Oscars: Every Best Picture winner this century ranked by total wins

Jacob Sarkisian
·6 min read
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“Oppenheimer” took home an impressive seven Academy Awards at Sunday’s Oscars, including the night’s top prize of Best Picture. The Universal movie also won Best Director for Christopher Nolan and Best Actor for Cillian Murphy amongst a number of other awards. That is one below the total of eight wins we predicted for the film as “The Zone of Interest” beat the movie to win Best Sound. However, seven is still a huge tally and places “Oppenheimer” amongst the Best Picture winners to take home the highest amount of Oscars this century. Scroll down below for a complete list of every Best Picture winner this century ranked by total Oscar wins.

“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2004) — 11 Oscars won
Dir: Peter Jackson
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin
Gandalf and Aragorn lead the World of Men against Sauron’s army to draw his gaze from Frodo and Sam as they approach Mount Doom with the One Ring.

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Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Director — Peter Jackon

  • Best Adapted Screenplay

  • Best Editing

  • Best Art Direction-Set Decoration

  • Best Costume Design

  • Best Makeup

  • Best Original Score

  • Best Original Song — “Into the West”

  • Best Sound Mixing

  • Best Visual Effects

“Slumdog Millionaire” (2009) — 8 Oscars won
Dir: Danny Boyle
Starring: Dev Patel, Frieda Pinto
A Mumbai teenager reflects on his life after being accused of cheating on the Indian version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Director — Danny Boyle

  • Best Adapted Screenplay

  • Best Cinematography

  • Best Editing

  • Best Original Score

  • Best Original Song — “Jai Ho”

  • Best Sound Mixing

“Oppenheimer” (2024) — 7 Oscars won
Dir: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, Matt Damon
The story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Director — Christopher Nolan

  • Best Actor — Cillian Murphy

  • Best Supporting Actor — Robert Downey Jr.

  • Best Editing

  • Best Cinematography

  • Best Original Score

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2023) — 7 Oscars won
Dir: Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu, Jamie Lee Curtis
A middle-aged Chinese immigrant is swept up into an insane adventure in which she alone can save existence by exploring other universes and connecting with the lives she could have led.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Director — Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert

  • Best Actress — Michelle Yeoh

  • Best Supporting Actor — Ke Huy Quan

  • Best Supporting Actress — Jamie Lee Curtis

  • Best Original Screenplay

  • Best Editing

“The Hurt Locker” (2010) — 6 Oscars won
Dir: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie
During the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Director — Kathryn Bigelow

  • Best Original Screenplay

  • Best Editing

  • Best Sound Mixing

  • Best Sound Editing

“Chicago” (2003) — 6 Oscars won
Dir: Rob Marshall
Starring: Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere
Two death-row murderesses develop a fierce rivalry while competing for publicity, celebrity, and a sleazy lawyer’s attention.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Supporting Actress — Catherine Zeta-Jones

  • Best Art Direction-Set Decoration

  • Best Costume Design

  • Best Editing

  • Best Sound

“The Artist” (2012) — 5 Oscars won
Dir: Michel Hazanavicius
Starring: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman
An egomaniacal film star develops a relationship with a young dancer against the backdrop of Hollywood’s silent era.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Director — Michel Hazanavicius

  • Best Actor — Jean Dujardin

  • Best Costume Design

  • Best Original Score

“Gladiator” (2001) — 5 Oscars won
Dir: Ridley Scott
Starring: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielson
A former Roman General sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Actor — Russell Crowe

  • Best Costume Design

  • Best Sound

  • Best Visual Effects

“American Beauty” (2000) — 5 Oscars won
Dir: Sam Mendes
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley
A sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter’s best friend.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Director — Sam Mendes

  • Best Actor — Kevin Spacey

  • Best Original Screenplay

  • Best Cinematography

“Parasite” (2020) — 4 Oscars won
Dir: Bong Joon-ho
Starring: Song Kang-ho, Choi Woo-sik, Cho Yeo-jeong, Park So-dam
Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Director — Bong Joon Ho

  • Best Original Screenplay

  • Best International Feature Film

“The Shape of Water” (2018) — 4 Oscars won
Dir: Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins
At a top-secret research facility in the 1960s, a lonely janitor forms a unique relationship with an amphibious creature that is being held in captivity.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Director — Guillermo del Toro

  • Best Original Score

  • Best Production Design

“Birdman” (2015) — 4 Oscars won
Dir: Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Starring: Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis
A washed-up superhero actor attempts to revive his fading career by writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway production.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Director — Alejandro G. Iñárritu

  • Best Original Screenplay

  • Best Cinematography

“The King’s Speech” (2011) — 4 Oscars won
Dir: Tom Hooper
Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham-Carter
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.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Director — Tom Hooper

  • Best Actor — Colin Firth

  • Best Original Screenplay

“No Country For Old Men” (2008) — 4 Oscars won
Dir: Joel & Ethan Coen
Starring: Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem
Violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong and more than two million dollars in cash near the Rio Grande.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Director —Joel & Ethan Coen

  • Best Supporting Actor — Javier Bardem

  • Best Adapted Screenplay

“The Departed” (2007) — 4 Oscars won
Dir: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson
An undercover cop and a mole in the police attempt to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang in South Boston.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Director — Martin Scorsese

  • Best Adapted Screenplay

  • Best Editing

“Million Dollar Baby” (2005) — 4 Oscars won
Dir: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman
A determined woman works with a hardened boxing trainer to become a professional.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Director — Clint Eastwood

  • Best Actress — Hilary Swank

  • Best Supporting Actor — Morgan Freeman

“A Beautiful Mind” (2002) — 4 Oscars won
Dir: Ron Howard
Starring: Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly
After John Nash, a brilliant but asocial mathematician, accepts secret work in cryptography, his life takes a turn for the nightmarish.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Director — Ron Howard

  • Best Supporting Actress — Jennifer Connelly

  • Best Adapted Screenplay

“CODA” (2022) — 3 Oscars won
Dir: Sian Heder
Starring: Emilia Jones, Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur
As a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family’s fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her passion at Berklee College of Music and her fear of abandoning her parents.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Supporting Actor — Troy Kotsur

  • Best Adapted Screenplay

“Nomadland” (2021) — 3 Oscars won
Dir: Chloé Zhao
Starring: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, Linda May
A woman in her sixties, after losing everything in the Great Recession, embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Director — Chloé Zhao

  • Best Actress — Frances McDormand

“Green Book” (2019) — 3 Oscars won
Dir: Peter Farrelly
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali
A working-class Italian-American bouncer becomes the driver for an African-American classical pianist on a tour of venues through the 1960s American South.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Supporting Actor — Mahershala Ali

  • Best Original Screenplay

“Moonlight” (2017) — 3 Oscars won
Dir: Barry Jenkins
Starring: Trevante Rhodes, Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris
A young African-American man grapples with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the everyday struggles of childhood, adolescence, and burgeoning adulthood.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Supporting Actor — Mahershala Ali

  • Best Adapted Screenplay

“12 Years a Slave” (2014) — 3 Oscars won
Dir: Steve McQueen
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong’o
In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Supporting Actress — Lupita Nyong’o

  • Best Adapted Screenplay

“Argo” (2013) — 3 Oscars won
Dir: Ben Affleck
Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman
Acting under the cover of a Hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film, a CIA agent launches a dangerous operation to rescue six Americans in Tehran during the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran in 1979.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Adapted Screenplay

  • Best Editing

“Crash” (2006) — 3 Oscars won
Dir: Paul Haggis
Starring: Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Thandiwe Newton
Los Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss, and redemption.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Original Screenplay

  • Best Editing

“Spotlight” (2016) — 2 Oscars won
Dir: Tom McCarthy
Starring: Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Stanley Tucci
The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.

Oscars won:

  • Best Picture

  • Best Original Screenplay

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