Blockbuster Oscar-Nominated Best Picture Movies
by urbanemovies | created - 22 Feb 2017 | updated - 3 months ago | PublicGenerally, movies nominated for a Best Picture Oscar are better known for their artistic accomplishments rather than for their financial results. However, some films buck this trend by being successful by both measures. These movies are the highest grossing inflation adjusted box office films to ever secure an Oscar Best Picture nomination. Source: Box Office Mojo
Which movie* is the best combined commercial and critical success story? * Oscar Best Picture nominee with a minimum $0.5 billion inflation adjusted USA Box Office in 2017 dollars
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1. Gone with the Wind (1939)
Passed | 238 min | Drama, Romance, War
A sheltered and manipulative Southern belle and a roguish profiteer face off in a turbulent romance as the society around them crumbles with the end of slavery and is rebuilt during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.
Directors: Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Sam Wood | Stars: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O'Neil
Votes: 334,437 | Gross: $198.68M
Best Picture Oscar: 1940 Winner
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $1,747,686,000
Major Awards History
2. The Godfather (1972)
R | 175 min | Crime, Drama
The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Diane Keaton
Votes: 2,013,772 | Gross: $134.97M
Best Picture Oscar: 1973 Winner
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $682,680,200
Major Awards History
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
PG-13 | 201 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Gandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men against Sauron's army to draw his gaze from Frodo and Sam as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom
Votes: 1,980,290 | Gross: $377.85M
Best Picture Oscar: 2004 Winner
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $533,183,400
Major Awards History
4. Titanic (1997)
PG-13 | 194 min | Drama, Romance
A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates
Votes: 1,281,213 | Gross: $659.33M
Best Picture Oscar: 1998 Winner
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $1,171,854,200
Major Awards History
5. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
PG | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness
Votes: 1,450,358 | Gross: $322.74M
Best Picture Oscar: 1978 Nominee
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $1,540,734,500
Major Awards History
6. Forrest Gump (1994)
PG-13 | 142 min | Drama, Romance
The history of the United States from the 1950s to the '70s unfolds from the perspective of an Alabama man with an IQ of 75, who yearns to be reunited with his childhood sweetheart.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Sally Field
Votes: 2,258,579 | Gross: $330.25M
Best Picture Oscar: 1995 Winner
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $680,016,600
Major Awards History
7. Avatar (2009)
PG-13 | 162 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A paraplegic Marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez
Votes: 1,387,030 | Gross: $760.51M
Best Picture Oscar: 2010 Nominee
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $841,258,100
Major Awards History
8. The Sound of Music (1965)
G | 172 min | Biography, Drama, Family
A young novice is sent by her convent in 1930s Austria to become a governess to the seven children of a widowed naval officer.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker, Richard Haydn
Votes: 261,208 | Gross: $163.21M
Best Picture Oscar: 1966 Winner
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $1,231,893,000
Major Awards History
9. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
PG | 115 min | Action, Adventure
In 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies
Votes: 1,037,233 | Gross: $248.16M
Best Picture Oscar: 1982 Nominee
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $765,756,700
Major Awards History
10. E.T. (1982)
PG | 115 min | Adventure, Family, Sci-Fi
A troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape from Earth and return to his home planet.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote, Dee Wallace
Votes: 437,734 | Gross: $435.11M
Best Picture Oscar: 1983 Nominee
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $1,227,040,000
Major Awards History
11. Jaws (1975)
PG | 124 min | Adventure, Mystery, Thriller
When a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Cape Cod, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary
Votes: 659,833 | Gross: $260.00M
Best Picture Oscar: 1976 Nominee
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $1,107,881,800
Major Awards History
12. The Sting (1973)
PG | 129 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Two grifters team up to pull off the ultimate con.
Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning
Votes: 280,017 | Gross: $159.60M
Best Picture Oscar: 1974 Winner
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $771,085,700
Major Awards History
13. Ben-Hur (1959)
G | 212 min | Adventure, Drama
After a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend in 1st-century Jerusalem, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Haya Harareet
Votes: 253,766 | Gross: $74.70M
Best Picture Oscar: 1960 Winner
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $847,700,000
Major Awards History
14. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
PG | 110 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
In 1890s Wyoming, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid lead a band of outlaws. When a train robbery goes wrong, they find themselves on the run with a posse hard on their heels. After considering their options, they escape to South America.
Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Strother Martin
Votes: 226,791 | Gross: $102.31M
Best Picture Oscar: 1970 Nominee
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $610,325,400
Major Awards History
15. My Fair Lady (1964)
G | 170 min | Drama, Family, Musical
In 1910s London, snobbish phonetics professor Henry Higgins agrees to a wager that he can make crude flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, presentable in high society.
Director: George Cukor | Stars: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde-White
Votes: 101,868 | Gross: $72.00M
Best Picture Oscar: 1965 Winner
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $519,000,000
Major Awards History
16. Doctor Zhivago (1965)
PG-13 | 197 min | Drama, Romance, War
The life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist's wife and experiences hardship during World War I and then the October Revolution.
Director: David Lean | Stars: Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin, Rod Steiger
Votes: 82,114 | Gross: $111.72M
Best Picture Oscar: 1966 Nominee
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $1,073,771,700
Major Awards History
17. Mary Poppins (1964)
G | 139 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
In turn of the century London, a magical nanny employs music and adventure to help two neglected children become closer to their father.
Director: Robert Stevenson | Stars: Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns
Votes: 186,129 | Gross: $102.27M
Best Picture Oscar: 1965 Nominee
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $676,272,700
Major Awards History
18. The Exorcist (1973)
R | 122 min | Horror
When a young girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair, Lee J. Cobb
Votes: 455,242 | Gross: $232.91M
Best Picture Oscar: 1974 Nominee
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $956,682,800
Major Awards History
19. The Ten Commandments (1956)
G | 220 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
Moses, raised as a prince of Egypt in the Pharaoh's household, learns of his true heritage as a Hebrew and his divine mission as the deliverer of his people from slavery.
Director: Cecil B. DeMille | Stars: Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson
Votes: 77,915 | Gross: $93.74M
Best Picture Oscar: 1957 Nominee
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $1,133,150,000
Major Awards History
20. Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
G | 175 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A Victorian Englishman bets that with the new steamships and railways he can circumnavigate the globe in eighty days.
Directors: Michael Anderson, John Farrow | Stars: David Niven, Cantinflas, Finlay Currie, Robert Morley
Votes: 29,714 | Gross: $42.00M
Best Picture Oscar: 1957 Winner
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $558,923,100
Major Awards History
21. The Graduate (1967)
PG | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross, William Daniels
Votes: 288,531 | Gross: $104.95M
Best Picture Oscar: 1968 Nominee
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $740,239,500
Major Awards History
22. American Graffiti (1973)
PG | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
A group of teenagers in California's central valley spend one final night after their 1962 high school graduation cruising the strip with their buddies before they pursue their varying goals.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith
Votes: 98,199 | Gross: $115.00M
Best Picture Oscar: 1974 Nominee
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $568,428,600
Major Awards History
23. The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
Passed | 152 min | Drama, Family, Romance
The dramatic lives of trapeze artists, a clown, and an elephant trainer are told against a background of circus spectacle.
Director: Cecil B. DeMille | Stars: James Stewart, Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde
Votes: 16,063 | Gross: $36.00M
Best Picture Oscar: 1953 Winner
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $519,000,000
Major Awards History
24. The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)
Unrated | 126 min | Drama
At a big city Catholic school, Father O'Malley and Sister Benedict indulge in friendly rivalry, and succeed in extending the school through the gift of a building.
Director: Leo McCarey | Stars: Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman, Henry Travers, William Gargan
Votes: 9,372 | Gross: $21.30M
Best Picture Oscar: 1946 Nominee
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $542,745,100
Major Awards History
25. Love Story (1970)
PG | 100 min | Drama, Romance
A boy and a girl from different backgrounds fall in love regardless of their upbringing - and then tragedy strikes.
Director: Arthur Hiller | Stars: Ali MacGraw, Ryan O'Neal, John Marley, Ray Milland
Votes: 37,461 | Gross: $106.40M
Best Picture Oscar: 1971 Nominee
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $605,484,000
Major Awards History
26. Cleopatra (1963)
G | 192 min | Biography, Drama, History
Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt experiences both triumph and tragedy as she attempts to resist the imperial ambitions of Rome.
Directors: Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Rouben Mamoulian | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Pamela Brown
Votes: 37,431 | Gross: $57.78M
Best Picture Oscar: 1964 Nominee
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $581,136,900
Major Awards History
27. Airport (1970)
G | 137 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A bomber on board an airplane, an airport almost closed by snow, and various personal problems of the people involved.
Directors: George Seaton, Henry Hathaway | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, George Kennedy, Jean Seberg
Votes: 21,711 | Gross: $100.49M
Best Picture Oscar: 1971 Nominee
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $571,862,600
Major Awards History
28. The Robe (1953)
Approved | 135 min | Drama, History, Romance
In the Roman province of Judea during the 1st century, Roman tribune Marcellus Gallio is ordered to crucify Jesus of Nazareth but is tormented by his guilty conscience afterwards.
Director: Henry Koster | Stars: Richard Burton, Jean Simmons, Victor Mature, Michael Rennie
Votes: 11,753 | Gross: $36.00M
Best Picture Oscar: 1954 Nominee
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $566,181,800
Major Awards History
29. The Towering Inferno (1974)
PG | 165 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
At the opening party of a colossal, but poorly constructed, office building, a massive fire breaks out that threatens to destroy the tower and everyone in it.
Director: John Guillermin | Stars: Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, William Holden, Faye Dunaway
Votes: 48,285 | Gross: $116.00M
Best Picture Oscar: 1975 Nominee
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $530,899,500
Major Awards History
30. Black Panther (2018)
PG-13 | 134 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
T'Challa, heir to the hidden but advanced kingdom of Wakanda, must step forward to lead his people into a new future and must confront a challenger from his country's past.
Director: Ryan Coogler | Stars: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira
Votes: 837,969 | Gross: $700.06M
Best Picture Oscar: 2019 Nominee
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $684,910,740
Major Awards History
Added 15 August 2019
31. Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
PG-13 | 130 min | Action, Drama
After thirty years, Maverick is still pushing the envelope as a top naval aviator, but must confront ghosts of his past when he leads TOP GUN's elite graduates on a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those chosen to fly it.
Director: Joseph Kosinski | Stars: Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, Val Kilmer
Votes: 698,096 | Gross: $718.73M
Best Picture Oscar: 2023 Nominee
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $630,220,000
Major Awards History
Added 25 January 2023
32. Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
PG-13 | 192 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Jake Sully lives with his newfound family formed on the extrasolar moon Pandora. Once a familiar threat returns to finish what was previously started, Jake must work with Neytiri and the army of the Na'vi race to protect their home.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang
Votes: 494,841 | Gross: $659.68M
Best Picture Oscar: 2023 Nominee
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $568,193,332+
Major Awards History
Added 25 January 2023
33. Barbie (I) (2023)
PG-13 | 114 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans.
Director: Greta Gerwig | Stars: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon
Votes: 537,194 | Gross: $636.24M
Best Picture Oscar: 2024 Nominee
Inflation Adjusted Box Office: $514,080,644+
Major Awards History
Added 25 January 2024
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