In fact, with $22 million in earnings to date, it was the lowest-grossing of the nine Best Picture nominees this year, and the second lowest-grossing Best Picture winner in history, after 2009’s The Hurt Locker.
Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight, which won the Oscar for Best Picture on Sunday, was a notable winner even beyond the bizarre circumstances of the announcement of its victory.
There’s another thing about Moonlight that differs from most films that win Best Picture: It was not a box office hit.
It’s both the first LGBT-focused film and the first movie with an all-African-American cast to take Best Picture.