Here are the heavyweight, box-office champions of New Zealand cinema.
Check out the all-time top twenty – followed by the highest-grossing films year by year over the past decade.
Grosses are New Zealand box office takings, in NZ$, not adjusted for inflation. Figures courtesy of Numero (those marked with an asterisk via NZ Film Commission).
All-time top 20
1. Hunt for the Wilderpeople
2016 | Directed by Taika Waititi
$12,207,893
2. Boy
2010 | Directed by Taika Waititi
$9,297,085
3. The World’s Fastest Indian
2005 | Directed by Roger Donaldson
$7,059,147
4. Once Were Warriors
1994 | Directed by Lee Tamahori
$6,801,471
5. Whale Rider
2003 | Directed by Niki Caro
$6,496,371
6. Sione’s Wedding
2006 | Directed by Chris Graham
$4,075,000*
7. What Becomes of the Broken Hearted
1999 | Directed by Ian Mune
$3,201,000*
8. What We Do in the Shadows
2014 | Directed by Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement
$2,601,244
9. Footrot Flats
1986 | Directed by Murray Ball
$2,420,000*
10. The Dark Horse
2014 | Directed by James Napier Robertson
$1,947,636
11. Second Hand Wedding
2008 | Directed by Paul Murphy
$1,913,000*
12. Chasing Great
2016 | Directed by Michelle Walshe & Justin Pemberton
$1,828,941
13. The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls
2009 | Directed by Leanne Pooley
$1,820,000*
14. Sione’s 2: Unfinished Business
2012 | Directed by Simon Bennett
$1,817,000*
15. The Breaker Upperers
2018 | Directed by Madeleine Sami & Jackie van Beek
$1,773,008*
16. Goodbye Pork Pie
1981 | Directed by Geoff Murphy
$1,600,000*
17. Cousins
2021 | Directed by Briar Grace-Smith and Ainsley Gardiner
$1,597,997
18. Savage
2020 | Directed by Sam Kelly
$1,551,160
19. Muru
2022 | Directed by Tearepa Kahi
$1,522,372
20. In My Father’s Den
2004 | Directed by Brad McGann
$1,506,000*
Highest earners by year
2023 (to date)
Red, White & Brass
Lifetime gross: $1,440,413
2022
Lifetime gross: $1,522,372
2021
Cousins (2021)
Lifetime gross: $1,597,997
2020
Lifetime gross: $1,551,160
2019
Lifetime gross: $1,162,815
2018
They Shall Not Grow Old
Lifetime gross: $819,673
2017
Lifetime gross: $1,149,035
2016
Hunt For the Wilderpeople
Lifetime gross: $12,207,893
2015
Born to Dance
Lifetime gross: $1,111,269
2014
What We Do in the Shadows
Lifetime gross: $2,601,244
