Box Office Performance for Documentary Movies in 2003

Rank	Movie	Release Date	Theatrical Distributor	MPAA Rating	2003 Gross	Tickets Sold
1	Space Station	4/19/2002	IMAX Films	Not Rated	$16,352,556	2,711,867
2	Ghosts of the Abyss	4/11/2003	Walt Disney	G	$15,283,482	2,534,574
3	Winged Migration	4/18/2003	Sony Pictures Classics	G	$10,762,178	1,784,772
4	Tupac Resurrection	11/14/2003	Paramount Pictures	R	$7,707,563	1,278,203
5	Bowling for Columbine	10/11/2002	MGM	R	$6,372,215	1,056,752
6	Spellbound	4/30/2003	ThinkFilm	G	$5,728,431	949,989
7	Bugs!	3/14/2003	SK Films	Not Rated	$4,374,388	725,437
8	The Real Cancun	4/25/2003	New Line	R	$3,816,594	632,934
9	Step Into Liquid	8/8/2003	Artisan	PG	$3,672,451	609,030
10	Capturing the Friedmans	5/30/2003	Magnolia Pictures	Not Rated	$3,117,985	517,079
11	DysFunkTional Family	4/4/2003	Miramax	R	$2,255,000	373,964
12	Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure	2/9/2001	WGBH Giant-Screen Films	Not Rated	$1,874,005	310,780
13	Lost in La Mancha	1/31/2003	IFC Films	R	$727,733	120,685
14	Shanghai Ghetto	9/27/2002	Menemsha Entertainment	Not Rated	$682,483	113,181
15	Mark Twain's America 3D	7/3/1998	Sony Pictures Classics	G	$620,689	102,933
16	To Be and To Have	9/17/2003	New Yorker	Not Rated	$545,153	90,407
17	Weather Underground	6/6/2003	Shadow	Not Rated	$500,877	83,064
18	Thrill Ride: The Science of Fun	7/11/1997	Sony Pictures Classics	G	$482,900	80,083
19	Amandla! A Revolution in Four Part Harmony	2/21/2003	Artisan	PG-13	$398,981	66,166
20	Galapagos	10/29/1999	IMAX Films	Not Rated	$391,051	64,851
21	Standing in the Shadows of Motown	11/15/2002	Artisan	PG	$381,486	63,265
22	Im Toten Winkel - Hitlers Sekret�rin	1/24/2003	Sony Pictures Classics	PG	$376,886	62,502
23	Tibet - Cry of the Snow Lion	9/19/2003	Artistic License	Not Rated	$375,249	62,230
24	My Architect	11/14/2003	New Yorker	Not Rated	$366,039	60,703
25	The Fog of War	12/19/2003	Sony Pictures Classics	PG-13	$276,427	45,842
26	Bonhoeffer	6/20/2003	First Run Features	Not Rated	$271,237	44,981
27	The Girl Next Door	4/14/2000	Indican Pictures	R	$256,477	42,533
28	The Trials of Henry Kissinger	9/25/2002	First Run Features	Not Rated	$175,600	29,121
29	Ônibus 174	10/8/2003	ThinkFilm	R	$167,340	27,751
30	Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns	5/23/2003		Not Rated	$160,621	26,637
31	Billabong Odyssey	11/7/2003		PG	$155,500	25,788
32	Extreme	3/23/1999	IMAX Films	Not Rated	$121,923	20,219
33	Fellini: I�m a Born Liar (Fellini: Sono un Gran Bugiardo)	4/2/2003		Not Rated	$106,080	17,592
34	Stevie	3/28/2003		R	$97,044	16,094
35	Only the Strong Survive	5/9/2003	Miramax	PG-13	$57,322	9,506
36	A Decade Under the Influence	4/25/2003		R	$34,514	5,724
37	Girlhood	10/31/2003		Not Rated	$28,767	4,771
38	Beyond Vanilla	5/9/2003	Strand	Not Rated	$27,396	4,543
39	7th Street	1/17/2003		Not Rated	$15,629	2,592
40	Venus Boyz	8/22/2003	First Run Features	Not Rated	$15,171	2,516
41	Hybrid	5/10/2002	Indican Pictures	Not Rated	$12,035	1,996
42	Cinemania	5/16/2003	WellSpring	Not Rated	$11,305	1,875
43	American Storytellers	11/7/2003	Indican Pictures	Not Rated	$7,736	1,283
44	The Backyard	8/29/2003		Not Rated	$3,200	531
45	The Ballad of Bering Strait	2/19/2003	Emerging Pictures	Not Rated	$1,440	239
Total Gross of All Movies					$89,169,139
Total Tickets Sold						14,787,585

Note: This chart ranks movies by the amount they earned during 2003. It includes movies released in previous years that earned money during 2003. For example, a movie released over Thanksgiving in 2010 will most likely earn money in 2010 and 2011. Click on the individual movie to see its total gross over all the years in which it played.

Each box office year ends on the first Sunday of the following year. The next year starts the following day (Monday). For example, the "2004 box office year" ended on Sunday, January 2, 2005.

Inflation-adjusted figures are based ticket sale estimates, and may not be precise due to rounding errors.