Box office performance
In which year was 'The Godfather' the highest grossing film?
The Godfather
Box office performance. "The Godfather" was a blockbuster, breaking many box office records to become the highest grossing film of 1972. It earned $81.5 million in theatrical rentals in North America during its initial release, increasing its earnings to $85.7 million through a reissue in 1973, and including a limited re-release in 1997 it ultimately earned an equivalent exhibition gross of $135 million. It displaced "Gone with the Wind" to claim the record as the top rentals earner, a position it would retain until the release of "Jaws" in 1975. News articles at the time proclaimed it was the first film to gross $100 million in North America, but such accounts are erroneous since this record in fact belongs to "The Sound of Music", released in 1965. The film repeated its native success overseas, earning in total an unprecedented $142 million in worldwide theatrical rentals, to become the highest net earner. Profits were so high for "The Godfather" that earnings for Gulf & Western Industries, Inc., which owned Paramount Pictures, jumped from seventy-seven cents per share to three dollars and thirty cents a share for the year, according to a "Los Angeles Times" article, dated December 13, 1972. To date, it has grossed between $245 and 286 million in international box office receipts, and adjusted for ticket price inflation in North America, ranks among the top 25 highest-grossing films.