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A visual history · Oscars

The winners who defined Picture.

97 ceremonies, 1929–2025. 97 different winners.

Who won most recently?
Anora in 2025.
  1. AnoraNeon
  2. OppenheimerUniversal Pictures
  3. Everything Everywhere All at OnceA24
  4. CODAApple TV+
  5. NomadlandSearchlight Pictures
  6. ParasiteNeon
Years explored
1929–2025
Different winners
97
Category leader
No leader
About this record

Awarded at every ceremony since the first in 1929, under four earlier official names.

2000–2025

26 ceremonies

19292025

01 / The reigns

26 winners shaped this category.

The timeline turns the 2000–2025 record into a sequence of reigns. Longer bands reveal sustained runs; color shows the credited distributor.

One band per year, because no winner has gone back-to-back in the years on record. Colored by distributor; scroll sideways for the full run.
American Beauty'00
Gladiator'01
A Beautiful Mind'02
Chicago'03
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'04
Million Dollar Baby'05
Crash'06
The Departed'07
No Country for Old Men'08
Slumdog Millionaire'09
The Hurt Locker'10
The King's Speech'11
The Artist'12
Argo'13
12 Years a Slave'14
Birdman'15
Spotlight'16
Moonlight'17
The Shape of Water'18
Green Book'19
Parasite'20
Nomadland'21
CODA'22
Everything Everywhere All at Once'23
Oppenheimer'24
Anora'25

02 / The power map

Who stood behind the winners?

Searchlight leads the recorded distributor credits with 5 wins, 2000–2025. The full distribution shows whether power was concentrated or shared.

Searchlight5 wins
Universal5 wins
Warner Bros.4 wins
A242 wins
Miramax2 wins
Neon2 wins
Wins by distributor
  1. Searchlight519%
  2. Universal519%
  3. Warner Bros.415%
  4. A2428%
  5. Miramax28%
  6. Neon28%
  7. Other623%

04 / The archive

Every year.
Every winner.

The complete reference behind the story, showing 2000–2025. Open any year to see the rest of the field when nominee records are available.

YearWinnerDistributor
2025Anora
beat 9 others
  • The Brutalist
  • A Complete Unknown
  • Conclave
  • Dune: Part Two
  • Emilia Pérez
  • I'm Still Here
  • Nickel Boys
  • The Substance
  • Wicked
Neon
2024Oppenheimer
beat 9 others
  • American Fiction
  • Anatomy of a Fall
  • Barbie
  • The Holdovers
  • Killers of the Flower Moon
  • Maestro
  • Past Lives
  • Poor Things
  • The Zone of Interest
Universal Pictures
2023Everything Everywhere All at Once
beat 9 others
  • All Quiet on the Western Front
  • Avatar: The Way of Water
  • The Banshees of Inisherin
  • Elvis
  • The Fabelmans
  • Tár
  • Top Gun: Maverick
  • Triangle of Sadness
  • Women Talking
A24
2022CODA
beat 9 others
  • Belfast
  • Don't Look Up
  • Drive My Car
  • Dune
  • King Richard
  • Licorice Pizza
  • Nightmare Alley
  • The Power of the Dog
  • West Side Story
Apple TV+
2021Nomadland
beat 7 others
  • The Father
  • Judas and the Black Messiah
  • Mank
  • Minari
  • Promising Young Woman
  • Sound of Metal
  • The Trial of the Chicago 7
Searchlight Pictures
2020Parasite
beat 8 others
  • Ford v Ferrari
  • The Irishman
  • Jojo Rabbit
  • Joker
  • Little Women
  • Marriage Story
  • 1917
  • Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Neon
2019Green Book
beat 7 others
  • Black Panther
  • BlacKkKlansman
  • Bohemian Rhapsody
  • The Favourite
  • Roma
  • A Star Is Born
  • Vice
Universal Pictures
2018The Shape of Water
beat 8 others
  • Call Me by Your Name
  • Darkest Hour
  • Dunkirk
  • Get Out
  • Lady Bird
  • Phantom Thread
  • The Post
  • Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Fox Searchlight Pictures
2017Moonlight
beat 8 others
  • Arrival
  • Fences
  • Hacksaw Ridge
  • Hell or High Water
  • Hidden Figures
  • La La Land
  • Lion
  • Manchester by the Sea
A24
2016Spotlight
beat 7 others
  • The Big Short
  • Bridge of Spies
  • Brooklyn
  • Mad Max: Fury Road
  • The Martian
  • The Revenant
  • Room
Open Road Films
2015Birdman
beat 7 others
  • American Sniper
  • Boyhood
  • The Grand Budapest Hotel
  • The Imitation Game
  • Selma
  • The Theory of Everything
  • Whiplash
Fox Searchlight Pictures
201412 Years a Slave
beat 8 others
  • American Hustle
  • Captain Phillips
  • Dallas Buyers Club
  • Gravity
  • Her
  • Nebraska
  • Philomena
  • The Wolf of Wall Street
Fox Searchlight Pictures
2013Argo
beat 8 others
  • Amour
  • Beasts of the Southern Wild
  • Django Unchained
  • Life of Pi
  • Lincoln
  • Les Misérables
  • Silver Linings Playbook
  • Zero Dark Thirty
Warner Bros.
2012The Artist
beat 8 others
  • The Descendants
  • Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
  • The Help
  • Hugo
  • Midnight in Paris
  • Moneyball
  • The Tree of Life
  • War Horse
The Weinstein Company
2011The King's Speech
beat 9 others
  • Black Swan
  • The Fighter
  • Inception
  • The Kids Are All Right
  • 127 Hours
  • The Social Network
  • Toy Story 3
  • True Grit
  • Winter's Bone
The Weinstein Company
2010The Hurt Locker
beat 9 others
  • Avatar
  • The Blind Side
  • District 9
  • An Education
  • Inglourious Basterds
  • Precious
  • A Serious Man
  • Up
  • Up in the Air
Summit Entertainment
2009Slumdog Millionaire
beat 4 others
  • The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • Frost/Nixon
  • Milk
  • The Reader
Fox Searchlight Pictures
2008No Country for Old Men
beat 4 others
  • Atonement
  • Juno
  • Michael Clayton
  • There Will Be Blood
Miramax
2007The Departed
beat 4 others
  • Babel
  • Letters from Iwo Jima
  • Little Miss Sunshine
  • The Queen
Warner Bros.
2006Crash
beat 4 others
  • Brokeback Mountain
  • Capote
  • Good Night, and Good Luck
  • Munich
Lionsgate
2005Million Dollar Baby
beat 4 others
  • The Aviator
  • Finding Neverland
  • Ray
  • Sideways
Warner Bros.
2004The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
beat 4 others
  • Lost in Translation
  • Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
  • Mystic River
  • Seabiscuit
New Line Cinema
2003Chicago
beat 4 others
  • Gangs of New York
  • The Hours
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
  • The Pianist
Miramax
2002A Beautiful Mind
beat 4 others
  • Gosford Park
  • In the Bedroom
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
  • Moulin Rouge!
Universal Pictures
2001Gladiator
beat 4 others
  • Chocolat
  • Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
  • Erin Brockovich
  • Traffic
DreamWorks Pictures
2000American Beauty
beat 4 others
  • The Cider House Rules
  • The Green Mile
  • The Insider
  • The Sixth Sense
DreamWorks Pictures