With its Best Picture win at the Academy Awards, “Oppenheimer” has become the highest grossing film to win the top Oscar in 20 years…and by a considerable margin.
Back in 2004, “Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” won Best Picture as one of a record-tying 11 Oscars and became, to date, the last Best Picture winner to also be the highest grossing film at the box office that year.
In the two decades since, no Best Picture winner has grossed more than $500 million at the global box office until “Oppenheimer,” which rode director Christopher Nolan’s overwhelming global popularity, its critical acclaim, and yes, the “Barbenheimer” memes, to a $957 million global box office total.