‘Dunkirk’ is moving up list of highest-grossing WWII movies
Cillian Murphy, far right, in a scene from "Dunkirk." Credit: Warner Bros. / Melinda Sue Gordon
Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” is a clear victor in the summer box-office battle.
The action-packed film has so far grossed $101.3 million domestically, making it the fifth-highest-grossing movie about World War II. With attendance still strong, it has a chance at conquering these other war movies to take the top spot.
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998) Steven Spielberg won a best director Oscar for this blockbuster that raked in $216.5 million and earned accolades for its harrowing 27-minute recreation of the Omaha Beach invasion on D-Day.
PEARL HARBOR (2001) Critics attacked Michael Bay’s depiction of events on Dec. 7, 1941, but audiences ate it up to the ka-ching of $198.5 million at the box office.
INGLORIOUS BASTERDS (2009) Quentin Tarantino directed this semi-serious war film about Jewish American soldiers who set out to assassinate Nazi leaders. The movie earned lots of green ($120.5 million) and gold (an Oscar for Christoph Waltz).
UNBROKEN (2014) Angelina Jolie helmed this inspiring story of Olympian Louis Zamperini’s World War II exploits — which included being adrift in a raft for 47 days and being sent to a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp — and grossed $115.6 million.
