The 15 most successful Oscar best picture winners, ranked

Paramount

As we draw closer to the 2016 Academy Awards on February 28, it’s time to dive into the numbers and check out which of the best picture winners are the biggest money-makers of all time at the box office over their lifetime.

There are some obvious ones here, but thanks to inflation, there are a few titles that may surprise you — including a not-so-little film from the 1930s.

Here are the top 15.

Note: All box-office figures provided by Box Office Mojo.

15. “The Best Years of Our Lives” (1946) $478.5 million – unadjusted $23 million

14. “Rocky” (1976) $478.8 million – unadjusted $117 million

13. “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962) $481 million – unadjusted $44.8 million

12. “West Side Story” (1961) $486 million – unadjusted $43.6 million

11. “The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952) $522 million – unadjusted $36 million

10. “My Fair Lady” (1964) $522 million – unadjusted $72 million

9. “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2003) $536 million – unadjusted $377 million

8. “Around the World in 80 Days” (1956) $562 million – unadjusted $42 million

7. “Forrest Gump” (1994) $683 million – unadjusted $330 million

6. “The Godfather” (1972) $686 million – unadjusted $134 million

5. “The Sting” (1973) $775 million – unadjusted $156 million

4. “Ben-Hur” (1959) $852 million – unadjusted $74 million

3. “Titanic” (1997) $1.17 billion – unadjusted $658 million

2. “The Sound of Music” (1965) $1.23 billion – unadjusted $158 million

1. “Gone with the Wind” (1939) $1.75 billion – unadjusted: $198 million

And the lowest-grossing best picture winner?

That prize goes to “The Hurt Locker” (2009), which earned $19.5 million (unadjusted: $17 million).

Read more stories on Business Insider, Malaysian edition of the world’s fastest-growing business and technology news website.