List of highest-grossing independent films

The following page lists the highest-grossing films that were distributed by independent, arthouse, and mini-major studios. The Passion of the Christ is the highest-grossing independent film of all time.[1] Independent films that were co-distributed by major film studios, such as Inglourious Basterds and Paranormal Activity, are not included.

Highest-grossing films

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (October 2022)
  ‹See TfM›† Background shading indicates films playing in the week commencing 17 May 2024 in theaters around the world.
Rank Title Date Worldwide gross Countries Film distributor Ref/s
1 The Passion of the Christ February 25, 2004 $611,486,736 Australia Icon Productions [2]
2 The Intouchables September 23, 2010 $484,630,908 France Gaumont [3]
3 Dances with Wolves November 9, 1990 $424,208,805 North America Orion Pictures [4]
4 The King's Speech September 6, 2010 $423,999,102 Australia
United Kingdom 		Momentum Pictures [2]
5 Slumdog Millionaire August 30, 2008 $378,410,113 United Kingdom Pathé Distribution [2]
6 My Big Fat Greek Wedding April 19, 2002 $368,744,044 North America IFC Films [2]
7 American Beauty September 8, 1999 $356,258,047 North America DreamWorks Pictures [1]
8 Black Swan September 1, 2010 $329,398,046 North America Fox Searchlight Pictures [5]
9 Se7en September 15, 1995 $328,125,643 North America New Line Cinema [6]
10 The Silence of the Lambs February 14, 1991 $275,726,716 North America Orion Pictures [7]
11 Parasite May 21, 2019 $262,857,186 South Korea CJ Entertainment (South Korea)
Neon (North America) 		[8]
12 The Full Monty August 15, 1997 $261,249,383 United Kingdom Fox Searchlight Pictures [2]
13 The Blair Witch Project January 23, 1999 $248,639,099 North America Artisan Entertainment [2]
14 Sound of Freedom ‹See TfM›† July 4, 2023 $247,801,971 North America Angel Studios [9]
15 Silver Linings Playbook November 16, 2012 $236,412,453 North America The Weinstein Company [10]
16 Juno September 1, 2007 $231,450,102 North America Fox Searchlight Pictures [2]
17 Fahrenheit 9/11 May 17, 2004 $222,446,882 North America FLIC Distributors [2]
18 Good Will Hunting December 2, 1997 $225,925,989 North America Miramax [2]
19 Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets July 21, 2017 $225,874,228 France
United States
China
Germany
Belgium
United Arab Emirates 		STX Entertainment [11]
20 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon May 18, 2000 $213,514,672 Taiwan Sony Pictures Classics [12]
21 Pulp Fiction May 21, 1994 $212,894,343 North America Miramax [13]
22 Traffic December 27, 2000 $207,515,725 North America Focus Features [14]
23 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles March 30, 1990 $202,084,756 North America Golden Harvest [15]
24 The Shape of Water December 1, 2017 $195,333,312 North America Fox Searchlight Pictures [16]
25 Kill Bill: Volume 1 October 10, 2003 $180,899,045 North America Miramax [17]
26 Brokeback Mountain December 9, 2005 $178,062,759 North America Focus Features [18]
27 The Grand Budapest Hotel March 7, 2014 $173,082,189 North America
Germany 		Fox Searchlight Pictures [19]
28 No Country for Old Men November 9, 2007 $171,627,166 North America Miramax (North America)
Paramount Vantage (International) 		[20]
29 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest November 19, 1975 $163,281,275 North America United Artists [1]
30 The Hateful Eight December 25, 2015 $156,480,177 North America The Weinstein Company [21]
31 Kill Bill: Volume 2 April 16, 2004 $154,116,796 North America Miramax [22]
32 Everything Everywhere All at Once March 25, 2022 $141,054,397 North America A24 [23]
33 Coraline February 6, 2009 $124,596,837 North America Focus Features [24]
34 Lost in Translation September 12, 2003 $117,085,297 North America
Japan 		Focus Features [25]
35 Sideways October 22, 2004 $109,726,800 North America Fox Searchlight Pictures [25]
36 Birdman October 17, 2014 $103,215,094 North America Fox Searchlight Pictures [26]
37 Crash May 6, 2005 $101,173,038 North America Lionsgate [25]
38 Little Miss Sunshine July 26, 2006 $101,058,954 North America Fox Searchlight Pictures [27]
39 Fritz the Cat April 12, 1972 $90,000,000 North America Cinemation Industries [28]
40 The Amityville Horror July 27, 1979 $86,432,000 North America American International Pictures [29]
41 Hereditary June 7, 2018 $82,729,816 United States A24 [30]
42 Moonlight October 21, 2016 $65,172,611 [31]
43 The Whale December 9, 2022 $54,883,206 [32]
44 Whiplash January 16, 2014 $48,982,041 North America Sony Pictures Classics (North America)
Stage 6 Films (International) 		[33]
45 Midsommar July 3, 2019 $48,059,189 United States
Sweden 		A24 (North America)
Nordisk Film (Sweden) 		[34]
46 The Witch February 19, 2016 $40,423,945 United States
Canada 		A24 (United States)
Elevation Pictures (Canada) 		[35]
47 The Iron Claw December 22, 2023 $40,667,158 United Kingdom
United States 		A24 (North America)
Lionsgate (United Kingdom) 		[36]
48 Past Lives June 2, 2023 $21,548,356 United States A24 [37]
49 The Green Knight July 30, 2021 $18,887,953 United States
Canada 		[38]
50 While We're Young March 27, 2015 $18,117,839 United States [39]

Highest-grossing independent films by year

Year Title Worldwide gross Budget Ref
2023 Sound of Freedom ‹See TfM›† $247,801,971 14.5 million [9]
2022 Everything Everywhere All at Once $141,054,397 $14.3–25 million [40][41][42]

Timeline of highest-grossing independent film

Film Established Record-setting gross Ref
Dances with Wolves 1990 $424,208,805 [43]
The Passion of the Christ 2004 $611,486,736 [44]
2005 $612,054,506

See also

Notes

References

  1. ^ a b c "The Highest Grossing Independent Films of All Time – Page 11 – 24/7 Wall St". Retrieved 2022-09-13.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barker, Stephen (2020-10-17). "The 10 Highest-Grossing Independent Films Of All Time". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2022-09-13.
  3. ^ "Les Intouchables (2012) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
  4. ^ "Dances with Wolves (1990) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
  5. ^ "Black Swan". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2022-09-13.
  6. ^ "Se7en (1995) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 2022-09-13.
  7. ^ "The Silence of the Lambs (1991) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
  8. ^ "Parasite". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2022-09-13.
  9. ^ a b "Sound of Freedom", Box Office Mojo, July 17, 2023, retrieved December 6, 2023
  10. ^ "The Highest Grossing Independent Films of All Time – Page 6 – 24/7 Wall St". Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  11. ^ "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
  12. ^ "The Highest Grossing Independent Films of All Time – Page 8 – 24/7 Wall St". Retrieved 2022-09-13.
  13. ^ "The Highest Grossing Independent Films of All Time – Page 9 – 24/7 Wall St". Retrieved 2022-09-13.
  14. ^ "Traffic". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  15. ^ "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  16. ^ "The Shape of Water". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  17. ^ "Kill Bill: Vol. 1". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  18. ^ "Brokeback Mountain". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  19. ^ "The Grand Budapest Hotel". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  20. ^ "No Country for Old Men". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  21. ^ "The Hateful Eight". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  22. ^ "Kill Bill: Vol. 2". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  23. ^ "Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
  24. ^ "Coraline". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  25. ^ a b c "The Highest Grossing Independent Films of All Time – Page 4 – 24/7 Wall St". Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  26. ^ "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  27. ^ "The Highest Grossing Independent Films of All Time – Page 3 – 24/7 Wall St". Retrieved 2022-10-14.
  28. ^ "Ralph Bakshi". The A.V. Club. 2000-12-06. Retrieved 2022-09-13.
  29. ^ "The Amityville Horror". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  30. ^ "Hereditary". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  31. ^ "Moonlight". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  32. ^ "The Whale". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  33. ^ "Whiplash". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2022-09-13.
  34. ^ "Midsommar". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  35. ^ "The Witch". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  36. ^ "The Iron Claw (2023) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  37. ^ "Past Lives". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2024-01-08.
  38. ^ "The Green Knight". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  39. ^ "While We're Young". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  40. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (July 31, 2022). "'Everything Everywhere All at Once' Is A24's First Movie to Hit $100 Million Globally". Variety. Archived from the original on July 31, 2022. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
  41. ^ Buchanan, Kyle (October 21, 2022). "Everything Everywhere, All Through Awards Season?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 29, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  42. ^ "Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  43. ^ "Dances with Wolves".
  44. ^ "The Passion of the Christ".
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