July 7 (Bloomberg) -- Whether he gives a damn or not, Rhett Butler and his tempestuous lover Scarlett O’Hara remain the stars of the most successful film at the boxoffice if receipts are adjusted for inflation.

“Gone With the Wind,” starring Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, has taken $1.45 billion adjusted for inflation, compared with $922 million for “Titanic,” the biggest gross earner, according to data from Box Office Mojo. The 1939 film, set in the American Civil War, forced George Lucas’s 1977 science- fiction epic “Star Wars” into second place and the 1965 musical “The Sound of Music” into third.

James Cameron’s “Titanic,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as ill-fated lovers on the doomed ocean liner, is the most successful film in total revenue, taking $601 million.

The following table ranks the most successful U.S. films in terms of box office receipts. The top of the table shows the top grossing films adjusted for ticket-price inflation, from Box Office Mojo. The second part of the table ranks films by all-time box office receipts irrespective of inflation.

Gross receipts in millions of U.S. dollars.

================================================================================
                                                    Gross       Gross
Rank Film                            Studio          Adj*      Unadj*   Year
================================================================================
-------------------Top 25 Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation-------------------
 1   Gone with the Wind           MGM             $1,450.7      $198.7   1939
 2   Star Wars                    Fox             $1,278.9      $461.0   1977
 3   The Sound of Music           Fox             $1,022.5      $158.7   1965
 4   E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial  Universal       $1,018.5      $435.1   1982
 5   The Ten Commandments         Paramount         $940.6       $65.5   1956
 6   Titanic                      Paramount         $921.5      $600.8   1997
 7   Jaws                         Universal         $919.6      $260.0   1975
 8   Doctor Zhivago               MGM               $891.3      $111.7   1965
 9   The Exorcist                 Warner Bros.      $793.9      $232.7   1973
10   Snow White and the Seven DwarDisney            $782.6      $184.9   1937
11   101 Dalmatians               Disney            $717.4      $144.9   1961
12   The Empire Strikes Back      Fox               $704.9      $290.5   1980
13   Ben-Hur                      MGM               $703.6       $74.0   1959
================================================================================
                                                    Gross       Gross
Rank Film                            Studio          Adj*      Unadj*   Year
================================================================================
14   Return of the Jedi           Fox               $675.3      $309.3   1983
15   The Sting                    Universal         $640.0      $156.0   1973
16   Raiders of the Lost Ark      Paramount         $632.9      $242.4   1981
17   Jurassic Park                Universal         $619.0      $357.1   1993
18   The Graduate                 AVCO              $614.4      $104.9   1967
19   Star Wars: Episode I -       Fox               $609.0      $431.1   1999
      The Phantom Menace
20   Fantasia                     Disney            $596.3       $76.4   1941
21   The Godfather                Paramount         $566.7      $135.0   1972
22   Forrest Gump                 Paramount         $564.0      $329.7   1994
23   Mary Poppins                 Disney            $561.3      $102.3   1964
24   The Lion King                Buena Vista       $554.5      $328.5   1994
25   Grease                       Paramount         $552.3      $188.4   1978



             <PG FWD> for top grossing films in non-adjusted terms
================================================================================
                                                 Lifetime
Rank Film                            Studio        Gross       Year
================================================================================
-------------------------Top 25 Domestic Grossing Films-------------------------
 1   Titanic                      Paramount       $600.8       1997
 2   The Dark Knight              Warner Bros.    $533.3       2008
 3   Star Wars                    Fox             $461.0       1977
 4   Shrek 2                      Dreamworks      $441.2       2004
 5   E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial  Universal       $435.1       1982
 6   Star Wars: Episode I -       Fox             $431.1       1999
      The Phantom Menace
 7   Pirates of the Caribbean:    Buena Vista     $423.3       2006
      Dead Man’s Chest
 8   Spider-Man                   Sony            $403.7       2002
 9   Star Wars: Episode III -     Fox             $380.3       2005
      Revenge of the Sith
10   The Lord of the Rings:       New Line        $377.0       2003
      The Return of the King
11   Spider-Man 2                 Sony            $373.6       2004
12   The Passion of the Christ    Newmarket       $370.8       2004
================================================================================
                                                 Lifetime
Rank Film                            Studio        Gross       Year
================================================================================
13   Jurassic Park                Universal       $357.1       1993
14   The Lord of the Rings:       New Line        $341.8       2002
      The Two Towers
15   Finding Nemo                 Buena Vista     $339.7       2003
16   Spider-Man 3                 Sony            $336.5       2007
17   Forrest Gump                 Paramount       $329.7       1994
18   The Lion King                Buena Vista     $328.5       1994
19   Shrek the Third              Pixar/Dreamwork $322.7       2007
20   Transformers                 Pixar/Dreamwork $319.2       2007
21   Iron Man                     Paramount       $318.4       2008
22   Harry Potter and             Warner Bros.    $317.6       2001
      the Sorcerer’s Stone
23   Indiana Jones and the        Paramount       $317.1       2008
      Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
24   The Lord of the Rings:       New Line        $314.8       2001
      The Fellowship of the Ring
25   Star Wars: Episode II -      Fox             $310.7       2002
      Attack of the Clones
================================================================================

Notes: *Adjusted gross refers to adjustment for ticket price inflation.

Source: Box Office Mojo. Boxofficemojo.com

To contact the reporter on this story: Marco Babic in Singapore at mbabic@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 7, 2009 02:41 EDT