The 2023 Oscar nominations for Best Picture are in, and the two highest grossing films of 2022 – “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water” – are among the finalists. “Top Gun” grossed over $1.48 billion worldwide, while “Avatar” has exceeded $2 billion. (These are the highest grossing movies of all time.)
While a film’s box office success isn’t a reliable indicator of award nominations (or vice versa), many blockbusters have been Best Picture winners at the Academy Awards. To determine the most profitable movies that won Best Picture, 24/7 Tempo reviewed data on production budget and box office from The Numbers, an online movie database owned by Nash Information Services. Films that won the Academy Award for Best Picture were ranked based on the return on investment ratio between production budget and worldwide box office. Because ranking is based on return on investment, it is not adjusted for inflation. Director and cast information is from IMDb.
The box office return per dollar runs from $12 to $43 for most of the films here, but the top two saw much higher returns – $100 for “Gone With the Wind” and $225 for “Rocky,” made for a budget of only $1 million, but the highest grossing film of 1976.
Click here for a ranking of the most profitable movies that won an Oscar for Best Picture
The most profitable Best Picture winners include both classics and current films of various genres, from the 1939 historical epic “Gone With the Wind” to the 2019 thriller “Parasite.” The list includes war movies, dramas, thrillers, crime films, comedies, and even a hit musical – though one that didn’t make our ranking of the best musicals of all time.
25. In the Heat of the Night (1967)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $12.20
> Worldwide ticket sales: $24.4 million
> Production budget: $2.0 million
> Directed by: Norman Jewison
> Starring: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates
After a Black detective from Philadelphia is suspected of murdering a rich businessman in small-town Mississippi, he reluctantly teams up with the racist police chief to find the real murderer.
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24. Forrest Gump (1994)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $12.36
> Worldwide ticket sales: $330.2 million
> Production budget: $55.0 million
> Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
> Starring: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise
An Alabama man with a low IQ and a big heart experiences love, friendship, and heartache as he finds himself embroiled in some of the biggest events of the 20th century, including the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal.
23. Midnight Cowboy (1969)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $12.44
> Worldwide ticket sales: $44.8 million
> Production budget: $3.6 million
> Directed by: John Schlesinger
> Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles
A story of poverty and friendship, “Midnight Cowboy” is the only X-rated film ever to win an Academy Award. It follows dim-witted but optimistic hustler Joe Buck as he tries to make ends meet in New York City and finds camaraderie with small-time crook Ratso Rizzo. (Its X rating was later changed to an R.)
22. Schindler’s List (1993)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $12.89
> Worldwide ticket sales: $96.9 million
> Production budget: $25.0 million
> Directed by: Steven Spielberg
> Starring: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley
This historical drama about the Holocaust recounts the story of a businessman turned humanitarian who employed hundreds of Polish Jews in his factories during WWII, preventing them from being taken to Auschwitz.
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21. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $13.79
> Worldwide ticket sales: $130.7 million
> Production budget: $20.0 million
> Directed by: Jonathan Demme
> Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Lawrence A. Bonney
Anthony Hopkins gives a chilling performance as an incarcerated serial killer and cannibal and brilliant psychiatrist in this psychological horror film, in which an FBI cadet seeks help from him in finding a serial killer who has been abducting and flaying young women.
20. Crash (2004)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $13.85
> Worldwide ticket sales: $55.3 million
> Production budget: $7.3 million
> Directed by: Paul Haggis
> Starring: Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Thandiwe Newton
Set in Los Angeles, this crime drama explores the complex ways that racial prejudices and realities play out, both in the intentional acts and subconscious minds of a diverse array of intersecting characters.
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19. Green Book (2018)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $13.91
> Worldwide ticket sales: $85.1 million
> Production budget: $23.0 million
> Directed by: Peter Farrelly
> Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini
This biographical film about Black pianist Don Shirley recounts a tour through the South in which Shirley faced near-constant racial discrimination, while slowly forming a friendship with his Italian-American driver and bodyguard.
18. Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $14.21
> Worldwide ticket sales: $106.6 million
> Production budget: $7.5 million
> Directed by: Bruce Beresford
> Starring: Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy, Dan Aykroyd
Based on a play of the same name, “Driving Miss Daisy” details twenty years in the lives of an elderly Jewish widow and her chauffeur, as his charm helps her open up to his friendship, and they transcend their differences to find common ground in a prejudiced world.
17. Rain Man (1988)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $16.51
> Worldwide ticket sales: $172.8 million
> Production budget: $25.0 million
> Directed by: Barry Levinson
> Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valeria Golino
When a greedy luxury car dealer (Charlie) learns that his estranged father has left his fortune to an autistic brother (Raymond) that he didn’t know he had, Charlie retrieves Raymond and sets off from Cincinnati to Los Angeles in an attempt to collect the inheritance.
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16. From Here to Eternity (1953)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $18.48
> Worldwide ticket sales: $30.5 million
> Production budget: $1.7 million
> Directed by: Fred Zinnemann
> Starring: Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr
Set in Hawaii in the days leading up to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, this story of love and war follows a sergeant who starts a tangled affair with the wife of his commanding officer, as well as a private who falls in love with a social club hostess and considers marrying her.
15. The French Connection (1971)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $18.71
> Worldwide ticket sales: $41.2 million
> Production budget: $2.2 million
> Directed by: William Friedkin
> Starring: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey
Two NYPD detectives attempt to intercept a huge heroin smuggling ring out of Marseilles in this neo-noir crime thriller based on the real-life pursuit of French drug lord and mob associate Alain Charnier.
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14. Parasite (2019)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $21.47
> Worldwide ticket sales: $53.4 million
> Production budget: $11.8 million
> Directed by: Bong Joon Ho
> Starring: Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong
A dark exploration of greed and class dynamics, “Parasite” follows the impoverished Kim family as they attempt to infiltrate the wealthy Park family, using deception to land jobs in the Parks’ posh, ultra-modern home.
13. Dances with Wolves (1990)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $22.33
> Worldwide ticket sales: $184.2 million
> Production budget: $19.0 million
> Directed by: Kevin Costner
> Starring: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene
Kevin Costner’s directorial debut details the life of a Union general who is transferred to the frontier, only to find his post completely abandoned. In his solitude, he befriends a wolf and a nearby band of Lakota Sioux.
12. Platoon (1986)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $23.00
> Worldwide ticket sales: $138.0 million
> Production budget: $6.0 million
> Directed by: Oliver Stone
> Starring: Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe
When a young Army recruit volunteers to go to Vietnam, he discovers the brutality and lack of morals that exist in his own platoon, as played out by a feud between two officers that divides the men and threatens everyone’s survival.
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11. American Beauty (1999)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $23.75
> Worldwide ticket sales: $130.1 million
> Production budget: $15.0 million
> Directed by: Sam Mendes
> Starring: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch
This black comedy is a caricature of the discontented middle class. It follows a sexually frustrated father who obsesses over his teenage daughter’s friend; his materialistic wife who’s having an affair; and their closeted homophobic neighbor.
10. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $27.42
> Worldwide ticket sales: $141.3 million
> Production budget: $14.0 million
> Directed by: Danny Boyle
> Starring: Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Saurabh Shukla
Accused of cheating on an Indian trivia game show, a young man recounts his remarkable life as a street kid in the slums of Mumbai, to prove to skeptical authorities how he was able to answer every question correctly.
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9. The King’s Speech (2010)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $28.72
> Worldwide ticket sales: $138.8 million
> Production budget: $15.0 million
> Directed by: Tom Hooper
> Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter
This historical drama follows the rise of King George VI as he works with a speech and language therapist to overcome his stutter. The therapist’s friendship and perseverance assist the new monarch as he leads Britain into World War II.
8. The Sting (1973)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $29.02
> Worldwide ticket sales: $159.6 million
> Production budget: $5.5 million
> Directed by: George Roy Hill
> Starring: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw
Based on real-life con artists Fred and Charley Gondorff, “The Sting” recounts the efforts of two grifters who assemble a crew and a complicated scheme in an attempt to rip off a powerful crime lord.
7. The Sound of Music (1965)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $34.90
> Worldwide ticket sales: $163.2 million
> Production budget: $8.2 million
> Directed by: Robert Wise
> Starring: Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker
Set in 1938 Austria, this hit musical tells the story of the von Trapp family – a retired naval officer and his seven children – and the children’s spunky new governess as their country is invaded and annexed by Germany.
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6. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $37.11
> Worldwide ticket sales: $109.0 million
> Production budget: $4.4 million
> Directed by: Milos Forman
> Starring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Michael Berryman
Based on the novel by Ken Kesey, this film concerns a war veteran who pretends to be insane, getting himself admitted into a mental institution to avoid hard labor at a prison farm, only to find himself at odds with the institution’s tyrannical nurse.
5. Tom Jones (1963)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $37.60
> Worldwide ticket sales: $37.6 million
> Production budget: $1.0 million
> Directed by: Tony Richardson
> Starring: Albert Finney, Susannah York, George Devine
This British comedy set in the 18th century follows the adventures of a kindhearted womanizer as he attempts to unite with his true love, a woman whose social station is well above his own.
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4. The Godfather (1972)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $38.36
> Worldwide ticket sales: $135.0 million
> Production budget: $7.0 million
> Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
> Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan
As the aging head of a powerful New York crime family attempts to transfer leadership to his reluctant youngest son, a battle of morals and the changing times threaten the family’s way of life.
3. Moonlight (2016)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $43.44
> Worldwide ticket sales: $27.9 million
> Production budget: $1.5 million
> Directed by: Barry Jenkins
> Starring: Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Trevante Rhodes
This coming of age drama details three time spans in the life of Chiron, a meek Black boy being raised by his crack-addicted mother, as he struggles with his peers and his sexuality and finds brief refuge under the wing of a local drug dealer.
2. Gone with the Wind (1939)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $100.13
> Worldwide ticket sales: $198.7 million
> Production budget: $3.9 million
> Directed by: Victor Fleming
> Starring: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Thomas Mitchell
This epic story of unrequited love follows the trials of a willful and manipulative Southern socialite as she endures death, loss, and the threat of poverty during the Civil War and Reconstruction.
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1. Rocky (1976)
> Box office return per dollar in production budget: $225.00
> Worldwide ticket sales: $117.2 million
> Production budget: $1.0 million
> Directed by: John G. Avildsen
> Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young
In this underdog sports drama, a small-time Philadelphia boxer pushes himself to his limits when he gets a rare chance to enter the ring with the world heavyweight champion.
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