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 "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    187      
2029    1      
2025    22      
2024 Annual Stats  871  $3,000,000  $83,348,684  Am I Racist?
2023 Annual Stats  1,048  $5,000,000  $86,354,896  Beijing 2022 (北京 2022)
2022 Annual Stats  849  $350,000  $62,262,764  Moonage Daydream
2021 Annual Stats  701  $3,400,000  $60,210,530  Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain
2020 Annual Stats  781    $67,980,399  Beureikeu deo sa illeonseu
2019 Annual Stats  781  $250,000  $148,494,633  Bring the Soul: The Movie
2018 Annual Stats  718  $1,893,040  $285,514,451  Li hai le, wo de guo
2017 Annual Stats  650  $622,714  $162,772,917  Twenty-Two
2016 Annual Stats  551  $4,681,250  $182,367,868  A Beautiful Planet
2015 Annual Stats  450  $468,333  $128,294,364  Amy
2014 Annual Stats  264  $914,818  $131,406,237  My Love, Don't Cross That River
2013 Annual Stats  262  $814,286  $89,053,741  Justin Bieber’s Believe
2012 Annual Stats  218  $1,420,833  $177,740,046  Chimpanzee
2011 Annual Stats  194  $1,292,000  $189,001,245  Born to be Wild 3D
2010 Annual Stats  177  $15,466,667  $231,716,345  Oceans
2009 Annual Stats  111  $17,662,500  $484,674,545  Michael Jackson's This Is It
2008 Annual Stats  140  $2,445,833  $102,036,147  Dolphins and Whales Tribes of the Ocean 3D
2007 Annual Stats  105  $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  92  $947,344  $278,525,818  La marche de l'empereur
2004 Annual Stats  91  $2,095,000  $339,360,836  Fahrenheit 9/11
2003 Annual Stats  54  $6,383,333  $231,655,788  Winged Migration
2002 Annual Stats  29  $933,333  $245,435,899  Space Station
2001 Annual Stats  15    $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  18    $239,904,128  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  13    $76,304,410  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    8    $70,253,781  Antarctica
1990    4      
1989    5  $140,000  $59,718,714  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    10    $75,925,775  The Dream is Alive
1984    7    $239,023,465  Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets
1983    5    $645,331  Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
1982    5    $2,113,330  It Came From Hollywood
1981    5    $442,124  This is Elvis
1980    2    $22,000,000  In Search of Historic Jesus
1979    7  $170,000  $12,937,413  Dirt
1978    3    $23,800,000  Beyond and Back
1977    5    $151,006  Billy Connolly: Big Banana Feet
1976    7    $120,736,923  To Fly!
1975    4    $32,270  Torre Bela
1974    6    $26,328,764  Erinnerungen an die Zukunft
1973    3      
1972    3    $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      
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    $46,865  South
1918    1    $9,685  Godovshchina revolyutsii
Total  9,742  $3,090,593  $5,463,275,026  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  50    $5,163,110  1950 Ta Men Zheng Nian Qing
2  29  $1,750,000  $44,830,006  2016: Obama’s America
3  16    $1,290,361  35 Up
4  10  $900,000  $855,125  42 Up
5  18  $350,000  $1,143,101  56 Up
6  4    $483,685  63 Up
7  9    $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  625  $1,394,444  $288,027,061  Antarctica
B  716  $645,000  $414,678,146  Bowling for Columbine
C  598  $3,550,000  $156,967,683  Chimpanzee
D  452  $1,917,143  $395,262,814  Deep Sea 3D
E  339  $23,612,500  $421,841,344  Everest
F  411  $2,091,083  $317,777,950  Fahrenheit 9/11
G  381  $875,000  $366,370,244  Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets
H  381  $3,280,000  $132,705,649  Hubble 3D
I  392  $1,027,083  $175,127,346  An Inconvenient Truth
J  200    $94,417,594  Justin Bieber’s Believe
K  202    $38,316,658  Kang rinpoche
L  460  $6,000,000  $188,384,277  Li hai le, wo de guo
M  726  $8,353,358  $747,143,491  Michael Jackson's This Is It
N  237  $2,000,000  $63,415,815  NASCAR: The IMAX Experience
O  268  $14,516,667  $129,184,064  Oceans
P  469  $1,028,333  $138,046,465  Pina
Q  52    $3,512,969  The Queen of Versailles
R  413  $1,485,000  $115,120,708  Red Dog
S  861  $2,046,611  $471,059,751  Space Station
T  477  $930,769  $395,696,577  To Fly!
U  184  $625,000  $58,179,688  Under the Sea 3D
V  170  $933,333  $23,553,642  Visages villages
W  437  $5,371,429  $244,789,586  Winged Migration
X  12    $4,890,897  Xuan feng jiu ri
Y  86    $22,553,027  Yves St. Laurent
Z  40    $2,063,346  Zheng qi