Box Office: The 10 Biggest April Movie Releases Ever

There were a slew of movies scheduled to release this April: No Time to Die, The New Mutants, Antlers. And a few other movies, like Mulan and A Quiet Place Part II, were slated to release at the end of March, and their earnings would have poured over into the new month.

Historically, April hasn’t had very many huge earners at the box office—but a few of those postponed 2020 film could have become one of the biggest April releases ever. So since the coronavirus pandemic has all but destroyed the box office, I thought it would be interesting to look back in time and observe which movies have performed the best during the first full month of spring.

In this article, we’ll cover the ten top-grossing movies before and after inflation. That should give us a gauge of whether April 2020 could have been one for the record books.

The Top Ten—Before Inflation

It should be no surprise that the ten biggest April movies ever all came out in the 21st century. As domestic ticket prices have gone up, movies have become more and more lucrative in the spring season.

So here is the technical box office top ten before we adjust for inflation. These movies made the most money during the month of April:

1. Avengers: Endgame ($427.1 million)
2. Furious 7 ($324.4 million)
3. Avengers: Infinity War ($282.4 million)
4. The Jungle Book ($239.6 million)
5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($228.5 million)
6. The Fate of the Furious ($193.3 million)
7. Ice Age: Meltdown ($156.1 million)
8. Clash of the Titans ($149.7 million)
9. A Quiet Place (149.4 million)
10. Fast & Furious ($147 million)
11. The Hunger Games ($139.4 million)

While it’s impossible which 2020 movies would have made this list, it seems safe to say that both Mulan and No Time to Die would have squeezed their way into the top ten.

Fun fact: Avengers: Endgame made all of that money in just seven days, while Infinity War only needed four days.

Of course, many movies are released later in April and have no chance of making this list. For instance, My Big Fat Greek Wedding didn’t gain steam until several weeks into its run, and actually stands as the sixth-highest-grossing April release ever.

So here is a different take on that top ten list. This list will rank lifetime grosses for every movie released in April. You’ll notice some slight shifts from the previous top ten:

1. Avengers: Endgame ($858.4 million)
2. Avengers: Infinity War ($678.8 million)
3. The Jungle Book ($364 million)
4. Furious 7 ($353 million)
5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($259.8 million)
6. My Big Fat Greek Wedding ($241.4 million)
7. The Fate of the Furious ($226 million)
8. Fast Five ($209.8 million)
9. Clash of the Titans ($163.2 million)
10. Fast & Furious ($155.1 million)

There are some surprise movies that rest just outside this top ten, such as Anger Management, Indecent Proposal, 42, Flashdance and Think Like a Man.

The Top Ten—After Inflation

Obviously, things are much different today for the box office than they would have been for a movie released in 1990. In 2020, the average movie ticket costs $9.37—but 30 years ago, the average ticket stood at a mere $4.23.

Because of that, it’s difficult to determine whether or not those movies listed above are truly the highest-grossing April movies ever. That is until we adjust each movie’s gross to coordinate with each respective year’s ticket prices.

So here’s the adjusted top ten:

1. Avengers: Endgame ($444.2 million)
2. Furious 7 ($360.6 million)
3. Avengers: Infinity War ($290.5 million)
4. The Jungle Book ($259.5 million)
5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($262.1 million)
6. Ice Age: Meltdown ($223.3 million)
7. The Matrix ($218.8 million)
8. The Fate of the Furious ($201.9 million)
9. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ($192 million)
10. Fast & Furious ($183.7 million)

As you can see, Avengers: Endgame still ranks as the highest-grossing movie ever released in the month of April. The two most notably new entries are The Matrix and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Also, Ice Age: Meltdown makes a huge jump from $156.1 million to $223.3 million.

One last quick note: just outside that box office top ten are movies like Clash of the Titans ($177.8 million), Anger Management ($164.8 million), The Hunger Games ($164.1 million), A Quiet Place ($153.7 million), and How to Train Your Dragon ($149.9 million).