All-Time Box-Office Hits (Domestic) By Decade and Year:

Rankings of the top ten US films by decade (based on domestic gross revenue) are presented below. Also, rankings of the top films by year are included.

1. The Big Parade (1925)
2. The Singing Fool (1928)
3. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921)
4. Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)
5. Way Down East (1920)
6. The Gold Rush (1925)
7. The Ten Commandments (1923)
8. The Covered Wagon (1923)
9. Wings (1927) (unknown gross)
10. Over the Hill to the Poorhouse (1920) (tie)
11. Aloma of the South Seas (1926) (tie)
12. The Jazz Singer (1927) (tie)
13. The Broadway Melody (1929)
14. The Kid (1921)
    

1915: The Birth of a Nation (1915)
1916: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916)
1917: Cleopatra (1917)
1918: Mickey (1918)
1919: The Miracle Man (1919)
1920: Way Down East (1920), or Over the Hill to the Poorhouse (1920)
1921: The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), or The Kid (1921)
1922: Robin Hood (1922)
1923:The Ten Commandments (1923) or The Covered Wagon (1923)
1924: The Sea Hawk (1924)
1925: The Big Parade (1925), or The Gold Rush (1925), or Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)
1926: Aloma of the South Seas (1926), or For Heaven's Sake (1926), or What Price Glory? (1926)
1927: The Jazz Singer (1927), or Wings (1927)
1928: The Singing Fool (1928) or The Road to Ruin (1928)
1929: The Broadway Melody (1929), or Sunny Side Up (1929)

1. Gone With The Wind (1939)
2. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
3. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
4. Frankenstein (1931)
5. Tom Sawyer (1930)
6. King Kong (1933)
7. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
8. Hell's Angels (1930)
9. How to Be a Detective (1936)
10. Ingagi (1930)
    
11. San Francisco (1936)
12. Maytime (1937)

1930: All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), or Whoopee! (1930), or Tom Sawyer (1930), or Ingagi (1930), or Hell's Angels (1930)
1931: Frankenstein (1931), or City Lights (1931)
1932: The Kid From Spain (1932), or Grand Hotel (1932), or Shanghai Express (1932)
1933: King Kong (1933), or I'm No Angel (1933), or Cavalcade (1933), or She Done Him Wrong (1933)
1934: It Happened One Night (1934), or The Merry Widow (1934), or Viva Villa! (1934)
1935: Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), or Top Hat (1935)
1936: San Francisco (1936), or How to Be a Detective (1936), or One in a Million (1936)
1937: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), or Maytime (1937)
1938: You Can't Take It With You (1938), or The Dawn Patrol (1938), or Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938)
1939: Gone With The Wind (1939), or The Wizard of Oz (1939), or Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

1. Bambi (1942)
2. Pinocchio (1940)
3. Song of the South (1946)
4. Samson and Delilah (1949)
5. Fantasia (1940)
6. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
7. The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)
8. Duel in the Sun (1946)
9. This Is the Army (1943)
10. The Jolson Story (1946)
11. For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
12. Sergeant York (1941)
13. Going My Way (1944)
14. Mom and Dad (1945) (tie)
15. Forever Amber (1947) (tie)

1940: Pinocchio (1940), or Fantasia (1940), or Boom Town (1940)
1941: Sergeant York (1941)
1942: Bambi (1942), or Mrs. Miniver (1942)
1943: This Is the Army (1943), or For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), or A Guy Named Joe (1943)
1944: Going My Way (1944), or Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
1945: The Bells of St. Mary's (1945), or Mom and Dad (1945)
1946: Song of the South (1946), or The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), The Jolson Story (1946), or Duel in the Sun (1946)
1947: Forever Amber (1947), or Unconquered (1947), or Golden Earrings (1947)
1948: The Snake Pit (1948), or The Red Shoes (1948), or Easter Parade (1948)
1949: Samson and Delilah (1949)

1. Lady and the Tramp (1955)
2. Peter Pan (1953)
3. Cinderella (1950)
4. The Ten Commandments (1956)
5. Ben-Hur (1959)
6. Sleeping Beauty (1959)
7. Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
8. South Pacific (1958) (tie)
9. From Here to Eternity (1953) (tie)
10. The Robe (1953) (tie)
11. The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) (tie)
12. Giant (1956) (tie)

1950: Cinderella (1950), or King Solomon's Mines (1950)
1951: Quo Vadis (1951)
1952: The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), or This Is Cinerama (1952)
1953: Peter Pan (1953), or The Robe (1953), or From Here to Eternity (1953)
1954: White Christmas (1954), or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), or Rear Window (1954)
1955: Lady and the Tramp (1955), or Mister Roberts (1955), or Cinerama Holiday (1955)
1956: The Ten Commandments (1956), or Giant (1956), or Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
1957: The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
1958: South Pacific (1958)
1959: Ben-Hur (1959), or Sleeping Beauty (1959)

1. The Sound of Music (1965)
2. 101 Dalmatians (1961)
3. The Jungle Book (1967)
4. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
5. The Graduate (1967)
6. Mary Poppins (1964) (tie)
7. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) (tie)
8. My Fair Lady (1964)
9. Thunderball (1965)
10. Funny Girl (1968)
11. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
12. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
13. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
14. Cleopatra (1963)

1960: Swiss Family Robinson (1960), or Let's Make Love (1960), or Spartacus (1960), or Psycho (1960)
1961: 101 Dalmatians (1961), or West Side Story (1961)
1962: Lawrence of Arabia (1962), or How the West Was Won (1962), or The Longest Day (1962) or Dr. No (1962)
1963: Cleopatra (1963), or From Russia With Love (1963)
1964: Mary Poppins (1964), or My Fair Lady (1964), or Goldfinger (1964)
1965: The Sound of Music (1965), or Thunderball (1965), or Doctor Zhivago (1965)
1966: Hawaii (1966), or The Bible: In the Beginning (1966), or Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
1967: The Jungle Book (1967), or Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), or Bonnie and Clyde (1967), or The Graduate (1967)
1968: Funny Girl (1968), or 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
1969: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

1. Star Wars (1977)
2. Jaws (1975)
3. The Exorcist (1973)
4. Grease (1978)
5. The Sting (1973)
6. National Lampoon's Animal House (1978)
7. The Godfather (1972)
8. Superman (1978)
9. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977/80)
10. Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
11. Blazing Saddles (1974)
12. Rocky (1976)
13. The Towering Inferno (1974)
14. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
15. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

1970: Love Story (1970)
1971: Billy Jack (1971), or Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
1972: The Godfather (1972)
1973: The Exorcist (1973), or The Sting (1973)
1974: Blazing Saddles (1974), or The Towering Inferno (1974)
1975: Jaws (1975), or The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
1976: Rocky (1976)
1977: Star Wars (1977), or Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977/80), or Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
1978: Grease (1978), or National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), or Superman (1978)
1979: Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), or Rocky II (1979), or Moonraker (1979)

1. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
2. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
3. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
4. Batman (1989)
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
6. Ghostbusters (1984)
7. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
8. Back to the Future (1985)
9. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
10. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

1980: Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
1982: E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
1983: Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
1984: Beverly Hills Cop (1984), or or Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
1985: Back to the Future (1985)
1986: Top Gun (1986)
1987: Three Men and a Baby (1987), or Ghostbusters (1984), or Fatal Attraction (1987)
1988: Rain Man (1988)
1989: Batman (1989), or Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

1. Titanic (1997)
2. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
3. Jurassic Park (1993)
4. Forrest Gump (1994)
5. The Lion King (1994)
6. Independence Day (1996)
7. The Sixth Sense (1999)
8. Home Alone (1990)
9. Men in Black (1997)
10. Toy Story 2 (1999)

1990: Home Alone (1990), or Ghost (1990)
1991: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
1992: Aladdin (1992)
1993: Jurassic Park (1993)
1994: Forrest Gump (1994), or The Lion King (1994)
1995: Toy Story (1995), or Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995)
1996: Independence Day (1996)
1997: Titanic (1997), or Men in Black (1997)
1998: Saving Private Ryan (1998), or Armageddon (1998)
1999: Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) , or The Sixth Sense (1999), or Toy Story 2 (1999)

1. Avatar (2009)
2. The Dark Knight (2008)
3. Shrek 2 (2004)
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
5. Spider-Man (2002)
6. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
7. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
8. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
9. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
10. The Passion of the Christ (2004)

2000: How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), or Mission Impossible II (2000)
2001: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
2002: Spider-Man (2002), or The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
2003: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
2004: Shrek 2 (2004), or Spider-Man 2 (2004), or The Passion of the Christ (2004)
2005: Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), or Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
2006: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
2007: Spider-Man 3 (2007), or Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
2008: The Dark Knight (2008)
2009: Avatar (2009), or Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

1. Marvel's The Avengers (2012)
2. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
3. Toy Story 3 (2010)
4. The Hunger Games (2012)
5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (2011)
6. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
7. Alice in Wonderland (2010)
8. Iron Man 2 (2010)
9. Skyfall (2012)
10. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

2010: Toy Story 3 (2010)
2011: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (2011)
2012: Marvel's The Avengers (2012)