Box Office Performance for Documentary Movies in 2011

Rank	Movie	Release Date	Theatrical Distributor	MPAA Rating	2011 Gross	Tickets Sold
1	African Cats	4/22/2011	Walt Disney	G	$15,428,747	1,945,618
2	Born to be Wild 3D	4/8/2011	Warner Bros.	G	$15,183,665	1,914,712
3	Hubble 3D	3/19/2010	Warner Bros.	G	$9,936,258	1,252,996
4	Cave of Forgotten Dreams	4/29/2011	IFC Films	G	$5,304,920	668,968
5	Under the Sea 3D	2/13/2009	Warner Bros.	G	$4,948,586	624,034
6	Buck	6/17/2011	IFC Films	PG	$4,036,175	508,975
7	Space Station	4/19/2002	IMAX Films	Not Rated	$2,167,258	273,299
8	Senna	8/12/2011	Universal	PG	$1,612,430	203,333
9	Bill Cunningham New York	3/16/2011	Zeitgeist	Not Rated	$1,510,026	190,419
10	Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest	7/8/2011	Sony Pictures Classics	R	$1,200,046	151,330
11	Page One: Inside the New York Times	6/17/2011	Magnolia Pictures	R	$1,067,028	134,556
12	Inside Job	10/8/2010	Sony Pictures Classics	PG-13	$859,817	108,426
13	Tabloid!	7/15/2011	IFC Films	R	$696,921	87,884
14	POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold	4/22/2011	Sony Pictures Classics	PG-13	$638,476	80,514
15	The Last Lions	2/18/2011	National Geographic Entertainment	PG	$635,325	80,117
16	Deep Sea 3-D	3/3/2006	Warner Bros.	G	$524,144	66,096
17	Project Nim	7/8/2011	Roadside Attractions	PG-13	$411,184	51,852
18	Turtle: The Incredible Journey	6/24/2011	Hannover House	G	$391,942	49,425
19	Conan O'Brien Can't Stop	6/24/2011	Abramorama Films	R	$267,965	33,791
20	Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure	10/5/2007	National Geographic Entertainment	Not Rated	$262,465	33,098
21	Life in a Day	7/24/2011	National Geographic Entertainment	PG	$252,788	31,877
22	Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey	10/21/2011	Submarine Deluxe	PG	$236,939	29,879
23	Pina	12/23/2011	IFC Films	PG	$228,992	28,877
24	Into the Abyss	11/11/2011	IFC Films	PG-13	$223,340	28,164
25	The Wildest Dream	4/30/2010	National Geographic Entertainment	PG	$203,839	25,705
26	JIG	6/17/2011	Screen Media Films	PG	$183,790	23,177
27	Magic Trip	8/5/2011	Magnolia Pictures	R	$154,521	19,486
28	Revenge of the Electric Car	10/21/2011	Area23a	PG-13	$150,886	19,027
29	Thunder Soul	9/23/2011	Roadside Attractions	PG	$143,986	18,157
30	The Last Mountain	6/3/2011	Dada Films	PG	$122,959	15,506
31	Rejoice and Shout	6/3/2011	Magnolia Pictures	PG	$100,237	12,640
32	The Undefeated	7/15/2011	Cinedigm	PG-13	$100,085	12,621
33	Exporting Raymond	4/29/2011	Samuel Goldwyn Films	PG	$87,727	11,063
34	Vidal Sassoon: The Movie	2/11/2011	Phase 4 Films	PG	$85,974	10,842
35	The Whale	9/9/2011	Paladin	G	$61,120	7,707
36	My Reincarnation	10/28/2011	Long Shot Factory	R	$51,742	6,525
37	Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer	11/5/2010	Magnolia Pictures	R	$18,587	2,344
38	Dumbstruck	4/15/2011	Truly Indie	PG	$15,378	1,939
39	Benda Bilili!	9/30/2011	National Geographic Entertainment	PG-13	$13,420	1,692
40	Under the Boardwalk: The MONOPOLY Story	3/4/2011	Self Distributed	G	$13,080	1,649
41	Addiction Incorporated	12/14/2011	Variance Films	PG	$6,442	812
42	Elevate	10/21/2011	Variance Films	PG	$5,580	704
43	Sons of Perdition	2/18/2011		R	$5,401	681
44	Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel	12/16/2011	Anchor Bay Entertainment	R	$3,050	385
45	Forks Over Knives	5/6/2011	Monica Beach Media	PG	$2,700	340
46	Knuckle	12/9/2011	ARC Entertainment	R	$2,647	334
Total Gross of All Movies					$69,558,588
Total Tickets Sold						8,771,576

Note: This chart ranks movies by the amount they earned during 2011. It includes movies released in previous years that earned money during 2011. 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.