Box Office Performance for Documentary Movies in 2005

Rank	Movie	Release Date	Theatrical Distributor	MPAA Rating	2005 Gross	Tickets Sold
1	La marche de l'empereur	7/22/2005	Warner Independent	G	$77,413,017	12,076,914
2	Sharks 3D	1/28/2005	3D Entertainment	Not Rated	$8,500,000	1,326,053
3	Space Station	4/19/2002	IMAX Films	Not Rated	$8,157,018	1,272,546
4	Mad Hot Ballroom	5/13/2005	Paramount Vantage	PG	$8,045,515	1,255,151
5	Aliens of the Deep	1/28/2005	Walt Disney	G	$7,541,784	1,176,565
6	Wild Safari 3D	4/8/2005	nWave Pictures	Not Rated	$6,657,557	1,038,620
7	Magnificent Desolation	9/23/2005	IMAX Films	Not Rated	$6,034,219	941,376
8	Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room	4/22/2005	Magnolia Pictures	Not Rated	$4,064,421	634,075
9	Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids	12/8/2004	ThinkFilm	R	$3,355,818	523,529
10	Rize	6/24/2005	Lionsgate	PG-13	$3,278,611	511,484
11	Grizzly Man	8/12/2005	Lionsgate	R	$3,174,085	495,177
12	The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill	2/11/2005	Shadow	G	$3,041,591	474,507
13	Bugs!	3/14/2003	SK Films	Not Rated	$2,757,946	430,257
14	NASCAR: The IMAX Experience	3/12/2004	Warner Bros.	PG	$1,991,838	310,739
15	Murderball	7/8/2005	ThinkFilm	PG-13	$1,523,883	237,735
16	Paperclips	11/24/2004	Slowhand Cinema	G	$1,079,433	168,398
17	Galapagos	10/29/1999	IMAX Films	Not Rated	$946,520	147,663
18	What the #$'! Do We Know	2/6/2004	Captured Light	Not Rated	$849,898	132,589
19	First Descent	12/2/2005	Universal	PG-13	$739,690	115,396
20	Inside Deep Throat	2/11/2005	Universal	NC-17	$653,621	101,969
21	Dust to Glory	4/1/2005	IFC Films	PG	$639,990	99,842
22	Gunner Palace	3/4/2005	Palm Pictures	PG	$607,502	94,774
23	Ghosts of the Abyss	4/11/2003	Walt Disney	G	$487,507	76,054
24	Ballets Russes	10/28/2005	Zeitgeist	Not Rated	$455,413	71,047
25	In the Realms of the Unreal	12/24/2004	WellSpring	Not Rated	$343,243	53,548
26	Short Cut to Nirvana: Kumbh Mela	10/22/2004	Mela Films	Not Rated	$312,141	48,696
27	Watermarks	1/21/2005	Kino International	Not Rated	$245,845	38,353
28	Mondovino	3/23/2005	ThinkFilm	PG-13	$209,618	32,702
29	New York Doll	10/28/2005	First Independent Pictures	PG-13	$176,056	27,466
30	The Untold story of Emmett Till	8/19/2005	ThinkFilm	Not Rated	$171,916	26,820
31	Protocols of Zion	10/21/2005	ThinkFilm	Not Rated	$161,558	25,204
32	Touch the Sound	9/9/2005	Shadow	Not Rated	$136,047	21,224
33	Deep Blue	6/3/2005	Miramax	G	$129,854	20,258
34	Music from the Inside Out	4/22/2005	Emerging Pictures	Not Rated	$124,693	19,453
35	My Date With Drew	8/5/2005	DEJ Productions	PG	$121,534	18,960
36	Tarnation	10/6/2004	WellSpring	Not Rated	$113,902	17,769
37	Darwin's Nightmare	8/5/2005	International Film Circuit	Not Rated	$97,614	15,228
38	Gay Sex in the 70's	11/4/2005	Lovett	Not Rated	$85,625	13,358
39	The Future of Food	9/14/2005	Cinema Libre	Not Rated	$81,280	12,680
40	The Nomi Song	2/4/2005	Palm Pictures	Not Rated	$74,216	11,578
41	Searching for Wrong-Eyed Jesus	7/13/2005	Shadow	Not Rated	$70,308	10,968
42	Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Romeo Dallaire	5/13/2005	California Newsreel	R	$67,100	10,468
43	Lightning in a Bottle	10/22/2004	Sony Pictures Classics	PG-13	$65,207	10,173
44	Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes van Zandt	12/2/2005	Palm Pictures	Not Rated	$62,597	9,766
45	Rock School	6/3/2005	Picturehouse	R	$58,241	9,086
46	The Boys of Baraka	12/2/2005	ThinkFilm	R	$48,567	7,577
47	William Eggleston in the Real World	9/2/2005	Palm Pictures	Not Rated	$44,435	6,932
48	A State of Mind	8/12/2005	Kino International	Not Rated	$41,468	6,469
49	Das Goebbels-Experiment	8/12/2005	First Run Features	Not Rated	$40,811	6,367
50	Tell Them Who You Are	5/13/2005	ThinkFilm	R	$38,580	6,019
51	After Innocence	10/21/2005	New Yorker	Not Rated	$36,004	5,617
52	The Year of Yao	4/15/2005	Fine Line	PG	$34,699	5,413
53	Reel Paradise	8/19/2005	WellSpring	R	$29,720	4,637
54	Naked Fame	2/18/2005	Regent Releasing	Not Rated	$29,128	4,544
55	Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst	11/26/2004	Magnolia Pictures	Not Rated	$28,506	4,447
56	Lipstick & Dynamite	3/25/2005	Koch Lorber Films	Not Rated	$26,073	4,068
57	39 Pounds of Love	11/23/2005	Balcony Releasing	Not Rated	$25,467	3,973
58	Emmanuel's Gift	10/21/2005	First Look	G	$23,578	3,678
59	Voices in Wartime	4/15/2005	Cinema Libre	Not Rated	$20,702	3,230
60	The Last Dispatch	7/29/2005	Fabrication Films	Not Rated	$20,684	3,227
61	Three of Hearts	10/21/2005	ThinkFilm	R	$19,738	3,079
62	Zizek!	11/18/2005	Zeitgeist	Not Rated	$19,561	3,052
63	A League of Ordinary Gentlemen	5/27/2005	Magnolia Pictures	R	$18,326	2,859
64	The 3 Rooms of Melancholia	7/27/2005	First Run/Icarus	Not Rated	$16,080	2,509
65	The Last Mogul: Life and Times of Lew Wasserman	6/24/2005	ThinkFilm	PG-13	$15,655	2,442
66	Genesis	5/27/2005	ThinkFilm	G	$15,586	2,432
67	One Bright Shining Moment	9/16/2005	First Run Features	Not Rated	$15,504	2,419
68	Bright Leaves	8/27/2004	First Run Features	Not Rated	$15,415	2,405
69	Wall	8/26/2005	Lifesize Entertainment	Not Rated	$13,913	2,171
70	Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There	6/11/2004	First Independent/Dada Films	Not Rated	$11,917	1,859
71	Up For Grabs	5/6/2005	Laemmle/Zeller Film	Not Rated	$10,907	1,702
72	Sunset Story	2/25/2005	Vitagraph Films	Not Rated	$8,802	1,373
73	Twist of Faith	7/1/2005	Artistic License	Not Rated	$8,129	1,268
74	Writer of O	5/6/2005	Zeitgeist	Not Rated	$8,127	1,268
75	Occupation: Dreamland	9/23/2005	Rumur	Not Rated	$8,018	1,251
76	A Decent Factory	6/29/2005	First Run/Icarus	Not Rated	$6,395	998
77	Aristide and the Endless Revolution	11/24/2005	First Run Features	Not Rated	$6,226	971
78	The Grace Lee Project	12/16/2005	Women Make Movies	Not Rated	$5,965	931
79	WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception	12/3/2004	Cinema Libre	Not Rated	$5,460	852
80	Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land	1/28/2005	Arab Film Distribution	Not Rated	$4,930	769
81	McLibel	6/10/2005	Cinema Libre	Not Rated	$4,337	677
82	Howard Zinn	6/18/2004	First Run Features	Not Rated	$4,020	627
83	Sacred Stage	10/7/2005	First Run Features	Not Rated	$3,927	613
84	Two by Scorsese	1/21/2005	Kino International	Not Rated	$3,845	600
85	The Aggressives	10/7/2005	Seventh Art Releasing	Not Rated	$3,769	588
86	This Divided State	7/22/2005	Minority Films	Not Rated	$3,724	581
87	Congo: White King, Red Rubber, Black Death	10/21/2005	ArtMattan Productions	Not Rated	$3,238	505
88	Stolen Childhoods	5/20/2005	Balcony Releasing	Not Rated	$2,996	467
89	The Optimists	10/21/2005	Castle Hill Productions	Not Rated	$2,377	371
90	With God on Our Side	1/19/2005	Lumiere Productions	Not Rated	$1,806	282
91	Making Grace	7/22/2005	First Run Features	Not Rated	$1,496	233
92	Return to the Land of Wonders	7/13/2005	Arab Film Distribution	Not Rated	$1,338	209
93	Carlos Castaneda: Enigma of a Sorcerer	3/5/2004	Indican Pictures	Not Rated	$1,312	205
94	The Letter: An American Town and the 'Somali Invasion'	2/9/2005	Arab Film Distribution	Not Rated	$1,058	165
95	Monumental: David Broners Fight for Wild America	7/22/2005	First Run Features	Not Rated	$842	131
96	Proteus	8/5/2005	Strand	R	$815	127
Total Gross of All Movies					$155,669,448
Total Tickets Sold						24,285,407

Note: This chart ranks movies by the amount they earned during 2005. It includes movies released in previous years that earned money during 2005. 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.