Box Office Performance for Documentary Movies in 2006

Rank	Movie	Release Date	Theatrical Distributor	MPAA Rating	2006 Gross	Tickets Sold
1	An Inconvenient Truth	5/24/2006	Paramount Vantage	PG	$23,814,997	3,635,877
2	Deep Sea 3-D	3/3/2006	Warner Bros.	G	$21,973,886	3,354,792
3	Dave Chappelle's Block Party	3/3/2006	Focus Features	R	$11,694,528	1,785,424
4	Magnificent Desolation	9/23/2005	IMAX Films	Not Rated	$10,605,930	1,619,226
5	Wild Safari 3D	4/8/2005	nWave Pictures	Not Rated	$5,790,595	884,060
6	Roving Mars	1/27/2006	Walt Disney	G	$5,488,881	837,997
7	Wordplay	6/16/2006	IFC Films	PG	$3,119,555	476,268
8	Why We Fight	1/20/2006	Sony Pictures Classics	PG-13	$1,880,863	287,155
9	Who Killed the Electric Car?	6/28/2006	Sony Pictures Classics	PG	$1,678,874	256,317
10	Bugs!	3/14/2003	SK Films	Not Rated	$1,619,294	247,220
11	Aliens of the Deep	1/28/2005	Walt Disney	G	$1,205,006	183,970
12	Galapagos	10/29/1999	IMAX Films	Not Rated	$1,131,289	172,716
13	Shut Up and Sing	10/27/2006	Weinstein Co.	R	$1,120,005	170,993
14	The U.S. vs John Lennon	9/15/2006	Lionsgate	PG-13	$1,109,146	169,335
15	Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man	6/21/2006	Lionsgate	PG-13	$1,044,254	159,428
16	Space Station	4/19/2002	IMAX Films	Not Rated	$1,029,457	157,169
17	Jesus Camp	9/15/2006	Magnolia Pictures	PG-13	$872,899	133,267
18	The Heart of the Game	6/9/2006	Miramax	PG-13	$444,687	67,891
19	Sketches of Frank Gehry	5/12/2006	Sony Pictures Classics	PG-13	$439,309	67,070
20	Ballets Russes	10/28/2005	Zeitgeist	Not Rated	$360,435	55,028
21	The Devil and Daniel Johnston	3/31/2006	Sony Pictures Classics	PG-13	$334,450	51,061
22	This Film is Not Yet Rated	9/1/2006	IFC Films	Not Rated	$306,845	46,847
23	The Boys of Baraka	12/2/2005	ThinkFilm	R	$273,819	41,804
24	American Hardcore	9/22/2006	Sony Pictures Classics	R	$265,992	40,609
25	The War Tapes	6/2/2006	Senart/Scranton-Lacy	Not Rated	$254,190	38,808
26	49 Up	10/6/2006	First Run Features	Not Rated	$240,215	36,674
27	The Beauty Academy of Kabul	3/24/2006	Shadow	Not Rated	$225,448	34,420
28	Deliver Us From Evil	10/13/2006	Lionsgate	Not Rated	$201,275	30,729
29	Our Brand is Crisis	3/3/2006	Koch Lorber Films	Not Rated	$166,750	25,458
30	Gay Sex in the 70's	11/4/2005	Lovett	Not Rated	$156,979	23,966
31	Cocaine Cowboys	10/27/2006	Magnolia Pictures	R	$150,056	22,909
32	Once in a Lifetime: the Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos	7/7/2006	Miramax	PG-13	$144,601	22,076
33	What the Bleep?: Down the Rabbit Hole	2/3/2006	IDP/Goldwyn/Roadside	Not Rated	$135,706	20,718
34	Stolen	4/21/2006	International Film Circuit	Not Rated	$132,596	20,244
35	Unknown White Male	2/24/2006	WellSpring	PG-13	$124,414	18,995
36	Sir! No Sir!	4/7/2006	Balcony Releasing	Not Rated	$116,944	17,854
37	Darwin's Nightmare	8/5/2005	International Film Circuit	Not Rated	$106,032	16,188
38	Al Franken: God Spoke	9/13/2006	Balcony Releasing	Not Rated	$102,990	15,724
39	America: Freedom to Fascism	7/28/2006	Cinema Libre	Not Rated	$87,400	13,344
40	51 Birch Street	10/18/2006	Truly Indie	Not Rated	$84,689	12,930
41	After Innocence	10/21/2005	New Yorker	Not Rated	$78,076	11,920
42	Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul	6/9/2006	Strand	Not Rated	$70,685	10,792
43	Iraq in Fragments	11/8/2006	Typecast Releasing	Not Rated	$68,223	10,416
44	Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes van Zandt	12/2/2005	Palm Pictures	Not Rated	$66,827	10,203
45	Absolute Wilson	10/27/2006	New Yorker	Not Rated	$54,176	8,271
46	Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea	2/24/2006	Tilapia Film	Not Rated	$53,471	8,164
47	Shakespeare Behind Bars	3/10/2006	International Film Circuit	Not Rated	$48,594	7,419
48	Tibet: A Buddhist Trilogy	3/31/2006	Thread Cross Films	Not Rated	$45,171	6,896
49	New York Doll	10/28/2005	First Independent Pictures	PG-13	$43,405	6,627
50	Touch the Sound	9/9/2005	Shadow	Not Rated	$40,004	6,107
51	Rape of the Soul	3/17/2006	Slowhand Cinema	R	$39,975	6,103
52	Been Rich All My Life	7/21/2006	First Run Features	Not Rated	$36,406	5,558
53	Bubot Niyar	9/6/2006	Strand	Not Rated	$36,089	5,510
54	My Country My Country	8/4/2006	Zeitgeist	Not Rated	$33,620	5,133
55	Sisters in Law	4/12/2006	Women Make Movies	Not Rated	$33,312	5,086
56	The Untold story of Emmett Till	8/19/2005	ThinkFilm	Not Rated	$30,565	4,666
57	Excellent Cadavers	7/14/2006	First Run/Icarus	Not Rated	$30,296	4,625
58	Who Gets to Call It Art?	2/3/2006	Palm Pictures	Not Rated	$27,344	4,175
59	Trudell	2/3/2006	Balcony Releasing	Not Rated	$25,645	3,915
60	Henri Cartier-Bresson - Biographie eines Blicks	1/13/2006	Palm Pictures	Not Rated	$25,347	3,870
61	Wrestling with Angels	10/4/2006	Balcony Releasing	Not Rated	$24,729	3,775
62	Islam: What the West Needs to Know	7/7/2006	Quixotic Media	Not Rated	$22,938	3,502
63	F*ck	11/10/2006	ThinkFilm	Not Rated	$22,359	3,414
64	Giuliani Time	5/12/2006	Cinema Libre	Not Rated	$21,967	3,354
65	The Ground Truth: After the Killing Ends	9/15/2006	Focus Features	R	$20,013	3,055
66	Suicide Killers	8/25/2006	City Lights Pictures	Not Rated	$18,239	2,785
67	The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill	2/11/2005	Shadow	G	$16,638	2,540
68	So Much So Fast	10/11/2006	Balcony Releasing	Not Rated	$16,411	2,505
69	Protocols of Zion	10/21/2005	ThinkFilm	Not Rated	$16,303	2,489
70	Through the Fire	2/10/2006	Cinema Libre	Not Rated	$14,769	2,255
71	Who the #$^% is Jackson Pollock?	11/15/2006	Picturehouse	Not Rated	$13,710	2,093
72	Devil's Miner	3/17/2006	First Run Features	Not Rated	$13,677	2,088
73	I Trust You To Kill Me	9/8/2006	First Independent Pictures	R	$12,854	1,962
74	Words of My Perfect Teacher	12/22/2006	IFC Films	Not Rated	$12,653	1,932
75	Music from the Inside Out	4/22/2005	Emerging Pictures	Not Rated	$11,901	1,817
76	Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story	11/24/2006	Safari Media, LLC	Not Rated	$11,836	1,807
77	So Goes the Nation	10/4/2006	IFC Films	Not Rated	$10,337	1,578
78	Romántico	11/1/2006	Kino International	Not Rated	$9,598	1,465
79	Salvadore Allende	9/8/2006	First Run/Icarus	Not Rated	$7,820	1,194
80	Favela Rising	6/2/2006	Mochary Films	Not Rated	$7,768	1,186
81	Kill Your Idols	7/7/2006	Palm Pictures	Not Rated	$7,753	1,184
82	Saint of 9/11	9/6/2006	IFC Films	Not Rated	$7,137	1,090
83	The Case of the Grinning Cat	7/21/2006	First Run/Icarus	Not Rated	$7,033	1,074
84	Searching for Wrong-Eyed Jesus	7/13/2005	Shadow	Not Rated	$6,907	1,055
85	Das Goebbels-Experiment	8/12/2005	First Run Features	Not Rated	$6,400	977
86	King Leopold's Ghost	8/18/2006	Aloha Releasing	PG-13	$5,194	793
87	Matthew Barney: No Restraint	12/20/2006	IFC First Take	Not Rated	$5,057	772
88	Street Fight	2/22/2006	Frontier	Not Rated	$4,779	730
89	The Fall of Fujimori	5/5/2006	Cinema Libre	Not Rated	$4,630	707
90	Cowboy Del Amor	2/10/2006	Emerging Pictures	Not Rated	$4,438	678
91	Out of Place: Memories of Edward Said	10/13/2006	First Run/Icarus	Not Rated	$3,897	595
92	The Cult of the Suicide Bomber	6/2/2006	The Disinformation Co.	Not Rated	$3,609	551
93	39 Pounds of Love	11/23/2005	Balcony Releasing	Not Rated	$2,658	406
94	Mardi Gras: Made in China	3/24/2006	Carnivalesque Films	Not Rated	$2,500	382
95	Blossoms of Fire	2/3/2006	New Yorker	Not Rated	$2,390	365
96	Workingman's Death	2/24/2006	Seventh Art Releasing	Not Rated	$2,214	338
97	95 Miles to Go	4/7/2006	ThinkFilm	R	$2,203	336
98	Commune	5/5/2006	Five Points Media	Not Rated	$2,055	314
99	Herbie Hancock: Possibilities	4/14/2006	Magnolia Pictures	Not Rated	$1,772	271
100	The Big Question	3/17/2006	ThinkFilm	PG-13	$1,609	246
101	Reel Paradise	8/19/2005	WellSpring	R	$1,515	231
102	The Ister	2/10/2006	First Run/Icarus	Not Rated	$1,124	172
103	The Empire in Africa	12/8/2006	Cinema Libre	Not Rated	$1,088	166
104	Aristide and the Endless Revolution	11/24/2005	First Run Features	Not Rated	$772	118
Total Gross of All Movies					$101,317,766
Total Tickets Sold						15,468,364

Note: This chart ranks movies by the amount they earned during 2006. It includes movies released in previous years that earned money during 2006. 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.

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