Steven Spielberg directed and produced this 2012 biographical historical drama, which stars Daniel Day-Lewis as the former president in the midst of the Civil War. With a nation filled with bloodshed, the president must go ahead with his legacy-defining move of abolishing slavery and uniting the nation. Sally Field played first lady Mary Todd Lincoln, who tries her best to support her husband through troubled times.
Day-Lewis won several awards for his role in the film, including the 2013 Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Actor. It was nominated for a total of seven Golden Globes and 12 Oscars. The film grossed more than $275 million at the box office – not bad, compared to the $65 million budget.
Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Well, if you want to talk box office hits, let’s talk about Catch Me If You Can , which grossed more than $350 million at the box office in 2002. The star-studded film is directed by Steven Spielberg and stars Leonardo DiCaprio as conman Frank Abagnale who was one of the most notorious impostors to have ever lived. It's been claimed that Abagnale assumed no less than eight identities, including an airline pilot, a physician, a U.S. Bureau of Prisons agent, and a lawyer.
Also in the film are Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, Nathalie Baye, and Martin Sheen. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a cool 96% fresh rating, and Roger Ebert gave it a glowing review, saying, “This is not a major Spielberg film, but it’s an effortlessly watchable one.”
Goodfellas (1990)
The late Ray Liotta stars as mafia man Henry Hill in this major hit, directed by the legendary Martin Scorsese. Henry Hill was a notorious mobster who was involved in one of the greatest mafia takedowns in history when he became an FBI informant. The film was based on the book "Wiseguy" by Nicholas Pileggi and is arguably one of the best gangster movies of all time. It took 12 drafts for Scorsese and Pileggi to come up with the final script.
The film grossed nearly $47 million at the box office and holds over a 95% fresh rating on the famous review site, Rotten Tomatoes. Critics and audiences both praised the film, and everyone involved, and it won (and was nominated for) several accolades.
Ray (2004)
Ray Charles, AKA the Genius, or, Brother Ray, to those who knew him best, was a soul musician who lost his eyesight during childhood due to glaucoma. The musician has been credited for basically pioneering soul music during the 1950s by combining blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel into his music. In the 2004 film, Jamie Foxx portrays the legend, who wounded up with three number one hits on Billboard’s Hot 100 during the course of his 30-year career in music.
The film debuted just a few months after the musician passed away in 2004. Jamie Foxx won a number of awards for his work in the lead role, including both the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.
Walk the Line (2005)
In this 2005 film, Joaquin Phoenix stars as a legendary musician, Johnny Cash. Cash was one of the greatest American country singers that ever lived and ended up selling over 90 million records worldwide. The film follows his life and is actually based on two of Cash’s autobiographies and follows his romance with June Carter (played by Reese Witherspoon,) along with his rise into superstardom.
The actor enrolled himself into a self-made "rock'n' roll boot camp. He taught himself guitar and took rigorous vocal lessons, often embarrassing himself on the mic. His transformation did not happen overnight! Walk the Line grossed over $187 million at the box office, $23 million of which came on the opening weekend alone. It won several awards and was nominated for many more which included five Oscars. Witherspoon won the Oscar for best actress, and Phoenix won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.