Superlatives
| Category | Record Holder | Record | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most Best Picture Awards by a Studio | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | 5 awards | Note 1 |
| Most Best Picture Nominations by a Studio | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | 40 nominations | |
| Most Best Picture Awards by a Producer | Sam Spiegel and Saul Zaentz | 3 awards | Note 1 |
| Most Best Picture Nominations by a Producer | Hal B. Wallis | 19 nominations | |
| Most Best Picture Awards by a Director | William Wyler | 3 awards | |
| Most Best Picture Nominations by a Director | William Wyler | 13 nominations | |
| Best Picture with the Most Awards | Ben-Hur, Titanic, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | 11 awards | |
| Best Picture with the Most Nominations | All About Eve and Titanic | 14 nominations | |
| Longest Best Picture Winner | Gone with the Wind | 3 hours and 54 minutes | Note 2 |
| Longest Best Picture Nominee | Cleopatra | 4 hours and 3 minutes | Note 3 |
| Shortest Best Picture Winner | Marty | 1 hour and 31 minutes | Note 4 |
| Shortest Best Picture Nominee | She Done Him Wrong | 1 hour and 6 minutes |
Note 1: Until the 23rd Academy Awards (1950), Best Picture was awarded to the studio that produced the film. Beginning with the 24th Academy Awards (1951), however, it has been awarded to the individual producers credited on the film. Note also that until 1943, there were ten (rather than five) nominated films per year. As of 2009, there are once again ten nominated films. The first year in which multiple individuals jointly won was 1973, with three winners for The Sting. The greatest number of joint winners was five, for Shakespeare in Love in 1998. After this, the Academy imposed a limit of three nominated producers per film; however, this limit may be exceeded in a "rare and extraordinary circumstance", such as in 2008 when both Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack were posthumously included among four nominees for The Reader.
Note 2: It remains a very close call — a tie, virtually — between the top two "longest" Best Pictures. The total film time (without music) of Gone with the Wind (1939) is almost 221 minutes (3 hours and 41 minutes); with the Overture, Intermission, Entr'acte, and Walkout Music, it reaches 234 minutes (3 hours and 54 minutes). The total film time (without music) of the original Lawrence of Arabia (1962) is just over 222 minutes (3 hours and 42 minutes), slightly longer than Gone with the Wind. Lawrence of Arabia's additional elements extend the film to about 232 minutes (3 hours and 52 minutes). If just counting the film itself, Lawrence of Arabia is the longest of the two contenders. The other longest Best Picture winners are, in order: Ben-Hur (1959) at 212 minutes (3 hours and 32 minutes) and The Lord of Rings: Return of the King (2003) at 201 minutes (3 hours and 21 minutes). However, the Extended Edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which was released almost a year after the shorter theatrical version of the film won Best Picture, runs 251 minutes (4 hours and 11 minutes).
Note 3: The longest film to ever win any Academy Award was Russia's War and Peace (1968) at 414 minutes (6 hours and 54 minutes), winner of Best Foreign Language Film.
Note 4: After Marty, the second shortest Best Picture winner is Annie Hall (1977) at 93 minutes (1 hour and 33 minutes).
Read more about this topic: Academy Award For Best Picture