#1 of 4,018 Highest-grossing documentary movie ever
2009 · Music, Documentary
$268M worldwide
$72.1M US & Canada · 27% $195.9M elsewhere · 73%
Documentary box office · All time
Highest-Grossing Documentary Movies of All Time, Page 80
This Is It (2009) is the highest-grossing documentary movie in our database, with $268M worldwide, ahead of Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) at $222.4M and Jackass 3-D (2010) at $178.1M. 4,018 documentary films in our database report a worldwide gross, $5.8B in all, 52% of it from the US & Canada. 7 films crossed $100 million; none reached $1 billion. By language, English leads with $4.7B across 2,792 documentary releases.
- films with a reported gross
- 4,018
- combined worldwide
- $5.8B
- films crossed $100M
- 7
- earned in the US & Canada
- 52%
#1 of 4,018 Page 80 of 81
All 4,018 Documentary Movies, Ranked by Worldwide Gross
Ranks 3,951 to 4,000 of 4,018. Lifetime worldwide grosses in US dollars, not adjusted for inflation; domestic means the US & Canada.
- 3951
Sep 30, 2016 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $397 - 3952
May 1, 2022 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $380 - 3953
Apr 15, 2020 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $368 - 3954
Feb 21, 2023 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $364 - 3955
May 8, 2020 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $362 - 3956
Mar 12, 2022 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $362 - 3957
Sep 10, 2024 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $361 - 3958
Jun 7, 2014 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $361 - 3959
Oct 7, 2016 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $361 - 3960
Nov 1, 2024 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $357 - 3961
May 2, 2022 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $356 - 3962
Apr 1, 2014 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $353 - 3963
Mar 3, 1978 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $340 - 3964
Mar 15, 2010 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $338 - 3965
Feb 13, 2016 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $327 - 3966
Sep 1, 2020 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $327 - 3967
Nov 18, 2015 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $314 - 3968
Apr 25, 2017 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $312 - 3969
You Don't Like the Truth: 4 Days Inside Guantanamo (2011)Sep 30, 2011 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $305
Sep 30, 2011 · English · History, Documentary $305 worldwide - 3970
Dec 3, 2021 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $300 - 3971
Apr 28, 2017 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $297 - 3972
Nov 23, 2020 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $297 - 3973
Mar 19, 2020 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $294 - 3974
Ming of Harlem: Twenty One Storeys in the Air (2014)Jul 4, 2014 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $287 Jul 4, 2014 · English · Documentary $287 worldwide - 3975
Mar 28, 2008 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $280 - 3976
Apr 6, 2011 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $280 - 3977
Oct 26, 2018 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $280 - 3978
Jun 10, 2024 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $255 - 3979
Aug 27, 1977 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $249 - 3980
Oct 24, 2019 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $245 - 3981
The Assault of the Present on the Rest of Time (1985)Oct 31, 1985 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $242
Oct 31, 1985 · German · Documentary $242 worldwide - 3982
Sep 19, 2014 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $231 - 3983
Nov 19, 2017 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $225 - 3984
Oct 23, 2022 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $215 - 3985
Sep 27, 2004 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $205 - 3986
Mar 14, 1995 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $203 - 3987
Mar 11, 2016 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $202 - 3988
Sep 1, 2023 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $187 - 3989
May 6, 2021 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $184 - 3990
Pescado Rabioso, una utopía incurable (2012)Jan 5, 2012 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $166
Jan 5, 2012 · Spanish · Documentary, Music $166 worldwide - 3991
Oct 16, 2020 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $165 - 3992
Apr 14, 2018 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $165 - 3993
Mar 15, 2022 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $154 - 3994
Aug 8, 2021 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $153 - 3995
Water and Sugar: Carlo Di Palma, the Colours of Life (2017)Jul 28, 2017 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $149
Jul 28, 2017 · Italian · Documentary $149 worldwide - 3996
Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry (2021)Feb 26, 2021 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $139 Feb 26, 2021 · English · Music, Documentary $139 worldwide - 3997
Apr 13, 2024 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $137 - 3998
Jan 28, 2011 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $131 - 3999
Apr 15, 2015 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $131 - 4000
Sep 25, 2017 US and Canada: – Rest of the world: – Worldwide: $126
Archive
Documentary Box Office Year by Year
Every year from 1918 to 2026 with its total and its biggest film. 2013 leads with $696.2M, led by Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013).
2020s 7 years · $644.6M
2010s 10 years · $2.7B
- 2019 $145.4M #1 Apollo 11 (2019)
- 2018 $257.3M #1 Believer (2018)
- 2017 $172.8M #1 Reset (2017)
- 2016 $149.8M #1 A Beautiful Planet (2016)
- 2015 $203.5M #1 Northern Limit Line (2015)
- 2014 $126.7M #1 Bears (2014)
- 2013 $696.2M #1 Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013)
- 2012 $288M #1 Switch (2012)
- 2011 $288.8M #1 Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (2011)
- 2010 $338.6M #1 Jackass 3-D (2010)
2000s 10 years · $2.1B
- 2009 $401.6M #1 This Is It (2009)
- 2008 $118.2M #1 U2 3D (2008)
- 2007 $137.8M #1 Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure (2007)
- 2006 $286.9M #1 Deep Sea (2006)
- 2005 $284.9M #1 March of the Penguins (2005)
- 2004 $339.9M #1 Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
- 2003 $123.3M #1 Bugs! (2003)
- 2002 $239M #1 Space Station 3D (2002)
- 2001 $39.4M #1 Shackleton’s Antarctic Adventure (2001)
- 2000 $81.4M #1 The Original Kings of Comedy (2000)
1990s 10 years · $226.1M
- 1999 $50.2M #1 Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
- 1998 $60.8M #1 Mysteries of Egypt (1998)
- 1997 $22M #1 Thrill Ride: The Science of Fun (1997)
- 1996 $5.9M #1 When We Were Kings (1996)
- 1995 $13.9M #1 Born to Be Wild (1995)
- 1994 $26.8M #1 Hoop Dreams (1994)
- 1993 $733.8K #1 The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (1993)
- 1992 $7.2M #1 My Crasy Life (1992)
- 1991 $37.7M #1 Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991)
- 1990 $785.7K #1 Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones (1990)
1980s 10 years · $174.2M
- 1989 $9.3M #1 Roger & Me (1989)
- 1988 $15.3M #1 U2: Rattle and Hum (1988)
- 1987 $54.3M #1 Eddie Murphy: Raw (1987)
- 1986 $1.4M #1 Home of the Brave: A Film by Laurie Anderson (1986)
- 1985 $1.8M #1 The Dream Is Alive (1985)
- 1984 $24.1M #1 Stop Making Sense (1984)
- 1983 $16.2M #1 Richard Pryor: Here and Now (1983)
- 1982 $44.4M #1 Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982)
- 1981 $2.1M #1 This Is Elvis (1981)
- 1980 $5.3M #1 Divine Madness (1980)
1970s 9 years · $33.9M
- 1978 $363.8K #1 The Last Waltz (1978)
- 1977 $298.5K #1 ABBA: The Movie (1977)
- 1976 $5M #1 That's Entertainment, Part II (1976)
- 1975 $40.9K #1 Grey Gardens (1975)
- 1974 $27.2M #1 That's Entertainment! (1974)
- 1973 $16.7K #1 Wattstax (1973)
- 1972 $676.7K #1 Elvis on Tour (1972)
- 1971 $31.4K #1 Bushman (1971)
- 1970 $357.4K #1 Woodstock (1970)