Highest-Grossing Palme d'Or Winners
The top prize at the Cannes Film Festival is a very prestigious honor, though it doesn't necessarily translate to box office success in the U.S. Here's a list of the Top 10 highest-grossing Palme d'Or winners ever, with domestic box office gross included.
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- DirectorMichael MooreStarsMichael MooreGeorge W. BushBen AffleckMichael Moore's view on what happened to the United States after September 11 and how the Bush Administration allegedly used the tragic event to push forward its agenda for unjust wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.Box Office: $119.2 million
Michael Moore’s controversial movie remains the highest-grossing documentary ever – by a large margin. - DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsJohn TravoltaUma ThurmanSamuel L. JacksonThe 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.Box Office: $107.9 million
Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 sensation ranks fifth on IMDb’s Top 250 list. While it’s no longer Quentin Tarantino’s highest-grossing movie ever, it does rank higher than Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained when adjusting for ticket price inflation. - DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMartin SheenMarlon BrandoRobert DuvallA U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god.Box Office: $83.5 million
Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam movie had a notoriously challenging shoot. Ultimately, it paid off: the movie earned $78.8 million in its initial release, which is the equivalent of around $262 million today. - DirectorJane CampionStarsHolly HunterHarvey KeitelSam NeillIn the mid-19th century a mute woman is sent to New Zealand along with her young daughter and prized piano for an arranged marriage to a farmer, but is soon lusted after by a farm worker.Box Office: $40.2 million
The Piano was nominated for Best Picture, and won three other Oscars. That included a trophy for newcomer Anna Paquin, who became the second-youngest winner of an Academy Award. All of that buzz drove strong, consistent arthouse sales: the movie grossed $40.2 million, but never earned more than $2.5 million on a single weekend. - DirectorBob FosseStarsRoy ScheiderJessica LangeAnn ReinkingDirector/choreographer Bob Fosse tells his own life story as he details the sordid career of Joe Gideon, a womanizing, drug-using dancer.Box Office: $37.8 million
All That Jazz opened around Christmas in 1979, and won four Oscars at the Academy Awards in early 1980. It then played in competition at Cannes in May, where it tied for the Palme D’Or with Akira Kurosawa’s Kagemusha. - DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsAdrien BrodyThomas KretschmannFrank FinlayDuring WWII, acclaimed Polish musician Wladyslaw faces various struggles as he loses contact with his family. As the situation worsens, he hides in the ruins of Warsaw in order to survive.Box Office: $32.6 million
The Pianist was a solid box office performer given its dire World War II setting. Still, it was the lowest-grossing Best Picture nominee in 2003 behind The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Chicago (the winner), Gangs of New York and The Hours. - DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroJodie FosterCybill ShepherdA mentally unstable veteran works as a nighttime taxi driver in New York City, where the perceived decadence and sleaze fuels his urge for violent action.Box Office: $28.3 million
Taxi Driver went on to become one of Martin Scorsese’s bigger early career hits: adjusted for inflation, it’s roughly on par with The Wolf of Wall Street. - DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsJames SpaderAndie MacDowellPeter GallagherA sexually repressed woman's husband is having an affair with her sister. The arrival of a visitor with a rather unusual fetish changes everything.Box Office: $24.7 million
With $24.7 million, this was a strong box office debut for director Steven Soderbergh. Instead of going commercial, though, Soderbergh opted to make more experimental fare: his next five movies combined for less than $3 million. - DirectorRoland JofféStarsRobert De NiroJeremy IronsRay McAnallyEighteenth-century Spanish Jesuits try to protect a remote South American tribe in danger of falling under the rule of pro-slavery Portugal.Box Office: $17.2 million
This movie received eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and featured major movie star Robert DeNiro. Still, it couldn’t quite connect with audiences, and wound up earning a somewhat disappointing $17.2 million. - DirectorDavid LynchStarsNicolas CageLaura DernWillem DafoeYoung lovers Sailor and Lula run from the variety of weirdos that Lula's mom has hired to kill Sailor.Box Office: $14.6 million
Director David Lynch’s work has never been particularly accessible. While Wild at Heart was no exception, it did open at the peak of Lynch’s popularity – it’s his Blue Velvet follow-up, and hit theaters right after the first season of Twin Peaks – and starred the ever-popular Nicolas Cage. That was enough to get it to a very modest $14.6 million.