Last Updated: January 26, 2020
With billions of dollars in earnings to their names, here are the highest grossing directors at the box office. As the international box office becomes more high stakes than ever, it's no longer a rarity for movies to a billion dollars at the box office. Blockbuster budgets have gotten bigger, as have studio expectations.
Previously, the go-to plan for Hollywood would have been to hire a big name with proven money making experience to shepherd that wannabe franchise to major profits. Nowadays, it’s more common practice for studios like Marvel and Warner Bros. to hire up-and-coming talents, often fresh from the festival scene or their very first movie, and have them direct the latest addition to the series.
That said, the true power remains with those familiar names who have decades of hits behind them. To celebrate that, we’re taking a look at the fifteen highest grossing directors of all time.
15. Roland Emmerich
- Top Movies Directed: Universal Soldier (1992), Stargate (1994), Midway (2019).
- Domestic: $1,349,062,463
- International: $2,604,537,719
- Worldwide Total: $3,953,600,182
- Average: $304,123,091 (from 13 films)
The German film-maker behind so very American disaster movies like Independence Day and White House Down has always been criticized for his focus on style over substance, but that hasn’t slowed down the box office grosses. In 1996, Independence Day made over $320 million more at the box office than its closest competitor, Twister. His 2019 war film, Midway, also topped the box office for a time.
14. Chris Columbus
- Top Movies Directed: Adventures in Babysitting (1987), Pixels (2015).
- Domestic: $1,750,209,687
- International: $2,342,958,201
- Worldwide Total: $4,093,167,888
- Average: $272,877,859 (from 15 films)
In 1990, Home Alone was a minor phenomenon, becoming the highest grossing film of the year above titles like Pretty Woman, Die Hard 2 and Back to the Future Part III. Director Chris Columbus struck gold again in 1993 when Mrs. Doubtfire became the second highest grossing film of its year, behind Jurassic Park. Columbus then established the Harry Potter franchise with the first two films, which combined made over $1.8 billion worldwide.
13. Ridley Scott
- Top Movies Directed: All the Money in the World (2017).
- Domestic: $1,660,578,335
- International: $2,546,575,708
- Worldwide Total: $4,207,154,043
- Average: $168,286,162 (from 25 films)
On only his second film, the iconic Alien, Ridley Scott became one of the must-watch directors in Hollywood, having already established himself by directing award-winning commercials. Since then, Scott has covered his fair share of genres and returned to the helm of the Alien franchise 33 years after he started it. In 2017 alone, he brought audiences the latest Alien movie as well the Getty biographical drama All The Money in the World, the latter of which underwent much-publicized reshoots in a startlingly short amount of time following revelations about actor Kevin Spacey. Now in his 80s, Scott seems to have no plans to slow down.
12. Ron Howard
- Top Movies Directed: Splash (1984), Cocoon (1985), Willow (1988), Parenthood (1989), Backdraft (1991) Apollo 13 (1995), Ransom (1996), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Cinderella Man (2005), The Da Vinci Code (2006), Frost/Nixon (2008), Angels and Demons (2009), Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018).
- Domestic: $2,105,111,762
- International: $2,195,125,080
- Worldwide Total: $4,300,236,842
- Average: $172,009,474 (from 25 films)
Star Wars movie. For many in Hollywood, he’s a go-to director when a safe pair of hands are needed (as evidenced by him being called upon to take over directorial duties on Solo: A Star Wars Story).
11. Robert Zemeckis
- Top Movies Directed: Romancing the Stone (1984), Welcome to Marwen (2018).
- Domestic: $2,103,136,169
- International: $2,226,741,293
- Worldwide Total: $4,329,877,462
- Average: $227,888,287 (from 19 films)
Thanks to the success of Back to the Future, Oscar winner Robert Zemeckis became one of the most prominent directors in the industry. Since then, he’s focused heavily on films that meld high-concept storytelling with ground-breaking technological advances: From the blending of live-action and animation in Who Framed Roger Rabbit to the motion-capture work in films like Beowulf. Nowadays, he’s returned to the world of live-action but still with all the special effects he’s come to be defined by.
10. Jon Favreau
- Top Movies Directed: The Lion King (2019).
- Domestic: $1,878,450,274
- International: $2,455,399,271
- Worldwide Total: $4,333,849,545
- Average: $481,538,838 (from 9 films)
Jon Favreau started out as a comedic actor before finding his true calling behind the camera, although he still acts from time to time, such as playing Happy Hogan in the MCU. Favreau of course helped launch the MCU by directing the first two Iron Man films, and in recent years, has helmed two mammothly successful Disney remakes in The Jungle Book and The Lion King.
9. Tim Burton
- Top Movies Directed: Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), Dumbo (2019).
- Domestic: $1,952,305,730
- International: $2,460,348,169
- Worldwide Total: $4,412,653,899
- Average: $232,244,942 (from 19 films)
Of the top 15 highest grossing directors, Tim Burton may be the one with the most distinctive visual style. His gothic inspired flair - part Hammer Horror, part Victorian ghost stories, part Elvira - is so familiar to audiences that the word “Burtonesque” exists to describe such fare. After bringing Batman to the big screen for the first time in 1989, Burton went on to make a series of crowd pleasers before helping to birth Disney’s current age of live-action remakes with the billion dollar hit Alice in Wonderland, and later continue it with Dumbo in 2019.
8. J.J. Abrams
- Top Movies Directed: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).
- Domestic: $2,185,259,572
- International: $2,440,728,880
- Worldwide Total: $4,625,988,452
- Average: $768,644,669 (from 6 films)
Once upon a time, J.J. Abrams was best known for his work producing, writing, and directing TV shows, but in more recent times, he's become a Hollywood bigshot by successfully reinventing the two biggest franchises in sci-fi: Star Trek and Star Wars. Now that the Skywalker saga is over, it's unclear what Abrams will direct next, but the eyes of the world will certainly be upon it.
7. Christopher Nolan
- Top Movies Directed: Memento (2000), Insomnia (2002), Dunkirk (2017).
- Domestic: $2,003,864,469
- International: $2,700,391,359
- Worldwide Total: $4,704,255,828
- Average: $470,425,583 (from 10 films)
After reinventing the Batman story for a new age and kicking off the current era of superhero driven blockbuster cinema, Christopher Nolan decided to stick to working on an epic scale, creating thematically ambitious films that were both perfect blockbuster fare and subverted many of its expectations. 2017 saw the release of Dunkirk, the film that finally landed him a Best Director Oscar nomination. Nolan may be one of the few directors who can make a war movie (as well as original big-budget sci-fi stories like Inception and Interstellar) must-see viewing during the summer for audiences of all ages.
6. David Yates
- Top Movies Directed: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Parts 1 and 2 (2010 - 2011), Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018).
- Domestic: $1,791,787,800
- International: $4,192,152,113
- Worldwide Total: $5,983,939,913
- Average: $854,848,559 (from 7 films)
While British director David Yates has other films to his name, he's someone whose influence and box office power is tied directly to J.K. Rowling’s James Bond and Middle Earth, and the series is the third highest-grossing franchise of all time.
