The highest-grossing documentaries of all time
The top 3 according to 300 votes from people: Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009) · Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets (1984) · Antarctica (1983). (Updated Jan 10, 2026.)
Michael Jackson's This Is It, Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets, Fahrenheit 9/11, March of the Penguins and the big IMAX documentaries: the documentaries with the biggest box office ever, according to Wikipedia's list (May 2025).
Automatically translated (original in Español). See the original
Top 20
-
1
Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009)
$267,983,588 gross.
-
2
Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets (1984)
$239,000,000 gross (IMAX film).
-
3
Antarctica (1983)
$103,000,000 gross.
-
4
Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
$222,446,882 gross.
-
5
Oceans (2009)
$86,787,530 gross.
-
6
In Search of Noah's Ark (1976)
$55,700,000 gross.
-
7
March of the Penguins (La Marche de l'empereur) (2005)
$133,276,359 gross.
-
8
Space Station 3D (2002)
$128,363,881 gross (IMAX film).
-
9
Hubble (2010)
$74,249,729 gross (IMAX film).
-
10
Everest (1998)
$127,990,128 gross (IMAX film).
-
11
To Fly! (1976)
$120,700,000 gross (IMAX film).
-
12
Earth (2009)
$108,975,160 gross.
-
13
Deep Sea 3D (2006)
$105,779,761 gross (IMAX film).
-
14
The Living Sea (1995)
$64,800,000 gross (IMAX film).
-
15
The Dream Is Alive (1985)
$70,000,000 gross (IMAX film).
-
16
To the Limit (1989)
$53,000,000 gross (IMAX film).
-
17
Antarctica (1991)
$66,070,389 gross (IMAX film).
-
18
Amazing China (Li hai le, wo de guo) (2018)
$72,506,344 gross.
-
19
Dolphins (2000)
$69,600,000 gross (IMAX film).
-
20
Bowling for Columbine (2002)
$58,008,423 gross.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
Is something missing?
Comments (2)
No sabía que los documentales IMAX de museo de ciencias recaudaban tanto. El del Gran Cañón de 1984 segundo, increíble.
Fahrenheit 9/11 sigue siendo el documental político más visto de la historia, y de lejos.