One of our latest movie pages here at Ultimate Movie Rankings.com was one that looked at the movie career of Jerry Lewis. The first 16 movies of Lewis’ career were with his screen partner, Dean Martin. As we were looking at the fantastic box office numbers of those 16 movies….a question popped into our heads…..who are the Top 15 Screen Duos of all-time? So the awesome wife went to our massive database ….wrote some code….did a query search and up popped some possible answers to that question.
The first thing we realized when we saw the search results was that we needed to have some rules. The 8 Harry Potter movies provided us lots of possible combos. We like Alan Rickman and Rupert Grint…..but we’re not thinking they are considered one of the greatest screen duos of all-time. So the first rule was if actors appeared together in a movie franchise, then they needed to have two other non-related movies to qualify. So goodbye to Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, and Keira Knightley and their Pirate movies…..goodbye to Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd and the Back to the Future movies. Goodbye to all the Harry Potter alumni and goodbye to almost every successful movie franchise out there. This really hurt us….because we really wanted to include the Screen Duo team of Michael Caine and Christian Bale.
The second rule we came up with was that the actors had to have a decent size role (preferable a lead role) in the movie. Cameos would not count towards the accumulated box office grosses. That rule eliminated more screen duos. The third rule was not to include computer animated franchises. A single “Voice Role” was ok…..but not more than one. Once again more screen duos were eliminated. So with the rules in place our list was looking more acceptable. We found 15 screen duos that have grossed more than $1 BILLION in adjusted domestic box office. The Walter Matthau/Jack Lemmon team just missed the Billion Dollar Club by $7 million dollars. Below you will find a table with the Top 15 and following that table is a list of those screen duos that did not make the Billion Dollar Club. We are sure we have forgotten some obvious screen duos that could crack the Billion Dollar Club….we look forward to hearing from you about duos we have carelessly left off.
Top 15 Screen Duos of All-Time – Ranked by Box Office Results
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the screen duos anyway you want.
- Column 1 lists the different Screen Duos
- Column 2 lists the years the Screen Duos made their movies
- Column 3 lists how many movies they made
- Column 4 lists the total number of tickets sold for their movies
- Column 5 lists the total adjusted domestic box office gross for the Screen Duos
- Column 6 lists the average adjusted domestic gross for the Screen Duos
- Column 7 lists the Screen Duos biggest box office hit
| Rank | Screen Team | Years Active | Movies | Tickets Sold | Total Adjusted Domestic Box Office | AVG Gross Per Movie | Biggest Hit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bud Abbott & Lou Costello | 1940-1956 | 36 | 310.84 million | $2.58 billion | $71.66 million | Ride 'em Cowboy (1942) | |
| Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis | 1949-1956 | 16 | 233.73 million | $1.94 billion | $121.25 million | Living It Up (1954) | |
| Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy | 1930-1951 | 26 | 231.16 million | $1.93 billion | $74.53 millions | Sons of the Desert (1930) | |
| Ben Stiller & Owen Wilson | 1996-2014 | 10 | 171.50 million | $1.38 billion | $138.00 million | Night At The Musuem (2006) | |
| Chris Evans & Scarlett Johannson | 2004-2015 | 5 | 166.26 million | $1.37 billion | $274.00 million | The Avengers (2012) | |
| Spencer Tracy & Katharine Hepburn | 1942-1967 | 9 | 162.65 million | $1.35 billion | $150.00 million | Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (1967) | |
| Paul Newman & Robert Redford | 1969-1973 | 2 | 161.44 million | $1.34 billion | $670.00 million | The Sting (1973) | |
| Bing Crosby & Bob Hope | 1940-1962 | 8 | 157.83 million | $1.31 billion | $163.75 million | Road To Morocco (1942) | |
| Jeanette MacDonald & Nelson Eddy | 1935-1942 | 8 | 150.60 million | $1.27 billion | $158.75 million | Maytime (1937) | |
| Bill Murray & Harold Ramis | 1981-1993 | 4 | 151.85 million | $1.23 billion | $307.50 million | Ghostbusters (1984) | |
| William Powell & Myrna Loy | 1934-1956 | 14 | 142.16 million | $1.18 billion | $84.28 million | The Great Ziegfeld (1936) | |
| Errol Flynn & Alan Hale Sr. | 1937-1948 | 12 | 139.75 million | $1.16 billion | $96.73 million | The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) | |
| Burt Reynolds & Sally Field | 1977-1980 | 4 | 136.14 million | $1.13 billion | $282.50 million | Smokey and the Bandit (1977) | |
| Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton | 1963-1972 | 10 | 132.53 million | $1.10 billion | $110.00 million | Cleopatra (1963) | |
| Clint Eastwood & Sondra Locke | 1976-1983 | 6 | 130.06 million | $1.08 billion | $180.00 million | Every Which Way But Loose (1978) | |
| Greer Garson & Walter Pidgeon | 1941-1953 | 8 | 129.96 million | $1.08 billion | $135.00 million | Mrs. Miniver (1942) | |
| Leonardo DiCaprio & Kate Winslet | 1997-2008 | 2 | 129.70 million | $1.08 billion | $540.00 million | Titanic (1997) | |
| Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers | 1933-1949 | 10 | 120.48 million | $1.00 billion | $100.00 million | Top Hat (1935) | |
| Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland | 1937-1943 | 8 | 120.26 million | $1.00 billion | $125.00 million | Babes on Broadway (1941) |
Screen Duos That Were Successful But Fell Short of the Billion Dollar Mark
- Walter Matthau/Jack Lemmon – 11 movies – $993.00 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Gary Cooper/Walter Brennan – 6 movies – $927.30 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Johnny Depp/Helena Bonham Carter – 6 movies – $903.39 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Marjorie Main & Percy Kilbride – 8 movies – $786.80 million in adjusted box office gross
- Errol Flynn/Olivia de Havilland – 8 movies – $784.30 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Clark Gable/Spencer Tracy – 3 movies – $723.50 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Clark Gable/Joan Crawford – 8 movies – $703.20 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Claudette Colbert/Fred MacMurray – 8 movies – $674.80 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall…..4 movies….$648.80 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Gene Wilder/Richard Pryor – 4 movies – $613.10 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Julia Roberts/Richard Gere – 2 movies – $605.29 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Clark Gable/Myrna Loy – 7 movies – $568.20 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Frank Sinatra/Dean Martin – 6 movies – $566.90 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Bruce Willis/Samuel L.Jackson – 3 movies – $553.24 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Jean Harlow/Clark Gable…..6 movies…$540.70 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Dean Martin/Sammy Davis, Jr. – 4 movies – $528.60 in adjusted domestic gross
- Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan – 3 movies – $524.60 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Doris Day/Rock Hudson – 3 movies – $522.10 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Doris Day/Gordon MacRae – 5 movies – $515.00 million in adjusted domestic gross
- James Cagney/Pat O’Brien – 7 movies – $514.80 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Johnny Weismuller/Maureen O’Sullivan – 6 movies – $509.90 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Gene Kelly/Frank Sinatra – 3 movies – $507.50 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Claude Rains/Bette Davis….4 movies – $495.30 million in adjusted domestic gross.
- Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong – 7 movies – $479.10 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Woody Allen/Diane Keaton – 5 movies – $454.68 million in adjusted domestic gross
- John Wayne/Maureen O’Hara – 5 movies – $451.62 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Paul Rudd/Steve Carell – 4 movies – $451.62 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Dean Martin/Shirley MacLaine – 5 movies – $446.60 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Burt Lancaster/Kirk Douglas – 6 movies – $432.80 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Simon Pegg/Nick Frost – 9 movies – $416.20 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Clark Gable/Claudette Colbert – 2 movies – $415.70 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Shailene Woodley/Ansel Elgort – 3 movies – $415.52 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Jeanette MacDonald/Maurice Chevalier – 4 movies – $413.10 million in adjusted domestic gross
- James Stewart/Jean Arthur – 2 movies – $378.40 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Robert DeNiro/Joe Pesci – 6 movies – $370.50 million in adjusted domestic gross
- John Belushi/Dan Aykroyd – 3 movies – $369.03 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Tom Cruise/Nicole Kidman – 3 movies – $362.90 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Ben Affleck/Matt Damon – 3 movies – $360.43 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Howard Keel/Kathryn Grayson….3 movies….$353.20 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Shirley Temple/ Bill Robinson – 4 movies – $334.50 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Brian Keith/Maureen O’Hara – 3 movies – $300.40 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Bradley Cooper/Jennifer Lawrence…. 3 movies….. $295.63 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Goldie Hawn/Chevy Chase…. 2 movies….. $293.10 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Anna Kendrick/Elizabeth Banks – 3 movies – $292.58 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Cary Grant/Irene Dunne…. 3 movies….. $289.10 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Cary Grant/Katharine Hepburn – 4 movies – $287.50 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Olivia de Havilland and Bette Davis – 4 movies – $273.70 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Fred MacMurray/Barbara Stanwyck – 4 movies – $271.90 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Orson Welles/Joseph Cotten – 4 movies – $263.50 million in adjusted domestic gross
- Charlie Chaplin/Edna Purviance – 4 movies – $258.54 million in adjusted domestic gross
- John Cusack/John Malkovich…. 2 movies….. $220.10 million in adjusted domestic gross
- James Garner/Julie Andrews – 2 movies – $150.30 million in adjusted domestic gross
So who did we forget? We look forward to suggestions. If your suggestion cracks the 1 Billion Club…..we will add the Screen Duo and give you all the credit.
How we calculated adjusted box office grosses. We took the actual box office grosses….divided that total by the average ticket price the year the movie was released. That gave us tickets sold. We then multiplied tickets sold by today’s average movie ticket price.
Page Notes: Since writing this page we have gotten lots of suggestions for possible members of the 1 billion dollar club. Amazingly so far it looks like we only missed two Screen Duos. PS1999 correctly identified that the screen duo of Bill Murray and Harold Ramis had grossed over $1 Billion in adjusted domestic gross while She Lew correctly identified Errol Flynn and Alan Hale Sr. as members of the club. Thanks for the input PS1999 and She Lew….your movie knowledge is truly impressive.
John Wayne & Maureen O’Hara / Laurel & Hardy / W.C. Fields & Mae West / Jean Harlow & Clark Gable / Bogart & Bacall… just to name a few.
Hey Daniel A. Totals for your suggestions:
1. Wayne and O’Hara…..5 movies….. adjusted gross of $451.62 million
2. Fields and West…..1 movie…..adjusted gross of $102.30 million
3. Harlow and Gable…..6 movies…adjusted gross of $549.70 million
4. Bogart and Bacall…..4 movies….adjusted gross of $648.80 million
Where are Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing? Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce? Sid James and Kenneth Williams? Johnny Weismuller and Maureen O’Sullivan?
Most of Abbott and Costello’s output is forgettable, only their monster ‘meets’ were interesting, The Marx Brothers were wittier but cinemagoers of the 40’s and 50’s wanted less demanding comedy, more mugging for the cameras. A close up of Jerry Lewis gurning face would have audiences rolling in the aisles for minutes on end.
A fascinating project Bruce but I’ll never get used to the adjusted grosses, there are too many variables involved – high and low ticket prices for instance – and don’t forget everyone went to the cinema back then, while nowadays a lot of people simply wait for DVD or cable to see the latest films.
Hey Steve…thanks for stopping by and thanks for the suggestions. Lee and Cushing, Bruce and Rathbone were great combos….sadly their movies did not get much attention here in the states. I have to admit…that I am not aware of the James/Williams duo….I will have to check that one out. I can do some research on Weismuller and O’Sullivan. The beauty of my database….I just plug in the actual gross…and the adjusted box office pops up…using ticket sales. My ticket price index goes from 1916 to 2015. To me it is the best way to compare old movies to new movies. As always thanks for stopping by and talking movies.
Johnny Weismuller/Maureen O’Sullivan
1932 Tarzan the Ape Man $2.94 million in actual box office, $108.80 adjusted.
1934 Tarzan an His Mate $1.74 million in actual box office $63.3 adjusted
1936 Tarzan Escapes $2.20 million in actual box office $71.30 adjusted
1939 Tarzan Finds a Son! $2.28 million in actual box office $66.60 in adjusted
1941 Tarzan’s Secret Adventure $3.13 million actual….$90.90 in adjusted
1942 Tarzan’s NY Adventure $3.89 million actual…..$108.80 adjusted
Grand totals…6 movies…..$16.18 million year of release….$509.90 million in adjusted domestic gross….or almost 51%.
Glad my old time favourites, Garson and Pidgeon, made the list but what about my favourite current team Simon Pegg and Nick Frost?
Hey Kenneth…..Glad you are happy Garson and Pidgeon made the list. As for Simon Pegg and Nick Frost….let me check. They have made 9 movies together…..2 never got released in North America. 3 were in computer animated movies. Even including the animated movies they are at $416.10 million….almost half way there….thanks for the suggestion.
Interesting page. How about Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci?
Good suggestion. I did not realize they had made 6 movies together….Casino, Good Fellas and Raging Bull popped right into my mind….A Bronx Tale, Once Upon a Time in America and The Good Shephard needed IMDb help. Those 6 movies grossed….$370.50 miliion….or 37% of the way to 1 billion. I like when a comment expands my wealth of trivia information.
You must have done some digging to get all those facts. I like No. 5 and No 6 on your list. Thanks for info.
Lots of work…but lots of fun too. Glad you like the Kate/Spence and Redford/Newman teams. Thanks for stopping by.