Box Office Performance for Documentary Movies in 2004

Rank	Movie	Release Date	Theatrical Distributor	MPAA Rating	2004 Gross	Tickets Sold
1	Fahrenheit 9/11	6/23/2004	Lionsgate	R	$119,078,393	19,175,265
2	NASCAR: The IMAX Experience	3/12/2004	Warner Bros.	PG	$19,558,397	3,149,500
3	Super Size Me	5/7/2004	IDP Distribution	PG-13	$11,529,368	1,856,581
4	What the #$'! Do We Know	2/6/2004	Captured Light	Not Rated	$10,091,903	1,625,105
5	Space Station	4/19/2002	IMAX Films	Not Rated	$9,598,551	1,545,660
6	Bugs!	3/14/2003	SK Films	Not Rated	$9,528,407	1,534,365
7	To Be and To Have	9/17/2003	New Yorker	Not Rated	$7,065,318	1,137,732
8	Touching the Void	1/23/2004	IFC Films	R	$4,581,222	737,717
9	The Fog of War	12/19/2003	Sony Pictures Classics	PG-13	$3,917,516	630,840
10	Control Room	5/21/2004	Magnolia Pictures	Not Rated	$2,586,511	416,507
11	My Architect	11/14/2003	New Yorker	Not Rated	$2,382,942	383,727
12	Riding Giants	7/9/2004	Sony Pictures	PG-13	$2,276,368	366,565
13	The Corporation	6/4/2004	Zeitgeist	Not Rated	$1,879,301	302,625
14	The Story of the Weeping Camel	6/4/2004	ThinkFilm	PG	$1,742,832	280,649
15	Ghosts of the Abyss	4/11/2003	Walt Disney	G	$1,322,679	212,992
16	Metallica: Some Kind of Monster	7/9/2004	IFC Films	Not Rated	$1,222,708	196,893
17	Fade to Black	11/5/2004	Paramount Vantage	R	$728,802	117,359
18	Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry	10/1/2004	ThinkFilm	PG-13	$613,252	98,752
19	Tarnation	10/6/2004	WellSpring	Not Rated	$478,112	76,991
20	Outfoxed - Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism	8/6/2004	Cinema Libre	Not Rated	$405,900	65,362
21	Still, We Believe: The Boston Red Sox Movie	5/7/2004	ThinkFilm	Not Rated	$395,362	63,665
22	End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones	8/20/2004	Magnolia Pictures	Not Rated	$391,950	63,116
23	The Hunting of the President	6/11/2004	Regent Releasing	Not Rated	$376,552	60,636
24	Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There	6/11/2004	First Independent/Dada Films	Not Rated	$341,493	54,991
25	America's Heart and Soul	7/2/2004	Walt Disney	Not Rated	$314,000	50,564
26	Bukowski: Born Into This	5/28/2004	Magnolia Pictures	R	$311,431	50,150
27	Galapagos	10/29/1999	IMAX Films	Not Rated	$305,814	49,245
28	Mayor of Sunset Strip	3/26/2004	First Look	Not Rated	$257,315	41,436
29	This Old Cub	3/26/2004	Emerging Pictures	Not Rated	$253,531	40,826
30	The Agronomist	4/23/2004	ThinkFilm	PG-13	$226,189	36,423
31	Tibet - Cry of the Snow Lion	9/19/2003	Artistic License	Not Rated	$202,592	32,624
32	Imelda	6/11/2004	Unico Entertainment	Not Rated	$200,752	32,327
33	Yes Men	9/24/2004	MGM	R	$198,975	32,041
34	Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War	8/13/2004	Cinema Libre	Not Rated	$190,424	30,664
35	Lost Boys of Sudan	2/20/2004	Shadow	Not Rated	$182,839	29,443
36	Bush's Brain	8/20/2004	Vitagraph Films	PG-13	$176,610	28,440
37	The Five Obstructions	5/28/2004	Koch Lorber Films	Not Rated	$150,966	24,310
38	Lightning in a Bottle	10/22/2004	Sony Pictures Classics	PG-13	$136,367	21,959
39	Dig	10/1/2004	Palm/Manga	Not Rated	$127,067	20,462
40	Howard Zinn	6/18/2004	First Run Features	Not Rated	$116,230	18,717
41	In the Face of Evil	10/1/2004	Non Fiction Films	PG-13	$110,577	17,806
42	Yves St. Laurent	1/7/2004	Empire Pictures	Not Rated	$97,092	15,635
43	Carlos Castaneda: Enigma of a Sorcerer	3/5/2004	Indican Pictures	Not Rated	$94,848	15,273
44	Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer	1/9/2004	Lantern Lane Entertainment	R	$85,992	13,847
45	Word Wars	5/28/2004	Seventh Art Releasing	Not Rated	$76,481	12,316
46	Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst	11/26/2004	Magnolia Pictures	Not Rated	$72,933	11,744
47	In the Realms of the Unreal	12/24/2004	WellSpring	Not Rated	$70,465	11,347
48	Short Cut to Nirvana: Kumbh Mela	10/22/2004	Mela Films	Not Rated	$69,084	11,125
49	Weather Underground	6/6/2003	Shadow	Not Rated	$63,755	10,267
50	Bright Leaves	8/27/2004	First Run Features	Not Rated	$62,473	10,060
51	Proteus	8/5/2005	Strand	R	$61,858	9,961
52	Voices From Iraq	10/29/2004	Magnolia Pictures	Not Rated	$57,102	9,195
53	Divan	3/19/2004	Zeitgeist	Not Rated	$56,214	9,052
54	Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids	12/8/2004	ThinkFilm	R	$55,045	8,864
55	Hiding and Seeking	2/6/2004	First Run Features	Not Rated	$51,091	8,227
56	Ônibus 174	10/8/2003	ThinkFilm	R	$48,818	7,861
57	This So-Called Disaster	4/21/2004	IFC Films	Not Rated	$45,195	7,278
58	Paperclips	11/24/2004	Slowhand Cinema	G	$42,311	6,813
59	Tom Dowd and the Language of Music	8/13/2004	Palm/Manga	Not Rated	$40,238	6,480
60	Power Trip	3/12/2004	Artistic License	Not Rated	$38,593	6,215
61	Tying the Knot	10/1/2004	IDP Distribution	Not Rated	$37,464	6,033
62	Incident at Loch Ness	9/17/2004	Eden Rock/Abramorama	PG-13	$36,830	5,931
63	Beyond the Gates of Splendor	11/5/2004	Every Tribe Entertainment	PG-13	$36,412	5,863
64	Maestro	3/12/2004		Not Rated	$25,315	4,076
65	Bonhoeffer	6/20/2003	First Run Features	Not Rated	$24,944	4,017
66	WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception	12/3/2004	Cinema Libre	Not Rated	$21,841	3,517
67	S-21: The Khmer Rouge Death Machine	5/19/2004	First Run Features	Not Rated	$21,678	3,491
68	Orwell Rolls in His Grave	7/23/2004	Sky Harbor Basement	Not Rated	$19,257	3,101
69	Faster	4/23/2004	Slamdance on the Road	PG-13	$16,265	2,619
70	People Say I'm Crazy	4/30/2004	Palo Alto Pictures	Not Rated	$15,679	2,525
71	American Storytellers	11/7/2003	Indican Pictures	Not Rated	$15,642	2,519
72	A Letter to True	9/8/2004	Zeitgeist	Not Rated	$13,835	2,228
73	Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme	7/16/2004	Palm/Manga	Not Rated	$11,255	1,812
74	Let's Get Frank	7/14/2004	Random Productions	Not Rated	$9,385	1,511
75	Girlhood	10/31/2003		Not Rated	$9,060	1,459
76	Cuba: Island of Music	1/16/2004	Cinema Four	Not Rated	$8,806	1,418
77	I'll Sing for You	3/26/2004	First Run Features	Not Rated	$8,798	1,417
78	With All Deliberate Speed	5/14/2004	CameraPlanet/Discovery	Not Rated	$4,920	792
79	Brothers in Arms	8/27/2004	First Run Features	Not Rated	$3,270	527
80	Venus Boyz	8/22/2003	First Run Features	Not Rated	$3,230	520
81	The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg	8/20/2004	New Yorker	Not Rated	$2,668	430
82	Moog	9/24/2004	Plexifilm	Not Rated	$2,227	359
83	Still, the Children are Here	11/5/2004	First Run/Icarus	Not Rated	$2,210	356
84	Saints and Sinners	6/18/2004	Avatar	Not Rated	$2,167	349
85	Jesus, You Know	12/3/2004	Leisure Time Features	Not Rated	$604	97
Total Gross of All Movies					$217,098,868
Total Tickets Sold						34,959,559

Note: This chart ranks movies by the amount they earned during 2004. It includes movies released in previous years that earned money during 2004. 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.