The Best Picture winners of the 2000s
The top 3 according to 52 votes from people: Gladiator · The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King · A Beautiful Mind. (Updated May 29, 2026.)
The ten films released between 2000 and 2009 that won the Academy Award for Best Picture, from Gladiator to The Hurt Locker.
Top 10
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1
Gladiator
Ridley Scott, 2000. Russell Crowe as Maximus, general turned gladiator.
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2
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Peter Jackson, 2003. Eleven Oscars out of eleven nominations, tying the record.
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3
A Beautiful Mind
Ron Howard, 2001. Russell Crowe as mathematician John Nash.
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4
Chicago
Rob Marshall, 2002. The first musical to win since Oliver! in 1968.
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5
Million Dollar Baby
Clint Eastwood, 2004. Hilary Swank as a boxer trained by Eastwood.
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6
Crash
Paul Haggis, 2004. Intersecting stories about race in Los Angeles; a famous upset over Brokeback Mountain.
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7
The Hurt Locker
Kathryn Bigelow, 2008. A bomb-disposal unit in Iraq; Bigelow was the first woman to win Best Director.
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8
No Country for Old Men
Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007. Javier Bardem's Anton Chigurh.
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9
The Departed
Martin Scorsese, 2006. Moles in the Boston police and mob; Scorsese's long-awaited win.
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10
Slumdog Millionaire
Danny Boyle, 2008. A Mumbai teenager on a quiz show; eight Oscars.
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)
Crash beating Brokeback Mountain still makes people angry 😅
Return of the King winning 11 Oscars, a clean sweep.