Movie Archive > Documentary

Documentary Movie Index


Find below a breakdown of all Documentary movies by year and first letter.

See also: Domestic Box Office Analysis for Documentary Movies - Top Domestic Documentary Movies - Top International Documentary Movies - Top Worldwide Documentary Movies - Top Domestic Documentary Stars - Top International Documentary Stars - Top Worldwide Documentary Stars

The table below lists the top-grossing Documentary movie released in each calendar year (based on worldwide box office). Click on the year number for a list of all the Documentary films released that year. The "Annual Stats" links will take you to a summary of the domestic film business for Documentary movies for the year in question (this part of our archive starts in 1995). Click on the movie name to see information on the individual film.

YearAnnual
Stats
Total
Movies
Average
Production
Budget
Combined
Worldwide
Box Office
No. 1 Movie
TBD    174      
2029    2      
2024 Annual Stats  332    $16,078,570  The Birth of Korea (건국전쟁)
2023 Annual Stats  1,038  $5,000,000  $83,624,478  Beijing 2022 (北京 2022)
2022 Annual Stats  846  $350,000  $61,011,625  Moonage Daydream
2021 Annual Stats  698  $3,400,000  $59,504,922  Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain
2020 Annual Stats  782    $67,974,136  Beureikeu deo sa illeonseu
2019 Annual Stats  781  $250,000  $148,273,747  Bring the Soul: The Movie
2018 Annual Stats  718  $1,893,040  $285,529,557  Li hai le, wo de guo
2017 Annual Stats  650  $622,714  $161,742,291  Twenty-Two
2016 Annual Stats  550  $4,681,250  $182,402,136  A Beautiful Planet
2015 Annual Stats  450  $468,333  $128,237,572  Amy
2014 Annual Stats  264  $914,818  $243,731,268  Where Are We Going Dad?
2013 Annual Stats  261  $814,286  $89,053,741  Justin Bieber’s Believe
2012 Annual Stats  219  $1,420,833  $181,922,108  Chimpanzee
2011 Annual Stats  194  $1,292,000  $189,082,036  Born to be Wild 3D
2010 Annual Stats  175  $15,466,667  $231,661,802  Oceans
2009 Annual Stats  109  $17,662,500  $484,674,545  Michael Jackson's This Is It
2008 Annual Stats  138  $2,445,833  $102,035,604  Dolphins and Whales Tribes of the Ocean 3D
2007 Annual Stats  103  $3,533,333  $109,534,459  Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure
2006 Annual Stats  106  $1,067,727  $216,697,851  Deep Sea 3D
2005 Annual Stats  91  $947,344  $278,525,818  La marche de l'empereur
2004 Annual Stats  89  $2,095,000  $339,360,836  Fahrenheit 9/11
2003 Annual Stats  53  $6,383,333  $231,655,788  Winged Migration
2002 Annual Stats  28  $933,333  $245,435,899  Space Station
2001 Annual Stats  13    $25,378,577  Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure
2000 Annual Stats  28  $7,000,000  $99,664,514  Dolphins
1999 Annual Stats  29  $437,500  $151,629,916  Encounter in the Third Dimension
1998 Annual Stats  16    $239,648,364  Everest
1997 Annual Stats  13    $36,299,005  Thrill Ride: The Science of Fun
1996 Annual Stats  11    $17,099,308  Microcosmos
1995 Annual Stats  12    $76,304,207  The Living Sea
1994    4  $700,000  $15,543,503  Hoop Dreams
1993    3    $464  Vale Abraão
1992    3    $116,195  Daddy and the Muscle Academy: The Life, Art and Times of Tom of Finland
1991    7    $70,253,498  Antarctica
1990    3      
1989    4  $140,000  $59,706,368  To the Limit
1988    5    $5,069,109  Imagine: John Lennon
1987    4    $774,913  Hail! Hail! Rock'n'Roll
1986    4    $39,065  Stripper
1985    9    $75,925,775  The Dream is Alive
1984    7    $239,023,465  Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets
1983    5    $587,149  Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
1982    4    $2,113,330  It Came From Hollywood
1981    4    $441,682  This is Elvis
1980    1      
1979    7  $170,000  $12,937,413  Dirt
1978    2    $23,800,000  Beyond and Back
1977    3    $58,071  Cet obscur objet du desir
1976    6    $36,923  Grey Gardens
1975    4    $32,270  Torre Bela
1974    5    $26,025,061  Erinnerungen an die Zukunft
1973    2      
1972    3      
1971    3    $13,082  Le chagrin et la pitié
1970    7  $600,000  $34,764,015  Woodstock
1969    2    $20,073  Muhammad Ali: The Greatest
1968    2    $49,342  The Queen
1967    3    $27,158  Bob Dylan: Don't Look Back
1965    4    $28,812  Io la conoscevo bene
1964    2    $885  Belarmino
1963    2    $7,257  Mahanagar
1962    1      
1961    1      
1960    2    $105,953  Jazz on a Summer’s Day
1959    1    $10,203  India: Matri Bhumi
1958    1      
1957    3    $92,055  Le mystère Picasso
1955    3    $11,500,487  Galapagos
1954    1      
1953    2      
1950    1      
1934    1      
1929    1    $3,956  Chelovek s kino-apparatom
1927    1    $133,826  The Epic of Everest
1926    1    $2,993  Moana
1922    1      
1919    1    $46,865  South
1918    1    $9,685  Godovshchina revolyutsii
Total  9,123  $3,091,214  $5,363,078,427  Michael Jackson's This Is It

The table below shows the highest-grossing Documentary movie that begins with each letter of the alphabet. Click on the name of the film to go to its page. Or click on the letter at the beginning of each row for a list of all the Documentary movies beginning with that letter.

IndexTotal
Movies
Average
Production
Budget
Combined
Worldwide
Box Office
No. 1 Movie
(  1      
0  1    $44,559  0,03 Seconds
1  47    $5,086,804  1950 Ta Men Zheng Nian Qing
2  30  $1,750,000  $44,828,596  2016: Obama’s America
3  15    $1,290,361  35 Up
4  10  $900,000  $855,125  42 Up
5  16  $350,000  $1,143,101  56 Up
6  2    $483,685  63 Up
7  8    $79,571  78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene
8  6  $2,500,000  $215,743  ‘85 The Greatest Team in Football History
9  9    $82,973  93Queen
A  591  $1,193,750  $273,709,788  Antarctica
B  679  $645,000  $410,972,468  Bowling for Columbine
C  562  $3,550,000  $155,521,243  Chimpanzee
D  431  $1,917,143  $394,802,911  Deep Sea 3D
E  315  $23,612,500  $420,999,276  Everest
F  388  $2,091,083  $316,969,025  Fahrenheit 9/11
G  357  $875,000  $366,003,650  Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets
H  354  $3,280,000  $131,854,532  Hubble 3D
I  367  $1,027,083  $151,070,285  An Inconvenient Truth
J  185    $90,418,192  Justin Bieber’s Believe
K  191    $37,591,328  Kang rinpoche
L  429  $6,000,000  $180,680,408  Li hai le, wo de guo
M  669  $8,353,358  $743,341,819  Michael Jackson's This Is It
N  225  $2,000,000  $67,079,370  NASCAR: The IMAX Experience
O  250  $14,516,667  $127,871,455  Oceans
P  443  $1,028,333  $127,477,263  Pina
Q  48    $3,512,498  The Queen of Versailles
R  384  $1,485,000  $113,798,587  Red Dog
S  791  $2,046,611  $460,103,682  Space Station
T  446  $930,769  $273,898,714  To the Limit
U  171  $625,000  $58,088,367  Under the Sea 3D
V  157  $933,333  $21,191,242  Visages villages
W  415  $5,371,429  $354,880,903  Where Are We Going Dad?
X  10    $4,027,552  Xuan feng jiu ri
Y  80    $21,053,837  Yves St. Laurent
Z  40    $2,049,514  Zheng qi