Market Charts > Genres > Documentary
Box Office History for Documentary
Ticket Sales and Market Share by Year
Note: Figures for 2025 are at an annualized rate.
Top-Grossing Movies 1995-2025, Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation
Year by Year Market Share
| Year | Movies in Release | Market Share | Gross | Tickets Sold | Inflation- Adjusted Gross | Top-Grossing Movie | Gross that Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 12 | 1.54% | $82,046,591 | 18,861,280 | $213,321,077 | The Living Sea | $64,800,000 |
| 1996 | 10 | 0.12% | $6,848,501 | 1,549,428 | $17,524,031 | Snowriders | $2,035,470 |
| 1997 | 10 | 0.17% | $10,381,026 | 2,261,657 | $25,579,341 | When We Were Kings | $2,666,118 |
| 1998 | 16 | 1.27% | $86,672,325 | 18,480,232 | $209,011,424 | Everest | $66,877,098 |
| 1999 | 36 | 1.27% | $93,005,758 | 18,308,203 | $207,065,776 | Mysteries of Egypt | $27,042,366 |
| 2000 | 47 | 1.70% | $127,985,465 | 23,744,959 | $268,555,486 | Dolphins | $54,000,000 |
| 2001 | 27 | 0.27% | $22,810,443 | 4,030,101 | $45,580,442 | Shackleton's Antarctic Adve… | $6,683,025 |
| 2002 | 33 | 0.79% | $72,236,959 | 12,433,195 | $140,619,435 | Space Station | $30,460,417 |
| 2003 | 59 | 0.99% | $91,477,259 | 15,170,327 | $171,576,398 | Space Station | $15,713,110 |
| 2004 | 91 | 2.54% | $235,563,421 | 37,932,871 | $429,020,771 | Fahrenheit 9/11 | $119,114,517 |
| 2005 | 101 | 1.96% | $172,361,524 | 26,889,428 | $304,119,431 | La marche de l'empereur | $77,437,223 |
| 2006 | 114 | 1.31% | $119,840,694 | 18,296,232 | $206,930,384 | Deep Sea 3D | $39,211,782 |
| 2007 | 110 | 0.72% | $70,785,473 | 10,288,527 | $116,363,240 | Sicko | $24,538,513 |
| 2008 | 126 | 0.90% | $87,432,868 | 12,177,214 | $137,724,290 | Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric… | $14,144,251 |
| 2009 | 94 | 1.76% | $187,731,285 | 25,030,799 | $283,098,337 | Michael Jackson's This Is It | $72,091,016 |
| 2010 | 120 | 0.90% | $94,353,004 | 11,958,493 | $135,250,556 | Hubble 3D | $20,149,829 |
| 2011 | 135 | 0.81% | $82,415,597 | 10,392,818 | $117,542,772 | African Cats | $15,428,747 |
| 2012 | 149 | 1.31% | $144,116,751 | 18,105,048 | $204,768,093 | 2016: Obama’s America | $33,349,941 |
| 2013 | 160 | 0.45% | $49,277,491 | 6,061,122 | $68,551,290 | Justin Bieber’s Believe | $5,962,982 |
| 2014 | 152 | 0.86% | $88,546,029 | 10,837,874 | $122,576,355 | Bears | $17,780,194 |
| 2015 | 143 | 0.58% | $65,118,866 | 7,724,594 | $87,365,158 | Monkey Kingdom | $16,432,322 |
| 2016 | 158 | 0.52% | $58,535,027 | 6,766,981 | $76,534,555 | A Beautiful Planet | $15,650,615 |
| 2017 | 149 | 0.41% | $44,906,044 | 5,006,181 | $56,619,907 | Born in China | $13,873,211 |
| 2018 | 145 | 0.90% | $107,184,499 | 11,765,530 | $133,068,144 | Won’t You Be My Neighbor? | $22,835,787 |
| 2019 | 141 | 0.78% | $87,869,483 | 9,592,673 | $108,493,132 | They Shall Not Grow Old | $12,253,074 |
| 2020 | 53 | 0.20% | $4,033,428 | 439,346 | $4,969,003 | Break the Silence: The Movi… | $1,000,000 |
| 2021 | 48 | 0.36% | $16,273,466 | 1,600,123 | $18,097,391 | Roadrunner: A Film About An… | $5,354,970 |
| 2022 | 81 | 0.21% | $15,179,500 | 1,441,518 | $16,303,569 | Moonage Daydream | $4,266,717 |
| 2023 | 86 | 0.32% | $28,973,168 | 2,648,330 | $29,952,612 | After Death | $11,477,621 |
| 2024 | 82 | 0.46% | $39,457,235 | 3,488,662 | $39,456,767 | Am I Racist? | $12,311,598 |
| 2025 | 33 | 0.58% | $18,568,771 | 1,641,802 | $18,568,781 | Becoming Led Zeppelin | $10,403,808 |
Upcoming Releases
Our Theatrical Market pages are based on the Domestic Theatrical Market performance only. The Domestic Market is defined as the North American movie territory (consisting of the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Guam).
The yearly amounts on our Theatrical Market pages are based on box office years. Each box office year starts on the first Monday of the year, so the previous year ends on the Sunday before the first Monday. For example, the "2017 box office year" started on January 2, 2017 so the "2016 box office year" ended on Sunday, January 1, 2017.