Business films
Movies inspired by and based on true stories.
View trailers, reviews, films, and facts about business films. Discover the facts vs. fiction, history vs. Hollywood.
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Most films included are highly rated on Rotten Tomatoes and the Internet Movie Database (IMDb). They have at least a 70% rating from critics and audiences alike, many with 80% or above. Enjoy the best true story films about business!
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Scene from Moneyball (2011)
Are you looking for business, work, labor, employment, entrepreneurship, or rags-to-riches cinematic stories, especially the ones inspired by real people and events? You've come to the right place! Enjoy these highly rated films inspired by and based on true stories about the business world.
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Films in alphabetical order:
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R | Biography, Comedy, Drama, History | This is the story of the rise and fall of the world's first smartphone. Canadian startup founders Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin invent the BlackBerry with their modest startup. They are joined by businessman Jim Balsillie as Co-CEO, who helps catapult the company into success. A few short years later, they face challenges from the SEC and competition from Apple's iPhone.
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Trailers and Reviews:
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Facts:
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BlackBerry: The Rise and Fall of the Famous Smartphone and Its Inventors article by Colin McEvoy on biography.com
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​BlackBerry: A Story of Constant Success and Failure article by Shobhit Seth on Investopedia
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This Day In History: January 19, 1999: First BlackBerry device hits the market article by history.com editors
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Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry book by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff on Amazon
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PG | Drama, Mystery | When a reporter is assigned to decipher newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane's dying words, his investigation gradually reveals the fascinating portrait of a complex man who rose from obscurity to staggering heights. Though Kane's friend and colleague Jedediah Leland, and his mistress, Susan Alexander, shed fragments of light on Kane's life, the reporter fears he may never penetrate the mystery of the elusive man's final word, "Rosebud."
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Trailers: Fan-Made Trailer, Original Trailer
Reviews: Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb
Facts:
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William Randolph Hearst biography - history.com, Britannica Kids
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"Released in 1941, Orson Welles’ film Citizen Kane infuriated Hearst with its brutal portrait of an obsessive media mogul clearly based on his life. Hearst waged a bitter campaign against the film, first attempting to shut production down and later publishing bitter personal attacks on Welles and banning advertisements of the film."- history.com
PG-13 | Docudrama, Biography, Drama, Music | The film explores the life and music of Elvis Presley, seen through the prism of his complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker.
Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Elvis True Story: How Accurate It Is & What The Movie Changes by Colin McCormick & Tommy Lethbridge on Screen Rant
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The Definitive ‘Elvis’ Fact Check: What’s True and What’s Fiction in the New Movie? by Steve Pond on The Wrap
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7 Fascinating Facts About Elvis Presley by Elizabeth Nix on history.com
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Elvis Presley biography on biography.com
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Elvis: That's the Way It Is (1970) documentary showing Elvis backstage, in rehearsal, and in concert for his 1970 Las Vegas shows
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Elvis Music playlist of hits, including studio recordings and live performances from Elvis's breakthrough in 1954 through the year of his death in 1977
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R | Biography, Drama, Law | Erin Brockovich is an unemployed, single mother when she convinces her attorney Ed Masry to hire her at his law firm, where she discovers records indicating a Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) cover-up of contaminated water and related illnesses in residents of a California community.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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R | Comedy, Drama, Romance, Sport | Sports agent Jerry Maguire has a moral epiphany he expresses in a heartfelt company memo that gets him fired. He then starts his own sports management firm with only one coworker, single mother Dorothy Boyd, and one client, football player Rod Tidwell.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Jerry Maguire: The Real Agent Who Inspired The Movie (& What Happened Next) article by Quinn Hough on Screen Rant
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R | Drama, Thriller | Inspired by the finance industry and firms such as Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs, the film follows key employees at a fictional Wall Street investment bank over 12 hours during the early stages of the financial crisis of 2008.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Great Recession Timeline on history.com
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Lehman Brothers article by Corporate Finance Institute, detailing the rise and fall of the investment bank, which had the largest corporate bankrupty in U.S. history with $619 billion in debt. Excerpt:
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"Lehman’s collapse was a major contributor to the domino effect of multiple financial disasters that eventually became the Global Financial Crisis of 2008. Many in the industry still wonder why Lehman was allowed to fail, rather than being rescued by the U.S. federal government like so many other banks were. One reason often put forward is simply the massive size of Lehman’s debt and the woeful inability of its assets to begin to cover it."
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PG-13 | Biography, Drama, Sport | Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane attempts to assemble a baseball team on a tight budget by employing Peter Brand to use a computer-generated analysis to acquire new players whom the scouts have labeled as flawed but who have game-winning potential together.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Moneyball True Story: How Accurate The Baseball Movie Is article on Screen Rant
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What the ACTUAL 2002 A's thought of Moneyball brief interviews on NBC sports show
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The Real Story Behind ‘Moneyball’ article on Film School Rejects
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Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game book by Michael Lewis on Amazon
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PG | Drama, Law | Norma Rae is a young, single mother who works at a local textile mill for low pay with long hours and poor working conditions, but she is inspired to unionize, despite opposition from her family, fiancé, and employer.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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History by Hollywood podcast Episode 63: Norma Rae Part 1
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AFI Catalog of Feature Films: Norma Rae History article on the film project, which originated when producers read a 1973 New York Times Magazine article by Henry P. Leifermann about cotton mill worker Crystal Lee Jordan, who worked at the J.P. Stevens plant in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, and became involved in the union in 1973.
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Crystal Lee: A Woman of Inheritance book by Henry P. Leifermann on goodreads.com
Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999)
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Unrated | Biography, Drama, History | The story of the accomplishments of visionaries Steve Jobs and Bill Gates and the creation of the computer age in the 20th century.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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Fire in the Valley: The Making of The Personal Computer (Second Edition) book by Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine on Amazon
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Steve Jobs biography on biography.com
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The Founding of Apple Computer, Inc. article on The Library of Congress website
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Bill Gates biography on biography.com
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The History of Microsoft video series with timelines on Microsoft Learn Challenge
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R | Biography, Comedy, Drama, History | In 2007 to 2008, a handful of financial opportunists bet against the United States housing and mortgage market, discovering its risky loans and corruption, aspiring to earn a fortune from the impending economic collapse that became the Great Recession.
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​Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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The Big Short True Story: 8 Biggest Changes Made To The Financial Crisis Movie article by Stephen Barker and Greg MacArthur on Screen Rant
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How historically accurate is The Big Short? article on The Guardian
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The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine book by Michael Lewis on Amazon
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Inside the Collapse interviews with the author Michael Lewis and with Michael Burry, the doctor turned hedge-fund founder, in a video by 60 Minutes on YouTube
PG-13 | Biography, Drama, Education | Andy is a recent college graduate with big dreams to become a journalist. She travels to New York and starts working as an assistant to a prestigious runway fashion magazine editor, the cynical Miranda Priestly.
Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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The Untold and Very True Story of The Devil Wears Prada by Amy Odell on Literary Hubb
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The Devil Wears Prada: The True Story Behind Meryl Streep’s Iconic Villain by Nicole Waxman on cbr.com
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PG-13 | Biography, Drama | Ray Kroc is a struggling salesman when he meets Mac and Dick McDonald, two brothers running a small but innovative fast food eatery, McDonald's, in 1950s Southern California. He soon turns the restaurant into a franchise, followed by ruthlessly turning it into his own multi-billion dollar empire.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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History Buffs: The Founder video on YouTube
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
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PG-13 | Biography, Drama | Chris Gardner is a single father and struggling salesman who endures hardships, getting evicted from his apartment and living in shelters with his son, but Chris does not give up on his professional journey and dream to create a better life for himself and his son.
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Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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17 Inspiring Facts About The Pursuit Of Happyness on Movie Trifles. Excerpts:
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On the incorrect spelling of "Happiness": "The reason is because of a mural that contained this word just outside the daycare facility that Gardner’s son attended."
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"Struggling with his meager earnings as a medical salesman, Christopher Gardener had a meeting that changed his life forever. When he saw a neatly dressed man drove up in a red Ferrari, he got curious and asked the man what he was doing for a living."
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'The Pursuit of Happyness' Tells Real-Life Rags to Riches Story of Successful Businessman Chris Gardner on voanews.com. Excerpt:
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"The Pursuit of Happyness takes its misspelled title from the line in the U.S. Declaration of Independence. As Chris Gardner explains, what Thomas Jefferson wrote says happiness is not guaranteed; it is something you have to pursue."​
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PG-13 | Biography, Drama, Law | In 2003, Harvard undergrad Mark Zuckerberg creates the social networking site that became known as Facebook. Six years later, when he is one of the youngest billionaires in the world, Zuckerberg is sued by the twins who claimed he stole their idea and by the former co-founder. Based on the book The Accidental Billionaires.
Trailers and Reviews:
Facts:
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The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook book by Ben Mezrich on Amazon
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Mark Zuckerberg biography on Biography.com and Wikipedia
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February 4 (This Day in History) on History.com
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Based on a True Story? Scene-by-scene Breakdown of Hollywood Films on information is beautiful
More to Come!
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Other business world films based on and inspired by true stories:
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Flash of Genius (2008)
The Aviator (2004)
​The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
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Are there any more films based on or inspired by real business stories to include here? Any more facts vs. fiction? Reach out and contact me. I am open to respectful questions, comments, positive feedback, and constructive feedback about this website. Thank you, and enjoy the movies!