When we think about the highest grossing films of all time, often we consider major studio films with massive budgets, spawning numerous sequels, featuring superheroes or expansive CGi, a new Hollywood film era of action and adventure.

However, we can explore more when we look at the highest grossing independent movies. While indie movies are often known for having tiny budgets, with avant-garde directors, often pulling funding from their own pockets, and typically aimed at more narrow audiences. 

However, if you shoot for the moon, you might end up among the stars – alongside these films, the top 15 highest-grossing independent films of all time!

For reference, all of these statistics have been adjusted for inflation as of 2021, with worldwide ticket sales data from the box office.

#15: Good Will Hunting (1997) 

Worldwide Gross: $475,000,000

One of IMDB’s 100 Top Rated movies of all time, Good Will Hunting is directed by Gus Van Sant, and features Academy Award winning performances from Matt Damon and Robin Williams. Good Will Hunting is a touching tale of a wayward young man who struggles to find his identity, living in a world where he can solve any problem, except the one brewing deep within himself, until one day he meets his soul mate who opens his mind and his heart.

Good Will Hunting is available for rental and purchase on Angelika Anywhere! https://www.angelikaanywhere.com/film/good-will-hunting/

#14: Pulp Fiction (1994)

Worldwide Gross: $503,000,000

Academy Award winning Director/Writer Quentin Tarantino crafts “a spectacularly entertaining piece of pop culture” (Variety) with his Oscar and Cannes Film Festival award winning PULP FICTION. One of the most influential films of the 1990s, and an eternal cult classic, this neo-noir romp centers on the lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption. Featuring an all-star cast including Oscar nominees John Travolta, Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson.

Pulp Fiction is available to rent or purchase on Angelika Anywhere – as well as many of Tarantino’s other films! Watch now: https://www.angelikaanywhere.com/film/pulp-fiction/

#13: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Worldwide Gross: $515,000,000

Often regarded as one of the greatest films of all time – with a glowing 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes – Stanley Kubrick’s Oscar-winning psychological drama launches the audience into the deep dark that is outer space, on a journey to land mankind on Jupiter. With gripping performances from Kier Dullea, Gary Lockwood, and William Sylvester, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY immerses the audience into the story, taking you along every step of this dystopian existence. 

2001: A Space Odyssey is available to rent and buy on Angelika Anywhere: https://www.angelikaanywhere.com/film/2001-a-space-odyssey/

#12: Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Worldwide Gross: $516,000,000

An 8-time Academy Award winner, including Best Picture, Slumdog Millionaire stars Academy Award nominee Dev Patel as Jamal Malik, an 18 year old orphan who makes it big on India’s “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” – at the risk of winning it all, when police accuse him of cheating, Jamal is forced to recount the path of his life that led him to this moment. 

#11: The King’s Speech (2010)

Worldwide Gross: $527,000,000

The story of King George VI, his impromptu ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer. Colin Firth gives a masterful performance that earned him both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe in this 94% fresh rated film from Oscar winning director Tom Hooper. Also starring Oscar winners Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter.

The King’s Speech is also available on Angelika Anywhere: https://www.angelikaanywhere.com/film/the-kings-speech/

#10: Dirty Dancing (1987)

Worldwide Gross: $528,000,000

A cult classic for the ages, Dirty Dancing stars Jennifer Grey as Frances “Baby” Houseman and Patrick Swayze as dance instructor Johnny Castle in this iconic summer love story. Directed by Emily Ardolino, Dirty Dancing won the Oscar for its original song “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life”, which accompanies one of the most iconic dance scenes in cinema history.

#9: The Full Monty (1997)

Worldwide Gross: $549,000,000

Directed by Peter Cattaneo, Academy Award winner The Full Monty is a raunchy dramedy about six unemployed steel workers who, inspired by the Chippendale’s dancers, decide to form their own male striptease act. As they learn to perfect their act, they realize to bring in the crowds they need, they might need to go the full monty – all the way.

#8: Billy Jack (1971)

Worldwide Gross: $573,000,000

Tom Laughlin stars as Billy Jack, a man coming to grips with his identity as a mixed race Indigenous man, torn between the violence of the white world and the desire for peace to protect his Indigenous communities. When he meets a young girl suffering from an abusive household at an art school, his temper is set aflare to right the wrongs of his society – from bigotry to violence.

#7: Shakespeare in Love (1998)

Worldwide Gross: $575,000,000

The Academy Award winner of 7 Oscars – including Best Picture – Shakespeare in Love follows a forbidden love affair between William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) and Viola De Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow), a budding actress in a time when women were not allowed on the stage. Despite her betrothal to another, she becomes a muse for the greatest playwright ever known.

#6: My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

Worldwide Gross: $623,000,000

When Toula, a Greek-American woman, falls for Ian, a non-Greek man she meets at college, she has to manage her family’s frustration on top of her own anxieties within her own cultural identity – all while planning their wedding. Directed by Joel Zwick, My Big Fat Greek Wedding stars Nia Vardalos and John Corbett. 

#5: American Beauty (1999)

Worldwide Gross: $679,000,000

One of IMDB’s top-rated movies, this 5-time Academy Award winner (including Best Picture) tells the story of a suburban father’s mid-life crisis when he becomes infatuated with his teenage daughter’s best friend. Featuring direction from Academy Award winner Sam Mendes, and starring Kevin Spacey, Thora Birch, Annette Bening, and Mena Suvari.

#4: Se7en (1995)

Worldwide Gross: $728,000,000

Directed by 3-time Academy Award nominee David Fincher, Se7en is widely regarded as one of the greatest mystery thrillers of all time – breaking the top 20 top-rated movies on IMDB. Starring Academy Award winners Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt as detectives – a veteran and a rookie – are sent on the hunt for a serial killer using the seven deadly sins as his motives and calling cards. 

#3: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

Worldwide Gross: $776,000,000

Widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a 5-time Academy Award winner (including Best Picture) based on the classic novel by Ken Kesey. Featuring direction from Milos Forman, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest stars Academy Award winner Jack Nicholson as a mental institution patient, rallying up the patients to turn against the tyrannical Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher).

#2: The Graduate (1967)

Worldwide Gross: $826,000,000

Academy Award winner Dustin Hoffman stars as Benjamin Braddock, a recent college graduate who returns to his parents’ house out of existential fear for his future. While home, he becomes seduced by Mrs. Robinson (Academy Award winner Anne Bancroft), a bored housewife – but the affair becomes a love triangle when he falls head over heels for her daughter (Katharine Ross). The Graduate features a classic soundtrack from Simon & Garfunkel and Academy Award-earning direction from Mike Nichols.

The Graduate is now available to rent and purchase from Angelika Anywhere: https://www.angelikaanywhere.com/film/the-graduate/

#1: The Passion of The Christ (2004)

Worldwide Gross: $967,000,000

Directed by Mel Gibson, The Passion of The Christ depicts the final twelve hours of the life of Jesus of Nazareth on the day of his crucifixion. Nominated for 3 Academy Awards (for Cinematography, Original Score, and Make-Up), The Passion of The Christ is officially the highest earning independent film in cinema history.