What is the lowest-grossing Oscar Award-winning film?

While it’s typically big-budget films taking home The Academy Award for Best Picture, sometimes the surprising win is the low-budget production. Over the years there have been plenty of low-budget productions that dominate the box office and the award season for the year.

Let’s take a look at the top three cheapest Oscar Best Picture wins over the years since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science was established in 1927. All prices have been adjusted to reflect inflation over the years, so we can fairly rank them against modern-day films.

‘Crash’ (2004)

Paul Haggis’ ‘Crash’ is a crime drama focusing on racial and social tensions in Los Angeles inspired by Haggis’ real-life events when his Porsche was carjacked in 1991 outside a video store on Wilshire Boulevard.

The film had a modest budget of $6.5 million and went on to gross $98.4 million at the box office, making it the third lowest grossing Oscars winning film. With inflation, the total grossing today would be $146,599,806.39.

At the 78th Academy Awards, ‘Crash’ ended up winning Best Picture which caused an incredible upset as Brokeback Mountain was nominated in the same category.

‘Hamlet’ (1948)

The second lowest-grossing Oscar best picture film is director Laurence Olivier’s ‘Hamlet.’ The Shakespeare film is also the most decorated Hamlet movie to be produced, and there are over 50 filmed versions of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

Olivier’s ‘Hamlet’ dominated the Academy Awards that year taking home Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Art Decoration, and Best Costume Design. In total, ‘Hamlet’ had seven Oscars nominations that year.

As for numbers, the original grossing total for ‘Hamlet’ was $4,708,156. The adjusted gross total would be $64,695,107.89, making it the second-lowest-grossing Oscar Best Picture winner in history.

The Hurt Locker (2008)

The lowest-grossing Academy Awards Best Picture winner of all time is the 2008 film ‘The Hurt Film.’ The movie follows an Iraq War Explosive Ordnance Disposal team who are targeted by insurgents.

The film had a budget of $15 million and went on to make $17 million at the box office at the time, making it the lowest-grossing Oscars best picture of all time. With inflation that would be $23,401,610.02 gross today.

The film also made history by winning Best Director, making Kathryn Bigelow the first woman to ever receive the award.