On Sunday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will give out their annual Oscar for the best picture of the year. Over the years, many best picture winners have also been major box office blockbusters. Below is a chart of the highest-grossing best picture winners of all-time, when adjusted for inflation in ticket prices — as calculated by Box Office Mojo.
Only domestic box office returns are included in the table. None of the films nominated for best picture this year would make the top 10 highest-grossing list. Even if “The Martian” wins best picture on Sunday, its $228 million domestic haul is less than half what’s required to crack the top 10. If “Room” takes home best picture, its $12.7 million domestic gross would need to increase by 41 times to make the top 10.
The highest-grossing film of 2015 was “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” with a $922 million domestic gross. If it won Best Picture, the film would come fourth on the list of highest-grossing Best Picture winners.
Though many people immediately think of “Titanic” as the highest grossing best picture winner of all-time, after adjusting for inflation it’s actually the third highest. On an adjusted basis, the Civil War epic “Gone with the Wind” is the highest-grossing best picture winner of all time domestically (in addition to being the all-time box office king overall). The film earned almost $200 million in 1939, or $1.8 billion after adjusting for inflation. “Gone with the Wind” is followed by the musical “The Sound of Music.”
The most recent best picture winner to crack the top 10 is “The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King,” which came out in 2003.
“Star Wars,” (1977) the second-highest grossing film in history after adjusting for inflation, was nominated for best picture in 1977 but lost to “Annie Hall.”
“Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” is the highest-grossing film not to get nominated for best picture, followed immediately by “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
Jason Russell is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
Box Office of 2016 Oscar Best Picture Nominees PrettyFamous
