Oscar best picture winners list: Here’s every movie to win top prize at the Academy Awards

LOS ANGELES — In the Oscars’ nearly 100-year history, the Academy has nominated 621 films for the best picture award.

Some winners, like the comedy-drama “Forrest Gump” (1994), are considered classics. While others, like the psychological horror “Silence of the Lambs” (1991), are trailblazers in their genres.

OSCARS 2026: See the full list of nominees for the 98th Academy Awards

Ryan Coogler’s blues-steeped vampire epic “Sinners” led all films with 16 nominations this year, setting a record for the most in Oscar history.

This breaks the 14-nomination mark set by “All About Eve” (1950) and “Titanic” (1997). “La La Land” (2016) also boasts 14 nods, but did not win best picture, even if Warren Beatty’s famous faux pas had millions of ceremony viewers briefly believing it had.

“Titanic” is also one of three movies to win a record 11 awards, joined by “Ben-Hur” (1959) and “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” (2003). Yet the latter takes the cake for being the most-nominated movie to win in every single nominated category.

“Gone with the Wind” (1939) was the pioneer for color films, while “Midnight Cowboy” (1969) is the only X-rated film to ever win best picture.

Few sequels are nominated for best picture, and only two have won: “The Godfather Part II” (1974) and “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” (2003).

When “Parasite” (2019) won best picture, it became the first non-English language film to take home the Academy’s highest honor. Germany’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” (2022) became the second shortly thereafter.

Only three best picture winners were directed by women: Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Hurt Locker” (2010), Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland” (2021) and Sian Heder’s “CODA” (2022). Woman-directed movies have only made that nominee list 16 times, including “Women Talking,” directed by Sarah Polley.

As movie buffs know, winning several awards in other categories does not guarantee best picture success. “Cabaret” (1972) won in eight categories but lost to “The Godfather” for the top prize.

Here are the 97 Oscar best picture winners listed in reverse-chronological order.

Please note that the accompanying year indicates when the film was released, not when it won its Oscar:

2020s: Best picture winners

• “Anora” (2024)




• “Oppenheimer” (2023)




• “Everything Everywhere All At Once” (2022)




• “CODA” (2021)




• “Nomadland” (2020)

2010s: Best picture winners

• “Parasite” (2019)




• “Green Book” (2018)




• “The Shape of Water” (2017)




• “Moonlight”(2016)




• “Spotlight” (2015)




• “Birdman” (2014)




• “12 Years a Slave” (2013)




• “Argo” (2012)




• “The Artist” (2011)




• “The King’s Speech” (2010)

2000s: Best picture winners

• “The Hurt Locker” (2009)




• “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008)




• “No Country for Old Men” (2007)




• “The Departed” (2006)




• “Crash” (2005)




• “Million Dollar Baby” (2004)




• “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2003)




• “Chicago” (2002)




• “A Beautiful Mind” (2001)




• “Gladiator” (2000)

1990s: Best picture winners

• “American Beauty” (1999)




• “Shakespeare in Love” (1998)




• “Titanic” (1997)




• “The English Patient” (1996)




• “Braveheart” (1995)




• “Forrest Gump” (1994)




• “Schindler’s List” (1993)




• “Unforgiven” (1992)




• “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991)




• “Dances with Wolves” (1990)

1980s: Best picture winners

• “Driving Miss Daisy” (1989)




• “Rain Man” (1988)




• “The Last Emperor” (1987)




• “Platoon” (1986)




• “Out of Africa” (1985)




• “Amadeus” (1984)




• “Terms of Endearment” (1983)




• “Gandhi” (1982)




• “Chariots of Fire” (1981)




• “Ordinary People” (1980)

1970s: Best picture winners

• “Kramer vs. Kramer” (1979)




• “The Deer Hunter” (1978)




• “Annie Hall” (1977)




• “Rocky” (1976)




• “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975)




• “The Godfather Part II” (1974)




• “The Sting” (1973)




• “The Godfather” (1972)




• “The French Connection” (1971)




• “Patton” (1970)

1960s: Best picture winners

• “Midnight Cowboy” (1969)




• “Oliver!” (1968)




• “In the Heat of the Night” (1967)




• “A Man for All Seasons” (1966)




• “The Sound of Music” (1965)




• “My Fair Lady” (1964)




• “Tom Jones” (1963)




• “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962)




• “West Side Story” (1961)




• “The Apartment” (1960)

1950s: Best picture winners

• “Ben-Hur” (1959)




• “Gigi” (1958)




• “The Bridge on the River Kwai” (1957)




• “Around the World in 80 Days” (1956)




• “Marty” (1955)




• “On the Waterfront” (1954)




• “From Here to Eternity” (1953)




• “The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952)




• “An American in Paris” (1951)




• “All About Eve” (1950)

1940s: Best picture winners

• “All the King’s Men” (1949)




• “Hamlet” (1948)




• “Gentleman’s Agreement” (1947)




• “The Best Years of Our Lives” (1946)




• “The Lost Weekend” (1945)




• “Going My Way” (1944)




• “Casablanca” (1943)




• “Mrs. Miniver” (1942)




• “How Green Was My Valley” (1941)




• “Rebecca” (1940)

1930s: Best picture winners

• “Gone with the Wind” (1939)




• “You Can’t Take It with You” (1938)




• “The Life of Emile Zola” (1937)




• “The Great Ziegfeld” (1936)




• “Mutiny on the Bounty” (1935)




• “It Happened One Night” (1934)




• “Cavalcade” (1933)




• “Grand Hotel” (1932)




• “Cimarron” (1931)




• “All Quiet on the Western Front” (1930)

1920s: Best picture winners

• The Broadway Melody” (1929)




• “Wings” (1927)

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