The Biggest Sports Movies Of All Time

Sports movies are a special breed of cinema as they combine two things the general public loves: sports and films. Typically, these two forms of recreational entertainment are strictly divided. However, the sports movie genre allows audiences of all stripes to get entertained on multiple levels. Sports devotees can enjoy seeing familiar football, baseball, and boxing legends on the big screen, while people who don't know a hockey puck from a tennis racquet can still get immersed in a compelling narrative. Given just how enjoyable these features can be, it's a wonder that studios don't combine sports and movies more often. It's especially puzzling given how often sports movies end up becoming an exceptional box office hit.

Looking at the biggest sports movies of all time at the domestic box office, one notices several trends immediately, including just how prominent the "Rocky" franchise is in this domain. However, it also becomes apparent that all these titles are the sort of projects that get people to stand up in their seats and cheer, a unifying experience that can be downright exhilarating when it occurs in a movie theater. The various factors that inform the box office glory of the most lucrative sports movies remind the world that, like the underdog protagonists of many of these features, you can never count the sports movie out.

Jackie Robinson changed the world of baseball, and American sports in general, forever. His influence was so immense that it was inevitable the art of cinema would dramatize it. Efforts to do so even included the 1950 film "The Jackie Robinson Story," which featured Robinson as himself. A more traditional period piece biopic about Robinson would emerge decades later through the 2013 movie "42." In an interesting twist of fate, another legendary figure would also be intertwined in the project in the form of Chadwick Boseman.

Given the incredibly influential nature of Robinson, it was no surprise to anyone when "42" became a major box office hit when it hit theaters in April 2013. This was despite baseball movies regularly having a mixed track record when it came to the box office. However, the fame of Robinson, alongside the presence of Harrison Ford in a supporting role and a distinctive marketing campaign, made sure that "42" overcame those problems by grossing $95 million, per The Numbers. Plus, opening when it did in April 2013, with much less competition to face, proved to be a smart scheduling move. It was only a matter of time before Robinson had another movie made about him, though who knew it would prove to be such a lucrative enterprise.

While the "Rocky" franchise wasn't necessarily at rock bottom when "Creed" arrived on the scene in 2015, it wasn't in sterling condition either. "Rocky 5" took the series to new critical lows in the 1990s and put the franchise into hibernation for more than a decade. "Rocky Balboa" in 2006 resorted some of the critical luster, per Rotten Tomatoes, but it didn't make nearly as much at the domestic box office as previous installments. Considering this track record, "Creed" couldn't just do okay for a sports drama. The pressure was on to revive the "Rocky" movies at the box office and bring the franchise back to its financial glory days.

A smart move made from the get-go was that "Creed" wouldn't just be a "Rocky" remake or even a simple rehash of the original "Rocky." It would be an inspirational boxing movie, but the titular character's plight in "Creed," coming to terms with his father's legacy and establishing his own personality, was vastly different from what Rocky Balboa faced in his first movie. Straddling the line between familiar triumphant thrills and offering something new, alongside a magnetic performance from Michael B. Jordan, helped "Creed" become a box office smash when it hit theaters in 2015. Grossing $109.7 million domestically, per The Numbers, it was the first "Rocky" movie to exceed $100 million in North America in 30 years. This feature had accomplished its job. The "Rocky" franchise, the crown jewel of sports dramas, was back on top.

Some Thanksgiving traditions just never seem to fade away. People will always eat Turkey over this holiday, and Lucy will constantly be plucking away that fateful football from Charlie Brown just before he can kick it. Also part of these traditions? A "Rocky" movie will open over this timeframe and make enormous amounts of money. Following in the footsteps of "Rocky 4" and the original "Creed," "Creed 2" was always going to open over the Thanksgiving time frame, and, also like so many of its predecessors, it proved to be a major box office smash.

With $115.7 million domestically, per The Numbers, "Creed 2" exceeded its predecessor's North American haul while surpassing the grosses of all but three entries in the "Rocky" franchise in this territory. The positive buzz spurred on by the inaugural "Creed" installment no doubt played a part in getting "Creed 2" to reach such impressive box office heights. It didn't hurt that, in the years since "Creed" in 2015, lead actors Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson had massively increased their star power by headlining movies like "Black Panther" and "Thor: Ragnarok," respectively. With the sports movie "Creed 2" becoming a smash hit, the streak of "Rocky" movies excelling over Thanksgiving continued unabated.

Cars going fast. From the moment automobiles were first invented, the excitement of taking them to high speeds has always proved an entertaining sight that's hard to replicate. No wonder, then, that movies have so often used automobile racing as a go-to backdrop for sports stories. One especially lucrative example of this strain of sports cinema is "Ford v Ferrari," a James Mangold film released in November 2019. Though its central story isn't known by everyone, especially in America, it proved to be a mighty popular movie to domestic audiences.

"Ford v Ferrari" kicked off its domestic box office run in the victory circle with a $31.4 million opening weekend, per The Numbers. This title was able to stick around through Thanksgiving, riding a wave of good word-of-mouth and reaching $117.6 million in North America. Impressively, that makes "Ford v. Ferrari" the second-biggest movie ever about car racing that doesn't involve either Vin Diesel or Lightning McQueen, per Box Office Mojo. Similarly noteworthy is how this is the rare non-"Batman" movie starring Christian Bale to exceed $100 million in this territory and one of Matt Damon's bigger films outside of the "Bourne" franchise. No matter how you look at it, "Ford v Ferrari" zoomed to remarkable success.

After "Rocky 2" failed to put up the same numbers as the original did in North America, it wasn't far-fetched to wonder if the "Rocky" movies just weren't going to make it as a long-running franchise. Of course, history has shown that the "Rocky" movies have proven as unstoppable as their titular boxer, and much of that financial longevity can be laid on the success of "Rocky 3." This film managed to top all prior "Rocky" installments and reinvigorated the financial stamina of the franchise in the process.

While many installments in the "Rocky" franchise have opted for Thanksgiving or Christmas launches, "Rocky 3" took a cue from its predecessor's June bow by debuting over Memorial Day weekend in 1982, per The Numbers. Going for a summertime debut turned out to be a bold move that paid off handsomely, as "Rocky 3" took in $125 million domestically. That was enough to make the biggest movie of the year in North America that wasn't called "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial." What helped this film out at the box office was its positive word-of-mouth from audiences, as reflected the project's A+ CinemaScore grade from moviegoers, which Film School Rejects notes is a fairly rare occurrence and one that is often a solid predictor of financial success. With this kind of buzz and a prime summertime release date, it's no wonder "Rocky 3" proved that the "Rocky" films could go on well beyond the inaugural installment.

It's always interesting to look back on movies that don't just top all other films in a subgenre but vastly surpass all other entries in that category. There's being successful, and then there's being successful in an unprecedented way. What led to these titles shattering all the norms for what movies of their ilk could do? "The Blind Side" is one such exception, the biggest sports drama of all time with $255.9 million in North America, according to The Numbers. The film more than doubled the domestic gross of the second-highest-grossing entry in this subgenre. It's also the only sports drama to exceed $150, $200, and $250 million in North America.

None of these records could've been predicted before the movie launched in the pre-Thanksgiving slot in November 2009. Over its opening weekend, "The Blind Side" shattered expectations and continued to surprise people with tiny weekend-to-weekend drops. Part of what drew moviegoers to the theater to see "The Blind Side" was the positive word-of-mouth the motion picture developed, as well as the fact that it was based on a real-world sports figure, Michael Oher, who was already a household name. Attracting Oher's fanbase helped things out, as did putting Sandra Bullock in the movie. Her strong box office track record is a testament to how much of a draw she is, and rarely was that more apparent than in "The Blind Side," a sports drama with a box office performance like no other entry in this subgenre.