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‘Black Panther’ Could Join These Top Grossing Best Picture Winners

By Patricia Grannum
Published on: 08:07 PST, Feb 24, 2019

Black Panther has made history as the first superhero film to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, but at the awards ceremony on Sunday, it could join another elite group of films: movies that have won the award that grossed high at the box office. Directed by Ryan Coogler, Black Panther is easily the highest grossing film in the Best Picture category this year. According to Box Office Mojo, its worldwide gross was $1.3 billion with $700 million of that from screenings in the United States.

If it wins on Sunday, it will find good company with these films that won the most prestigious award of the night and also took home huge amounts of ticket sales.

Gone With The Wind (1939)

Starring Clark Gable and Vivienne Lee, Gone With The Wind isn’t just a critically-acclaimed Hollywood classic. It was also very popular while it was in theaters. When adjusted for inflation, the film made $1.6 billion at the box office, CNN reports. On Oscar night in 1940, it not only won the Best Picture award, but it also picked up the Academy Award for Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and Best Production Design.

The Sound Of Music (1965)

A heartwarming tale about a young ex-nun’s escape from Nazi occupation in Austria with her new family, The Sound of Music made big bucks at the box office. Fortune Magazine reports that at today’s prices, it would have made $1.2 billion.

Titanic (1997)

Titanic made a big splash in the late ’90s when it premiered and was once the highest grossing film of all time until it was replaced by its director James Cameron’s more recent box office hit, Avatar. Today, its inflation-adjusted sales figure is $1.2 billion, Business Insider reports.

Ben Hur (1959)

According to Box Office Mojo, this classic Charlton Heston film made $74 million after adjustments for inflation. At the Oscars in 1960, the film also picked up 11 other awards including a Best Actor trophy for Heston, Best Supporting Actor for Hugh Griffith, and Best Director for William Wyler.

At this year’s Academy Awards, Black Panther is up against a list of seven other critically-acclaimed films. Vox estimates that each of these films seems to be on equal footing when it comes to their odds of taking home the biggest prize of the night. We’ll just have to wait and see whether the King of Wakanda will reign supreme when the results are announced on Sunday.

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