The Numbers - Box Office Performance History for Documentary Movies

Top-Grossing Movies 1995-2013, Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation

Rank	Movie	Release Date	Distributor	MPAA Rating	Total Gross	Inflation-Adjusted Gross
1	Fahrenheit 9/11	Jun 23, 2004	Lionsgate	R	$119,114,517	$151,292,841
2	Everest	Mar 6, 1998	MacGillivray Freeman Films	PG-13	$87,178,599	$125,785,867
3	Space Station	Apr 19, 2002	IMAX Films	Not Rated	$87,829,093	$107,031,361
4	La marche de l'empereur	Jun 24, 2005	Warner Independent	G	$77,437,223	$95,286,851
5	Dolphins	Oct 20, 2000	MacGillivray Freeman Films	Not Rated	$54,000,000	$79,046,383
6	Michael Jackson's This Is It	Oct 28, 2009	Sony Pictures	PG	$72,091,016	$75,839,745
7	Mysteries of Egypt	Jul 16, 1998	Sony Pictures	Not Rated	$40,593,286	$68,290,199
8	Deep Sea 3-D	Mar 3, 2006	Warner Bros.	G	$45,545,757	$51,346,053
9	Magnificent Desolation	Sep 23, 2005	IMAX Films	Not Rated	$40,144,533	$45,666,649
10	Hubble 3D	Mar 19, 2010	Warner Bros.	G	$38,198,375	$38,198,375
11	Under the Sea 3D	Feb 13, 2009	Warner Bros.	G	$36,671,385	$36,671,385
12	earth	Apr 22, 2009	Walt Disney	G	$32,011,576	$33,676,177
13	2016: Obama's America	Jul 13, 2012	Rocky Mountain Pictures	PG	$33,349,941	$33,349,941
14	Thrill Ride: The Science of Fun	Jul 11, 1997	Sony Pictures Classics	G	$18,798,682	$30,241,423
15	Bowling for Columbine	Oct 11, 2002	MGM	R	$21,576,018	$28,984,507
16	Chimpanzee	Apr 20, 2012	Walt Disney	G	$28,965,459	$28,965,459
17	An Inconvenient Truth	May 24, 2006	Paramount Vantage	PG	$24,146,161	$28,687,070
18	Sicko	Jun 22, 2007	Lionsgate	PG-13	$24,538,513	$28,131,653
19	NASCAR: The IMAX Experience	Mar 12, 2004	Warner Bros.	PG	$21,550,235	$27,301,286
20	Galapagos	Oct 29, 1999	IMAX Films	Not Rated	$19,946,586	$27,151,928
21	Michael Jordan to the MAX	May 5, 2000	Giant Screen Films	Not Rated	$18,642,318	$26,989,189
22	Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure	Oct 5, 2007	National Geographic Entertainment	Not Rated	$23,746,066	$26,154,593
23	Bugs!	Mar 14, 2003	SK Films	Not Rated	$19,084,280	$24,097,441
24	Adrenaline Rush: The Science of Risk	Oct 18, 2002	Giant Screen Films	Not Rated	$16,933,791	$22,996,147
25	Born to be Wild 3D	Apr 8, 2011	Warner Bros.	G	$22,783,381	$22,783,381
Complete List

Year by Year Market Share

Year	Movies in Release	Market Share	Gross	Tickets Sold	Inflation- Adjusted Gross	Top-Grossing Movie	Gross that Year
1995	9	1.55%	$81,796,269	18,803,739	$148,925,613	Hoop Dreams	$5,758,625
1996	6	0.16%	$8,923,476	2,018,886	$15,989,577	When We Were Kings	$2,666,118
1997	6	0.12%	$7,950,971	1,732,238	$13,719,325	Thrill Ride: The Science of Fun	$2,570,742
1998	12	1.71%	$115,718,746	24,673,506	$195,414,168	Everest	$56,145,919
1999	21	0.82%	$60,123,550	11,835,343	$93,735,917	Everest	$18,064,450
2000	37	1.51%	$112,946,062	20,954,744	$165,961,572	Dolphins	$54,000,000
2001	19	0.26%	$20,841,339	3,682,216	$29,163,151	Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure	$6,443,686
2002	26	1.08%	$98,926,619	17,026,956	$134,853,492	Space Station	$29,820,971
2003	45	0.95%	$89,169,139	14,787,585	$117,117,673	Space Station	$16,352,556
2004	85	2.38%	$217,098,868	34,959,559	$276,879,707	Fahrenheit 9/11	$119,078,393
2005	97	1.74%	$155,673,323	24,286,012	$192,345,215	La marche de l'empereur	$77,413,017
2006	108	1.10%	$101,390,085	15,479,404	$122,596,880	An Inconvenient Truth	$23,814,997
2007	108	0.74%	$71,658,525	10,415,486	$82,490,649	Sicko	$24,530,513
2008	125	0.88%	$87,974,176	12,252,671	$97,041,154	Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure	$14,710,283
2009	87	1.82%	$194,294,334	25,905,912	$205,174,823	Michael Jackson's This Is It	$72,091,016
2010	104	0.87%	$90,907,226	11,521,832	$91,252,909	Hubble 3D	$20,149,829
2011	135	0.77%	$78,727,674	9,927,830	$78,628,414	African Cats	$15,428,747
2012	143	1.23%	$131,338,205	16,773,235	$132,844,021	2016: Obama's America	$33,349,941
2013	78	0.56%	$25,364,136	3,194,966	$25,304,131	Under the Sea 3D	$4,192,504

Box Office History for Documentary Movies

Ticket Sales and Market Share by Year

Top-Grossing Movies 1995-2013, Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation

Year by Year Market Share