Best Comedy Movies of All Time (Box Office Sales)

This article ranks the best comedy movies of all-time based on inflation-adjusted domestic gross box office sales, according to Boxoffice, the official publication of the National Association of Theatre Owners.

The ten biggest comedy movies of all-time have collectively earned more than $5 billion and nine Academy Awards. Seven of these films are rated R and three PG.

Listed below for each of the best comedy movies of all-time are inflation-adjusted gross box office sales, directors, producers, writers, main casts, ratings, running times, distributors, and number of Academy Awards earned.

After reading "Best Comedy Movies of All Time (Box Office Sales)," return to these links to read "Best Movies of All Time (Box Office Sales)," "Best Action Movies of All Time (Box Office Sales)," "Best Animated Movies of All Time (Box Office Sales)," "Best Drama Movies of All Time (Box Office Sales)," and "Best Romance Movies of All Time (Box Office Sales)."

1. Best Comedy Movies of All Time (Box Office Sales): The Sting (1973)

Adjusted gross box office sales: $696 million
Director: George Roy Hill
Producers: Tony Bill, Robert Crawford Jr., Julia Phillips, Michael Phillips
Writer: David S. Ward
Main Cast: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Jack Kehoe, Charles Durning, Ray Walston, Eileen Brennan, Harold Gould, John Heffernan, Dana Elcar
Rating: PG
Running time: 2 hours, 9 minutes
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Academy Awards: 7

2. Best Comedy Movies of All Time (Box Office Sales): Shrek 2 (2004)

Adjusted gross box office sales: $558 million
Directors: Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury, Conrad Vernon
Producers: Aron Warner, John H. Williams, David Lipman
Writers: Andrew Adamson, Joe Stillman, J. David Stern, David N. Weiss
Main Cast: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Rupert Everett, Jennifer Saunders
Rating: PG
Running time: 1 hour, 33 minutes
Distributor: DreamWorks Pictures
Academy Awards: 0

3. Best Comedy Movies of All Time (Box Office Sales): Ghostbusters (1984)

Adjusted gross box office sales: $557 million
Director: Ivan Reitman
Producers: Bernie Brillstein, Joe Medjuck, Ivan Reitman, Michael C.Gross
Writers: Harold Ramie, Dan Akroyd
Main Cast: Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis, Ernie Hudson, William Atherton, Annie Potts, David Margulies
Rating: PG
Running time: 1 hour, 47 minutes
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Academy Awards: 0

4. Best Comedy Movies of All Time (Box Office Sales): Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Adjusted gross box office sales: $549 million
Director: Martin Brest
Producers: Don Simpson, Jerry Bruckenheimer
Writers: Daniel Petrie, Danilo Bach
Main Cast: Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Lisa Eilbacher, Ronny Cox, Steven Berkoff
Rating: R
Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Academy Awards: 0

5. Best Comedy Movies of All Time (Box Office Sales): Home Alone (1990)

Adjusted gross box office sales: $532 million
Director: Chris Columbus
Producer: John Hughes
Writer: John Hughes
Main Cast: Macaulay Caulkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O'Hara, John Heard
Rating: PG
Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Academy Awards: 0

6. Best Comedy Movies of All Time (Box Office Sales): American Grafitti (1973)

Adjusted gross box office sales: $487 million
Director: George Lucas
Producers: Francis Ford Coppola, Gary Kurtz
Writer: George Lucas
Main Cast: Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Cindy Williams, Mackenzie Phillips, Harrison Ford, Suzanne Somers, Wolfman Jack, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Bo Hopkins, Manuel Padilla Jr.
Rating: PG
Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Academy Awards: 0

7. Best Comedy Movies of All Time (Box Office Sales): Blazing Saddles (1974)

Adjusted gross box office sales: $481 million
Director: Mel Brooks
Producer: Michael Hertzberg
Writers: Alan Uger, Andrew Bergman, Norman Steinberg, Mel Brooks
Main Cast: Mel Brooks, Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, Dom DeLuise, Slim Pickens, Alex Karras, Cleavon Little, Liam Dunn, David Huddleston, Burton Gilliam
Rating: R
Running time: 1 hour, 33 minutes
Distributor: Warner Brothers
Academy Awards: 0

8. Best Comedy Movies of All Time (Box Office Sales): National Lampoon's Animal House (1978)

Adjusted gross box office sales: $476 million
Director: John Landis
Producer: Ivan Reitman
Writers: Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney, Chris Miller
Main Cast: John Belushi, Tim Matheson, Donald Sutherland, Kevin Bacon,Tom Hulce, Stephen Furst, Peter Riegart, Karen Allen, John Vernon, Verna Bloom, Cesare Danova
Rating: R
Running time: 1 hour, 49 minutes
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Academy Awards: 0

9. Best Comedy Movies of All Time (Box Office Sales): Tootsie (1982)

Adjusted gross box office sales: $474 million
Director: Sydney Pollack
Producer: Sydney Pollack
Writers: Don McGuire, Larry Gelbart, Murray Schisgal, Barry Levinson, Robert Garland, Elaine May
Main Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning
Rating: PG
Running time: 1 hour, 59 minutes
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Academy Awards: 1

10. Best Comedy Movies of All Time (Box Office Sales): Back to the Future (1985)

Adjusted gross box office sales: $466 million
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Producers: Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale
Writers: Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Steven Spielberg
Main Cast: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Crispin Glover, Lea Thompson, Thomas F. Wilson
Rating: PG
Running time: 1 hour, 51 minutes
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Academy Awards: 1

Source(s):

" All Time Domestic Gross (Adjusted) ," BOXOFFICE.COM
" Search ," IMDb
" The Official Academy Awards Database ," The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences