Which movie has won the most Oscars?
We can all pretend that we enter into any arts industry with sincere and noble intentions, ready to make work that expresses ourselves more clearly than simple words ever could and then, because of that, we have no interest in reward for our books, paintings, movies, or music. But that would be a lie.
The truth is, we are all fairly simple creatures who crave recognition, and while monetary rewards can be a balm for such aching longing, perhaps the greatest healer is a shiny gold statuette.
Every year, members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences come together to recognise the cinematic achievements of the previous year, paying tribute to the directors, actors, composers, writers, visual effects artists, costume designers and editors who have distinguished themselves as experts in their field.
Anyone familiar with the Oscars will know that certain types of films tend to win big. Large-scale pictures or deeply personal biopics about grand figures are the kind of Academy Award fodder that usually pick up the night’s big prizes.
For a time, sweeping epics were guaranteed ‘Best Picture’ winners. They’ve fallen out of favour since then, but judging by these three Oscar winners, the Academy has always rewarded movies that give us respite from the modern world.
They’re not just any old three movies, though; they just so happen to be tied for one of the most glorious records in cinematic history: the movies with the most Academy Awards.
Which movies have won the most Oscars?
The 1959 religious epic Ben-Hur, for example, a project that was nominated in 12 of the 15 possible categories. Directed by William Wyler, it stars Charles Heston as Judah Ben-Hur, a wealthy Jew living at the time of Jesus. After being forced into slavery by his childhood friend, he travels across the land to secure his vengeance.
Filmed at Rome’s Cinicitta Studio, the film used 300 enormous sets and was billed as “the entertainment experience of a lifetime” when it arrived in cinemas. Impressed by its sheer scale, the Academy awarded Ben-Hur no less than 11 Oscars. All that success must have come as a relief to Wyler, who spent around $15million putting it together. That sounds like a low sum by today’s standards, but in 1959 that budget made Ben-Hur the most expensive film in Hollywood history.
Ben Hur’s eleven Oscars were unmatched until the 1990s when James Cameron’s historical romance Titanic blew it out of the water. Nominated in 14 of the 17 possible categories, it tells the story of the cruiseliner’s ill-fated Atlantic crossing in 1912 and was lauded for its dizzying visual effects, performances, direction, cinematography, screenplay and musical score. It tied with 1950’s All About Eve for the most Oscar nominations and won eleven awards in all, including the statuettes for ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’.
Like Ben-Hur, Titanic was a costly film to make but even more lucrative. With an initial gross of over $1.8billion, it was the first film to make more than a billion dollars at the box office and remained Cameron’s most successful film until Avatar came along in 2009.
The third film to win eleven Academy Awards, Peter Jackson’s The Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King, was even more of a spectacle. As the last film in the director’s Lord of The Rings trilogy, it served as the concluding chapter to Jackson’s astonishing fantasy franchise and boasted countless jaw-dropping battle scenes.
Released on December 17th, 2003, the film received much acclaim and is generally regarded as one of the most influential fantasy films ever made. It was also the highest-grossing film of 2003 and remains the second-highest-grossing of all time. It cleaned up at the 76th Academy Awards, winning 11 awards, including one for ‘Best Visual Effects’, making the trilogy the second film series (the other is Star Wars) whose entries have all won in the category.
There are two things the three films all have in common: they were all mammoth undertakings, with huge casts and gigantic visuals on screen, and they also have the most Oscars ever won on a single night at the illustrious event.
The movies with the most Oscar wins:
- Ben Hur (William Wyler, 1959)
- Titanic (James Cameron, 1997)
- The Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King (Peter Jackson, 2003)
