'Jersey Boys' Bombed — Here Are The 5 Highest-Grossing Broadway Film Adaptations Of All Time

Clint Eastwood’s take on the Frankie Valli story opened in theaters this weekend to disappointing box office results. The film cost around $38 million to make and grossed an estimated $13.5 million this weekend.

This puts the “Jersey Boys” opening just slightly above Eastwood’s last film, “J. Edgar,” which made just over $11 million its first weekend and wound up topping out at a paltry $36 million domestically. “J. Edgar” made over double its budget when you factor in international numbers, and hopefully Eastwood’s name is still big enough overseas to at least put “Jersey Boys” in the black. To put things in perspective, here are the top five highest domestic grossing Broadway adaptations of all time.

5. Mamma Mia! (2008) — Domestic:$144,130,063

“Mamma Mia!” debuted on Broadway in 2001 and has since grossed a whopping $578,679,951 dollars.

The stage musical based on the music of ABBA originated in the UK and to date has played in over forty countries and in multiple cities across the United States.

In November 2008, a film adaptation starring Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth & Amanda Seyfried was released and grossed a respectable $27.8 million during its opening weekend.

The film remained in the top ten for an impressive eight weeks and ended up with over $140 million when all was said and done. The film was massive internationally and grossed over $600 million worldwide theatrically.

4. Les Miserables (2012) – Domestic: $148,809,770

Tom Hooper’s “Les Miserables” is the fifth film adaptation of the popular musical, and was the most successful financially by a long shot.

The film stars Hugh Jackman, Russel Crowe, Anne Hathaway and has divided both critics and audiences since its release.

Many praise the film, including the Academy, who believed the film to be worthy of multiple Oscar nominations, while others cite the awkward camerawork and shoddy singing voices of the stars as its downfall.

The film opened on Christmas Day in 2012 with $18 million and went on to gross over $66 million by the end of that week. It remained in the top ten for six weeks and topped out at around $148 million domestically. This is another example of a film that was much bigger internationally as it wound up grossing just over $441 million worldwide. On Broadway, the play has grossed over $400 million since debuting in 1987.

3. The Sound of Music (1965) – Domestic: $163,214,286

Detailed box office statistics for “The Sound of Music” are not available, but the classic film grossed over $160 million during its initial theatrical run, which is an insanely large amount given the time period.

Adjusted for inflation, “The Sound of Music” has the third highest domestic gross of all time with just over $1.1 billion dollars.

The film airs on television constantly and is often regarded as one of the best musicals of all time.

The play has seen many stage runs, and while total gross information is unavailable, “The Sound of Music” ran on Broadway from 1989-1999 and grossed over $34 million during that period.

2. Chicago (2002) — Domestic: $170,687,518

The Broadway smash hit “Chicago” has grossed nearly $500 million dollars since debuting in 1996, and the film adaptation released in 2002 was also quite successful.

The film grossed around $170 million domestically, over $306 worldwide and won Best Picture that year at the Oscars, beating out Scorsese’s “Gangs of New York” and the second “Lord of the Rings” movie.

Catherine Zeta Jones also received a Best Supporting Actress win and the film was nominated for a total of thirteen awards, of which it won six.

1. Grease (1978) — Domestic: $188,755,690

There’s no denying the cultural impact of “Grease” — it is just one of those films that everybody has seen with a soundtrack that everyone knows by heart.

The stage musical had its debut in Chicago all the way back in 1971 and has since played on Broadway, all over the United States and in multiple countries all over the world.

The film is certainly the most popular version — it grossed over $387 million worldwide, and that was in 1978. Adjusted for inflation, the film grossed nearly $1 billion theatrically.

Home video figures dating further back are not available, but the film was released on DVD in 2006 and that release itself has since grossed over $28 million. “Grease 2”, a cash-in sequel starring Michelle Pfeiffer, was released a few years later in 1982 and only made about $15 million domestically during its entire run.

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