The Academy Awards — which air tonight on ABC — are 87 years old, and in all that time only 16 sports movies have been nominated for Best Picture.
Six of those 16 are about boxing, three about baseball, three about football and one each about track and field, horse racing, cycling and billiards. Only three won the Oscar for Best Picture.
This list does not include movies that are only tangentially about sports, or that have a great sports-related scene. The most famous scene in Ben Hur (1959) is a chariot race, while one of the more memorable parts of M*A*S*H (1970) is a football game.
Also not included here are From Here to Eternity (1953) or On the Waterfront (1954) in each of which the main character is a former boxer, or Silver Linings Playbook (2012), which features a major plot element about betting on football. Those aren’t really sports movies, though sports are a big part of the characters’ back story.
So here they are, the 16 sports movies nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, in chronological order (year listed is year film’s release):
1. The Champ (1931): Wallace Beery played a washed-up alcoholic fighter trying to change his ways for his son (Jackie Cooper). Memorably remade in 1979 starring Jon Voight and Ricky Schroeder. The original won Oscars for Best Actor (Beery) and Best Story (Frances Marion), but lost out to Grand Hotel in the Best Picture race.
2. Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941): Robert Montgomery plays a box who was taken from his body too soon and spends the rest of the film trying to get back to his former life. It was nominated for seven Oscars, winning in a pair of writing categories, but came in behind How Green Was My Valley in the Best Picture race.
3. The Pride of the Yankees (1942): Gary Cooper played the stricken Lou Gehrig, in a film released a little more than a year after the Hall of Fame first baseman’s death from ALS. Pride was nominated for 10 Oscars (winning for film editing), and remains one of the more beloved films of all-time. Still, Mrs. Miniver took home Best Picture that year.
4. The Hustler (1961): It’s debatable as to whether or not billiards is a sport, but they show it on ESPN, so we’ll include it here. A powerhouse cast featuring Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason and George C. Scott led to nine Academy Award nominations, but juggernaut musical West Side Story claimed Best Picture.
5. Rocky (1976): Sylvester Stallone shopped around his script about an out-of-nowhere heavyweight title contender for years before he was finally allowed to play the title role. It not only resonated with audiences, but won three Oscars, including Best Picture. It also spawned a six-film franchise that has grossed more than $1 billion in total.
6. Heaven Can Wait (1978): Warren Beatty plays an NFL quarterback who was taken from his body too soon and spends the rest of the film trying to get back to his former life. If that sounds familiar, it’s because it was a remake of Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Like the original, Beatty’s film lost out for Best Picture, this time to The Deer Hunter.
7. Breaking Away (1979): This coming-of-age tale about a working-class teenager (Dennis Christopher) obsessed with European-style cycling helped launch the careers of Dennis Quaid and Daniel Stern. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, winning for Best Original Screenplay, but Kramer vs. Kramer won the Best Picture Oscar.
8. Raging Bull (1980): Martin Scorsese‘s epic biopic about brutish (even for a boxer) middleweight contender Jake La Motta (Robert De Niro) is widely regarded as his finest film. It was nominated in most of the major categories, with De Niro taking home Best Actor. The family drama Ordinary People claimed Best Picture, however.
9. Chariots of Fire (1981): This tells the story of two British runners contending for a spot in the 1924 Olympics, one a devout Catholic, the other a Jew. Chariots of Fire was nominated for seven Oscars and won four, including Best Picture. Its most enduring legacy, however, is Vangelis’ ubiquitous (and Oscar-winning) score.
10. Field of Dreams (1989): Kevin Costner‘s baseball fantasy is heavy on the sentimental (almost to a schmaltzy level) and fast and loose with historical accuracy, but hit home with fathers and sons of every generation. It was nominated for three Oscars, but didn’t win any, losing to Driving Miss Daisy in the Best Picture race.
11. Jerry Maguire (1996): Sure, it’s probably more romantic comedy than sports movie, but the main character (played by Tom Cruise) is an agent and his right-hand man (Cuba Gooding Jr.) is a professional football player. Nominated for five Oscars, with Gooding winning for Best Supporting Actor. The English Patient won Best Picture.
12. Seabiscuit (2003): Gary Ross directed this true story of a overlooked racehorse who became a champion national sensation during the Great Depression. Unlike its true-life subject, the film didn’t win in any of the seven categories in which it was nominated. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King took home Best Picture.
13. Million Dollar Baby (2004): Clint Eastwood gave us a different kind of sports movie, the story of the inspirational rise and heartbreaking fall of a female boxer (Hilary Swank). It won four Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director (Eastwood), Best Actress (Swank) and Best Supporting Actor (Morgan Freeman).
14. The Blind Side (2009): The story of Michael Oher‘s journey from poverty to adoption and eventually college football and the NFL is the highest-grossing sports movie of all-time at more than $300 million worldwide. Sandra Bullock won an Academy Award for Best Actress, but The Hurt Locker took Best Picture honors.
15. The Fighter (2010): The story of welterweight contender Micky Ward (Mark Walhberg) is heavy on grittiness, even for a boxing movie. Christian Bale won Best Supporting Actor for playing Ward’s brother and Melissa Leo won Best Supporting Actress as his mother, but The King’s Speech took home Best Picture.
16. Moneyball (2011): The best-seller by Michael Lewis — who also wrote The Blind Side — on the inner workings of the Oakland Athletics’ front office made an unlikely journey to the big screen, but Aaron Sorkin‘s script carried it to six Academy Award nominations. Best Picture honors went to The Artist, however.
Six of those 16 are about boxing, three about baseball, three about football and one each about track and field, horse racing, cycling and billiards. Only three won the Oscar for Best Picture.
This list does not include movies that are only tangentially about sports, or that have a great sports-related scene. The most famous scene in Ben Hur (1959) is a chariot race, while one of the more memorable parts of M*A*S*H (1970) is a football game.
Also not included here are From Here to Eternity (1953) or On the Waterfront (1954) in each of which the main character is a former boxer, or Silver Linings Playbook (2012), which features a major plot element about betting on football. Those aren’t really sports movies, though sports are a big part of the characters’ back story.
So here they are, the 16 sports movies nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, in chronological order (year listed is year film’s release):
1. The Champ (1931): Wallace Beery played a washed-up alcoholic fighter trying to change his ways for his son (Jackie Cooper). Memorably remade in 1979 starring Jon Voight and Ricky Schroeder. The original won Oscars for Best Actor (Beery) and Best Story (Frances Marion), but lost out to Grand Hotel in the Best Picture race.
2. Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941): Robert Montgomery plays a box who was taken from his body too soon and spends the rest of the film trying to get back to his former life. It was nominated for seven Oscars, winning in a pair of writing categories, but came in behind How Green Was My Valley in the Best Picture race.
3. The Pride of the Yankees (1942): Gary Cooper played the stricken Lou Gehrig, in a film released a little more than a year after the Hall of Fame first baseman’s death from ALS. Pride was nominated for 10 Oscars (winning for film editing), and remains one of the more beloved films of all-time. Still, Mrs. Miniver took home Best Picture that year.
4. The Hustler (1961): It’s debatable as to whether or not billiards is a sport, but they show it on ESPN, so we’ll include it here. A powerhouse cast featuring Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason and George C. Scott led to nine Academy Award nominations, but juggernaut musical West Side Story claimed Best Picture.
5. Rocky (1976): Sylvester Stallone shopped around his script about an out-of-nowhere heavyweight title contender for years before he was finally allowed to play the title role. It not only resonated with audiences, but won three Oscars, including Best Picture. It also spawned a six-film franchise that has grossed more than $1 billion in total.
6. Heaven Can Wait (1978): Warren Beatty plays an NFL quarterback who was taken from his body too soon and spends the rest of the film trying to get back to his former life. If that sounds familiar, it’s because it was a remake of Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Like the original, Beatty’s film lost out for Best Picture, this time to The Deer Hunter.
7. Breaking Away (1979): This coming-of-age tale about a working-class teenager (Dennis Christopher) obsessed with European-style cycling helped launch the careers of Dennis Quaid and Daniel Stern. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, winning for Best Original Screenplay, but Kramer vs. Kramer won the Best Picture Oscar.
8. Raging Bull (1980): Martin Scorsese‘s epic biopic about brutish (even for a boxer) middleweight contender Jake La Motta (Robert De Niro) is widely regarded as his finest film. It was nominated in most of the major categories, with De Niro taking home Best Actor. The family drama Ordinary People claimed Best Picture, however.
9. Chariots of Fire (1981): This tells the story of two British runners contending for a spot in the 1924 Olympics, one a devout Catholic, the other a Jew. Chariots of Fire was nominated for seven Oscars and won four, including Best Picture. Its most enduring legacy, however, is Vangelis’ ubiquitous (and Oscar-winning) score.
10. Field of Dreams (1989): Kevin Costner‘s baseball fantasy is heavy on the sentimental (almost to a schmaltzy level) and fast and loose with historical accuracy, but hit home with fathers and sons of every generation. It was nominated for three Oscars, but didn’t win any, losing to Driving Miss Daisy in the Best Picture race.
11. Jerry Maguire (1996): Sure, it’s probably more romantic comedy than sports movie, but the main character (played by Tom Cruise) is an agent and his right-hand man (Cuba Gooding Jr.) is a professional football player. Nominated for five Oscars, with Gooding winning for Best Supporting Actor. The English Patient won Best Picture.
12. Seabiscuit (2003): Gary Ross directed this true story of a overlooked racehorse who became a champion national sensation during the Great Depression. Unlike its true-life subject, the film didn’t win in any of the seven categories in which it was nominated. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King took home Best Picture.
13. Million Dollar Baby (2004): Clint Eastwood gave us a different kind of sports movie, the story of the inspirational rise and heartbreaking fall of a female boxer (Hilary Swank). It won four Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director (Eastwood), Best Actress (Swank) and Best Supporting Actor (Morgan Freeman).
14. The Blind Side (2009): The story of Michael Oher‘s journey from poverty to adoption and eventually college football and the NFL is the highest-grossing sports movie of all-time at more than $300 million worldwide. Sandra Bullock won an Academy Award for Best Actress, but The Hurt Locker took Best Picture honors.
15. The Fighter (2010): The story of welterweight contender Micky Ward (Mark Walhberg) is heavy on grittiness, even for a boxing movie. Christian Bale won Best Supporting Actor for playing Ward’s brother and Melissa Leo won Best Supporting Actress as his mother, but The King’s Speech took home Best Picture.
16. Moneyball (2011): The best-seller by Michael Lewis — who also wrote The Blind Side — on the inner workings of the Oakland Athletics’ front office made an unlikely journey to the big screen, but Aaron Sorkin‘s script carried it to six Academy Award nominations. Best Picture honors went to The Artist, however.
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