“The Lord of the Rings.” “Gone With the Wind.” “Gladiator.” These movies weren’t just movies; they were full-scale cultural powerhouses, ones that wound their way into pop culture and (for better or worse) still haven’t really fully let go. A couple things they all have in common? They had super-high budgets, and they all won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
As of 2024, according to The Numbers, the highest-budget films of all time are “Avatar: The Way of Water” ($460,000,000), “Avengers: Endgame” ($400,000,000), Pirates of the “Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” ($379,000,000), “Avengers: Age of Ultron” ($365,000,000), and “Fast X” ($340,000,000). Not only are these all sequels, none of them (except for “Avatar”) even came close to being nominated for Best Picture.
The divide between the films that win Best Picture and those that score big at the box office has never been bigger, even to the point where the Golden Globes have introduced a category for “Cinematic and Box Office Achievement,” ostensibly a way to recognize films that are popular but don’t quite fit the bill for a Best Picture nod. This differential has become something of an existential crisis for The Oscars; more people tend to tune in when big blockbusters are up for Best Picture (the highest-rated Oscars of all time was 1998, when “Titanic” took the top prize, and the lowest viewership of all time was in 2020, when the Chinese-language film “Parasite” took the honor). In fact, the last time a film with a considerably high production budget won Best Picture was 2006, when “The Departed” took home the trophy.
While high-budget films tend to win at the box office more often that on the Oscars stage these days, there are plenty of examples of high-budget, hugely popular films taking the top honors. (On the other hand, these are the lowest budget movies that won the Oscar for Best Picture.)
Scroll below to see the highest budget movies that won the Oscar for Best Picture
To determine the highest budget movies that won the Oscar for Best Picture, 24/7 Tempo reviewed data on production budget from film industry site The Numbers. Films that won the Academy Award for Best Picture were ranked based on production budget, adjusted for inflation. Production budget figures were adjusted for inflation using historical ticket prices from the National Association of Theatre Owners. Data on Oscar wins is from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
25. Schindler’s List (1993)
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- Production budget: $55.3 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $214.4 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: Steven Spielberg
24. Rain Man (1988)
- Production budget: $55.7 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $385.2 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: Barry Levinson
23. The Last Emperor (1987)
- Production budget: $58.6 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $103.0 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: Bernardo Bertolucci
22. The Sound of Music (1965)
Julie Andrews as Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music
- Production budget: $61.6 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $1.2 billion (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: Robert Wise
21. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
- Production budget: $63.0 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $277.7 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
20. West Side Story (1961)
- Production budget: $65.4 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $476.3 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: Jerome Robbins & Robert Wise
19. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
- Production budget: $66.0 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $741.4 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: William Wyler
18. Patton (1970)
- Production budget: $66.6 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $347.0 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: Franklin J. Schaffner
17. Oliver! (1968)
25th September 1968: British director Carol Reed (1906 - 1976) talks to child actor Jack Wild, who plays the Artful Dodger in Reeds latest movie, the Lionel Bart musical Oliver! (Photo by Larry Ellis/Express/Getty Images)
- Production budget: $68.0 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $254.4 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: Carol Reed
16. Gandhi (1982)
- Production budget: $68.5 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $164.4 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: Richard Attenborough
15. Out of Africa (1985)
- Production budget: $72.2 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $204.1 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: Sydney Pollack
14. The English Patient (1996)
- Production budget: $72.5 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $163.1 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: Anthony Minghella
13. The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
- Production budget: $75.3 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $678.0 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: Cecil B. DeMille
12. Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
- Production budget: $86.2 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $603.1 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: Michael Anderson
11. Forrest Gump (1994)
- Production budget: $123.5 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $741.2 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
10. The Departed (2006)
- Production budget: $125.9 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $185.1 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: Martin Scorsese
9. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
- Production budget: $126.5 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $276.8 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: Ron Howard
8. My Fair Lady (1964)
- Production budget: $127.6 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $540.6 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: George Cukor
7. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
- Production budget: $142.8 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $574.0 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: Peter Jackson
6. Braveheart (1995)
- Production budget: $151.6 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $159.1 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: Mel Gibson
5. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
- Production budget: $161.9 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $404.6 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: David Lean
4. Ben-Hur (1959)
- Production budget: $167.9 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $817.3 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: William Wyler
3. Gone with the Wind (1939)
- Production budget: $171.5 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $3.4 billion (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: Victor Fleming
2. Gladiator (2000)
- Production budget: $175.0 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $319.0 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: Ridley Scott
1. Titanic (1997)
- Production budget: $399.1 million (inflation-adjusted)
- Domestic box office: $1.3 billion (inflation-adjusted)
- Directed by: James Cameron
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