Buzz
Historically, the Academy Award for Best Picture was bestowed upon films that not only garnered critical acclaim but also achieved remarkable commercial success. For decades, this trend persisted, with classics like Gone with the Wind remaining the highest-grossing film of all time when adjusted for inflation. From the 1920s to the 1970s, there was often a strong link between a film topping the box office and winning the prestigious Oscar. However, in recent years, the Best Picture award has increasingly gone to films that fail to capture the interest of mainstream audiences. This isn’t to say these films are unworthy of recognition, but rather highlights the growing divide between the tastes of Academy voters and the general public.
With this in mind, here’s a list of the 15 Best Picture winners with the lowest box office earnings, adjusted for inflation.
15. Crash (2005)
Original Gross: $54,557,348
Adjusted Gross: $69,713,284
One of the most divisive Best Picture winners in Oscar history, Crash triumphed over the heavily favored Brokeback Mountain to claim the top honor at the 78th Academy Awards. This victory led to accusations of anti-gay bias among Academy voters, with many critics arguing that Crash did not merit the prestigious award. Boasting a star-studded ensemble cast featuring Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon, Don Cheadle, and Thandie Newton, the film generated significant buzz but failed to achieve blockbuster status at the box office, earning a modest $54.5 million ($69.7 million adjusted for inflation).
http://www.sky.com/tv/movie/crash-2004 Source: Sky.com
14. The Shape of Water (2017)
Domestic Gross: $63,842,519
The latest Best Picture winner, Guillermo del Toro’s enchanting and emotional tale of a mute woman who forms a bond with a captive amphibious creature in a secretive government lab, was unlikely to dominate the box office despite its critical acclaim. However, The Shape of Water experienced a notable surge in domestic revenue after securing 13 Oscar nominations in January 2018, ultimately grossing $63.8 million. While this performance positioned The Shape of Water as a moderate success, it remains the highest-grossing Best Picture winner since Ben Affleck’s Argo, which earned $136 million in 2012.
http://www.dreadcentral.com/editorials/268073/shape-water-power-silent-performance/ Source: Dread Central
13. Gigi (1958)
Original Gross: $7,300,000
Adjusted Gross: $63,036,131
The 1958 musical directed by Vincente Minnelli is often hailed as the final masterpiece of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s musical era, a status underscored by its unprecedented success at the Oscars. Gigi swept nine awards at the 1959 ceremony, setting a new record for the most wins by a single film at the time. However, this record was short-lived, as Ben-Hur surpassed it the following year with 11 Oscars. At the box office, Gigi performed well, earning $7.3 million domestically, which adjusts to just over $63 million today—a respectable figure, though far from the highest among Best Picture winners.
http://www.cinematrove.com/gigi-1958/ Source: Cinema Trove
12 Years a Slave (2013)
Original Gross: $56,671,993
Adjusted Gross: $60,709,583
Considering its heavy and challenging subject matter, 12 Years a Slave achieved remarkable success at the box office. Initially slow to gain momentum, Steve McQueen’s adaptation of Solomon Northup’s 1853 memoir saw a significant boost during awards season, earning numerous nominations. 12 Years a Slave ultimately secured three Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress for Lupita Nyong’o, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Domestically, the film grossed $56.6 million, but its international performance was even stronger, bringing in $131 million. With a production budget of just $20 million, 12 Years a Slave proved to be a financial triumph.
Fox Searchlight
11. The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
Original Gross: $3,000,000
Adjusted Gross: $53,860,575
A dramatized homage to Broadway legend Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., Robert Z. Leonard’s 1936 musical became one of the most acclaimed films of the 1930s, winning three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actress for Luise Rainer, and Best Dance Direction for Seymour Felix. While The Great Ziegfeld is celebrated as a classic from Hollywood’s Golden Age, modern critics often view it as overly lengthy and extravagant. At the box office, The Great Ziegfeld grossed around $3 million, a significant sum during the Great Depression but modest by today’s standards, placing it among the lower-performing Best Picture winners.
MGM
10. The Artist (2011)
Original Gross: $44,671,682
Adjusted Gross: $49,560,089
This contemporary silent film, a heartfelt homage to the golden age of Hollywood, made a significant impact at the 84th Academy Awards, securing five wins out of ten nominations. These included Best Director for Michel Hazanavicius, Best Actor for Jean Dujardin, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, and, of course, Best Picture. Despite its critical acclaim, The Artist failed to make a substantial mark at the box office, grossing $44.6 million domestically. This places it as the 10th lowest-grossing Best Picture winner in history, a film many have already forgotten.
Film International
9. Spotlight (2015)
Original Gross: $45,055,776
Adjusted Gross: $47,438,998
Among the eight films nominated for Best Picture in 2015, Spotlight secured the third-highest profitability, grossing just over $45 million domestically against a $20 million budget. This resulted in an estimated profit of $10 million, a notable achievement for a gripping drama centered on Boston journalists uncovering systemic child abuse within the Catholic Church. However, this performance was overshadowed by one of its competitors, The Martian, which amassed over $600 million globally and generated profits exceeding $100 million. While comparing the two is like contrasting apples and oranges, Spotlight reflects a broader trend of declining box office returns for Best Picture winners in the 2010s, highlighting that Oscar accolades alone don’t guarantee widespread audience appeal.
Open Road Films
8. It Happened One Night (1934)
Original Gross: $2,500,000
Adjusted Gross: $46,558,582
A timeless screwball comedy directed by Frank Capra and featuring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, It Happened One Night made history as the first film to sweep all five major Oscar categories: Best Picture, Best Actor (Gable), Best Actress (Colbert), Best Director (Capra), and Best Screenplay. This remarkable achievement remained unmatched until One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest replicated it in 1975. While the film’s $2.5 million box office earnings made it Columbia Pictures’ highest-grossing release at the time, adjusting for inflation reveals a less impressive figure, placing Capra’s masterpiece among the lower-earning Best Picture winners.
Columbia Pictures
7. Birdman (2014)
Original Gross: $42,340,598
Adjusted Gross: $44,633,117
Ranking as the 82nd highest-grossing film of 2014, Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) was a commercial letdown and one of the lowest-earning Best Picture winners in recent memory. Whether due to its unconventional title or the perplexing themes of Iñárritu’s dark comedy, audiences showed little interest in Michael Keaton’s portrayal of a faded actor attempting to revive his career on Broadway.
http://www.hitfix.com/movies/birdman Source: Hitfix.com
6. An American in Paris (1951)
Original Gross: $4,500,000
Adjusted Gross: $43,192,038
Another musical masterpiece directed by Vincente Minnelli, An American in Paris remains one of the most celebrated film musicals in history. While the movie was a financial success during its release, earning $4.5 million for MGM and turning a profit, its inflation-adjusted earnings place it among the lower-performing Best Picture winners in terms of box office revenue.
MGM
5. Marty (1955)
Original Gross: $4,000,000
Adjusted Gross: $37,246,865
The inclusion of Marty – Delbert Mann’s 1955 drama about a Bronx butcher in his mid-30s who unexpectedly discovers love – in the top 5 requires some explanation. While its box office earnings are modest compared to most Best Picture winners, its production cost of just $350,000 ensured it was highly profitable. Despite its acclaim among critics and cinephiles, the film rarely garners attention from the average moviegoer.
https://medium.com/@jordanarobison/watching-marty-1955-for-the-first-time-with-my-wife-d4e063ed7b28 Source: Medium
4. All The King's Men (1949)
Original Gross: $3,500,000
Adjusted Gross: $36,699,117
Adapted from Robert Penn Warren’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, All The King’s Men chronicles the ascent of Willie Stark from a humble rural politician to a power-hungry governor. The film was both a critical darling and a commercial success, earning $ million at the box office. However, when adjusted for inflation, this amount equates to approximately $36.7 million, placing All The King’s Men among the lowest-grossing Best Picture winners in history.
https://medium.com/@boedeckerboulder/the-boedecker-theater-cinema-blog-8bd6e1a33381 Source: Medium
3. Hamlet (1948)
Original Gross: $3,075,000
Adjusted Gross: $31,841,433
Laurence Olivier’s rendition of William Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy remains the most acclaimed Hamlet film in terms of accolades, earning Olivier Oscars for Best Picture and Best Actor. While the film is still praised, particularly for Olivier’s performance, its adaptation of Hamlet falls short for many, as it condenses a four-hour play into a two-hour runtime. Unsurprisingly, given that Shakespeare adaptations rarely dominate the box office, Hamlet was a success by 1948 standards but pales in comparison to most Best Picture winners released since.
https://letterboxd.com/film/hamlet/ Source: Letterboxd
2. Moonlight (2016)
Original Gross: $27,854,932
Adjusted Gross: $28,962,945
A prime example of the growing divide between Academy preferences and mainstream audiences, Moonlight was celebrated by critics but its Best Picture win was seen as both an artistic and politically charged choice, which alienated some viewers. With a domestic gross of $27.8 million, Moonlight’s underwhelming box office performance reflects a broader trend of small, independent films aimed at adult audiences struggling to draw crowds to theaters. While these films still have a dedicated audience, the rise of television as a platform for such stories makes it increasingly unlikely that movies like Moonlight will achieve blockbuster status.
https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Moonlight-(2015) Source: The Numbers
1. The Hurt Locker (2009)
Original Gross: $14,700,000
Adjusted Gross: $17,099,352
Yes, it was surprising to find this film at the top of the list. However, perhaps it shouldn’t be, given that during The Hurt Locker’s release, Iraq War-themed movies were largely unpopular with American audiences. Despite its Best Picture win, Kathryn Bigelow’s film barely managed to break even. Its box office performance was so lackluster that it became one of only five Best Picture winners to never crack the weekend top 5 and one of two to miss the top 10 entirely. On a brighter note, The Hurt Locker made history by earning Bigelow the Best Director Oscar, the first time the award was given to a woman.
Summit Entertainment
