Get the Picture - Cinema industry - Top 100 documentaries in Australia

CINEMA INDUSTRY

Top films: Top documentaries of all time

Release of Australian productions

International comparisons

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Top documentaries in Australia released up to 31 December 2007 ranked by total reported gross Australian box office (in current dollars, i.e. not adjusted for inflation); Australian films listed in bold

Large-format films dominate the top Australian documentaries at the Australian box office.

There are two Australian-made IMAX titles in the all-time top 20 to December 2007: Antarctica and Africa’s Elephant Kingdom. The most successful non-IMAX Australian documentary is Bra Boys, which has grossed $1,698,976 since its release in March 2007.

Next update January 2009

Rank	Title	Distributor	Release date	Box office ($)¹
1	Fahrenheit 9/11	Hopscotch	29 Jul 2004	$8,404,378
2	Everest	IMAX	18 Mar 1998	$6,334,124
3	Space Station 3D	IMAX	6 Jun 2002	$5,193,927
4	Extreme	IMAX (CPL/Extreme)	18 Mar 1999	$5,152,785
5	Bowling for Columbine	Icon/Hopscotch	26 Dec 2002	$4,852,301
6	Deep Sea 3D	IMAX	6 Apr 2006	$4,708,001
7	Titanic 3D: Ghosts of the Abyss	IMAX	4 Sep 2003	$4,477,494
8	Mysteries of Egypt	IMAX (CPL/Destin)	21 Jan 1999	$4,360,769
9	March of the Penguins	Roadshow	30 Mar 2006	$4,345,437
10	Shackleton’s Antarctic Adventure	IMAX	1 Nov 2001	$4,241,364
11	Antarctica	IMAX	26 Sep 1996	$4,234,376
12	An Inconvenient Truth	UIP/Paramount	14 Sep 2006	$4,117,170
13	Wild Safari 3D	IMAX	9 Jun 2005	$3,523,133
14	Africa’s Elephant Kingdom	IMAX	21 May 1998	$3,491,995
15	Africa: The Serengeti	IMAX	20 Mar 1997	$3,391,716
16	Touching the Void	Hopscotch	24 Jun 2004	$3,080,689
17	The Living Sea	IMAX	26 Sep 1996	$3,078,803
18	Super Size Me	Dendy	3 Jun 2004	$2,907,204
19	Galapagos	IMAX	11 Nov 1999	$2,806,830
20	The Travelling Birds	Hopscotch	19 Jun 2003	$2,564,215
21	New York: Across the Sea of Time (3D)	IMAX/Sony	26 Oct 1997	$2,405,904
22	In Bed with Madonna	Columbia	13 Jun 1991	$2,241,064
23	Ocean Wonderland 3D	IMAX	14 Dec 2004	$2,206,130
24	Amazon	IMAX	11 Dec 1997	$2,072,236
25	Bugs in 3D	IMAX	10 Apr 2003	$1,912,692
26	Dinosaurs 3D: Giants of Patagonia	IMAX	7 Jun 2007	$1,895,642
27	Thrill Ride: The Science of Fun	IMAX/Sony	21 Jul 1997	$1,851,622
28	Special Effects	IMAX	26 Sep 1996	$1,816,905
29	Alaska	IMAX	3 Sep 1998	$1,731,065
30	Bra Boys	Hopscotch	15 Mar 2007	$1,698,976
31	Buena Vista Social Club	Dendy	23 Dec 1999	$1,696,381
32	Sharks 3D	IMAX	5 May 2005	$1,583,140
33	Into the Deep (3D)	IMAX	7 May 1998	$1,538,043
34	Dolphins	IMAX	13 Apr 2000	$1,526,728
35	The Real Cancun	Roadshow	10 Jul 2003	$1,480,393
36	Microcosmos	New Vision	4 Jun 1997	$1,421,834
37	What the Bleep Do We Know!?	Hopscotch	14 Apr 2006	$1,356,679
38	The Story of the Weeping Camel	Dendy	30 Sep 2004	$1,338,989
39	Spellbound	Hopscotch	13 Nov 2003	$1,069,322
40	Woodstock	Warner Bros	1 Aug 1970	$1,068,000
41	To Be and To Have	Palace	29 Apr 2004	$1,053,219
42	The Human Body	IMAX	28 Feb 2002	$1,041,667
43	Sea Monsters 3D: A Prehistoric Adventure	IMAX	27 Sep 2007	$1,027,150
44	When We Were Kings	Polygram	10 Apr 1997	$1,013,186
45	Sicko	Roadshow	9 Aug 2007	$972,853
46	Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon	IMAX	20 Oct 2005	$966,145
47	Blue Planet	IMAX	29 Jan 1998	$902,049
48	Mission to Mir	IMAX	9 Jun 1997	$897,805
49	Aliens of the Deep	IMAX	10 Mar 2005	$832,314
50	Adrenaline Rush	IMAX	8 May 2003	$805,009
51	Australia: Land Beyond Time	IMAX	6 Mar 2003	$803,717
52	42 Up	Dendy	1 Jul 1999	$790,000
53	Sydney: A Story of a City	IMAX	19 Aug 1999	$694,853
54	Deep Blue	Hopscotch	9 Dec 2004	$654,791
55	U2: Rattle and Hum	UIP/Paramount	3 Nov 1988	$634,254
56	Nascar 3D	IMAX	2 Sep 2004	$621,655
57	Cane Toads: An Unnatural History	Ronin	29 Feb 1988	$613,910
58	49 Up	Dendy	3 Aug 2006	$607,914
59	Metallica: Some Kind of Monster	Dendy	16 Sep 2004	$599,402
60	35 Up	Rep	29 Aug 1991	$584,886
61	A Queen Is Crowned	Greater Union	1 July 1951	$572,000
62	The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich	UIP	1 Jan 1969	$571,000
63	Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room	Dendy	13 Oct 2005	$565,612
64	Ballets Russes	Hopscotch	18 May 2006	$563,159
65	Roar: Lions of the Kalahari	IMAX	17 May 2004	$561,693
66	Whales	IMAX	3 Sep 1998	$557,954
67	Mystic India	IMAX	9 Feb 2006	$540,790
68	The Corporation	Gil Scrine Films	2 Sep 2004	$528,729
69	Mad Hot Ballroom	Icon	29 Sep 2005	$514,498
70	Wings of Courage	IMAX/Sony	21 May 1998	$497,315
71	The Fog of War	Columbia TriStar	18 Mar 2004	$476,164
72	Coral Reef Adventure	IMAX	19 Dec 2004	$474,786
73	Billabong Odyssey	Icon	25 Mar 2004	$460,184
74	Warren Miller's Coldfusion	Warren Miller	23 May 2002	$446,833
75	One Day in September	Dendy	31 Aug 2000	$445,691
76	Unfolding Florence: The Many Lives of Florence Broadhurst	Dendy	24 Aug 2006	$429,243
77	Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag	IMAX	11 Aug 2005	$424,612
78	Olympic Glory	IMAX	16 Sep 1999	$424,317
79	Forbidden Lie$	Palace	13 Sep 2007	$401,027
80	Step into Liquid	Rialto	15 Jun 2004	$393,403
81	Forces of Nature	IMAX	11 Oct 2004	$390,936
82	Sacred Sex	Premium	14 Nov 1991	$381,844
83	The Filth and the Fury	Dendy	29 Jun 2000	$374,815
84	Neil Young: Heart of Gold	UIP/Paramount	11 May 2006	$366,870
85	Capturing the Friedmans	Dendy	25 Mar 2004	$362,980
86	Latcho Drom	Potential	25 May 1995	$362,854
87	God on My Side	Hopscotch	2 Nov 2006	$355,120
88	Warren Miller’s Journey	Warren Miller	27 May 2004	$352,413
89	Lions 3D	IMAX	15 Feb 2007	$328,689
90	Standing in the Shadows of Motown	Hopscotch	30 Jan 2003	$328,598
91	Sex: The Annabel Chong Story	Potential	29 Jun 2000	$321,662
92	Warren Miller’s Impact	Warren Miller	25 May 2005	$313,471
93	Warren Miller’s Storm	Warren Miller	22 May 2003	$305,448
94	Warren Miller’s Higher Ground	Warren Miller	24 May 2006	$304,810
95	Greece: Secrets of the Past	IMAX	8 Jun 2006	$304,464
96	Vincent: The Life and Death of Vincent Van Gogh	Roadshow	8 Oct 1987	$301,205
97	Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man	Roadshow	1 Feb 2007	$301,101
98	Journey into Amazing Caves	IMAX	28 Feb 2002	$298,500
99	Grand Canyon	IMAX	3 Sep 1998	$287,456
100	In Search of Mozart	Gil Scrine	9 Feb 2006	$283,461

Source: Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia (MPDAA), Nielsen EDI (Australia) and Ronin; compiled by the Australian Film Commission (AFC).

Notes:
World Safari 2: Adventure Bound (released 1984) is not included as national box office figures are unavailable.
1. Cumulative box office, reported on 25 January 2008 in current dollars (i.e. not adjusted for inflation). These figures may include revised MPDAA box office earnings.