Beverly Hills Cop is biggest comedy film

Beverly Hills Cop has been named as the most successful comedy movie ever at the box office.

The 1984 Eddie Murphy film sold more tickets at the cinema than any other film, and so would have been the biggest high-earners if inflation is taken into account.

The survey, conducted by Hollywood.com, estimates how many tickets were sold in the year of release by dividing the box office take by the average ticket price at the time.

It then multiplied that number by the current average ticket price of $6.21 (just £3.50) to work out what the movies would have taken in today’s market.

The survey revealed that the most popular movies were almost all made in the Eighties and Nineties.

Of the top 25, only two – Blazing Saddles and National Lampoon's Animal House – were made before 1980.

The survey, conducted by Hollywood.com, was based only on cinema takings, not subsequent revenue-earners such as DVD releases.

The top 25 are as follows. The first figure marks their actual US box office takings, the second after the adjustment.

1 Beverly Hills Cop (1984) $234 m ($434 m)

2 Home Alone (1990) $281 m ($413 m)

3 Tootsie (1982) $177 m ($409 m)

 4 Blazing Saddles (1974) $119 m ($405 m)

 5 National Lampoon's Animal House  (1978) $142 m ($383m)

 6 Mrs. Doubtfire  (1993) $219 m ($322m)

 7 Three Men and a Baby (1987) $168 m ($310m)

 8 Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) $205 m ($305m)

 9 Beverly Hills Cop 2 (1987) $152 m ($280m)

 10 Meet the Fockers (2004) $279 m ($279 m)

 11 Liar Liar  (1997) $181 m ($269 m)

 12 There's Something About Mary  (1998) $176 m ($262 m)

 13 My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) $241 m ($258 m)

 14 Porky's  (1982) $111 m ($257 m)

 15 Home Alone 2 (1992) $173 m ($254 m)

 16 Look Who's Talking  (1989) $137 m ($253 m)

 17 Bruce Almighty (2003) $243m ($250 m)

 18 Big Daddy (1999) $163 m ($243 m)

 19 The Waterboy (1998) $161 m ($240 m)

 20 9 to 5 (1980) $103 m ($238 m)

 21 Coming to America (1988) $128 m ($237 m)

 22 Stir Crazy  (1980) $101 m ($234 m)

 23 Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) $213 m ($228 m)

 24 Trading Places (1983) $90 m ($209 m)

 25 Stripes (1981) $85 m ($197 m)

Published: 12 Nov 2005