Box Office Star Records > Domestic > Lifetime Specific Technical Role > Top Domestic Directors
Top Grossing Director at the Domestic Box OfficeBETA
See also: Top Domestic Art Directors - Top Domestic Assistant Directors - Top Domestic Assistant Editors - Top Domestic Associate Producers - Top Domestic Casting Directors - Top Domestic Cinematographers - Top Domestic Co-Producers - Top Domestic Composers - Top Domestic Costume Designers - Top Domestic Costume Supervisors - Top Domestic Dialogue Editors - Top Domestic Editors - Top Domestic Executive Producers - Top Domestic Make-up and Hair Designers - Top Domestic Music Editors - Top Domestic Music Supervisors - Top Domestic Producers - Top Domestic Production Designers - Top Domestic Re-recording Mixers - Top Domestic Screenwriters - Top Domestic Second Unit Directors - Top Domestic Set Decorators - Top Domestic Set Designers - Top Domestic Sound Designers - Top Domestic Sound Editors - Top Domestic Sound Effects Editors - Top Domestic Sound Mixers - Top Domestic Story Creators - Top Domestic Stunt Coordinators - Top Domestic Supervising Sound Editors - Top Domestic Unit Production Managers - Top Domestic Visual Effects Supervisors - Top International Directors - Top Worldwide Directors
This list shows the highest grossing Directors based on the domestic box office of the movies they worked on.
Since we are still actively researching technical roles, we consider this chart to be in beta mode. The table includes data for movies in The Numbers database. While we make every effort to collect all available data, there are inevitably omissions and errors. Please help us by sending corrections to corrections@the-numbers.com.
1
Steven Spielberg
| Best known as an Executive Producer based on credits in that role in 56 films. |
| Top films contributed to this record: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ($439,454,989 in 1982), Jurassic Park ($415,404,543 in 1993), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ($317,101,119 in 2008), Jaws ($286,481,270 in 1975), War of the Worlds ($234,280,354 in 2005), The Lost World: Jurassic Park ($229,086,679 in 1997), Raiders of the Lost Ark ($225,686,079 in 1981), Saving Private Ryan ($216,335,085 in 1998), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ($197,171,806 in 1989), Lincoln ($182,207,973 in 2012) |
2
James Cameron
| Best known as a Director based on credits in that role in 15 films. |
| Top films contributed to this record: Avatar ($785,221,649 in 2009), Avatar: The Way of Water ($688,809,501 in 2022), Titanic ($674,460,013 in 1997), Terminator 2: Judgment Day ($203,464,105 in 1991), True Lies ($146,282,411 in 1994), Aliens ($85,160,248 in 1986), The Abyss ($54,763,229 in 1989), The Terminator ($38,019,031 in 1984), Ghosts of the Abyss ($17,093,668 in 2003), Aliens of the Deep ($8,968,684 in 2005) |
3
Christopher Nolan
| Best known as a Director based on credits in that role in 14 films. |
| Top films contributed to this record: The Dark Knight ($536,625,724 in 2008), The Dark Knight Rises ($448,139,099 in 2012), Oppenheimer ($330,078,895 in 2023), Inception ($293,662,683 in 2010), Batman Begins ($205,343,774 in 2005), Interstellar ($203,225,563 in 2014), Dunkirk ($190,068,280 in 2017), Insomnia ($67,263,182 in 2002), Tenet ($59,473,550 in 2020), The Prestige ($53,089,891 in 2006) |
Complete List
| Rank | Name | Domestic Box Office |
Movies | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steven Spielberg | $4,649,482,602 | 37 | $125,661,692 |
| 2 | James Cameron | $2,702,242,539 | 14 | $193,017,324 |
| 3 | Christopher Nolan | $2,412,615,848 | 14 | $172,329,703 |
| 4 | Michael Bay | $2,349,051,163 | 17 | $138,179,480 |
| 5 | Anthony Russo | $2,280,821,799 | 9 | $253,424,644 |
| 6 | Joe Russo | $2,280,821,799 | 10 | $228,082,180 |
| 7 | Tim Burton | $2,250,187,681 | 20 | $112,509,384 |
| 8 | J.J. Abrams | $2,198,878,974 | 7 | $314,125,568 |
| 9 | Peter Jackson | $2,163,201,961 | 16 | $135,200,123 |
| 10 | Robert Zemeckis | $2,136,734,697 | 25 | $85,469,388 |
| 11 | Ron Howard | $2,109,919,330 | 36 | $58,608,870 |
| 12 | Clint Eastwood | $1,991,216,528 | 40 | $49,780,413 |
| 13 | Ridley Scott | $1,943,806,234 | 32 | $60,743,945 |
| 14 | Sam Raimi | $1,942,809,344 | 16 | $121,425,584 |
| 15 | David Yates | $1,891,553,404 | 10 | $189,155,340 |
| 16 | Shawn Levy | $1,888,149,318 | 16 | $118,009,332 |
| 17 | Jon Favreau | $1,887,952,810 | 10 | $188,795,281 |
| 18 | George Lucas | $1,789,190,544 | 6 | $298,198,424 |
| 19 | Chris Columbus | $1,751,557,538 | 20 | $87,577,877 |
| 20 | Chris Renaud | $1,724,287,095 | 6 | $287,381,183 |
| 21 | Francis Lawrence | $1,682,995,411 | 12 | $140,249,618 |
| 22 | Ryan Coogler | $1,559,408,742 | 6 | $259,901,457 |
| 23 | Jon Watts | $1,540,944,562 | 6 | $256,824,094 |
| 24 | Gore Verbinski | $1,529,313,769 | 12 | $127,442,814 |
| 25 | James Gunn | $1,509,495,537 | 10 | $150,949,554 |
| 26 | M. Night Shyamalan | $1,470,912,210 | 16 | $91,932,013 |
| 27 | Todd Phillips | $1,431,000,447 | 11 | $130,090,950 |
| 28 | Brad Bird | $1,402,837,707 | 6 | $233,806,285 |
| 29 | Roland Emmerich | $1,368,123,123 | 15 | $91,208,208 |
| 30 | Bryan Singer | $1,358,536,966 | 10 | $135,853,697 |
| 31 | Jon M. Chu | $1,346,470,605 | 15 | $89,764,707 |
| 32 | Zack Snyder | $1,319,613,325 | 14 | $94,258,095 |
| 33 | Richard Donner | $1,296,047,859 | 20 | $64,802,393 |
| 34 | James Wan | $1,285,485,165 | 12 | $107,123,764 |
| 35 | Bill Condon | $1,253,188,938 | 13 | $96,399,149 |
| 36 | Pierre Coffin | $1,221,492,160 | 5 | $244,298,432 |
| 37 | Joseph Kosinski | $1,187,769,981 | 7 | $169,681,426 |
| 38 | Andrew Stanton | $1,163,691,774 | 5 | $232,738,355 |
| 39 | Andrew Adamson | $1,154,044,965 | 6 | $192,340,828 |
| 40 | James Mangold | $1,149,346,719 | 14 | $82,096,194 |
| 41 | Jay Roach | $1,142,179,577 | 16 | $71,386,224 |
| 42 | Brett Ratner | $1,141,127,806 | 14 | $81,509,129 |
| 43 | Steven Soderbergh | $1,128,914,799 | 38 | $29,708,284 |
| 44 | Gareth Edwards | $1,114,868,440 | 6 | $185,811,407 |
| 45 | Joss Whedon | $1,112,207,145 | 4 | $278,051,786 |
| 46 | Conrad Vernon | $1,106,588,133 | 7 | $158,084,019 |
| 47 | Martin Scorsese | $1,102,887,314 | 31 | $35,577,010 |
| 48 | Ivan Reitman | $1,100,044,915 | 15 | $73,336,328 |
| 49 | Dennis Dugan | $1,096,202,008 | 15 | $73,080,134 |
| 50 | Tony Scott | $1,091,945,398 | 16 | $68,246,587 |
| 51 | Rob Marshall | $1,086,580,004 | 7 | $155,225,715 |
| 52 | Barry Sonnenfeld | $1,075,149,233 | 12 | $89,595,769 |
| 53 | John Lasseter | $1,058,517,025 | 6 | $176,419,504 |
| 54 | Jon Turteltaub | $1,052,846,655 | 13 | $80,988,204 |
| 55 | Colin Trevorrow | $1,038,556,766 | 5 | $207,711,353 |
| 56 | Garry Marshall | $1,023,085,661 | 18 | $56,838,092 |
| 57 | Justin Lin | $1,019,450,576 | 12 | $84,954,215 |
| 58 | Jake Kasdan | $1,016,819,667 | 9 | $112,979,963 |
| 59 | Tyler Perry | $1,012,562,012 | 33 | $30,683,697 |
| 60 | Chris Buck | $1,001,168,102 | 4 | $250,292,026 |
| 61 | Sam Mendes | $994,264,034 | 14 | $71,018,860 |
| 62 | Guy Ritchie | $984,371,051 | 19 | $51,809,003 |
| 63 | Byron Howard | $973,145,276 | 5 | $194,629,055 |
| 64 | Kyle Balda | $971,219,765 | 4 | $242,804,941 |
| 65 | Tom McGrath | $970,881,049 | 7 | $138,697,293 |
| 66 | Joel Schumacher | $962,409,757 | 23 | $41,843,902 |
| 67 | Rich Moore | $952,680,527 | 4 | $238,170,132 |
| 68 | Pete Docter | $940,561,454 | 4 | $235,140,364 |
| 69 | Tim Story | $922,089,771 | 21 | $43,909,037 |
| 70 | Peyton Reed | $916,408,864 | 7 | $130,915,552 |
| 71 | Mike Mitchell | $900,235,192 | 9 | $100,026,132 |
| 72 | Carlos Saldanha | $897,345,868 | 8 | $112,168,234 |
| 73 | Tom Shadyac | $894,892,308 | 8 | $111,861,539 |
| 74 | Rob Minkoff | $886,169,375 | 10 | $88,616,938 |
| 75 | Jennifer Lee | $878,326,587 | 2 | $439,163,294 |
| 76 | Rian Johnson | $871,607,390 | 6 | $145,267,898 |
| 77 | Christopher McQuarrie | $871,374,568 | 6 | $145,229,095 |
| 78 | Joe Johnston | $864,635,053 | 11 | $78,603,187 |
| 79 | David Fincher | $864,274,467 | 14 | $61,733,891 |
| 80 | Ron Clements | $849,985,154 | 7 | $121,426,451 |
| 81 | Peter Segal | $843,206,980 | 12 | $70,267,248 |
| 82 | F. Gary Gray | $837,019,935 | 14 | $59,787,138 |
| 83 | Matt Reeves | $822,878,410 | 7 | $117,554,059 |
| 84 | Antoine Fuqua | $821,272,125 | 23 | $35,707,484 |
| 85 | Raja Gosnell | $820,457,129 | 11 | $74,587,012 |
| 86 | Sydney Pollack | $819,954,986 | 18 | $45,553,055 |
| 87 | John Musker | $819,284,296 | 6 | $136,547,383 |
| 88 | Dean DeBlois | $818,612,505 | 5 | $163,722,501 |
| 89 | Barry Levinson | $815,381,574 | 28 | $29,120,771 |
| 90 | Bobby Farrelly | $808,473,827 | 16 | $50,529,614 |
| 91 | Robert Rodriguez | $800,982,309 | 25 | $32,039,292 |
| 92 | Quentin Tarantino | $799,702,109 | 13 | $61,515,547 |
| 93 | Greta Gerwig | $793,839,704 | 4 | $198,459,926 |
| 94 | Wolfgang Petersen | $776,217,802 | 11 | $70,565,255 |
| 95 | Oliver Stone | $767,112,122 | 23 | $33,352,701 |
| 96 | Eric Darnell | $764,270,657 | 5 | $152,854,131 |
| 97 | Peter Farrelly | $758,730,940 | 19 | $39,933,207 |
| 98 | Chris Sanders | $757,036,241 | 5 | $151,407,248 |
| 99 | Paul Greengrass | $753,465,880 | 12 | $62,788,823 |
| 100 | Adam Shankman | $751,985,720 | 12 | $62,665,477 |
The Domestic Market is defined as the North American movie territory (consisting of the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Guam).
This table is updated daily to reflect the latest studio reports.
Note: This chart is not adjusted for inflation.
Image attributions
Steven Spielberg: By Romain DUBOIS (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (creativecommons.org)], via Wikimedia Commons
James Cameron: Angela George [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Christopher Nolan: By Photograph by Richard Goldschmidt, www.piqtured.comDerivative by Keraunoscopia [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
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