10 Lowest-Grossing Best Picture Winners

Being a winner at the Oscars doesn’t always mean being a winner in theaters. Though some films have had the honor of receiving the Academy Award for Best Picture, these films haven’t always made a lot at the box office. Sometimes, they just don’t appeal to enough casual moviegoers as they do with critics. In fact, some Best Picture winners at the Oscars even lost money after bombing in theaters.

After director Sean Baker’s Anora won the Best Picture award at the 2025 Oscars, this motion picture became one of the lowest-grossing films to ever win in that category. However, there are many other Best Picture winners that made a lot less in theaters, at least compared to more modern movies. This doesn’t mean that they were box office failures, as some still succeeded in making a profit. Whether or not they made their money back, there have been some movies that won Best Picture but didn’t make nearly as much money as the winners of recent years.

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10

All About Eve (1950)

Box Office: $8,402,507

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Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, this cinema classic follows an actor who fears for her career when a young fan enters her life and threatens to take her spotlight. Since it stars big-screen legends Bette Davis and Anne Baxter, All About Eve drew in quite a crowd when it premiered in theaters in 1950.

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This allowed the film to make back its budget at the box office with a reported $8,402,507 gross (via The Numbers). It also appealed to the masses with its relevant message about how women are valued based on their youth in a male-dominated Hollywood, similar to Best Picture nominee The Substance. For this reason, All About Eve has remained a timeless hit classic in the decades since its premiere.

9

Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)

Box Office: $7,800,000

This film shows actor Gregory Peck playing a journalist who pretends to be Jewish to research an article on antisemitism within American society. Given how it tackles prejudice similar to The Brutalist, another nominee for Best Picture, it’s no surprise that it was such a hit in theaters and at the Oscars when it premiered in 1947. Gentleman’s Agreement is said to have grossed at least $7,800,000 in cinemas, nearly four times as much as its $2,000,000 budget (via The Numbers).

8

Gigi (1958)

Box Office: $7,300,000

Gigi tells the musical and comedic story of a teenage girl raised to be a courtesan who pursues true love in actor Leslie Caron’s second Best Picture-winning film. For decades, it also held the record for the highest number of Academy Awards won in a clean sweep, winning all of its nine nominations. Making a profit with a reported minimum gross of $7.3 million (via The Numbers), Gigi made it among the last great musicals produced by MGM.

7

An American In Paris (1951)

Box Office: $7,000,000

Starring musical icons Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron, this song-and-dance rom-com stirred up quite a success in theaters. Presenting the hectic love story of two friends infatuated with the same woman, An American in Paris presented another traditional but iconic romance featuring songs by composer George Gershwin. This Gene Kelly film is said to have made over $7 million at the box office after a production that cost $2.7 million (via The Eddie Mannix Ledger). After it received the Oscar for Best Picture, An American in Paris established itself as one of the best musicals of all time.

6

Rebecca (1940)

Box Office: $6,002,370

Though the legendary Alfred Hitchcock never won an Oscar, 1940’s Rebecca was the first and only film directed by Hitchcock that won the Oscar for Best Picture. This romantic, Gothic thriller hooked audiences with Hitchcock’s trademark brand of suspense, presenting a gripping story of a woman who weds a wealthy man whose previous marriage is shrouded in mystery.

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With an iconic Hollywood director at the helm and renowned lead stars Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine, Rebecca made just over $6 million at the box office after being made on a reported $1,2800,000 budget (via The Numbers). While Rebecca isn’t one of Hitchcock’s most popular films over 80 years later, it certainly ranks among his best pictures.

5

The Great Ziegfield (1936)

Box Office: $4,673,000

As a biopic about Broadway producer Florenz Ziegfield Jr. and the making of the Ziegfield Follies, MGM went all out with the making of this movie, making it one of the studio’s most expensive productions back in the day. Nevertheless, this exuberant musical drama became one of MGM’s most successful movies at the time of its release. Starring Hollywood legends Jimmy Stewart, Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr, and Lana Turner, The Great Ziegfield wowed audiences as it allegedly made $4,673,000 in theaters after being made on a $2.183 million budget (via The Eddie Mannix Ledger).

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With such a successful theatrical run, An American in Paris didn’t just launch Caron’s Hollywood career. It also became the first Best Picture winner created by Gigi director Vincente Minnelli. On top of that, An American in Paris won five more Oscars out of a total of eight nominations, making it one of the most acclaimed musicals of Old Hollywood.

4

The Broadway Melody (1929)

Box Office: $4,358,000

The Broadway Melody made cinema history as the first musical produced by MGM and Hollywood’s first musical to utilize sound. Thanks to such innovation, The Broadway Melody went above and beyond its $379,000 budget, as it reportedly made almost $4.4 million in theaters (via The Numbers). Ultimately, The Broadway Melody became the first musical to win Best Picture at the Oscars, having won at the second Academy Awards.

3

You Can’t Take It With You (1938)

Box Office: $4,000,000

You Can’t Take It With You depicts the son of a snobby banker who falls in love with a woman from a more eccentric but loving family. It’s the traditional rom-com setup, but one that was very successful in its time. Not only was this the second Frank Capra film that won Best Picture at the Oscars, it also won Capra the award for Best Director for the fourth time in his career. Filmed on a $1,644,000 budget, You Can’t Take It With You became another success story for Capra as it allegedly grossed $4,000,000 at the box office (via The Numbers).

2

CODA (2021)

Box Office: $2,237,618

CODA broke new ground with its story of a teenager who tries to fulfill her dreams while supporting her deaf family as the only one who can hear. CODA reportedly made $2,237,618 in theaters worldwide against its $10,000,000 budget (via The Numbers). While the film’s box office gross is low, it can be attributed to its limited theatrical release before it was dropped onto streaming on Apple TV+. This made CODA the first film produced and/or distributed by a streaming service to win the Oscar for Best Picture, as well as the first film starring predominantly deaf actors to win in that category.

1

Cimarron (1931)

Box Office: $1,383,000

Cimarron was the fourth-ever film in Academy Awards’ history to win the Oscar for Best Picture. Though the film made $1.383 million at the box office, it failed to make back its reported $1.433 million budget (via Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television). Though it was hardly a success for RKO Films and hasn’t quite resonated with audiences a century later, Cimarron still set a milestone in Old Hollywood as the first Western film to win Best Picture.

Source: Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, The Numbers, The Eddie Mannix Ledger

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Cimarron

NR

Drama

Western

History

Release Date

January 26, 1931

Runtime

123 minutes

Director

Wesley Ruggles

Writers

Howard Estabrook

Producers

William LeBaron

Cast

See All

• 

  Irene Dunne

  Sabra Cravat

• 

  Richard Dix

  Yancey Cravat

• 

  Estelle Taylor

  Dixie Lee

• 

  Nance O’Neil

  Felice Venable

Cimarron, released in 1931, follows Yancey Cravat, a versatile pioneer who claims land in Oklahoma during the territory’s opening for settlement. He quickly rises as a prominent figure in Osage, while his wife, Sabra, assumes her own leadership role as Yancey repeatedly departs, seeking new frontiers.

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Category: Entertainment