With 14 nominations apiece, “Titanic” and “All About Eve” are the most nominated films for best picture.
ANGELES — Over the course of the Academy Awards’ nearly century-long existence, 601 films have been nominated for best picture.
Certain winners are regarded as classics, such as the comedy-drama “Forrest Gump” (1994). Others, such as the 1991 psychological horror film “Silence of the Lambs,” are innovators in their own fields.
With 14 nominations apiece, “Titanic” (1997) and “All About Eve” (1950) are the most nominated films for best picture. Despite receiving 14 nominations, “La La Land” (2016) did not win best picture, despite millions of viewers mistakenly thinking it won due to Warren Beatty’s well-known gaffe.
“Titanic” and “Ben-Hur” (1959) are the other two films to win a record eleven awards; the other two are “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” (2003). However, the latter wins the award for being the most nominated film to triumph in each and every category.
“Midnight Cowboy” (1969) is the first X-rated film to ever win best picture. “Gone with the Wind” (1939) was the first color film.
Only two sequels—”The Godfather Part II” (1974) and “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” (2003)—have received best picture nominations.
“Parasite” became the first non-English film to win the Academy’s top prize when it won best picture in 2020. It was only the second non-English film to make the nominees list at the time. The first was “Grand Illusion” (1938), followed by “Drive My Car” (2021) in Japanese, and this year’s selection was “All Quiet on the Western Front” by Germany.
Just three of the best picture winners, “The Hurt Locker” (2009) directed by Kathryn Bigelow, “Nomadland” (2020) directed by Chloé Zhao, and “CODA” (2021) directed by Sian Heder, were female directors. The film “Women Talking,” directed by Sarah Polley, is one of just 16 films directed by women that have made the nominee list.
Movie enthusiasts are aware that winning multiple awards in other categories does not equate to success in winning best picture. “The Godfather” (1972) defeated “Cabaret” (1972) for the grand award despite winning eight categories.
The 95 winners of the Best Picture award are arranged in reverse chronological order here.
Note that the year indicated below denotes the film’s release date rather than its Oscar win:
2020s: The winners of the Best Picture
- “Everything Everywhere All At Once” (2022)
- “Nomadland” (2020) and “CODA” (2021)
2010s: Winners of the Best Picture Oscar
- “Parasite” (2019)
- “Green Book” (2018
- (2017) “The Shape of Water”
- “Moonlight” (2016)
- “Spotlight” (2015
- “Birdman” (2014)
- (2013) “12 Years a Slave”
- “Argo” (2012)
- “The Artist” (2011)
- (2010) “The King’s Speech”
Best Picture wins in the 2000s
A scene from the 2001 movie "A Beautiful Mind" features Russell Crowe staring at a wall of numbers.
Universal/Getty Images photo
- (2009) “The Hurt Locker”
- 2008’s “Slumdog Millionaire”
- The 2007 film “No Country for Old Men”
- In 2006, “The Departed”
- “Crash” (2005
- 2004’s “Million Dollar Baby”
- “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2003)
- “Chicago” (2001)
- 2001’s “A Beautiful Mind”
- “Gladiator” (film, 2000)
1990s: Winners of the Best Picture Oscar
- 1999’s “American Beauty”
- (1998) “Shakespeare in Love”
- “Titanic” (1997)
- 1996’s “The English Patient”
- “Braveheart” (1995)
- In 1994, “Forrest Gump”
- 1993’s “Schindler’s List”
- “Unforgiven” (1992)
- “Dances with Wolves” (1990) and “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991)
1980s: Winners of the Best Picture
- 1989’s “Driving Miss Daisy”
- “The Last Emperor” (1987) and “Rain Man” (1988)
- “Platoon” (1986)
- In 1985, “Out of Africa”
- “Amadeus” (1984)
- In 1983, “Terms of Endearment”
- “Gandhi” (1982)
- In 1981, “Chariots of Fire”
- In 1980, “Ordinary People”
1970s: Winners of the Best Picture
- “Annie Hall” (1977) and “The Deer Hunter” (1978)
- Rocky (1976)
- “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975)
- In 1974, “The Godfather Part II”
- “The Sting” released in 1973
- 1972’s “The Godfather”
- “Patton” (1970) and “The French Connection” (1971)
1960s: Oscar winners for best picture
- In 1969, “Midnight Cowboy”; in 1968, “Oliver!”
- “In the Heat of the Night” (1967)
- The 1966 film “A Man for All Seasons”
- 1965’s “The Sound of Music”
- 1964’s “My Fair Lady”
- “Tom Jones” (1963)
- 1962’s “Lawrence of Arabia”
- “The Apartment” (1960) and “West Side Story” (1961)
1950s: Winners of the Best Picture
Stephen Boyd's Messala competes against Charlton Heston's Judah Ben-Hur in the scene from William Wyler's 1959 film "Ben-Hur" involving chariot racing.
Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images photo
- “Gigi” (1958) and “Ben-Hur” (1959)
- “The Bridge on the River Kwai” (1957) “Around the World in 80 Days” (1956)
- “Marty” (1955)
- 1954’s “On the Waterfront”
- The 1953 film “From Here to Eternity”
- “The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952)
- The 1951 film “An American in Paris”
- 1950’s “All About Eve”
1940s: Winners of the Best Picture
Cast members of the Warner Brothers film "Casablanca" (1942) include Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.
Popperfoto/Getty Images photo)
- 1949’s “All the King’s Men”
- “Gentleman’s Agreement” (1947) and “Hamlet” (1948)
- “The Best Years of Our Lives” (1946)
- 1945’s “The Lost Weekend”
- 1944’s “Going My Way”
- Casablanca (1943)
- In 1942, “Mrs. Miniver”
- “Rebecca” (1940) and “How Green Was My Valley” (1941)
1930s: Winners of the Best Picture
- 1939’s “Gone with the Wind”
- “You Can’t Take It with You” (1938)
- The 1937 book “The Life of Emile Zola”
- 1936’s “The Great Ziegfeld”
- 1935’s “Mutiny on the Bounty”
- The 1934 film “It Happened One Night”
- “Cavalcade” (1933)
- 1932’s “Grand Hotel”
- “Cimarron” (1931)
- “All Quiet on the Western Front” (1930)
1920s: Winners of the Best Picture
- Broadway Melody” (1929) and “Wings” (1927).