Hollywood’s Highest Earning Cars

From the time-hopping Delorean in Back to the Future, to the turbo charged speedsters of the Fast and the Furious franchise, cars have been stars in Hollywood for decades.

They’ve played every role from background attraction to saving-the-day hero. Many Box Office blockbusters wouldn’t be half as memorable if it wasn’t for the contribution of their motoring mainstays.

But while we could all name our favourite car movie – how many of us really have a clue which cars earnt the most dosh at the Box Office?

Here at LeaseCar.uk we decided to grab the steering wheel with both hands, put the pedal to the metal to find out once and for all which cars have been Hollywood’s biggest earners.

After some painstaking research, working out the amount of cash a film generated for its on-screen car time, we’ve put together a list of Hollywood’s top earning cars. With the pivotal roles these vehicles played in their films, it’s fair to say they’ve earned their big bucks just as much as their human co-stars.

Who’s on Top?

The Jurassic Jeep – Jurassic Park

Hollywood’s top earning car, with a Box Office share of $200,940,000 is the Jurassic Park Jeep. This is almost thirty times as much as the $750,000 Jeff Goldblum (who played Ian Malcolm) was paid for his role in the movie.

The car’s earnings were bolstered by its major role in the film (it was on screen for almost 20% of the entire movie). 

Jurassic Park would have turned out very differently if it wasn’t for the humble jeep. A great protector from a rampant T-Rex, most of the main characters wouldn’t have made it to the end of the film without the help of this trusty vehicle. 

Its iconic status meant it even made a brief cameo in the 2015 reboot, Jurassic World.

The Dodge Charger – Fast and Furious 7

Appearing as Jason Statham’s main ride in Fast and Furious 7, the Dodge Charger takes second place in our rankings of Hollywood’s top earning car stars.

With Fast and Furious being the most successful car movie franchise of all time, it’s easy to see why this vehicle is so important to the film.

The Charger earnt $189,000,00 for its on-screen time, meaning it’s actually making over $1 million for every minute it appears.

The Chevrolet Camaro – Transformers: Age of Extinction

Better known as Bumblebee, the Camaro is a major character in the Transformers series.

Often acting as humanity’s saviour in the onslaught of the Megatron, the franchise would be a lot darker without him.

Bumblebee only appears in his Camaro form for 6.1% of Age of Extinction (the film we researched), which explains the drop in income compared to the Dodge Charger. The Camaro’s box office share is $67,100,000.

The Deloran – Back to the Future

The entire premise of Back to the Future relies on the DeLorean, so we were surprised the car didn’t feature higher on our list.

In the franchise (Back to the Future 1, 2 and 3) for 15% of its screen time, the DeLorean’s box office share is $49,464,367.

Without this car, the films would have been a lot different. We would just be watching Marty and the Doc run around 1980s Hill Valley (although it would have spared Marty McFly an awkward kiss with his mum).

The Ford Anglia – Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

The most understated entry on this list, the Anglia ranks because of the Harry Potter movies’ phenomenal box office success. 

Only on screen for 5.1 % of the film, the Anglia had a relatively small part. What it did with its time, however, makes it well worth its box office share of $44,829,000.

Without the Anglia’s antics – flying Harry and Ron out of a giant spider’s den (spoilers) – the series would have a very different ending!

The DB5 – James bond: Skyfall

James Bond is synonymous with iconic cars and the DB5 is no exception.

Despite an on-screen appearance for just 3.4% of the film, the car still raked in a Box Office share of $37,400,000.

The DB5 didn’t come out of the film too well though, as it was destroyed in the explosive fight scene with Silva.

The Renault Type CB Coupe de Ville – Titanic

The name might not mean much to you, but this car is part of James Cameron’s 1997 epic.

The car has less to do in the plot than others on this list, but it’s there for key moments – and earns a Box Office share of $27,300,000

We first see Rose as she steps out of the vehicle and we return to it for her romantic tryst with Jack.

Luke’s Landspeeder – Star Wars: A New Hope

Okay, okay, we know this isn’t technically a car. But it is the iconic equivalent in the Star Wars universe.

Despite only being on screen for 3.4% of the film, the Landspeeder’s Box Office share is $26,363,600 – over double the cost to shoot the movie ($11 million).

The Batmobile – Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice

Again, this isn’t a car you can buy or lease from the showroom floor.

The Batmobile may be last in this list but it still takes a box office share of $24,416,00 for its appearance in 2.8% of Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice.

The Batmobile is a key piece of Batman’s arsenal. Complete with ballistic missiles, grapple hook, and a grenade launcher, it’s a superhero must-have.

How we Did it

To work out the cash cars got for their screen time, we started out with the films’ Box Office earnings. We went through the highest grossing films in history and pulled out the movies featuring cars which took over $1 billion. 

Then we got out stop watches out, timing how long each car was on screen and worked this out as a percentage of the whole film.

We then calculated the dosh generated by the cars’ time on screen by finding the same percentage of the box office takings. You can find the data we used below.