Multipliers are a measure of a film's longevity, and are calculated simply by dividing a film's total by a film's opening weekend. The higher the multiplier, the greater a film's legs, that is, the more impressive and healthier a film's run.
The following are charts ranking films with domestic totals of $30m or more (minus re-releases) from 1982 to the present. So, in other words, the charts below track how well medium and large sized films over the last three decades have held up during their subsequent runs.
Unfortunately, due to the varied release patterns, multipliers alone don't give an exact idea of how well films hold up. Most films open wide and drop weekend to weekend until they are pulled from theatres. Some films, such as Driving Miss Daisy or Chicago, open in limited release and then go wide later in order to take advantage of awards publicity. And yet other films, above all Disney's animated releases, such as Aladdin, The Lion King, and Pocahontas, open in a few theatres just prior to broad, nation-wide openings.
I've tried to make several charts in order to engage with these different release patterns and give credit to various films that held up remarkable well. With that in mind, here is a chart simply showing films, irrespective of their openings, and the largest multipliers:
| # | Title | Multiplier | Total ($M) | Op. Wknd ($M) |
| 1 | Mr. Holland's Opus | 5,707.865 | $82.57 | $0.014 |
| 2 | Driving Miss Daisy | 1,445.431 | $106.59 | $0.074 |
| 3 | On Golden Pond | 1,337.086 | $119.29 | $0.089 |
| 4 | Aladdin | 1,105.186 | $217.35 | $0.197 |
| 5 | Snatch | 1,085.785 | $30.33 | $0.028 |
| 6 | The Killing Fields | 1,078.285 | $34.70 | $0.032 |
| 7 | I Am Sam | 964.883 | $40.31 | $0.042 |
| 8 | Beauty and the Beast | 899.580 | $145.86 | $0.162 |
| 9 | Chariots of Fire | 855.833 | $58.97 | $0.069 |
| 10 | Toy Story 2 | 819.062 | $245.85 | $0.300 |
| 11 | A Civil Action | 809.229 | $56.71 | $0.070 |
| 12 | Fried Green Tomatoes | 782.575 | $82.42 | $0.105 |
| 13 | Thirteen Days | 741.238 | $34.59 | $0.047 |
| 14 | Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey | 689.500 | $41.83 | $0.061 |
| 15 | Traffic | 671.895 | $124.12 | $0.185 |
| 16 | Legends of the Fall | 655.443 | $66.64 | $0.102 |
| 17 | Murphy's Romance | 644.335 | $30.87 | $0.048 |
| 18 | Good Morning, Vietnam | 637.763 | $123.92 | $0.194 |
| 19 | Moonstruck | 631.984 | $80.64 | $0.128 |
| 20 | The Crying Game | 618.641 | $62.55 | $0.101 |
| 21 | Black Hawk Down | 604.143 | $108.64 | $0.180 |
| 22 | My Dog Skip | 599.453 | $34.13 | $0.057 |
| 23 | Platoon | 574.625 | $138.53 | $0.241 |
| 24 | March of the Penguins | 563.213 | $77.44 | $0.137 |
| 25 | A Bug's Life | 559.213 | $162.80 | $0.291 |
| 26 | Million Dollar Baby | 558.436 | $100.49 | $0.180 |
| 27 | Gran Torino | 545.029 | $148.10 | $0.272 |
| 28 | A Fish Called Wanda | 541.456 | $62.49 | $0.115 |
| 29 | Philadelphia | 539.949 | $77.45 | $0.143 |
| 30 | Nell | 537.539 | $33.68 | $0.063 |
| 31 | The Verdict | 534.523 | $53.98 | $0.101 |
| 32 | The Cider House Rules | 522.672 | $57.55 | $0.110 |
| 33 | Good Will Hunting | 507.246 | $138.43 | $0.273 |
| 34 | Grand Canyon | 492.154 | $33.24 | $0.068 |
| 35 | Anastasia | 484.535 | $58.41 | $0.121 |
| 36 | Life Is Beautiful | 481.394 | $57.25 | $0.119 |
| 37 | Wag the Dog | 467.663 | $43.06 | $0.092 |
| 38 | A Beautiful Mind | 465.047 | $170.74 | $0.367 |
| 39 | The Queen | 462.584 | $56.44 | $0.122 |
| 40 | Chocolat | 453.671 | $71.51 | $0.158 |
| 41 | Leaving Las Vegas | 451.992 | $32.03 | $0.071 |
| 42 | Shakespeare in Love | 447.823 | $100.32 | $0.224 |
| 43 | Nobody's Fool | 425.386 | $39.49 | $0.093 |
| 44 | Absence of Malice | 416.896 | $40.72 | $0.098 |
| 45 | Dangerous Liaisons | 410.542 | $34.67 | $0.084 |
| 46 | Born on the Fourth of July | 406.937 | $70.00 | $0.172 |
| 47 | My Big Fat Greek Wedding | 404.174 | $241.44 | $0.597 |
| 48 | Gandhi | 402.338 | $52.77 | $0.131 |
This is a list of films with openings larger than $2m. Chicago and Pocahontas, among many others, were still very much in limited release:
| # | Title | Multiplier | Total ($M) | Op. Wknd ($M) |
| 1 | Chicago | 82.262 | $170.69 | $2.075 |
| 2 | Pocahontas | 52.637 | $141.58 | $2.690 |
| 3 | The Empire Strikes Back | 42.643 | $209.40 | $4.910 |
| 4 | An Officer and a Gentleman | 39.276 | $129.80 | $3.305 |
| 5 | Arthur | 35.102 | $95.46 | $2.720 |
| 6 | Tootsie | 31.983 | $177.20 | $5.540 |
| 7 | Terms of Endearment | 30.989 | $108.42 | $3.499 |
| 8 | E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial | 30.349 | $359.20 | $11.835 |
| 9 | Fantasia 2000 (35mm & IMAX) | 26.481 | $60.66 | $2.291 |
| 10 | 9 to 5 | 26.039 | $103.29 | $3.967 |
| 11 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | 25.231 | $209.56 | $8.306 |
| 12 | Rain Man | 24.669 | $172.83 | $7.006 |
| 13 | Out of Africa | 23.938 | $87.07 | $3.637 |
| 14 | Flashdance | 22.796 | $92.92 | $4.076 |
| 15 | Crocodile Dundee | 21.745 | $174.80 | $8.039 |
| 16 | Top Gun | 21.578 | $176.79 | $8.193 |
| 17 | Titanic | 20.979 | $600.79 | $28.638 |
| 18 | Full Metal Jacket | 20.907 | $46.36 | $2.217 |
| 19 | Little Women (1994) | 20.771 | $50.08 | $2.411 |
| 20 | Fatal Attraction | 20.604 | $156.65 | $7.603 |
| 21 | Bean | 20.095 | $45.32 | $2.255 |
| 22 | Coal Miner's Daughter | 19.957 | $67.18 | $3.366 |
| 23 | Back to the Future | 18.885 | $210.61 | $11.153 |
| 24 | Grumpy Old Men | 18.109 | $70.17 | $3.875 |
| 25 | The Karate Kid | 18.048 | $90.82 | $5.032 |
| 26 | 48 HRS. | 18.048 | $78.87 | $4.370 |
| 27 | Ghost | 17.851 | $217.63 | $12.192 |
| 28 | Reds | 17.369 | $40.38 | $2.325 |
| 29 | Ghostbusters | 16.883 | $229.24 | $13.578 |
| 30 | Home Alone | 16.729 | $285.76 | $17.082 |
This is perhaps the most interesting chart. It lists films with openings above $10m. E.T. and Titanic are obviously the big standouts, but note Avatar, which already has a remarkable multiplier of 7.163, which will only get bigger and will almost certainly now pass 10x. Amazing.
| # | Title | Multiplier | Total ($M) | Op. Wknd ($M) |
| 1 | E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial | 30.349 | $359.20 | $11.835 |
| 2 | Titanic | 20.979 | $600.79 | $28.638 |
| 3 | Back to the Future | 18.885 | $210.61 | $11.153 |
| 4 | Ghost | 17.851 | $217.63 | $12.192 |
| 5 | Ghostbusters | 16.883 | $229.24 | $13.578 |
| 6 | Home Alone | 16.729 | $285.76 | $17.082 |
| 7 | Three Men and a Baby | 16.157 | $167.78 | $10.384 |
| 8 | Pretty Woman | 15.815 | $178.41 | $11.281 |
| 9 | Beverly Hills Cop | 15.430 | $234.76 | $15.215 |
| 10 | Who Framed Roger Rabbit | 13.936 | $156.45 | $11.226 |
| 11 | Forrest Gump | 13.484 | $329.69 | $24.451 |
| 12 | There's Something About Mary | 12.844 | $176.48 | $13.741 |
| 13 | Gremlins | 11.842 | $148.17 | $12.512 |
| 14 | As Good as It Gets | 11.777 | $148.48 | $12.607 |
| 15 | Sister Act | 11.737 | $139.61 | $11.895 |
| 16 | Look Who's Talking | 11.570 | $140.09 | $12.108 |
| 17 | The Sixth Sense | 11.000 | $293.51 | $26.681 |
| 18 | Return of the Jedi | 10.973 | $252.58 | $23.020 |
| 19 | Mrs. Doubtfire | 10.709 | $219.20 | $20.469 |
| 20 | Miss Congeniality | 10.631 | $106.81 | $10.047 |
| 21 | Twins | 10.017 | $111.94 | $11.175 |
| 22 | Rocky III | 9.986 | $124.15 | $12.431 |
| 23 | Parenthood | 9.523 | $100.05 | $10.506 |
| 24 | City Slickers | 9.518 | $124.03 | $13.032 |
| 25 | The Silence of the Lambs | 9.497 | $130.74 | $13.767 |
| 26 | Stuart Little | 9.324 | $140.04 | $15.018 |
| 27 | Honey, I Shrunk the Kids | 9.165 | $130.72 | $14.263 |
| 28 | A Few Good Men | 9.108 | $141.34 | $15.517 |
| 29 | The Karate Kid Part II | 9.097 | $115.10 | $12.652 |
| 30 | Jumanji | 9.065 | $100.48 | $11.084 |
| 31 | Jerry Maguire | 9.011 | $153.95 | $17.084 |
| 32 | Hook | 8.849 | $119.65 | $13.523 |
| 33 | The Ring | 8.600 | $129.13 | $15.015 |
| 34 | Aliens | 8.472 | $85.16 | $10.052 |
| 35 | Speed | 8.387 | $121.25 | $14.456 |
| 36 | Disclosure | 8.245 | $83.02 | $10.068 |
| 37 | Night at the Museum | 8.243 | $250.86 | $30.434 |
| 38 | Cast Away | 8.089 | $233.63 | $28.883 |
| 39 | A League of Their Own | 7.827 | $107.53 | $13.739 |
| 40 | Basic Instinct | 7.781 | $117.73 | $15.129 |
| 41 | Dumb and Dumber | 7.772 | $127.18 | $16.363 |
| 42 | Something's Gotta Give | 7.764 | $124.73 | $16.065 |
| 43 | The Fugitive | 7.739 | $183.88 | $23.759 |
| 44 | Cape Fear | 7.708 | $79.09 | $10.261 |
| 45 | Superman II | 7.672 | $108.19 | $14.101 |
| 46 | Fun with Dick and Jane | 7.671 | $110.33 | $14.384 |
| 47 | The Untouchables | 7.609 | $76.27 | $10.023 |
| 48 | Jurassic Park | 7.593 | $357.07 | $47.027 |
| 49 | The Green Mile | 7.593 | $136.80 | $18.017 |
| 50 | The Santa Clause | 7.496 | $144.83 | $19.322 |
| 51 | Rambo: First Blood Part II | 7.455 | $150.42 | $20.176 |
| 52 | The Prince of Tides | 7.452 | $74.79 | $10.035 |
| 53 | Sleeping with the Enemy | 7.374 | $101.60 | $13.778 |
| 54 | Presumed Innocent | 7.364 | $86.30 | $11.719 |
| 55 | Sleepless in Seattle | 7.342 | $126.68 | $17.254 |
| 56 | The Bodyguard | 7.341 | $121.95 | $16.612 |
| 57 | A Time to Kill | 7.338 | $108.77 | $14.823 |
| 58 | Charlotte's Web (2006) | 7.243 | $82.99 | $11.457 |
| 59 | Lethal Weapon 2 | 7.222 | $147.25 | $20.389 |
| 60 | The Family Man | 7.181 | $75.79 | $10.555 |
| 61 | Seven | 7.178 | $100.13 | $13.950 |
| 62 | Avatar | 7.163 | $551.74 | $77.025 |
| 63 | The Hunt for Red October | 7.110 | $122.01 | $17.162 |
| 64 | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom | 7.099 | $179.87 | $25.337 |
| 65 | Saving Private Ryan | 7.082 | $216.54 | $30.576 |
Here is a ranking of films with totals above $100m:
| # | Title | Multiplier | Total ($M) | Op. Wknd ($M) |
| 1 | Driving Miss Daisy | 1,445.431 | $106.59 | $0.074 |
| 2 | On Golden Pond | 1,337.086 | $119.29 | $0.089 |
| 3 | Aladdin | 1,105.186 | $217.35 | $0.197 |
| 4 | Beauty and the Beast | 899.580 | $145.86 | $0.162 |
| 5 | Toy Story 2 | 819.062 | $245.85 | $0.300 |
| 6 | Traffic | 671.895 | $124.12 | $0.185 |
| 7 | Good Morning, Vietnam | 637.763 | $123.92 | $0.194 |
| 8 | Black Hawk Down | 604.143 | $108.64 | $0.180 |
| 9 | Platoon | 574.625 | $138.53 | $0.241 |
| 10 | A Bug's Life | 559.213 | $162.80 | $0.291 |
| 11 | Million Dollar Baby | 558.436 | $100.49 | $0.180 |
| 12 | Gran Torino | 545.029 | $148.10 | $0.272 |
| 13 | Good Will Hunting | 507.246 | $138.43 | $0.273 |
| 14 | A Beautiful Mind | 465.047 | $170.74 | $0.367 |
| 15 | Shakespeare in Love | 447.823 | $100.32 | $0.224 |
| 16 | My Big Fat Greek Wedding | 404.174 | $241.44 | $0.597 |
| 17 | Slumdog Millionaire | 392.536 | $141.32 | $0.360 |
| 18 | Juno | 346.717 | $143.50 | $0.414 |
| 19 | Dances with Wolves | 307.909 | $184.21 | $0.598 |
| 20 | Dreamgirls | 272.769 | $103.37 | $0.379 |
| 21 | The Lion King | 197.167 | $312.86 | $1.587 |
| 22 | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon | 193.121 | $128.08 | $0.663 |
| 23 | American Beauty | 151.006 | $130.10 | $0.862 |
| 24 | The Aviator | 119.590 | $102.61 | $0.858 |
| 25 | The Blair Witch Project | 92.946 | $140.54 | $1.512 |
And finally, here is a ranking of the most successful films, those with $200m in total. Aladdin opened in limited release initially, as did Toy Story 2 and The Lion King. The biggest story here is My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which all things considered has had the most impressive multiplier of any film over the last three decades:
| # | Title | Multiplier | Total ($M) | Op. Wknd ($M) |
| 1 | Aladdin | 1,105.186 | $217.35 | $0.197 |
| 2 | Toy Story 2 | 819.062 | $245.85 | $0.300 |
| 3 | My Big Fat Greek Wedding | 404.174 | $241.44 | $0.597 |
| 4 | The Lion King | 197.167 | $312.86 | $1.587 |
| 5 | The Empire Strikes Back | 42.643 | $209.40 | $4.910 |
| 6 | E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial | 30.349 | $359.20 | $11.835 |
| 7 | Raiders of the Lost Ark | 25.231 | $209.56 | $8.306 |
| 8 | Titanic | 20.979 | $600.79 | $28.638 |
| 9 | Back to the Future | 18.885 | $210.61 | $11.153 |
| 10 | Ghost | 17.851 | $217.63 | $12.192 |
| 11 | Ghostbusters | 16.883 | $229.24 | $13.578 |
| 12 | Home Alone | 16.729 | $285.76 | $17.082 |
| 13 | Beverly Hills Cop | 15.430 | $234.76 | $15.215 |
| 14 | Forrest Gump | 13.484 | $329.69 | $24.451 |
| 15 | The Sixth Sense | 11.000 | $293.51 | $26.681 |
| 16 | Return of the Jedi | 10.973 | $252.58 | $23.020 |
| 17 | Mrs. Doubtfire | 10.709 | $219.20 | $20.469 |
| 18 | Night at the Museum | 8.243 | $250.86 | $30.434 |
| 19 | Cast Away | 8.089 | $233.63 | $28.883 |
| 20 | Jurassic Park | 7.593 | $357.07 | $47.027 |
| 21 | Avatar | 7.163 | $551.74 | $77.025 |
| 22 | Saving Private Ryan | 7.082 | $216.54 | $30.576 |
| 23 | Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace | 6.650 | $431.09 | $64.821 |
| 24 | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | 6.637 | $313.36 | $47.211 |
| 25 | Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl | 6.550 | $305.41 | $46.631 |
| 26 | Terminator 2: Judgment Day | 6.449 | $204.84 | $31.766 |
| 27 | Shrek | 6.321 | $267.67 | $42.348 |
| 28 | Batman | 6.204 | $251.19 | $40.490 |
| 29 | Wedding Crashers | 6.173 | $209.26 | $33.901 |
| 30 | The Hangover | 6.166 | $277.32 | $44.979 |
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