Editing 1996 in film (section)

==Highest-grossing films==
{{see also|Lists of box office number-one films#1996}}
The top 10 films released in 1996 by worldwide gross are as follows:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/world/1996/?ref_=bo_cso_table_1|title=1996 Worldwide Box Office |website=[[Box Office Mojo]]|publisher=[[IMDb]]|access-date=March 7, 2020}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin:auto; margin:auto;"
|+ Highest-grossing films of 1996
|-
!Rank!!Title!!Distributor !!Worldwide gross 
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 1
|''[[Independence Day (1996 film)|Independence Day]]''
| [[20th Century Fox]]
| $817,400,891
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 2
|''[[Twister (1996 film)|Twister]]''
| [[Warner Bros. Pictures|Warner Bros.]] / [[Universal Pictures|Universal]]
| $495,700,000
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 3
|''[[Mission: Impossible (film)|Mission: Impossible]]''
| [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]]
| $457,696,359
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 4
| ''[[The Rock (film)|The Rock]]''
| rowspan="4" | [[Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures|Buena Vista]]
| $335,062,621
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 5
| ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996 film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]''
| $325,338,851
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 6
| ''[[101 Dalmatians (1996 film)|101 Dalmatians]]''
| $320,689,294
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 7
| ''[[Ransom (1996 film)|Ransom]]''
| $309,492,681
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 8
| ''[[The Nutty Professor (1996 film)|The Nutty Professor]]''
| [[Universal Pictures|Universal]]
| $273,961,019
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 9
| ''[[Jerry Maguire]]''
| [[Sony Pictures]] / [[TriStar Pictures|TriStar]]
| $273,552,592
|-
! style="text-align:center;"| 10
| ''[[Space Jam]]''
| [[Warner Bros. Pictures|Warner Bros.]]
| $250,180,384
|}

===Box office records===
* ''Independence Day'' became the highest-grossing film of [[Will Smith]]'s career, up until it was surpassed by ''[[Aladdin (2019 film)|Aladdin]]'' (2019) which grossed $1.054 billion. However, adjusting for inflation, Independence Day in 2019 grossed $1.324 billion. <ref>{{cite web |title=Will Smith Movie Box Office Results |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?view=Actor&id=willsmith.htm |website=Box Office Mojo |access-date=27 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706234818/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?view=Actor&id=willsmith.htm |archive-date=6 July 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* ''[[Rumble in the Bronx]]'' was released in North America, becoming [[Jackie Chan]]'s first major box office hit in the region, with its US box office alone earning over 20 times its budget.<ref name="Gazette">{{cite news |last1=Brownstein |first1=Bill |title=Jackie Chan rules – on ledgers, too: Rumble in the Bronx earned more than 20 times its cost |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/425206202/ |access-date=18 April 2022 |work=[[Montreal Gazette|The Gazette]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |date=27 January 1997 |page=15 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> It was Chan's biggest ever hit up until then.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=February 19, 1996|title=B.O. with a vengeance: $9.1 billion worldwide|last=Klady|first=Leonard|page=1}}</ref>

=== Context ===
The theatrical year of 1996 achieved a $5.8 billion domestic gross milestone and saw a record twelve films earning over $100 million by the end of December, with ''Independence Day'' earning over $300 million. However, the film industry experienced a surplus of releases between 1995 and 1996 that resulted in several box office flops, studio bankruptcies and sales, and otherwise successful films struggling to turn in a profit. The average cost of producing and marketing film rose to $60 million, a 20% increase from the previous year, with a contributing factor being the record high-salaries for stars such as [[Sylvester Stallone]], [[Tom Cruise filmography|Tom Cruise]], [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]], [[Mel Gibson]], [[Jim Carrey]], [[Harrison Ford]], [[Michael Douglas]], [[Sharon Stone]], [[Julia Roberts]], and [[Demi Moore]] that became the subject of industry scrutiny following several high profile flops that were released in between 1995 and 1996. This resulted in studios having to cut their film slate by fifty percent to offset growing production and marketing costs and ensure more profits.<ref>{{Cite web |author1=Philip Sledge |date=2020-06-07 |title=Looking Back On Independence Day And The Highest Grossing Movies Of 1996 |url=https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2547544/looking-back-on-independence-day-and-the-highest-grossing-movies-of-1996 |access-date=2023-03-03 |website=CINEMABLEND |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Weinraub |first=Bernard |date=1996-07-30 |title=Hollywood Reeling As Many Blockbusters Become Quick Busts |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/30/movies/hollywood-reeling-as-many-blockbusters-become-quick-busts.html |access-date=2023-03-03 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Weinraub |first=Bernard |date=1996-06-17 |title=Film Glut Prompts Disney to Halve Production |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/17/business/film-glut-prompts-disney-to-halve-production.html |access-date=2023-03-03 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Study: Film stars are overpaid - UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/04/08/Study-Film-stars-are-overpaid/2778828936000/ |access-date=2023-03-03 |website=UPI |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dutka |first=Elaine |date=1996-12-31 |title=The Money's Where the Action Is |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-12-31-ca-14282-story.html |access-date=2023-03-03 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>