Ranking The 11 Highest-Grossing Film Directors In Hollywood History

Collectively, the film industry makes over $100 billion per year. A huge portion of that money comes from ticket sales at the box office with movie fans packing into theaters to watch blockbuster films. There’s also streaming, on-demand, physical media/DVD, merch, theme parks, and the list goes on and on.

But looking strictly at the box office, there is a very clear and distinct hierarchy of the highest-grossing film directors in Hollywood history. I got to thinking about this over the weekend while reading Paul Fischer’s new book The Last Kings of Hollywood: Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg―and the Battle for the Soul of American Cinema which tells the interweaving stories of Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, and Martin Scorcese.

Ranking The 11 Highest-Grossing Film Directs Of All-Time

These titans of industry all started their directorial careers as idealists. In many respects, they still are. But money changed them and changed their relationships along the way. So while pondering how money poisoned their well I was curious who the highest-grossing film directors in Hollywood history are and we got this list below.

11. Robert Zemeckis: $4,396,123,401

Director Robert Zemeckis has never crossed the $1 billion box office mark for a single film. His highest-earning film to date was Forrest Gump which brought in $679,835,137 at the box office. He won the 1995 Academy Award for ‘Best Director’ for his work on Forrest Gump and was nominated in 1986 for his writing.

In total, his films have earned $4,396,123,401 and he essentially got his start as a producer for Steven Spielberg’s films so beyond his own box office success he has a large hand in some of the most successful films in Hollywood history. He wrote Back to the Future, directed Forrest Gump, and has produced films such as Contact and The Polar Express.

10. J.J. Abrams: $4,637,580,337

Director J.J. Abrams ranks 10th on the list of the highest-grossing directors in Hollywood history due in LARGE part to Star Wars: The Force Awakens which brought in over $2.07 billion at the box office. In total, J.J. Abrams’ films have earned $4,637,580,337 at the box office. Abrams won 2 Emmy Awards in 2005 for ‘Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series’ and ‘Outstanding Drama Series’ for LOST.

I would argue that Abrams is best known for LOST which he produced 117 episodes of, but as a director J.J. Abrams has seen immense success with Star Trek Into Darkness, Super 8, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, and Mission Impossible III.

9. Tim Burton: $4,876,242,675

Director Tim Burton‘s highest-grossing film to date was Alice in Wonderland which earned $1,025,491,110 at the box office, representing about one-fifth of his total career box office of $4,876,242,675. Burton’s films aren’t always suited to every age… Beetlejuice and its sequel weren’t exactly made for young children to fill seats.

In terms of contributions to the industry, Tim Burton’s list of film work is nothing short of incredible. Just to throw a few out there… Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, Batman, Beetlejuice, Batman Returns, Big Fish, and the list goes on and on and on. Those are just the few that came to mind first. He has been nominated for two Academy Awards, in 2006 for ‘Best Animated Feature Film of the Year’ for Corpse Bride and in 2013 for ‘Best Animated Feature’ for Frankenweenie.

8. Ridley Scott: $5,043,593,396

Ridley Scott‘s films have earned a whopping $5,043,593,396 at the box office throughout the years. His highest-grossing hit to date was The Martian which brought in $653,609,107. He has been nominated four times for Academy Awards including a ‘Best Director’ nominee for Gladiator in 2001, somehow losing to Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) that year when Gladiator was/is/will always be the vastly superior film.

Ridley’s biggest box office hits aside from The Martian include Gladiator, Prometheus, Hannibal, Robin Hood, Alien, and Black Hawk Down just to name a few.

7. Christopher Nolan: $6,046,672,096

Ranked 7th on the list of the highest-grossing directors in Hollywood history is Christopher Nolan. His films have brought in $6,046,672,096 at the box office with his highest-earning film to date being The Dark Knight Rises which itself earned $1,114,975,066.

That whole trilogy was a veritable cash how for Christopher Nolan with The Dark Knight also bringing in $1.05 billion. His 2010 hit Inception earned $826 million and 2014’s Interstellar raked in $675 million at the box office. His incredible numbers are due in large part that Nolan’s films are best seen on the big screen.

6. David Yates: $6,354,627,148

If the name David Yates doesn’t ring an immediate bell like the other directors on this list his work certainly speaks for itself. He directed the final four films in the Harry Potter franchise, including Order of the Phoenix, The Half-Blood Prince, and The Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2.

His films have earned a collective $6,354,627,148 at the box office with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 itself earning $1.357 BILLION. He has also directed the Fantastic Beasts films and his story telling has framed arguably the most successful literature franchise of the past hundred years.

5. Michael Bay: $6,495,849,210

Coming in at #5 is director Michael Bay whose films have earned $6,495,849,210 at the box office. His most successful film to date was Transformers: Dark of the Moon which took in $1,123,794,079. Not too far behind that was Transformers: Age of Extinction which earned $1.104 billion.

For my money, his best films were The Rock, Bad Boys and Bad Boys II, and Pearl Harbor. The man knows how to craft an action movie like few others in history.

4. Peter Jackson: $6,553,022,508

Peter Jackson is the 4th highest-grossing director in Hollywood history and he owes virtually all of his success to John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, or J.R.R. Tolkine as most know him. Jackson is the visionary director who brought the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit franchises to life.

In total, his films have earned $6,553,022,508 at the box office with The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King being his biggest success to-date, taking home $1,156,598,523. 2012’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey also brought in a billion at the box office. In total, the LOTR franchise earned $2.9 billion of his $6.553B at the box office.

3. Anthony Russo / Joe Russo: $6,763,018,339

Tied at #3 are the Russo Brothers. In theory, we could divide their box office by two but given that they work in tandem that seems unfair. Their $6,763,018,339 earnings at the box office is the third-most all time and their crown jewel is Avengers: Endgame which itself earned $2,799,439,100, the #2 highest-earning movie ever made.

They also made Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Doomsday. It’s not unfair to say the MCU is the House the Russo Brothers Built.

2. James Cameron: $10,591,396,628

The gap between the top 2 highest-earning directors in history and the rest of Hollywood is kind of insane. These two are neck and neck at #1 and #2, changing spots every time a new film is released or re-released into theaters. But their box office earnings are over double the 8th place and higher directors in these rankings.

James Cameron is currently #2 with in career earnings. His highest-grossing film is Avatar which is the highest-grossing film of all time and brought in $2,923,710,708 at the box office, changing cinema at the time and driving a IMAX 3D revolution that nobody was quite ready for.

1. Steven Spielberg: $10,722,123,483

At #1 on the list of the highest-grossing directors of all time is a man who needs no introduction: Steven Spielberg. His films have earned $10,722,123,483 to date with Jurassic Park taking in $1,037,535,230, his highest from a single film.

Spielberg’s other list of hits include E.T. ($793M), ndiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ($787M), The Lost World: Jurassic Park ($619M), and Saving Private Ryan ($482M). Spielberg makes perfect sense here at #1. It should be him or George Lucas, IMHO, but Lucas’ contributions have largely been as a producer and writer on top of directing for a total of $10M at the box office. Not to take anything at all way from Spielberg, he is 1 of 1.

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Which name surprised you the most on this list? What would you like to see us rank next? Shoot me an email anytime to cass@brobible.com, my inbox is always open.