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Top-grossing films: Top documentaries all time

Top 100 documentaries in Australia of all time, ranked by total reported gross Australian box office as at March 2010; Australian films listed in bold

Next update February 2011

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 March 2010: 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.

Seven new titles entered the top 100 in 2009: Michael Jackson’s This Is It (1), The September Issue (37), Love the Beast (65), Capitalism: A Love Story (90) and Valentino: The Last Emperor (99), and the IMAX titles Dinosaurs Alive 3D (62) and Under the Sea 3D (29).

Rank	Title	Distributor	Release date	Box office ($)¹
1	Michael Jackson’s This Is It	Sony	29 Oct 2009	9,631,897
2	Fahrenheit 9/11	Hopscotch	29 Jul 2004	8,404,378
3	Everest	IMAX	18 Mar 1998	6,334,124
4	Space Station 3D	IMAX	6 Jun 2002	5,462,034
5	Deep Sea 3D	IMAX	6 Apr 2006	5,189,744
6	Extreme	IMAX (CPL/Extreme)	18 Mar 1999	5,152,785
7	Bowling for Columbine	Icon/Hopscotch	26 Dec 2002	4,852,301
8	Mysteries of Egypt	IMAX (CPL/Destin)	21 Jan 1999	4,510,946
9	Antarctica	IMAX	26 Sep 1996	4,486,794
10	Titanic 3D: Ghosts of the Abyss	IMAX	4 Sep 2003	4,477,494
11	Shackleton’s Antarctic Adventure	IMAX	1 Nov 2001	4,476,842
12	March of the Penguins	Roadshow	30 Mar 2006	4,345,437
13	An Inconvenient Truth	UIP/Paramount	14 Sep 2006	4,190,159
14	Wild Safari 3D	IMAX	9 Jun 2005	3,523,133
15	Africa’s Elephant Kingdom	IMAX	21 May 1998	3,491,995
16	Africa: The Serengeti	IMAX	20 Mar 1997	3,391,716
17	Touching the Void	Hopscotch	24 Jun 2004	3,080,689
18	The Living Sea	IMAX	26 Sep 1996	3,078,803
19	Super Size Me	Dendy	3 Jun 2004	2,907,204
20	Galapagos	IMAX	11 Nov 1999	2,806,830
21	Dinosaurs 3D: Giants of Patagonia	IMAX	7 Jun 2007	2,593,908
22	The Travelling Birds	Hopscotch	19 Jun 2003	2,564,215
23	New York: Across the Sea of Time 3D	IMAX/Sony	26 Oct 1997	2,405,904
24	Monty Python Live at Hollywood Bowl	Greater Union	1 Jan 1982	2,351,000
25	In Bed with Madonna	CTS	13 Jun 1991	2,241,064
26	Ocean Wonderland 3D	IMAX	14 Feb 2004	2,206,130
27	Bugs in 3D	IMAX	10 Apr 2003	2,178,085
28	Amazon	IMAX	11 Dec 1997	2,072,236
29	Under the Sea 3D	IMAX	12 Mar 2009	1,987,871
30	Wild Oceans 3D	IMAX	19 Jun 2008	1,891,712
31	Thrill Ride: The Science of Fun	IMAX	21 Jul 1997	1,851,622
32	Special Effects	IMAX	26 Sep 1996	1,816,905
33	Alaska	IMAX	3 Sep 1998	1,731,065
34	Bra Boys	Hopscotch	15 Mar 2007	1,698,976
35	Buena Vista Social Club	Dendy	23 Dec 1999	1,696,381
36	Sharks 3D	IMAX	5 May 2005	1,583,140
37	The September Issue	Madman	20 Aug 2009	1,581,639
38	U2 3D	Roadshow	10 Apr 2008	1,575,376
39	Into the Deep 3D	IMAX	7 May 1998	1,538,043
40	Dolphins	IMAX	6 Apr 2000	1,526,728
41	The Real Cancun	Roadshow	10 Jul 2003	1,480,393
42	Sea Monsters 3D: A Prehistoric Adventure	IMAX	27 Sep 2007	1,428,030
43	Microcosmos	New Vision	4 Jun 1997	1,421,834
44	The Human Body	IMAX	7 Feb 2002	1,356,744
45	What the Bleep Do We Know?!	Hopscotch	14 Apr 2005	1,356,679
46	The Story of the Weeping Camel	Dendy	30 Sep 2004	1,338,989
47	African Adventure 3D	IMAX	14 Feb 2008	1,236,839
48	Divine Madness	Warner Bros	27 Nov 1980	1,147,000
49	Spellbound	Hopscotch	13 Nov 2003	1,069,322
50	Woodstock	Warner Bros	1 Aug 1970	1,068,000
51	To Be and To Have	Palace	29 Apr 2004	1,053,219
52	When We Were Kings	Polygram	10 Apr 1997	1,013,186
53	Blue Planet	IMAX	29 Jan 1998	990,682
54	Sicko	Roadshow	9 Aug 2007	972,853
55	Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D	IMAX	20 Oct 2005	966,145
56	Shine a Light	Fox	29 May 2008	930,801
57	Mission to Mir	IMAX	9 Jun 1997	897,805
58	Australia: Land Beyond Time	IMAX	6 Mar 2003	889,896
59	Dolphins and Whales 3D	IMAX	13 Mar 2008	859,207
60	Aliens of the Deep	IMAX	10 Mar 2005	832,314
61	Michael Jordan to the Max	IMAX	14 Sep 2000	830,554
62	Dinosaurs Alive 3D	IMAX	3 Sep 2009	818,719
63	Adrenaline Rush: The Science of Risk	IMAX	8 May 2003	805,009
64	42 Up	Dendy	1 Jul 1999	790,000
65	Love the Beast	Madman	12 Mar 2009	777,351
66	Sydney: Story of a City	IMAX	18 Aug 1999	709,231
67	Deep Blue	Hopscotch	9 Dec 2004	654,791
68	Exotica	New Vision	26 Oct 1995	639,861
69	U2: Rattle and Hum	UIP/Paramount	3 Nov 1988	634,254
70	Nascar 3D	IMAX	2 Sep 2004	621,655
71	Cane Toads: An Unnatural History	Ronin	29 Feb 1988	613,910
72	49 Up	Dendy	3 Aug 2006	607,914
73	Metallica: Some Kind of Monster	Dendy	16 Sep 2004	599,402
74	Grand Canyon Adventure 3D	IMAX	19 Jun 2008	589,388
75	35 Up	Rep	29 Aug 1991	584,886
76	Forces of Nature	IMAX	11 Oct 2004	572,532
77	A Queen Is Crowned	Greater Union	1 Jan 1952	572,000
78	The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich	UIP	1 Jan 1969	571,000
79	Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room	Dendy	13 Oct 2005	565,612
80	Ballets Russes	Hopscotch	18 May 2006	563,159
81	Roar: Lions of the Kalahari	IMAX	17 May 2004	561,693
82	Whales	IMAX	3 Sep 1998	557,954
83	Mystic India	IMAX	9 Feb 2006	540,790
84	The Corporation	Gil Scrine Films	2 Sep 2004	528,729
85	Mad Hot Ballroom	Icon	29 Sep 2005	514,498
86	Man on Wire	Madman	16 Oct 2008	478,751
87	The Fog of War	Columbia Tri-Star	18 Mar 2004	476,164
88	Coral Reef Adventure	IMAX	19 Feb 2004	474,786
89	Billabong Odyssey	Icon	25 Mar 2004	460,184
90	Capitalism: A Love Story	Paramount	5 Nov 2009	448,900
91	Warren Miller’s Coldfusion	Warren Miller	23 May 2002	446,833
92	One Day in September	Dendy	31 Aug 2000	445,691
93	Dave Chappelle’s Block Party	Hopscotch	4 May 2006	433,255
94	Unfolding Florence: The Many Lives of Florence Broadhurst	Dendy	24 Aug 2006	429,243
95	Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag	IMAX	11 Aug 2005	424,612
96	Olympic Glory	IMAX	16 Sep 1999	424,317
97	In the Shadow of the Moon	Madman	6 Mar 2008	402,611
98	Forbidden Lie$	Palace	13 Sep 2007	401,027
99	Valentino: The Last Emperor	Hopscotch	17 Sep 2009	397,850
100	Step Into Liquid	Rialto	15 Jan 2004	393,403

Source: Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia (MPDAA), Nielsen EDI (Australia) and Ronin; compiled by Screen Australia.

Notes:
Australian titles include Australian productions and productions with overseas partners where creative control is shared (i.e. with a mix of Australians in key creative positions).
World Safari 2: Adventure Bound (released 1984) is not included as national box office figures are unavailable.
1. Earnings are in current dollars (i.e. not adjusted for inflation). Cumulative box office, as reported on 7 March 2010 in the MPDAA master report. These figures are updated on an ongoing basis therefore there may be discrepancies with previously published data.