List of highest-grossing documentary films
The following are the highest-grossing documentary films worldwide. The list also charts the highest-grossing documentary movies by calendar year. It includes different hybrid genre documentary films while excluding performance movies such as concert films, sometimes categorized as documentaries. Almost all reported figures are taken from Box Office Mojo and The Numbers, two publications that provide figures of film revenues.
Traditional observational-stylized films are dominant in the list, notably space and nature documentaries. Few documentaries have outspaced the $100 million mark. The highest-grossing documentary film is the biographical film Michael Jackson's This Is It released following the artist's death that year, surpassing Fahrenheit 9/11, both of which grossed over $200 million. Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets also earned more than $200 million, while March of the Penguins, Space Station 3D, Everest, To Fly!, Earth, and Deep Sea 3D are the only other documentary films to reach $100 million in revenue as of 2025.
In addition, Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets remains the highest-grossing IMAX documentary film in history and from the 20th century. Fahrenheit 9/11 had the biggest opening weekend sales for a documentary at over $23.9 million in the U.S. as well the widest release for a documentary film in its opening weekend.