The film became a critical and commercial success when it was released in 2005, and went on to win three Oscars including Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Brokeback Mountain (2005)Īng Lee’s celebrated same-sex romance Brokeback Mountain starred Jake Gyllenhaal and the late Heath Ledger as cowboy lovers in the American West in the 60’s. Although it ranks seventh on this list with over $160 million at the box office, it was deemed a financial failure due to its $155 million dollar budget. The film chronicle’s Alexander’s rise to power and his relationships with his wife Roxana (Dawson) and his childhood friend Hephaiston (Leto).
War epic Alexander starred Colin Farrell as the titular Alexander the Great, alongside Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer, Anthony Hopins, Jared Leto and Rosario Dawson. Although it received mixed reviews from LGBTQ groups for perpetuating gay stereotypes, it was a box office success, opening in the top spot in the US and grossing over $130 million worldwide. Sacha Baron Cohen’s third mockumentary comedy follows the star’s politically incorrect character, Bruno, a gay Austrian fashion reporter who travels to the United States to become “the biggest Austrian superstar since Hitler”. The film received nine Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and a win for Kidman for Best Actress. Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore star as three generations of women who are all personally affected by Virginia Woolf’s novel, Mrs Dalloway Streep as Clarissa Vaughan, a woman preparing a party for her AIDS-stricken friend (Ed Harris), Moore as an unhappy 1950’s housewife and Kidman as Woolf in 1920’s England. The film received universal acclaim and was nominated for ten Oscars at the 91st Academy Awards-including Best Picture. But the arrival of Sarah’s cousin Abigail Masham (Emma Stone), who’s fallen on hard times, promises chaos in the monarchy as the two women begin to fight for their place as Queen Anne’s right-hand woman and companion. Set in the early 18th century as England and France are at war, the film follows the life of ailing UK royal Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) and her closest friend Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz) who governs the country in her stead. Here, we present the 10 highest-grossing films in history that have clear LGBTQ narratives or characters – we’ve excluded films such as Interview with the Vampire and The Talented Mr Ripley, both of which only have ‘homoerotic’ themes. It seems like audiences are also more willing to part with their cash to see queer stories represented on screen, as films like Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman are earning hundreds of millions at the worldwide box office. Last decade saw a significant increase in mainstream LGBTQ films, several of which have received universal praise from critics and earned nominations for Academy Awards, Golden Globes and more prestigious awards. Where do Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman place?