Box Office Performance for Documentary Movies in 2012

Rank	Movie	Release Date	Theatrical Distributor	MPAA Rating	2012 Gross	Tickets Sold
1	2016: Obama's America	7/13/2012	Rocky Mountain Pictures	PG	$33,349,941	4,259,251
2	Chimpanzee	4/20/2012	Walt Disney	G	$28,965,459	3,699,292
3	To the Arctic 3D	4/20/2012	Warner Bros.	G	$10,261,053	1,310,479
4	Born to be Wild 3D	4/8/2011	Warner Bros.	G	$6,349,810	810,959
5	Hubble 3D	3/19/2010	Warner Bros.	G	$5,396,448	689,201
6	Bully	3/30/2012	Weinstein Co.	PG-13	$3,483,795	444,929
7	Nitro Circus The Movie 3D	8/8/2012	ARC Entertainment	PG-13	$3,376,905	431,277
8	Pina	12/23/2011	IFC Films	PG	$3,291,466	420,366
9	Searching for Sugar Man	7/27/2012	Mongrel Media	PG-13	$3,007,341	384,079
10	Samsara	8/24/2012	Oscilloscope Pictures	PG-13	$2,607,260	332,983
11	Jiro Dreams of Sushi	3/9/2012	Magnolia Pictures	PG	$2,552,478	325,986
12	The Queen of Versailles	7/20/2012	Magnolia Pictures	PG	$2,401,999	306,768
13	Gerhard Richter Painting	3/14/2012	Kino Lorber	Not Rated	$2,374,911	303,309
14	Under the Sea 3D	2/13/2009	Warner Bros.	G	$2,256,829	288,228
15	Space Station	4/19/2002	IMAX Films	Not Rated	$2,084,978	266,280
16	Marley	4/20/2012	Magnolia Pictures	PG-13	$1,413,480	180,521
17	Air Racers 3D	4/5/2012	3D Entertainment	Not Rated	$1,309,987	167,303
18	Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel	9/21/2012	Samuel Goldwyn Films	PG-13	$945,959	120,812
19	The Imposter	7/13/2012	Indomina Releasing	R	$901,954	115,192
20	Deep Sea 3-D	3/3/2006	Warner Bros.	G	$706,225	90,194
21	Chasing Ice	11/16/2012	National Geographic Entertainment	PG-13	$612,089	78,172
22	Undefeated	2/17/2012	Weinstein Co.	PG-13	$561,054	71,654
23	Shut Up and Play the Hits	7/18/2012	Oscilloscope Pictures	Not Rated	$510,334	65,176
24	Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry	7/27/2012	IFC Films	R	$489,074	62,461
25	The Flat	10/19/2012	IFC Films	Not Rated	$456,413	58,290
26	Whores' Glory	4/27/2012	Kino Lorber	Not Rated	$306,151	39,099
27	Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap	6/15/2012	Indomina Releasing	R	$288,312	36,821
28	Stories We Tell	10/12/2012	Mongrel Media	PG-13	$237,535	30,336
29	The Central Park Five	11/23/2012	IFC Films	Not Rated	$230,809	29,477
30	Brooklyn Castle	10/19/2012	Producers Distribution Agency	PG	$186,690	23,842
31	Hecho en México	11/30/2012	Pantelion Films	R	$151,133	19,301
32	Burn	11/9/2012	Area23a	Not Rated	$109,656	14,004
33	Wild Horse, Wild Ride	8/24/2012	Screen Media Films	PG	$94,621	12,084
34	Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare	10/5/2012	Roadside Attractions	PG-13	$84,898	10,842
35	Hating Breitbart	10/19/2012	Freestyle Releasing	R	$81,432	10,400
36	The Island President	3/28/2012	Samuel Goldwyn Films	PG	$75,233	9,608
37	Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey	10/21/2011	Submarine Deluxe	PG	$66,852	8,537
38	An Inconsistent Truth	1/27/2012	Rocky Mountain Pictures	PG	$46,161	5,821
39	Beware of Mr. Baker	11/30/2012	SnagFilms	Not Rated	$45,252	5,779
40	My Reincarnation	10/28/2011	Long Shot Factory	R	$41,080	5,246
41	Last Call at the Oasis	5/4/2012	Participant Media	PG-13	$40,846	5,216
42	Paul Williams Still Alive	6/1/2012	Abramorama Films	PG-13	$38,691	4,941
43	In Film Nist	3/2/2012	Palisades	Not Rated	$37,706	4,755
44	Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope	4/6/2012	Wrekin Hill Entertainment	PG-13	$34,665	4,427
45	Addiction Incorporated	12/14/2011	Variance Films	PG	$33,664	4,299
46	Ouwehoeren	8/8/2012	Kino Lorber	Not Rated	$29,357	3,749
47	Wagner & Me	12/7/2012	First Run Features	Not Rated	$29,187	3,727
48	Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters	11/2/2012	Zeitgeist	Not Rated	$27,075	3,457
49	Orchestra of Exiles	10/26/2012	First Run Features	Not Rated	$24,710	3,155
50	West of Memphis	12/25/2012	Sony Pictures Classics	R	$22,852	2,918
51	Carol Channing: Larger Than Life	1/20/2012	Entertainment One	PG	$20,370	2,569
52	The Whale	9/9/2011	Paladin	G	$20,092	2,566
53	Radio Unnameable	9/19/2012	Kino Lorber	Not Rated	$19,676	2,512
54	Waiting for Lightning	12/7/2012	Samuel Goldwyn Films	PG-13	$19,537	2,495
55	Mansome	5/18/2012	Paladin	PG-13	$18,395	2,349
56	The Revisionaries	10/5/2012	Kino Lorber	Not Rated	$18,262	2,332
57	Head Games	9/21/2012	Variance Films	PG-13	$14,056	1,795
58	The End of Time	6/30/2013	First Run Features	Not Rated	$12,835	1,639
59	Happy People: A Year in the Taiga	12/9/2011	Mongrel Media	Not Rated	$9,523	1,216
60	Photographic Memory	10/12/2012	First Run Features	Not Rated	$7,711	984
61	Meine Familie, die Nazis und Ich	11/16/2012	Film Movement	Not Rated	$6,923	884
62	Tchoupitoulas	12/7/2012	Oscilloscope Pictures	Not Rated	$6,011	767
63	Only the Young	12/7/2012	Oscilloscope Pictures	Not Rated	$4,038	515
64	Let Fury Have the Hour	12/14/2012	CAVU Releasing	Not Rated	$3,386	432
65	Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet	12/14/2012	Kino Lorber	Not Rated	$794	101
66	Gottfried Helnwein and the Dreaming Child	11/23/2012	First Run Features	Not Rated	$601	76
67	Into the Abyss	11/11/2011	IFC Films	PG-13	$540	68
Total Gross of All Movies					$122,214,560
Total Tickets Sold						15,608,303

Note: This chart ranks movies by the amount they earned during 2012. It includes movies released in previous years that earned money during 2012. 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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