Oscars odyssey! These three blockbusters have won the most Academy Awards of ALL time – but could Oppenheimer beat them?

The Academy Awards are the biggest night in Hollywood – with wins in the major categories ensuring films go down in the history books.

Christopher Nolan’s historical epic Oppenheimer leads the nominations with a whopping 13 nods including Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture – and is the favorite to win big on the night.

Three blockbusters have emerged as the all-time top winners at the Oscars – scoring a mammoth 11 wins on the night – Ben Hur (1959), Titanic (1997) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003).

The musical with the most Oscar wins was West Side Story (1961), with ten trophies, while The English Patient (1996), The Last Emperor (1987) and Gigi  (1958) taking home nine Oscars and Slumdog Millionaire (2008) winning eight.

Ahead of the 2024 Oscars on Sunday – DailyMail.com looks back at the biggest winners at the ceremony ever…

The 2024 ceremony will be held at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre on Sunday, March 10

BEN HUR (1959) 

The 1959 swords-and-sandals epic with its iconic chariot race was once the most ambitious and, at $15 million, expensive film ever made.

Charlton Heston starred as fallen Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hu who is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend  Messala (Stephen Boyd) in 1st-century Jerusalem. But Judah swears to come back and take revenge.

The film is known for its nine minute chariot race scene and for using 15,000 extras and one million props. 

Ben-Hur won a record 11 Academy Awards out of 12 nominations –  including Best Picture, Best Director for William Wyler and Best Actor in a Leading Role for Heston. 

The film also won Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Hugh Griffith,  Best Art Direction-Set Decoration – Color – Edward C. Carfagno and William A. Horning (posthumous award) (art direction); Hugh Hunt (set decoration), Best Cinematography – Color – Robert L. Surtees, Best Costume Design – Color – Elizabeth Haffenden, Best Film Editing – John D. Dunning and Ralph E. Winters, Best Sound Recording – Franklin Milton, MGM Studio Sound Department,  Best Music – Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture – Miklós Rózsa and Best Special Effects.

The only category that Ben-Hur did not win in was for Best Adapted Screenplay, losing to Room at the Top.

The 1959 swords-and-sandals epic with its iconic chariot race was once the most ambitious and, at $15 million, expensive film ever made

Charlton Heston starred as fallen Jewish prince Judah Ben-Hu who is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend Messala (Stephen Boyd) in 1st-century Jerusalem. But Judah swears to come back and take revenge

Ben-Hur won a record 11 Academy Awards out of 12 nominations – including Best Picture, Best Director for William Wyler and Best Actor in a Leading Role for Heston

TITANIC (1997)

The sinking ship epic which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as doomed lovers onboard the Titanic in 1912 became the highest grossing film of all-time when it was released.

James Cameron’s epic movie follows upper-class Rose and poor boy Jack who fall in love during their brief trip, before Jack ultimately sacrifices himself and freezes to death in the ocean so that his lover can live.

The film won 11 Academy Awards out of 14 nominations and was the first film in history to reach the billion-dollar mark.

Titanic won Best Picture, Best Director for James Cameron, Best Art Direction –  Peter Lamont and Michael D. Ford, Best Cinematography – Russell Carpenter, Best Costume Design – Deborah Lynn Scott, Best Film Editing – Conrad Buff, James Cameron, and Richard A. Harris, Best Original Dramatic Score – James Horner, Best Original Song – James Horner and Will Jennings for My Heart Will Go On, Best Sound – Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson, Gary Summers, and Mark Ulano. Best Sound Effects Editing Tom Bellfort and Christopher Boyes and Best Visual Effects – Robert Legato, Mark A. Lasoff, Thomas L. Fisher, and Michael Kanfer.

Titanic – which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as doomed lovers onboard the Titanic in 1912 became the highest grossing film of all-time when it was released

James Cameron’s epic movie follows upper-class Rose and poor boy Jack who fall in love during their brief trip, before Jack ultimately sacrifices himself and freezes to death in the ocean so that his lover can live

The film won 11 Academy Awards out of 14 nominations and was the first film in history to reach the billion-dollar mark. Titanic won Best Picture and Best Director for Cameron (pictured 1998 with Winslet)

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (2003)

The last of Peter Jackson’s adaptation of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy followed Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) as they push further into the heart of Mordor accompanied by the deceitful Gollum (Andy Serkis) to destroy The Ring of power

The film was nominated for 11 awards at the 2004 Oscars and became the highest clean sweep in history for a movie – winning every category in which it was nominated (pictured director Peter Jackson with the Best Director Oscar)

The last of Peter Jackson’s adaptation of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy followed Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) as they push further into the heart of Mordor accompanied by the deceitful Gollum (Andy Serkis) to destroy The Ring of power.

Meanwhile the warrior Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), revealed to be the lost king of Gondor, travels to Minis Tirith with an army of undead soldiers and the remaining members of the fellowship to recapture the ancient city from Lord Sauron’s grasp.

The film was nominated for 11 awards at the 2004 Oscars and became the highest clean sweep in history for a movie – winning every category in which it was nominated.

Jackson won his first Best Director Oscar while the film also won Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay for Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson.

The film also won Best Art Direction – Grant Major, Dan Hennah and Alan Lee, Best Costume Design Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor, Best Film Editing Jamie Selkirk, Best Makeup Richard Taylor and Peter King, Best Original Score – Howard Shore, Best Original Song Fran Walsh, Howard Shore and Annie Lennox  for Into The West.

It also won Best Sound Mixing – Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek and Best Visual Effects Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook and Alex Funke

1997’s The English Patient won nine Oscars (pictured Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas)

Slumdog Millionaire (2008) – starring Dev Patel and Freida Pinto – won eight Oscars

The 96th Academy Awards honors the best films of 2023 – with the glittering ceremony held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. 

The most hotly anticipated movies of the past year – Barbie and Oppenheimer – lead the nominations. 

Oppenheimer has bagged 13 nods, including best picture and best actor for Cillian Murphy – who is favorite to win the major category after scooping a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and SAG award for his role as physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer.

The impressive total – which also includes best supporting actor and actress for Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt, as well as best director for Christopher Nolan – is just one nomination short of the all-time record set by Titanic in 1998.

Last year’s other smash hit movie – Barbie – was nominated for eight awards, but also fell victim to notable snubs from the Academy.

What Was I Made For and I’m Just Ken from Barbie received their expected nominations for best original song

Its star Margot Robbie was not nominated for best actress, while Greta Gerwig was not nominated for best director.

Another surprise saw America Ferrera nominated for best supporting actress over her role in Barbie, with pundits saying her character’s impassioned speech on feminism had sealed the deal. 

Barbie’s other nominations include best picture, best supporting actor for Ryan Gosling and two nods for best song – including Gosling’s famed ‘I’m Just Ken.’ 

The second most-nominated movie was Poor Things, a graphic art house movie starring Emma Stone that has wowed critics but so-far failed to set the box office alight.

Stone plays a sex-crazed young woman, with her performance wowing critics. She previously won best actress in 2017 for her performance in La La Land. 

For best actor in leading role Bradley Cooper and Cillian Murphy are set to duke it out for the award. Colman Domingo, Paul Giamatti and Jeffrey Wright received nominations as well.

Leonardo DiCaprio was not recognized for his acting on Killers Of The Flower Moon.

Lily Gladstone is the first Native American nominated for best actress, for her performance in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon

Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things took home 11 Oscar nominations and Killers of the Flower Moon landed 10.

Annette Bening, Lily Gladstone, Sandra Huller, Carey Mulligan and Emma Stone have been nominated for best actress in a leading role.

Gladstone is the first Native American nominated for best actress, for her performance in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon – and is the favorite in the category thanks to her wins at the Golden Globes and SAG Awards,

What Was I Made For by Billie Eilish and I’m Just Ken performed by Ryan Gosling from Barbie received their expected nominations for best original song. 

Sterling K. Brown, Robert De Niro, Robert Downey Jr., Ryan Gosling and Mark Ruffalo received nominations for best actor in a supporting role.

Emily Blunt, Danielle Brooks, America Ferrera, Jodie Foster and Da’Vine Joy Randolph received nominations for best actress in a supporting role.

Joy already has  Golden Globe. Bafta, Critics Choice and Screen Actors Guild awards and is favorite for an Oscar for her performance as a bereaved cook in The Holdovers.

Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer were nominated for best directing, snubbing Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. 

Da’Vine Joy Randolph was nominated for best actress in a supporting role for her part in The Holdovers

Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo were both nominated for their roles in Poor Things

Bradley Cooper was nominated for best actor, but was snubbed of a directing nod for Maestro

Gerwig was nominated for best director in 2018 for her solo directorial debut, Lady Bird. Only three women have won Oscars for best director – Kathryn Bigelow, Chloe Zhao and Jane Campion.

Though Nolan is regarded as the big-budget auteur of his era, he’s never won an Academy Award, nor have any of his films won best picture. 

Bradley Cooper was not nominated for directing Maestro but he was recognized for his acting in that bio movie.

American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, Barbie, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, Oppenheimer, Past Lives, Poor Things and The Zone of Interest landed best picture nominations.  

The 96th Academy Awards will be held on March 10 at 7 pm ET/4pm PT live on ABC, hosted for a fourth time by Jimmy Kimmel.