The 15 Highest Grossing Indie Documentaries of 2013 (A Running List)

"20 Feet From Stardom"

Here's a chart of 2013's the highest grossing indie documentaries, led by Morgan Neville's "20 Feet From Stardom," which was released by RADiUS-TWC (and is now the distributor's highest grossing film ever). We only specify "indie" documentaries for one reason: One Direction, whose Morgan Spurlock directed studio film "This is Us" was not tracked by Indiewire's box office charts, which only includes films that open in limited release. Though 1D fans be calmed: "This Is Us" is indeed the highest grossing documentary of 2013 (and one of the top 10 of all time).

READ MORE: The 25 Highest Grossing Indies of 2013 (A Running List)

The list below tracks films as of December 17, 2013.  It will be updated on a weekly basis, and only includes North American grosses for documentaries that opened in 2013. So far, 6 docs have crossed the $1 million mark. Last year, 8 docs ended up hitting that mark.

Check out the list below:

"Blackfish"

1. 20 Feet From Stardom (RADiUS) - $4,794,407
2. The Gatekeepers (Sony Pictures Classics) -$2,415,727*
3. Blackfish (Magnolia) - $2,073,582
4. Girl Rising (Gathr Films) - $1,620,901
5. Stories We Tell (Roadside Attractions) - $1,600,145
6. Inequality For All (RADiUS) - $1,187,354
7. Generation Iron (The Vladar Company) - $849,521
8. 56 Up (First Run) - $701,278
9. Muscle Shoals (Magnolia) - $656,575
10. Salinger (The Weinstein Company) - $583,633
11. Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's (eOne) - $518,342
12. The Act of Killing (Drafthouse) - $456,890
13. Sound City (Vairance) - $421,187
14. Dirty Wars (IFC) - $371,245
15. Koch (Zeitgeist) - $342,941

*-Had an Oscar qualifying run in 2012, but was released in 2013.

From: http://www.indiewire.com/article/the-10-highest-grossing-documenatries-of-2013-a-running-list