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

  1. Index of Movies by Year
  2. Alphabetical Movie Index

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 "Domestic 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.

YearDomestic StatsTotal
Movies		Average
Production
Budget		Combined
Worldwide
Box Office		No. 1 Movie
TBD    136      
2027    1      
2026    82    $65,438  The Revival (부흥)
2025 Domestic Stats  975    $136,067,558  Taylor Swift | The Official Release Party of a Showgirl
2024 Domestic Stats  976  $3,000,000  $121,988,063  Am I Racist?
2023 Domestic Stats  1,058  $5,000,000  $86,859,054  Beijing 2022 (北京 2022)
2022 Domestic Stats  892  $350,000  $62,780,630  Moonage Daydream
2021 Domestic Stats  755  $3,400,000  $80,140,588  The Arctic: Our Last Great Wilderness
2020 Domestic Stats  789    $83,780,703  Red Dog
2019 Domestic Stats  781  $250,000  $148,694,326  Bring the Soul: The Movie
2018 Domestic Stats  721  $1,893,040  $302,757,945  Li hai le, wo de guo
2017 Domestic Stats  653  $622,714  $162,909,208  Twenty-Two
2016 Domestic Stats  553  $4,681,250  $182,977,361  A Beautiful Planet
2015 Domestic Stats  450  $468,333  $133,466,978  Amy
2014 Domestic Stats  265  $914,818  $131,408,844  My Love, Don't Cross That River
2013 Domestic Stats  264  $814,286  $89,337,165  Justin Bieber’s Believe
2012 Domestic Stats  220  $1,420,833  $177,814,526  Chimpanzee
2011 Domestic Stats  194  $1,292,000  $172,869,850  Born to be Wild 3D
2010 Domestic Stats  177  $15,466,667  $232,079,462  Oceans
2009 Domestic Stats  112  $17,662,500  $485,079,220  Michael Jackson’s This Is It
2008 Domestic Stats  142  $2,445,833  $102,036,430  Dolphins and Whales Tribes of the Ocean 3D
2007 Domestic Stats  106  $3,533,333  $109,539,453  Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure
2006 Domestic Stats  107  $1,067,727  $199,462,683  Deep Sea 3D
2005 Domestic Stats  92  $947,344  $278,525,818  La Marche de L’empereur
2004 Domestic Stats  93  $2,095,000  $339,390,564  Fahrenheit 9/11
2003 Domestic Stats  54  $6,383,333  $231,655,788  Winged Migration
2002 Domestic Stats  30  $933,333  $245,435,899  Space Station
2001 Domestic Stats  16    $25,384,700  Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure
2000 Domestic Stats  29  $7,000,000  $99,664,514  Dolphins
1999 Domestic Stats  29  $437,500  $151,629,916  Encounter in the Third Dimension
1998 Domestic Stats  20    $240,351,789  Everest
1997 Domestic Stats  13    $36,299,005  Thrill Ride: The Science of Fun
1996 Domestic Stats  12    $17,144,082  Microcosmos
1995 Domestic Stats  15    $76,307,746  The Living Sea
1994    5  $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    9    $100,667,759  Antarctica
1990    4      
1989    5  $140,000  $59,743,792  To the Limit
1988    6    $5,069,109  Imagine: John Lennon
1987    4    $774,913  Hail! Hail! Rock'n'Roll
1986    4    $39,065  Stripper
1985    10    $75,925,775  The Dream is Alive
1984    7    $239,023,465  Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets
1983    5    $693,979  Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
1982    7    $2,121,548  It Came From Hollywood
1981    5    $442,124  This is Elvis
1980    2    $22,000,000  In Search of Historic Jesus
1979    9  $170,000  $12,937,413  Dirt
1978    3    $23,800,000  Beyond and Back
1977    6    $55,861,329  In Search of Noah’s Ark
1976    8    $120,739,433  To Fly!
1975    5    $32,861  Torre Bela
1974    6    $26,328,764  Erinnerungen an die Zukunft
1973    3      
1972    4    $699  Five Summer Stories
1971    3    $13,082  Le chagrin et la pitié
1970    7  $600,000  $34,764,015  Woodstock
1969    3    $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      
1943    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    2    $85,214  The Great White Silence
1919    1    $66,676  South
1918    1    $9,685  Godovshchina revolyutsii
Total  10,997  $3,090,593  $5,752,689,168  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  56    $5,301,742  1950 Ta Men Zheng Nian Qing
2  32  $1,750,000  $44,917,771  2016: Obama’s America
3  19    $1,302,001  35 Up
4  11  $900,000  $944,634  42 Up
5  18  $350,000  $1,143,101  56 Up
6  5    $1,225,844  6Days (식스데이즈)
7  11    $130,738  78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene
8  7  $2,500,000  $215,743  ‘85 The Greatest Team in Football History
9  11    $82,973  93Queen
A  707  $1,394,444  $311,218,829  Antarctica
B  791  $645,000  $447,647,977  Bowling for Columbine
C  676  $3,550,000  $160,962,166  Chimpanzee
D  514  $1,917,143  $388,519,107  Deep Sea 3D
E  384  $23,612,500  $425,476,784  Everest
F  473  $2,091,083  $321,667,395  Fahrenheit 9/11
G  422  $875,000  $370,013,809  Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets
H  437  $3,280,000  $146,845,947  Hubble 3D
I  430  $1,027,083  $248,675,059  In Search of Noah’s Ark
J  225    $95,227,345  Justin Bieber’s Believe
K  219    $38,975,323  Kang rinpoche
L  512  $6,000,000  $189,615,284  Li hai le, wo de guo
M  820  $8,353,358  $784,888,208  Michael Jackson’s This Is It
N  282  $2,000,000  $70,703,626  NASCAR: The IMAX Experience
O  302  $14,516,667  $137,958,161  Oceans
P  538  $1,028,333  $142,305,050  Pina
Q  65    $3,528,552  The Queen of Versailles
R  457  $1,485,000  $116,712,297  Red Dog
S  981  $2,046,611  $484,119,883  Space Station
T  558  $930,769  $449,863,853  To Fly!
U  202  $625,000  $59,001,867  Under the Sea 3D
V  195  $933,333  $25,737,903  Visages villages
W  480  $5,371,429  $247,286,824  Winged Migration
X  12    $4,812,953  Xuan feng jiu ri
Y  93    $23,266,089  Yves St. Laurent
Z  50    $2,349,771  Zheng qi