List of highest-grossing films in Germany

This list charts the most successful films at cinemas in Germany by admissions. It also lists the most popular German productions in terms of box office sales, in euros and admissions. The Jungle Book, initially released in 1968 but with subsequent reissues, is Germany's biggest film of all time since 1963 in terms of admissions with 27.3 million tickets sold, nearly 10 million more than Titanic's 18.8 million tickets sold.^[1] It has grossed an estimated $108 million in Germany making it the third highest-grossing film of all time in Germany behind only Avatar (2009) ($137 million) and Titanic (1997) ($125 million).^[2] Der Schuh des Manitu (2001) is the highest-grossing German production with a gross of €63 million and a record (since 1962) 11.7 million admissions.^[3] The 1953 East German film Die Geschichte vom kleinen Muck had the most admissions for a film from East Germany with almost 13 million.^[4]

Most successful films by admissions

The table below lists the most successful films in Germany since 1963 in terms of admissions. The Jungle Book is Germany's biggest film of all time in terms of admissions with 27.3 million tickets sold, nearly 10 million more than Titanic's 18.8 million tickets sold.^[1]

Rank	Title	Year	Admissions[1]
01	The Jungle Book	1968	27,290,763
02	Titanic	1998	18,812,740
03	Once Upon a Time in the West	1969	13,012,746
04	Doctor Zhivago	1966	12,750,000
05	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone	2001	12,595,323
06	Trinity Is Still My Name	1972	12,267,000
07	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring	2001	11,930,785
08	The Lion King	1994	11,899,893
09	Der Schuh des Manitu	2001	11,721,183
10	Avatar	2009	11,311,518
11	The Aristocats	1971	11,294,126
12	Thunderball	1965	11,250,000
13	The Silence	1964	11,000,000
14	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers	2002	10,753,596
15	Pretty Woman	1990	10,625,337
16	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King	2003	10,442,102
17	Goldfinger	1965	10,250,000
18	Avatar: The Way of Water	2022	10,198,391
19	Treasure of the Silver Lake	1962	10,000,000
20	Apache Gold	1963	10,000,000
21	The Rescuers	1977	09,767,049
22	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	2002	09,728,779
23	Jurassic Park	1993	09,395,450
24	Independence Day	1996	09,272,424
25	Traumschiff Surprise – Periode 1	2004	09,165,932
26	The Intouchables	2012	09,162,715
27	Star Wars: The Force Awakens	2015	09,060,311
28	You Only Live Twice	1967	09,000,000
29	Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace	1999	08,962,516
30	Finding Nemo	2003	08,839,084

Highest-grossing films prior to 1963

The most successful films released prior to 1963 based on theatrical rentals in Deutschmarks to February 1984 were:^{[nb 1]}

Rank	Title	Year	Rentals DM[5]
01	Ben-Hur	1959	32.0
02	Gone With the Wind	1939	30.0
03	The Bridge on the River Kwai	1957	24.0
04	From Here to Eternity	1953	20.0

List of highest-grossing German productions

Rank	Title	Year	Gross € [3]
01	Der Schuh des Manitu	2001	65,131,251
02	Fack ju Göhte 2	2015	62,883,798
03	Honig im Kopf	2014	58,506,360
04	Fack ju Göhte	2013	54,812,272
05	Fack ju Göhte 3	2017	53,151,550
06	Traumschiff Surprise – Periode 1	2004	51,276,038
07	The Perfect Secret [de]	2019	46,963,873
08	The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2	2015	41,957,829
09	Keinohrhasen	2007	40,480,446
10	7 Zwerge – Männer allein im Wald	2004	39,300,000[6]

Most successful German productions by admissions

The following are the most successful German productions ranked by admissions in Germany since 1962, excluding those produced in East Germany between 1945-1990 (see separate list below).

Rank	Title	Year	Admissions [3]
01	Der Schuh des Manitu	2001	11,721,183
02	Treasure of the Silver Lake	1962	10,000,000
03	Apache Gold	1963	10,000,000
04	Traumschiff Surprise – Periode 1	2004	09,165,932
05	Otto – Der Film	1985	08,776,026
06	Fack ju Göhte 2	2015	07,698,547
07	Old Shatterhand	1964	07,500,000
08	Fack ju Göhte	2013	07,383,322
09	Honig im Kopf	2014	07,274,964
10	Schulmädchen-Report	1970	07,000,000

Most successful films in East Germany based on admissions

Below is a list of the most successful films produced in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany (1945–49) and East Germany (1949-1990). Films prior to 1949 include admissions from West Berlin and the west zones.

Rank	Title	Year	Admissions[4]
01	Die Geschichte vom kleinen Muck	1953	12,998,352
02	Ehe im Schatten	1947	12,888,153
03	Heart of Stone	1950	09,779,526
04	The Sons of Great Bear	1966	09,422,395
05	Raid	1947	08,090,000
06	Snow White	1961	07,597,495
07	Street Acquaintances	1948	06,469,627
08	The Murderers Are Among Us	1946	06,468,921
09	The Merry Wives of Windsor	1950	06,090,329
10	My Wife Makes Music	1958	06,052,050

See also

• Lists of highest-grossing films
• Goldene Leinwand

Notes

1. For comparison with the table above, Variety reported the following films released after 1963 with rentals of over 18 million Deutschmarks by February 1984:
   Doctor Zhivago 39 million DM
   The Jungle Book 33 million DM
   E.T. the Extra-terrestrial 25 million DM
   The Rescuers 22 million DM
   From Here to Eternity 20 million DM
   Once Upon A Time in the West 18 million DM
   Jaws 18 million DM
   Octopussy 18 million DM ^[5]