It’s that time of the year when the red carpet is getting ready to be rolled out for the Oscars. This year is the 94th Academy Awards and making up the shortlist are films that have secured praise from critics and audiences, including Dune, West Side Story, Nightmare Alley, and Encanto.
Ahead of the awards ceremony on Monday 28 March 2022, here are the films that have won the most Oscars in the award ceremony’s almost century-long history.
The 3 films that won an incredible 11 Oscars each
Three films hold the title of winning the most Oscars after securing 11 awards each, and they all won the Best Picture category. If you’re looking for a highly acclaimed film to watch, putting on one of these is a great option.
Ben-Hur (1959)
Ben-Hur made history by scooping 11 of the 12 awards it was nominated for at the 32nd annual Academy Awards. The film, which was released in 1959, is an adaptation of the 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace. It tells the story of a rich Jewish prince sent into slavery by a Roman he thought was his friend as he battles for freedom and revenge.
The adaptation was filmed on location in Italy and had a huge budget of $15 million (£11 million). It held the record of being the most expensive film ever made when it was released. More than 300 sets were used to help immerse viewers and one of the most iconic scenes, a nine-minute-long chariot race, used 7,000 extras to cheer in the stands and took almost a year to plan.
Ben-Hur was popular right from its release date and was number one at the monthly US box office for six months. It became the second highest-grossing film of all time, only behind Gone with the Wind.
Titanic (1997)
It took almost four decades for another film to match the Oscar record of Ben-Hur, but Titanic did just that in 1997.
More than 57 million viewers in the US tuned in to watch the 70th Academy Awards and saw Titanic win 11 of the 14 awards it was nominated for. Much like Ben-Hur, at the time of its release, Titanic was the most expensive film ever made and had a production budget of $200 million (£147 million).
The film is based on accounts of the sinking of RMS Titanic in 1912. The story focuses on the romance of Jack and Rose, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, onboard the ill-fated luxurious liner.
The epic film covers themes of love, loss, class, and power as first-class passenger Rose falls for third-class passenger Jack, who was only able to board the ship after winning the ticket in a game of poker.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
In 2004, the final instalment of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy was nominated for 11 Oscars and won every category it was shortlisted for. The film was considered a landmark in the fantasy film genre and has paved the way for many others.
Return of the King is the culmination of almost a decade of work presenting the final confrontation between the forces of good and evil in Middle-earth. Based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s book, The Return of the King follows Frodo, Sam, and Gollum making the final stage of the journey to Mount Doom, while the rest of the characters join forces to fight against Sauron.
As well as the epic story, the entire trilogy won praise for its special effects, set design, and costumes that all helped to bring the fantasy world to life. In total, at the box office, The Return of the King earned $1.1 billion (£810 million) and secured praise from critics and the general public.
The 3 films that have won the “Big 5”
While Ben-Hur, Titanic, and Return of the King jointly hold the title for securing the most Oscars, none of them won all the categories dubbed the “Big Five” – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay. But these three films have.
It Happened One Night (1934)
In this acclaimed romantic comedy, spoiled heiress Ellie Andrews travels to reunite with her new husband after her impulsive decision to marry him led to her tycoon father spiriting her away. Along the way, she meets reporter Peter Warne, played by Clarke Gable, who is in search of a story.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
In a bid to escape prison, criminal Randle McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) pleads insanity and finds himself sent to a ward for the mentally unstable. He finds himself in a battle of wills with the oppressive Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) who runs the psychiatric ward through fear, abuse, and medication.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Jodie Foster stars as Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs as a student at the FBI training academy. She is told to interview Dr Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a psychopath behind bars for murder and cannibalism. While the FBI tries to use Hannibal to gain an insight into another serial killer, he tries to manipulate Clarice.
