Top 10 Biggest Box-Office Smash Movies Filmed in Montana

Montana is famous for its beautiful views, wonderful hikes, and wide open skies. But those features look even larger than life on the silver screen. Dozens of big budget movies feature Montana. Some of those movies are blockbusters that did amazing numbers at the box office. That’s why we’re counting down the 10-ten highest grossing movies filmed in Montana.

We’ll be ranking the movies by their box-office totals (the money made in movie theaters worldwide). To keep it a fair fight, the box office totals will be adjusted for inflation. That means they’ll rank by how much money they made in 2023 dollars.

10. The Shining (1980)

$172,690,922 in 2023 Dollars ($47,300,000 in 1980)

Directed by Stanley Kubrick, this iconic horror movie starred Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, and Danny Lloyd.

The opening scenes of the movie show a Volkswagen Beetle driving along the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National park. Other exterior shots from Glacier National Park in the movie included Saint Mary Lake and Wild Good Island.

$179,776,161 in 2023 Dollars ($74,100,000 in 1989)

Always starred Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter, John Goodman, and Audrey Hepburn. Directed by Steven Spielburg, it was a remake of the 1943 romantic drama A Guy Named Joe.

The Montana shoot was detailed in Audrey Hepburn: Fair Lady of the Screen by Ian Woodward. Filmed in and around Libby and the Kootenai National Forest, 500 local residents were recruited to play firefighters in the movie.

$191,222,186 in 2023 dollars ($ 94,200,000 in 1994)

Starring Meryl Streep, Kevin Bacon, and John C. Reilly, The River Wild was about a family whitewater rafting trip that goes wrong.

The Los Angeles Times details that many of the whitewater scenes were filmed on the Kootenai river. Whitewater river professionals performed most of the stunts. However, Meryl Streep did some of her own stunts on the milder parts of the river.

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$244,700,402 in 2023 Dollars ($31,559,552 in 1970)

Starring Dustin Hoffman and Chief Dan George, Little Big Man was a Western narrated by Jack Crabb, the oldest man in the world.

A portion of the town scenes in the movie were filmed in Nevada City, Montana. The Little Bighorn battle scenes were filmed on location at the Crow Agency near the actual battle site.

$246,085,038 in 2023 Dollars ($118,200,000 in 1993)

Directed by Rod Daniel, Beethoven’s 2nd is the sequel to the family movie Beethoven. The film’s titular dog and his family were portrayed by more than a hundred different dogs.

While the movie takes place in California, all of the outdoor park scenes were filmed at Glacier National Park right here in Montana.

$281,243,028 in 2023 Dollars ($106,200,000 in 1987)

The Untouchables is a crime film starring Kevin Costner, Robert De Niro, and Sean Connery. Based on the book of the same name, it was about Eliot Ness, the man who caught Al Capone.

Montana Magazine detailed how a 1930s period bridge located near Great Falls, MT was filmed as a bridge between the U.S. and Canada. The bridge was closed for two weeks for filming while 25 local residents were cast as Canadian Mounties.

$287,993,422 in 2023 Dollars ($150,200,000 in 1996)

Directed by John Woo, Broken Arrow is an action thriller starring John Travolta and Christian Slater.

Lewistown and Denton are where the movie’s climatic action scenes were filmed. Stunts portraying helicopters, gun battles, high falls and more were filmed over six weeks on forty miles of track owned by Central Montana Rail.

$295,479,344 in 2023 Dollars ($137,800,000 in 1992)

Far and Away, an epic romance starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, was directed by industry veteran Ron Howard.

Even though the film takes place in Oklahoma, all of the scenes in the U.S. were filmed in Billings, MT. According to the Billings Gazette, a ranch outside of Billings was used for the Oklahoma land rush scene, while Tom Cruise’s boxing scene was filmed inside of the Billings Depot.

“Barbiecore!” Bust out the pink for the movie sensation

$344,950,895 in 2023 Dollars ($186,900,000 in 1998)

Based on the 1995 novel of the same name, The Horse Whisperer featured Robert Redford as the director and the leading actor.

According to Filmscouts.com, the movie was filmed at a ranch about an hour outside of Livingston. Chas Weldon, the expert saddle-making from Billings, made tack, custom saddles, and chaps for the film.

$1,376,718,542 in 2023 Dollars ($678,200,000 in 1994)

Winner of six academy awards, Forrest Gump was the highest grossing movie the year of its release and is the 26th highest grossest movie ever (Adjusted for inflation).

Multiple shots from Forrest Gump’s iconic running montage were shot in Montana. Scenes with Tom Hank’s brother, Jim Hanks, were taken in Glacier National Park, and Cut Bank. Shots on the Going-to-the-Sun Road (near where Beethoven’s 2nd was filmed) were recorded but ended up not included in the final film.