Billion bucks Oscars: Best Picture nominee that earned over 1 billion at box office

Box office collection: $2.264 billion

James Cameron's epic Titanic swept the 1998 Academy Awards ceremony when the movie won a staggering 11 awards, including the coveted Best Director for James, Best Movie, and Best Actor among others. Back then, James' romantic drama was the first movie to achieve a billion-dollar mark and the very first with a billion-dollar milestone to win an Oscar. 

Box office collection: $1.156 billion

In 2003, the final movie of the Lord of the Rings trilogy The Return of The King was released, and it was quick to register its name as a cult-classic movie. The movie went on to shatter box office records, earning over $1.156 billion. The movie's success was not limited to the big screen, but the epic that marked the end of the trilogy registered a huge win at the 76th Academy Awards. It won all the 11 awards that the movie was nominated for. 

Box office collection: $2,923 billion

After Titanic and The King of Legend, James Cameron's Avatar was one of the financially successful movies that went on to earn the golden trophy in the Best Picture category at the 82nd Academy Awards. 

Box office collection: $2,923 billion

One of the best-animated movies that we have got. The third chapter of the series went on to earn a billion bucks at the box office, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2010.  Lee Unkrich's movie earned five nominations at the 83rd Academy Awards. However, the movie won the Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song.

Box office collection: $1,336 billion

Marvel's Black Panther was a revolutionary movie that superpowered all the other Marvel movies. The Chadwick Boseman movie became the first Marvel movie to ever get an Oscar nomination in the Best Picture category. The MCU movie earned seven nominations at the 91st Academy Awards, winning three.

Box office collection: $ 1, 064 billion

Directed by Todd Phillips, Joker earned the milestone at the box office despite being an R-rated movie. The movie, which had Joaquin Phoenix playing the role of Joker, went on to earn three Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Phoenix, and Best Original Score for Hildur Guðnadóttir, out of 11 nominations at the 92nd Academy Award.

Box office collection: $ 2,317 billion

The long-awaited sequel of James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water became the first movie after the COVID pandemic to earn $2 billion at the box office. The virtually stunning movie earned an Oscar for Best Visual Effects. However, it was also nominated for Best Picture.

Box office collection: $ 1,468 billion

In 2022, the sequel of the aerial drama Top Gun: Maverick which had Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer reprising their roles as Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell and Admiral Tom respectively, the movie was nominated for six awards at the 95th Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
 

Box office collection: $1,435

In 2023, the world witnessed a cinematic moment when the two biggest releases of the year, Barbie and Oppenheimer, were released on the same day. Both the movies did wonders at the box office, and the one film that won the race at the box office was Greta Gerwig's movie on the famous doll line. The movie, which was one of the strong contenders of this year's award season, earned eight Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Ryan Gosling, and Best Supporting Actress for America Ferrera). The Academy snubbed Margot Robbie in the Best Actress category.