These Films Are the Biggest Oscar Hits and Flops of All Time

Going by a formula that looks at the return on investment (ROI) of each of the Best Picture nominees of the last 10 years, the number crunchers have come up with this comprehensive list.

The surprise number one (and by quite some distance too) is Get Out (2017), one of the favourites for the awards this year. Released less than 12 months ago, Jordan Peele’s social commentary-led horror has raked in a whopping $254.6 million from an initial production spend of just $4.5 million. That makes it not only the most financially rewarding Oscar-nominated film of all time, but also one of the most successful movies ever.

To put that into context, Get Out has made $55.5 for every dollar that was spent in making it. We’re talking Bitcoin-type returns here!

To be fair, the film starring Best Actor nominee Daniel Kaluuya is something of a phenomenon. From very humble beginnings, and no A-list stars to boast of, the movie looked set to be another generic horror film from the trailers. Then audiences started watching it…

Further down the list, you’ll find the all-time box office leader, Avatar (2009) languishing behind the likes of last year’s top duo Moonlight (2016) and La La Land (2016). That’s because even though James Cameron’s blockbusting sci-fi epic made almost $3 billion when it was released in cinemas last decade, it also cost an eye-watering $237 million to make. The total production costs of Avatar are actually more than the costs of all of the other films in the top 15 combined.

Elsewhere, The King’s Speech (2010) is second on the list of most profitable films, although it is only half as profitable as the number one.

Movie
Worldwide Gross ($m)
Budget ($m)
ROI ($ profit/$1 budget)
Get Out
254,600,000
4,500,000
55.58
The King’s Speech
414,200,000
15,000,000
26.61
Black Swan
329,300,000
13,000,000
24.33
Slumdog Millionaire
377,900,000
15,000,000
24.19
The Imitation Game
233,500,000
14,000,000
15.68
Moonlight
65,000,000
4,000,000
15.25
La La Land
446,000,000
30,000,000
13.87
Whiplash
48,900,000
3,300,000
13.82
Avatar
2,780,000,000
237,000,000
10.73
Lion
140,300,000
12,000,000
10.69
Beasts of the Southern Wild
21,000,000
1,800,000
10.67
Silver Linings Playbook
236,400,000
21,100,000
10.20
Boyhood
44,500,000
4,000,000
10.13
Dallas Buyers Club
55,200,000
5,000,000
10.04
The Blind Side
309,200,000
29,000,000
9.66

On the other end of the money-making spectrum are the following movies. It should be noted that Phantom Thread, The Post, The Shape of Water and Darkest Hour are all still currently on release or in the process of being released in certain countries. As such, they are certain to make more money in the coming months.

Bearing that in mind, it’s actually Martin Scorsese’s Hugo (2011) that tops the flops, having made a profit of just three cents for every dollar spent on making it.

Movie
Worldwide Gross ($m)
Budget ($m)
ROI ($ profit/$1 budget)
Phantom Thread
6,900,000
35,000,000
-0.80
Hugo
185,700,000
180,000,000
0.03
Frost/Nixon
27,400,000
25,000,000
0.10
The Post
57,200,000
50,000,000
0.14
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
55,200,000
40,000,000
0.38
The Tree of Life
54,300,000
32,000,000
0.70
The Shape of Water
39,700,000
19,500,000
1.04
Her
47,300,000
23,000,000
1.06
Moneyball
110,200,000
50,000,000
1.20
Amour
19,800,000
8,900,000
1.22
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
333,900,000
150,000,000
1.23
Nebraska
27,600,000
12,000,000
1.30
Mad Max: Fury Road
378,800,000
150,000,000
1.53
Darkest Hour
78,600,000
30,000,000
1.62
Fences
64,400,000
24,000,000
1.68
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