The 51 Best Movies Based on Nonfiction Books

Every film here started life as somebody's reporting, memoir or history before a screenwriter got hold of it, so mob sagas share the field with quiet survival stories.

1. 1
   Apollo 13

   Ron Howard's 1995 space-rescue drama based on Jim Lovell's book Lost Moon.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Into the Wild

   Sean Penn's 2007 film of Jon Krakauer's book about Christopher McCandless.
   856pts
3. 3
   Awakenings

   The 1990 drama adapted from Oliver Sacks's account of reviving catatonic patients.
   828pts
4. 4
   Killers of the Flower Moon

   Martin Scorsese's 2023 film from David Grann's account of the Osage murders.
   828pts
5. 5
   Moneyball

   The 2011 baseball drama based on Michael Lewis's book about the Oakland A's.
   810pts
6. 6
   The Big Short

   Adam McKay's 2015 financial-crisis satire adapted from Michael Lewis's book.
   785pts
7. 7
   BlacKkKlansman

   Spike Lee's 2018 film based on Ron Stallworth's memoir of infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan.
   785pts
8. 8
   Goodfellas

   Martin Scorsese's 1990 mob classic adapted from Nicholas Pileggi's book Wiseguy.
   759pts
9. 9
   The Imitation Game

   The 2014 Alan Turing drama adapted from Andrew Hodges's biography.
   738pts
10. 10
    Argo

    Ben Affleck's 2012 Best Picture winner drawn from CIA officer Tony Mendez's memoir.
    738pts
11. 11
    The Perfect Storm

    The 2000 disaster film from Sebastian Junger's book about the lost Andrea Gail.
    738pts
12. 12
    The Lost City of Z

    James Gray's 2016 exploration drama based on David Grann's book about Percy Fawcett.
    738pts
13. 13
    The Wolf of Wall Street

    Martin Scorsese's 2013 excess-fuelled film of Jordan Belfort's memoir.
    701pts
14. 14
    A Bridge Too Far

    The 1977 war epic of Operation Market Garden from Cornelius Ryan's book.
    686pts
15. 15
    Wild

    The 2014 film of Cheryl Strayed's memoir of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail alone.
    685pts
16. 16
    Captain Phillips

    Paul Greengrass's 2013 piracy thriller based on Richard Phillips's book A Captain's Duty.
    685pts
17. 17
    American Sniper

    Clint Eastwood's 2014 war drama based on Chris Kyle's autobiography.
    685pts
18. 18
    Zodiac

    David Fincher's 2007 serial-killer procedural based on Robert Graysmith's books.
    685pts
19. 19
    Seabiscuit

    The 2003 racehorse drama adapted from Laura Hillenbrand's bestselling history.
    561pts
20. 20
    127 Hours

    Danny Boyle's 2010 survival film based on Aron Ralston's memoir.
    561pts
21. 21
    The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

    Julian Schnabel's 2007 film of Jean-Dominique Bauby's memoir dictated by blinking.
    561pts
22. 22
    Out of Africa

    The 1985 Best Picture winner adapted from Karen Blixen's memoir of Kenya.
    561pts
23. 23
    Donnie Brasco

    The 1997 undercover thriller based on FBI agent Joseph Pistone's memoir.
    561pts
24. 24
    Molly's Game

    Aaron Sorkin's 2017 directing debut based on Molly Bloom's memoir of running poker games.
    561pts
25. 25
    A Beautiful Mind

    Ron Howard's 2001 Best Picture winner based on Sylvia Nasar's biography of John Nash.
    486pts
26. 26
    Steve Jobs

    Danny Boyle's 2015 biopic drawn from Walter Isaacson's authorized biography.
    486pts
27. 27
    The Theory of Everything

    The 2014 Stephen Hawking biopic adapted from Jane Hawking's memoir.
    486pts
28. 28
    Born on the Fourth of July

    Oliver Stone's 1989 film of Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic's memoir.
    486pts
29. 29
    In Cold Blood

    The 1967 crime film adapted from Truman Capote's landmark nonfiction novel.
    486pts
30. 30
    Alive

    The 1993 survival drama based on Piers Paul Read's account of the Andes plane crash.
    486pts
31. 31
    The Social Network

    David Fincher's 2010 Facebook origin story drawn from Ben Mezrich's The Accidental Billionaires.
    486pts
32. 32
    The Blind Side

    The 2009 football drama based on Michael Lewis's book about Michael Oher.
    486pts
33. 33
    The Pianist

    Roman Polański's 2002 film of Władysław Szpilman's Holocaust memoir.
    401pts
34. 34
    The Great Escape

    The 1963 POW classic based on Paul Brickhill's account of the Stalag Luft III breakout.
    401pts
35. 35
    The Longest Day

    The 1962 D-Day epic adapted from Cornelius Ryan's history of the Normandy landings.
    401pts
36. 36
    Nomadland

    Chloé Zhao's 2020 Best Picture winner adapted from Jessica Bruder's book on van-dwelling workers.
    401pts
37. 37
    The Right Stuff

    The 1983 astronaut epic adapted from Tom Wolfe's book on the Mercury Seven.
    401pts
38. 38
    Girl, Interrupted

    The 1999 psychiatric-ward drama based on Susanna Kaysen's memoir.
    401pts
39. 39
    Midnight Express

    Alan Parker's 1978 prison drama based on Billy Hayes's memoir.
    401pts
40. 40
    Lone Survivor

    The 2013 war film based on Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell's account of Operation Red Wings.
    401pts
41. 41
    12 Years a Slave

    Steve McQueen's Best Picture winner adapted from Solomon Northup's 1853 memoir.
    401pts
42. 42
    Catch Me If You Can

    Steven Spielberg's 2002 caper drawn from Frank Abagnale's memoir.
    302pts
43. 43
    Raging Bull

    Martin Scorsese's 1980 boxing drama adapted from Jake LaMotta's memoir.
    302pts
44. 44
    Casino

    Martin Scorsese's 1995 Las Vegas epic based on Nicholas Pileggi's book.
    302pts
45. 45
    Black Hawk Down

    Ridley Scott's 2001 war film based on Mark Bowden's account of the Battle of Mogadishu.
    302pts
46. 46
    Unbroken

    Angelina Jolie's 2014 film of Laura Hillenbrand's biography of Louis Zamperini.
    302pts
47. 47
    All the President's Men

    The 1976 Watergate thriller based on Woodward and Bernstein's account of their investigation.
    187pts
48. 48
    Hidden Figures

    The 2016 drama from Margot Lee Shetterly's book about Black women mathematicians at NASA.
    187pts
49. 49
    Sully

    Clint Eastwood's 2016 Hudson River landing drama based on Chesley Sullenberger's memoir.
    187pts
50. 50
    Oppenheimer

    Christopher Nolan's 2023 epic based on the biography American Prometheus.
    0pts
51. 51
    Friday Night Lights

    The 2004 high-school football film from H.G. Bissinger's book on Odessa, Texas.
    0pts

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