20th Century Fox sets global box-office record

By Ryan Faughnder 

Film studio 20th Century Fox movies grossed $5.5 billion in global ticket sales in 2014, breaking the record previously held by Paramount Pictures. 

Buoyed by hits including "X-Men: Days of Future Past" and "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," the Century City studio's worldwide total sailed past the previous record held by Paramount, which hauled in $5.17 billion in 2011.

Box office: All-time leaders

What about 'Avatar'?

Twentieth Century Fox

If box-office dollars are adjusted for inflation and represented in real terms, "Avatar" -- the $760-million behemoth -- isn't even in the top 10. (It's No. 14). Here are the biggest winners in Hollywood history. Sources: Los Angeles Times / Box Office Mojo

 'Gone With the Wind' (1939) | $1,582,009,400

New Line Cinema

"Gone With the Wind" didn't look like a hit in pre-production when David O. Selznick hired (then fired) George Cukor to direct it. Gary Cooper turned down the role of Rhett Butler and said, "I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face."

 'Star Wars' (1977) | $1,394,676,400

20th Century Fox

"Star Wars" was passed on by almost every studio in Hollywood before Fox said, "May the force be with you," and saw tickets hit hyperdrive.

 'The Sound of Music' (1965) | $1,115,112,400

Twentieth Century Fox

Julie Andrews and the Von Trapp family captured the hearts of America and the Academy Award for best picture. It's the only musical in the top 10 (though Andrews starred in the next highest-earning musical, "Mary Poppins," at No. 25.)

"E.T." phoning home rang up massive box-office dollars in 1982 terms, now doubled to more than a billion when adjusted.

Fox's domestic total came in at $1.79 billion, which was not a industry record but topped rival studios. It's also Fox's best-ever tally in the U.S. and Canada, not adjusting for inflation, and a significant improvement over the previous three years. The highlights for Fox came as the industry's total revenue ended more than 5% lower than in 2013. 

Internationally, the company set a new industry benchmark with $3.73 billion. 

The latest "X-Men" franchise installment, directed by Bryan Singer, was the studio's biggest film of the year, landing at $748 million worldwide, followed by the "Planet of the Apes" sequel's $709 million.

Eight movies distributed by Fox took in more than $100 million or more domestically, including "Gone Girl," "The Maze Runner" and "The Fault in Our Stars."

Some of the studio's big-budget projects didn't fare as well stateside. Ridley Scott's "Exodus: Gods and Kings," for example, has grossed roughly $61 million in the U.S. and Canada so far.