Denzel Washington has been in some of Hollywood’s most critically acclaimed movies, but not all of Washington’s best movies have been box-office hits. Domestically, his best movies have been his more mainstream releases, including his Equalizer franchise and even his 2000 sports film, Remember the тιтans. However, things change when looking at the international box office and inflation.

For one thing, the international box office hurts more Americanized films, such as Remember the тιтans. While that inspirational sports movie is Washington’s fourth-highest-grossing domestic film of his career, it only made $21 million in other countries, dropping it to 18th place for his career.

Inflation is also a metric to compare movies from different decades. The Numbers has over 2,000 pages of information about box office history, including tracking how movies have performed in terms of inflation and changes in ticket prices. To offer a fair comparison to films released in different years, they ranked them based on ticket sales.

In 1995, the average ticket price for movies was $4.35. By 2000, the price was up to $5.39. By 2010, the average ticket price was $7.89, and it increased to $9.18 by 2020. In 2025, ticket prices now average $11.31, which is a 160% increase in ticket prices over the last 30 years.

5

The Equalizer (2014)

$267.0 Million

The Equalizer is one of Denzel Washington’s most beloved franchises and has grossed just under $600 million worldwide, not adjusted for inflation. A remake of a classic TV series, Washington plays Robert McCall, a retired DIA/DCS officer who utilizes his specialized training to ᴀssist those who can’t help themselves. The first film came out in 2014, and the third in 2023.

While The Equalizer has been a successful franchise for Denzel Washington, it has only had average box office numbers, which are significantly lower than those of similar franchises like Keanu Reeves’ John Wick movies. Of the first three movies, the second made the most domestically, while the first finished with $101.5 million in the United States.

However, when taking inflation into account, the first was at the top domestically by over $14 million. The first Equalizer movie grossed $267.0 million domestically, after adjusting for inflation, while the second Equalizer movie grossed $236.3 million, and the third movie grossed $197.5 million. This adds over $100 million to the overall totals when considering changes in ticket prices.

The three Equalizer movies were almost identical internationally, with only a $2 million difference between the first and second films. However, inflation further separated them, with the first Equalizer film earning $267.0 million, the fifth-highest of Washington’s career.

4

Safe House (2012)

$295.3 Million

Denzel Washington has starred in numerous great action movies over the years, following his Oscar-winning performance in Training Day. While that remains his most acclaimed performance in an action movie, Training Day ranks relatively low in his box office totals. It only grossed $76.2 million domestically ($152 million after adjusting for inflation) and an additional $24 million internationally.

Also ranking lower are movies like Man on Fire, Déjà Vu, and Out of Time. However, a surprising Washington action movie ranks higher than all of them in terms of box office take and even surpᴀsses The Equalizer. The 2012 film Safe House ranks fourth on Washington’s list of box office successes, adjusted for inflation.

Released in 2012, Washington stars as Tobin Frost, a veteran CIA operative accused of betraying his country. Ryan Reynolds stars as Matt Weston, a CIA officer in charge of a safe house where the CIA is interrogating Frost. When a team of mercenaries attacks the safe house, Frost and Weston go on the run, only to realize someone is feeding the killer information.

With a budget of only $85 million, the film was a mᴀssive success at the box office, grossing $208.1 million. When adjusted for inflation, the movie was even better, with its total box office take increasing to $295.3 million, nearly $30 million more than the best-performing Equalizer movie.

3

American Gangster (2007)

$440.5 Million

American Gangster made a mᴀssive jump at the box office from Safe House, making (after adjusting for inflation) $135 million more than the fourth-best movie in Denzel Washington’s career. Released only five years before Safe House, American Gangster is one of Washington’s biopics, this one about a famed gangster named Frank Lucas.

Washington stars as Frank Lucas, a man who goes from serving as the right-hand man for Harlem mob boss Bumpy Johnson to building his drug empire almost out in the open. By pledging to help those in his neighborhood with the money he made, he gained loyalty that made it next to impossible for any law enforcement agency to bring him down.

A period piece, Washington’s main nemesis is a detective named Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe), and the film follows Lucas’s rise and fall, as well as the downfall of the NYPD since his eventual arrest leads to the conviction of several corrupt police officers on the force.

American Gangster was the second highest-grossing movie for Denzel Washington, regardless of inflation. It made $130.1 million domestically and $257.9 million worldwide. However, it did even better when adjusted for inflation, hitting $213.9 domestically and an impressive $440.5 million worldwide. Only one movie made more without inflation than that total.

This was also interesting because Washington has starred in a few biopics over the years that didn’t come close to American Gangster’s totals. As mentioned, Remember the тιтans, even after inflation, didn’t break into the top 5 for Washington’s movies. His highly praised Malcolm X was even worse, grossing $131.3 million when adjusted for inflation.

2

Gladiator II (2025)

$460.3 Million

Amazingly, there is one movie that remains near the top of Denzel Washington’s success stories, and it has not changed due to inflation. Released in 2024, Gladiator II grossed $460.3 million worldwide, surpᴀssing any other movie starring Washington by almost $200 million. Washington even earned an Oscar nomination for his performance.

Gladiator II follows the first movie and takes place 16 years after the death of Marcus Aurelius. Corrupt twin emperors Geta and Caracalla now rule Rome, and the exiled Prince of Rome, Lucius Verus Aurelius, becomes a prisoner of war, forced to fight as a gladiator for Macrinus, a former slave who aspires to overthrow the emperors.

This is a sequel to Gladiator, featuring Lucius, the young boy from the first film, and Maximus’s (Russell Crowe) son, who is now an adult and following in his father’s footsteps. Washington plays Macrinus​​​​​, who is using Lucius to help overthrow the twin emperors.

The respect for the first Gladiator likely played into the success of the sequel, although one criticism was that it became too fantastical and failed to reach the heights of its predecessor. Despite this, with no inflation factored in, the film still managed to gross nearly $500 million worldwide at the box office.

1

Philadelphia (1993)

$542.1 Million

Denzel Washington’s highest-grossing movie, when adjusted for inflation, is the 1993 drama Philadelphia. The reason this is surprising is that Philadelphia ranks as the 16th highest-grossing movie domestically for Washington. However, it was one of his most successful international movies early in his career, ranking third in that category.

Philadelphia is one of the movies that set up both Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington for careers full of awards nominations and critical acclaim. A law firm fires senior ᴀssociate Andrew Beckett (Hanks) when they learn he is gay and has contracted AIDS. When no one will represent him in a wrongful dismissal lawsuit, he finally finds one man who will.

Denzel Washington plays Joe Miller, a personal injury attorney who agrees to take on the case. The film, directed by Jonathan Demme, offers a harsh look at the prejudice caused by ignorance of the AIDS epidemic from that era. Hanks won Best Actor at the Oscars, and while Washington didn’t receive a nomination, he received high praise for his performance.

Philadelphia made only $77.3 million domestically, a disappointingly low amount for a critically acclaimed film with an important message. However, it was much more successful internationally, making $124 million outside the United States, for a domestic take of $201.3 million. However, even with that total, it was better when adjusted for inflation.

Since the movie was released in 1993, when ticket prices were over 160% less than they are now, the total jumps enough to make this the highest-grossing Denzel Washington movie, adjusted for inflation. Domestically, the $77.3 million translates to $214.3 million, and overall, Philadelphia generated $542.1 million when adjusted for inflation.

What seems surprising for Denzel Washington is the movies that didn’t come close based on inflation. Denzel Washington starred in films such as Training Day, The Manchurian Candidate, Crimson Tide, The Magnificent Seven, Malcolm X, and Glory, among many others. Despite this, it was one of his newest movies, Gladiator II, and one of his oldest, Philadelphia, that reigned supreme.

Sources: The Numbers