
3,000,000 |
|
5,969,275 |
| More American Grafitti |
15,014,674 |
|
14,835,999 |
29,850,673 |
| The Frisco Kid |
9,346,177 |
|
9,234,957 |
18,581,134 |
| Force 10 from Navarone |
7,230,000 |
|
7,143,963 |
14,373,963 |
| Star Wars Ep. IV: A New Hope |
460,998,007 |
314,400,000 |
|
775,398,007 |
| Heroes |
33,500,000 |
|
33,101,350 |
66,601,350 |
| The Conversation |
4,420,000 |
|
4,367,402 |
8,787,402 |
| American Graffiti |
115,000,000 |
|
113,631,500 |
228,631,500 |
| Getting Straight |
13,300,000 |
|
13,141,730 |
26,441,730 |
| Zabriskie Point |
4,187,500 |
|
4,137,669 |
8,325,169 |
| Journey to Shiloh |
407,500 |
|
402,651 |
810,151 |
| A Time for Killing |
687,500 |
|
679,319 |
1,336,819 |
| Luv |
2,500,000 |
|
2,470,250 |
4,970,250 |
| Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round |
1,375,000 |
|
1,358,638 |
2,733,638 |
| |
| Total |
3,624,597,266 |
2,831,553,314 |
530,421,776 |
6,986,572,356 |
|
Having been instrumental in selling movie tickets worth nearly 7 billion dollars is indeed something but let's cool down a minute and think a bit about it. Does that big number really tell us anything except that it's big? We all harbor the (justified) suspicion that Hollywood's not in it just for the fun. The name of the game is profits. So let's find out just how profitable Harrison's movies have been.
Here's the executive overview of the table below:
- Cost re: producing the movies Harrison's been in:
roughly 1.3 billion dollars
- Profits on the movies Harrison's been in:
roughly 5 billion dollars
- 2 of Harrison's 40 movies have been losers, i.e haven't yelded a net profit at the box office: K-19 The Widowmaker and Hollywood Homicide.
Hit the button below for a graphical overview:
(The attentive reader will off course have discovered that 1.3 billion + 5 billion doesn't add up to 6.9 billion. The "missing" 0.6 billion are the 12 movies we don't have production budget figures for.)
Note that our figures are BO only; a full account sheet would have to include expenses/income on video rights and VHS/DVD sales, sales to broadcasting networks, income/expenses re: merchandise spin-offs like toys, computer games and other licencing fees - as well as expenses re: the marketing of a movie. Since we haven't found consistent and presumably reliable sources for such information we haven't included them.
We still assume, and claim, that Harrison's been one of the most profitable cards in the stack for close to 40 years, The Golden Boy - that is: until his career took a steep dive in 2002-2003. Those years are the only economic smudges on an otherwise extraordinarily successful career. |
| Movie Title |
Gross (US Domestic + Int'l |
Budget |
Profit/Loss |
| Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull |
682,961,044 |
185,000,000 |
497,961,044 |
| Firewall |
82,751,189 |
75,000,000 |
7,751,189 |
| Hollywood Homicide
| 51,142,659 |
75.000,000 |
-23,857,341 |
| K-19 The Widowmaker |
65,716,126 |
100,000,000 |
-34,283,874 |
| What Lies Beneath |
291,420,351 |
90,000,000 |
201,420,351 |
| Random Hearts |
74,608,570 |
64,000,000 |
10,608,570 |
| Six Days Seven Nights |
164,839,294 |
70,000,000 |
94,839,294 |
| Air Force One |
315.156,409 |
85,000,000 |
230,156,409 |
| The Devil's Own |
140,807,547 |
80,000,000 |
60,807,547 |
| Sabrina |
87,272,080 |
58,000,000 |
29,272,080 |
| Clear and Present Danger |
215,887,717 |
65,000,000 |
150,887,717 |
| The Fugitive |
368,875,760 |
44,000,000 |
324,875,760 |
| Patriot Games |
178,051,587 |
45,000,000 |
133,051,587 |
| Regarding Henry |
85,491,282 |
N/A |
N/A |
| Presumed Innocent |
221,303,188 |
N/A |
N/A |
| Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade |
474,171,806 |
48,000,000 |
426,171,806 |
| Working Girl |
126,799,978 |
N/A |
N/A |
| Frantic |
35,066,008 |
N/A |
N/A |
| The Mosquito Coast |
28,435,355 |
16,000,000 |
12,435,355 |
| Witness |
136,596,373 |
12,000,000 |
124,596,373 |
| Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom |
333,107,271 |
28,000,000 |
305,107,271 |
| Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi |
475,106,177 |
32,500,000 |
442,606,177 |
| Blade Runner |
62,268,169 |
28,000,000 |
34,268,169 |
| Raiders of the Lost Ark |
384,040,454 |
20,000,000 |
364,040,545 |
| Star Wars Ep. V: The Empire Strikes Back |
538,375,067 |
18,000,000 |
520,375,067 |
| Apocalypse Now |
165,949,711 |
31,500,000 |
134,449,711 |
| Hanover Street |
5,969,275 |
N/A |
N/A |
| More American Graffiti |
29,850,673 |
3,000,000 |
26,850,673 |
| The Frisco Kid |
18,581,134 |
N/A |
N/A |
| Force 10 from Navarone |
14,373,963 |
5,000,000 |
9,373,963 |
| Star Wars Ep. IV: A New Hope |
775,398,007 |
13,000,000 |
762,398,007 |
| Heroes |
66,601,350 |
N/A |
N/A |
| The Conversation |
8,787,402 |
1,600,000 |
7,187,402 |
| American Graffiti |
228,631,500 |
700,000 |
227,931,500 |
| Getting Straight |
26,441,730 |
N/A |
N/A |
| Zabriskie Point |
8,325,169 |
7,000,000 |
1,325,169 |
| Journey to Shiloh |
810,151 |
N/A |
N/A |
| A Time for Killing |
1,366,819 |
N/A |
N/A |
| Luv |
4,970,250 |
N/A |
N/A |
| Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round |
2,733,638 |
2,000,000 |
733.630 |
| |
| Total |
6.986,572,256 |
1,302,300,000 |
5,087,324,765 |
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When looking at the figures (or the graphs) a pattern emerges. The keyword is of course George Lucas or Lucasfilm. We kneaded the figures a bit further along the lines you've seen above and here's what we came up with:
- More half of the BO Gross of Harrison's movies are for his performances in Lucasfilm movies. 9 out of 40 movies have pulled more than half his total BO.
- The profits on the 9 movies he's done for Lucasfilm account for 56% of the total profits yelded by all his movies
- The average profits for a Lucasfilm movie with Harrison in it: 395.5 million dollars
- The average profits for a non-Lucasfilm movie with Harrison in it (31 movies): 49 million dollars
The economic conclusion is neither a secret nor a big surprise: working for Lucasfilm has made Harrison huge; otherwise he'd just been big.
An artistic conclusion can't be reduced to reading a table; it's a deeply personal taste thing, sometimes based on knowledge, sometimes not. Our artistic conclusion concurs with that of the American Film Institute: he's one of the best and earned the opportunities to show just that.
A third conclusion must be that he's had more luck and more chances than most and that he has showed an unprecedented and regular ability to pick projects that combine high artistic quality/skill with crowdpleasing, thus profiting investors and audiences alike. It is our belief that he still has more in store - in all respects.
Here's the spreadsheet containing all figures (and calculus) this section is based on:
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