What is notable about this list is that not many films released before the mid-to-late 1990s are on it. This is mainly because movies used to have small (by today's standards) opening weekends yet would go on to become blockbusters, whereas today, filmgoers tend to want to see the film when it first comes out, and for the most part, begin to lose interest in it after about its second weekend.

Perhaps the most important issue with this list is that it does not consider inflation whatsoever. For example, on the latter list, Return of the Jedi grossed about $23M on its opening weekend at 1983 pricing. However, using the consumer price index to adjust for inflation, the film grossed about $43M (2005 dollars), which would place it roughly halfway up this list. Due to the inherent instability of a monetary rating system, it could prove more accurate to rate films according by ticket sales rather than gross figures, but it definitely is more accurate to at least consider inflation.

[edit] Biggest worldwide openings

Main source: BoxOfficeMojo

Rank	Film	Year	Opening Weekend (2009 USD)
1	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	2009	$394,022,354
2	Spider-Man 3	2007	$381,660,892
3	Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End	2007	$343,972,864
4	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix	2007	$332,715,157
5	Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith	2005	$303,949,700
6	Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull	2008	$272,150,927
7	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King	2003	$250,000,534
8	Avatar	2009	$232,180,000
9	The Da Vinci Code	2006	$232,074,037
10	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	2004	$207,197,367
11	War of the Worlds	2005	$203,061,125
12	The Matrix Revolutions	2003	$201,390,000
13	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	2009	$201,246,000
14	The Dark Knight	2008	$199,711,483
15	Transformers	2007	$191,659,373
16	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers	2002	$189,946,212
17	Spider-Man 2	2004	$189,364,483
18	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire	2005	$188,185,961
19	Hancock	2008	$182,000,001
20	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest	2006	$182,270,554
21	Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones	2002	$179,269,285
22	X-Men: The Last Stand	2006	$179,012,790
23	The Simpsons Movie	2007	$170,890,984
24	The Matrix Reloaded	2003	$165,882,716
25	X-Men Origins: Wolverine	2009	$158,000,001
26	X2	2003	$154,829,031
27	The Day After Tomorrow	2004	$151,443,584
28	King Kong	2005	$149,181,645
29	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	2002	$147,857,488

Note: The number of countries the film was released in during its opening weekend is listed. Most films don't open in all markets at once, but expand worldwide during a couple of weeks. These figures are not for opening weekends, but figures from the opening to the first Sunday as most films don't open worldwide on a Friday. Due to constantly changing exchange rates, overseas figures cannot be adjusted for inflation. Figures before the year 2002 are not available.

[edit] Biggest opening weekends in the U.S. and Canada

Main source: BoxOfficeMojo

Rank	Film	Year	Opening Three Day Weekend	Inflation-adjusted (2009 USD)
1	The Dark Knight	2008	$158,411,483	$156,887,350
2	Spider-Man 3	2007	$151,116,516	$155,377,091
3	The Twilight Saga: New Moon	2009	$142,839,137	$142,839,137
4	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest	2006	$135,634,554	$143,433,260
5	Shrek the Third	2007	$121,629,270	$125,058,483
6	Spider-Man	2002	$114,844,116	$136,031,022
7	Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End	2007	$114,732,820	$117,967,594
8	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen	2009	$108,966,307	$108,966,307
9	Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith	2005	$108,435,841	$118,337,472
10	Shrek 2	2004	$108,037,878	$121,883,991
11	X-Men: The Last Stand	2006	$102,750,665	$108,658,615
12	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire	2005	$102,685,961	$112,062,552
13	Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull	2008	$100,137,835	$99,174,374
14	Iron Man	2008	$98,618,668	$97,669,823
15	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	2004	$93,687,367	$105,694,321
16	The Matrix Reloaded	2003	$91,774,413	$106,298,422
17	Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone	2001	$90,294,621	$108,707,842
18	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	2002	$88,357,488	$104,658,034
19	Spider-Man 2	2004	$88,156,227	$99,454,312
20	X2	2003	$85,558,731	$99,099,060
21	X-Men Origins: Wolverine	2009	$85,058,003	$85,058,003
22	The Passion of the Christ	2004	$83,848,082	$94,594,036
23	Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones	2002	$80,027,814	$94,791,668
24	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	2009	$77,835,727	$77,835,727
25	I Am Legend	2007	$77,211,321	$79,388,215
26	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix	2007	$77,108,414	$79,282,407
27	The Da Vinci Code	2006	$77,073,388	$81,504,948
28	Star Trek	2009	$75,204,289	$75,204,289
29	The Simpsons Movie	2007	$74,036,787	$76,124,178
30	Austin Powers in Goldmember	2002	$73,071,188	$86,551,656
31	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King	2003	$72,629,713	$84,123,925
32	The Lost World: Jurassic Park	1997	$72,132,785	$95,746,970
33	Fast and Furious	2009	$70,950,500	$70,950,500
34	300	2007	$70,885,301	$72,883,839
35	Transformers	2007	$70,502,384	$72,490,126
36	The Incredibles	2004	$70,467,623	$79,498,740
37	Finding Nemo	2003	$70,251,710	$81,369,585
38	Twilight	2008	$69,637,740	$68,967,731
39	The Bourne Ultimatum	2007	$69,283,690	$71,237,073
40	The Day After Tomorrow	2004	$68,743,584	$77,553,748
41	Planet of the Apes	2001	$68,532,960	$82,508,461
42	The Mummy Returns	2001	$68,139,035	$82,034,205
43	Up	2009	$68,108,790	$68,108,790
44	Ice Age: The Meltdown	2006	$68,033,544	$71,945,332
45	Bruce Almighty	2003	$67,953,330	$78,707,469
46	Quantum of Solace	2008	$67,528,882	$66,879,163
47	Rush Hour 2	2001	$67,408,222	$81,154,362
48	The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe	2005	$65,556,312	$71,542,473
49	2012	2009	$65,237,614	$65,237,614
50	War of the Worlds	2005	$64,878,725	$70,803,014
51	Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace	1999	$64,820,970	$82,886,682
52	Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa	2008	$63,106,589	$62,499,418
53	WALL-E	2008	$63,087,526	$62,480,539
54	Hancock	2008	$62,603,879	$62,001,545
55	Monsters, Inc.	2001	$62,577,067	$75,338,020
56	Hulk	2003	$62,128,420	$71,960,722
57	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers	2002	$62,007,528	$73,446,927
58	Kung Fu Panda	2008	$60,239,130	$59,659,548
59	Cars	2006	$60,119,509	$63,576,256
60	Signs	2002	$60,117,080	$71,207,722

[edit] Opening weekend record holders in U.S. and Canada

These are the films that, when first released, set the opening weekend record.

Year	Title	Studio	Opening weekend	Inflation-adjusted (2009 USD)
1933	King Kong	RKO Radio Pictures	$90,000	$1,480,361
1939	Gone with the Wind	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer	$1,945,000	$29,838,918
1953	The Robe	20th Century Fox	$5,104,000	$40,666,327
1954	White Christmas	Paramount Pictures	$6,000,000	$47,567,702
1967	The Jungle Book	Walt Disney Pictures	$6,346,756	$40,504,997
1973	Magnum Force	Warner Bros.	$6,664,075	$31,953,514
1974	The Godfather Part II	Paramount Pictures	$7,229,034	$31,236,083
1977	Star Wars	20th Century Fox	$16,835,540	$59,198,025
1980	Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back	20th Century Fox	$32,883,835	$85,034,293
1984	Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom	Paramount Pictures	$33,936,113	$69,617,574
1989	Batman	Warner Bros.	$40,505,884	$69,622,556
1992	Batman Returns	Warner Bros.	$45,687,711	$69,374,012
1993	Jurassic Park	Universal Studios	$47,026,828	$69,361,039
1997	The Lost World: Jurassic Park	Universal Studios	$72,132,785	$95,746,970
2001	Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone	Warner Bros.	$90,294,621	$108,707,842
2002	Spider-Man	Sony Pictures	$114,844,116	$136,031,022
2006	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest	Walt Disney Pictures	$135,634,554	$143,433,260
2007	Spider-Man 3	Sony Pictures	$151,116,516	$155,377,091
2008	The Dark Knight	Warner Bros.	$158,411,483	$156,887,350