Most profitable biopics of all time worldwide 2023

As of September 2023, "Oppenheimer" was the highest-grossing biopic of all time with a global box office revenue of 912.6 million U.S. dollars, while "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "American Sniper" ranked second and third respectively. “Oppenheimer” became Christopher Nolan’s third highest-grossing movie at the domestic box office, surpassing “Inception”.

Oppenheimer: an explosive hit

At the end of its theatrical run, Christopher Nolan’s period drama collected a domestic box office revenue of around 330 million U.S. dollars, and nearly one billion dollars internationally. The Barbenheimer phenomenon, which took theaters by storm during the summer of 2023, helped propel the biopic to incredible heights. “Oppenheimer” was the third highest-grossing movie of the year, after Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie”, the adaptation of the popular video game.

Road to the Academy Awards

The 96th edition of the Oscars ceremony, which took place on March 10, showed that “Oppenheimer” was more than box office gold; the movie took home a total of seven golden statuettes, among them the coveted “Best Picture” and “Best Actor in a Leading Performance” for Cillian Murphy. While biopics are often accused of being Oscar bait, many of them proved themselves to be vehicles for success, especially for acting categories – such as Will Smith winning in 2021 for his depiction of Richard Williams in “King Richard”, or Rami Malek in 2018 for “Bohemian Rhapsody”.