Box Office Star Records > Worldwide > Lifetime Specific Technical Role > Top Worldwide Composers
Top Grossing Composer at the Worldwide Box OfficeBETA
See also: Top Domestic Composers - Top International Composers - Top Worldwide Art Directors - Top Worldwide Assistant Directors - Top Worldwide Assistant Editors - Top Worldwide Associate Producers - Top Worldwide Casting Directors - Top Worldwide Cinematographers - Top Worldwide Co-Executive Producers - Top Worldwide Co-Producers - Top Worldwide Costume Designers - Top Worldwide Costume Supervisors - Top Worldwide Dialogue Editors - Top Worldwide Directors - Top Worldwide Editors - Top Worldwide Executive Producers - Top Worldwide Line Producers - Top Worldwide Make-up and Hair Designers - Top Worldwide Music Editors - Top Worldwide Music Supervisors - Top Worldwide Producers - Top Worldwide Production Designers - Top Worldwide Re-recording Mixers - Top Worldwide Screenwriters - Top Worldwide Second Unit Directors - Top Worldwide Set Decorators - Top Worldwide Set Designers - Top Worldwide Sound Designers - Top Worldwide Sound Editors - Top Worldwide Sound Effects Editors - Top Worldwide Sound Mixers - Top Worldwide Story Creators - Top Worldwide Stunt Coordinators - Top Worldwide Supervising Sound Editors - Top Worldwide Unit Production Managers - Top Worldwide Visual Effects Supervisors
This list shows the highest grossing Composers based on the worldwide 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
Hans Zimmer
| Best known as a Composer based on credits in that role in 116 films. |
| Top films contributed to this record: The Lion King ($1,661,454,403 in 2019), Top Gun: Maverick ($1,452,163,362 in 2022), The Dark Knight Rises ($1,082,228,107 in 2012), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest ($1,064,479,311 in 2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ($1,045,713,802 in 2011), The Dark Knight ($1,010,086,005 in 2008), The Lion King ($988,389,726 in 1994), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End ($959,681,215 in 2007), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($874,360,194 in 2016), Inception ($826,873,382 in 2010) |
2
John Williams
| Best known as a Composer based on credits in that role in 79 films. |
| Top films contributed to this record: Star Wars Ep. VII: The Force Awakens ($2,056,046,835 in 2015), Star Wars Ep. VIII: The Last Jedi ($1,322,581,071 in 2017), Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ($1,069,951,814 in 2019), Jurassic Park ($1,058,454,230 in 1993), Star Wars Ep. I: The Phantom Menace ($1,046,513,456 in 1999), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone ($962,575,067 in 2001), Star Wars Ep. III: Revenge of the Sith ($902,891,983 in 2005), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ($876,145,955 in 2002), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ($797,307,407 in 1982), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ($786,635,413 in 2008) |
3
Michael Giacchino
| Best known as a Composer based on credits in that role in 47 films. |
| Top films contributed to this record: Spider-Man: No Way Home ($1,921,206,586 in 2021), Jurassic World ($1,671,063,641 in 2015), Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom ($1,308,323,302 in 2018), Incredibles 2 ($1,242,805,359 in 2018), Spider-Man: Far From Home ($1,132,298,674 in 2019), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ($1,055,083,596 in 2016), Zootopia ($1,018,518,000 in 2016), Zootopia 2 ($972,346,387 in 2025), Spider-Man: Homecoming ($878,852,749 in 2017), Inside Out ($848,469,454 in 2015) |
Complete List
| Rank | Name | Worldwide Box Office |
Movies | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hans Zimmer | $34,785,976,410 | 116 | $299,879,107 |
| 2 | John Williams | $25,625,860,261 | 79 | $324,377,978 |
| 3 | Michael Giacchino | $23,342,565,532 | 47 | $496,650,330 |
| 4 | James Newton Howard | $19,357,173,590 | 123 | $157,375,395 |
| 5 | Alan Silvestri | $18,823,356,859 | 94 | $200,248,477 |
| 6 | Danny Elfman | $18,451,320,825 | 100 | $184,513,208 |
| 7 | John Powell | $15,546,297,569 | 56 | $277,612,457 |
| 8 | Brian Tyler | $15,081,727,119 | 66 | $228,511,017 |
| 9 | James Horner | $13,999,307,799 | 101 | $138,607,008 |
| 10 | Christophe Beck | $12,035,392,445 | 76 | $158,360,427 |
| 11 | Henry Jackman | $11,170,322,378 | 38 | $293,955,852 |
| 12 | John Debney | $10,764,613,350 | 102 | $105,535,425 |
| 13 | Howard Shore | $10,674,613,273 | 68 | $156,979,607 |
| 14 | Harry Gregson-Williams | $10,196,698,428 | 55 | $185,394,517 |
| 15 | Thomas Newman | $10,181,647,543 | 87 | $117,030,432 |
| 16 | Alexandre Desplat | $9,967,469,879 | 62 | $160,765,643 |
| 17 | Heitor Pereira | $8,776,804,551 | 32 | $274,275,142 |
| 18 | Lorne Balfe | $8,038,032,020 | 45 | $178,622,934 |
| 19 | Mark Mothersbaugh | $7,691,944,866 | 74 | $103,945,201 |
| 20 | Marco Beltrami | $7,463,585,785 | 70 | $106,622,654 |
| 21 | Steve Jablonsky | $7,032,363,488 | 30 | $234,412,116 |
| 22 | Randy Newman | $6,973,878,451 | 24 | $290,578,269 |
| 23 | Jerry Goldsmith | $6,493,014,677 | 108 | $60,120,506 |
| 24 | Tyler Bates | $6,284,235,531 | 47 | $133,707,139 |
| 25 | Rupert Gregson-Williams | $6,247,408,002 | 33 | $189,315,394 |
| 26 | Carter Burwell | $6,043,074,126 | 90 | $67,145,268 |
| 27 | Tom Holkenborg | $5,873,895,088 | 24 | $244,745,629 |
| 28 | Ludwig Göransson | $5,828,565,320 | 18 | $323,809,184 |
| 29 | Alan Menken | $5,503,073,861 | 13 | $423,313,374 |
| 30 | David Newman | $5,383,744,681 | 76 | $70,838,746 |
| 31 | John Ottman | $5,292,397,457 | 32 | $165,387,421 |
| 32 | Patrick Doyle | $5,139,051,700 | 47 | $109,341,526 |
| 33 | David Arnold | $5,024,021,093 | 25 | $200,960,844 |
| 34 | Mark Mancina | $4,946,757,678 | 30 | $164,891,923 |
| 35 | Theodore Shapiro | $4,854,335,192 | 63 | $77,052,940 |
| 36 | Benjamin Wallfisch | $4,783,055,990 | 34 | $140,678,117 |
| 37 | Trevor Rabin | $4,648,587,862 | 39 | $119,194,561 |
| 38 | Michael Kamen | $3,904,984,336 | 53 | $73,678,950 |
| 39 | Christopher Young | $3,752,545,331 | 70 | $53,607,790 |
| 40 | Ramin Djawadi | $3,675,523,182 | 24 | $153,146,799 |
| 41 | Mark Isham | $3,609,318,049 | 100 | $36,093,180 |
| 42 | Christopher Lennertz | $3,426,831,853 | 36 | $95,189,774 |
| 43 | Aaron Zigman | $3,120,304,278 | 49 | $63,679,679 |
| 44 | Mychael Danna | $3,080,799,661 | 51 | $60,407,836 |
| 45 | Graeme Revell | $3,037,126,047 | 72 | $42,182,306 |
| 46 | Daniel Pemberton | $2,932,317,657 | 23 | $127,492,072 |
| 47 | Dario Marianelli | $2,859,292,205 | 32 | $89,352,881 |
| 48 | Wan Pin Chu | $2,743,873,590 | 2 | $1,371,936,795 |
| 49 | Harold Faltermeyer | $2,705,364,455 | 13 | $208,104,958 |
| 50 | Craig Armstrong | $2,684,589,508 | 28 | $95,878,197 |
| 51 | Roc Chen | $2,619,750,060 | 4 | $654,937,515 |
| 52 | Simon Franglen | $2,536,825,423 | 4 | $634,206,356 |
| 53 | Rob Simonsen | $2,473,242,354 | 35 | $70,664,067 |
| 54 | Rolfe Kent | $2,358,262,494 | 44 | $53,596,875 |
| 55 | Harald Kloser | $2,358,033,909 | 7 | $336,861,987 |
| 56 | Klaus Badelt | $2,203,571,950 | 31 | $71,082,966 |
| 57 | Steven Price | $2,200,353,698 | 16 | $137,522,106 |
| 58 | Joseph Bishara | $2,162,543,330 | 17 | $127,208,431 |
| 59 | Michael Andrews | $2,068,678,713 | 32 | $64,646,210 |
| 60 | Teddy Castellucci | $2,037,221,520 | 19 | $107,222,185 |
| 61 | Rui Yang | $2,001,155,094 | 1 | $2,001,155,094 |
| 62 | George S. Clinton | $1,938,683,009 | 45 | $43,081,845 |
| 63 | Randy Edelman | $1,930,338,827 | 17 | $113,549,343 |
| 64 | Nicholas Hooper | $1,923,812,683 | 5 | $384,762,537 |
| 65 | Dan Romer | $1,891,669,096 | 17 | $111,274,653 |
| 66 | Marc Shaiman | $1,888,012,420 | 17 | $111,059,554 |
| 67 | Geoff Zanelli | $1,879,258,403 | 23 | $81,706,887 |
| 68 | John Murphy | $1,875,162,339 | 9 | $208,351,371 |
| 69 | George Fenton | $1,858,882,859 | 61 | $30,473,489 |
| 70 | John Paesano | $1,814,701,322 | 13 | $139,592,409 |
| 71 | Pharrell Williams | $1,764,231,682 | 4 | $441,057,921 |
| 72 | Andrew Lockington | $1,720,540,643 | 15 | $114,702,710 |
| 73 | Andrea Datzman | $1,698,831,782 | 1 | $1,698,831,782 |
| 74 | Lalo Schifrin | $1,695,095,158 | 42 | $40,359,409 |
| 75 | Joby Talbot | $1,676,850,210 | 5 | $335,370,042 |
| 76 | Don Davis | $1,596,867,730 | 4 | $399,216,933 |
| 77 | Joseph Trapanese | $1,587,982,237 | 21 | $75,618,202 |
| 78 | Dominic Lewis | $1,570,971,980 | 14 | $112,212,284 |
| 79 | Atticus Ross | $1,552,199,926 | 24 | $64,674,997 |
| 80 | Matthew Margeson | $1,545,219,108 | 11 | $140,474,464 |
| 81 | Lady Gaga | $1,452,163,362 | 1 | $1,452,163,362 |
| 82 | Basil Poledouris | $1,449,512,596 | 44 | $32,943,468 |
| 83 | Thomas Wander | $1,418,024,368 | 5 | $283,604,874 |
| 84 | Stephen Schwartz | $1,417,431,353 | 3 | $472,477,118 |
| 85 | Hildur Guðnadóttir | $1,415,254,813 | 11 | $128,659,528 |
| 86 | Elliot Goldenthal | $1,411,073,670 | 10 | $141,107,367 |
| 87 | David Holmes | $1,391,343,361 | 22 | $63,242,880 |
| 88 | Marc Streitenfeld | $1,373,122,065 | 11 | $124,829,279 |
| 89 | Pinar Toprak | $1,331,334,389 | 4 | $332,833,597 |
| 90 | Elmer Bernstein | $1,301,850,842 | 20 | $65,092,542 |
| 91 | Trent Reznor | $1,285,945,287 | 14 | $91,853,235 |
| 92 | Lyle Workman | $1,282,286,279 | 13 | $98,637,406 |
| 93 | Steve Mazzaro | $1,249,647,177 | 5 | $249,929,435 |
| 94 | Kris Bowers | $1,233,418,323 | 16 | $77,088,645 |
| 95 | Rachel Portman | $1,202,427,448 | 24 | $50,101,144 |
| 96 | Jeff Danna | $1,171,945,176 | 10 | $117,194,518 |
| 97 | Eric Serra | $1,169,321,114 | 9 | $129,924,568 |
| 98 | Joel J. Richard | $1,163,403,184 | 5 | $232,680,637 |
| 99 | Ennio Morricone | $1,142,043,209 | 30 | $38,068,107 |
| 100 | Jon Brion | $1,141,650,001 | 16 | $71,353,125 |
This table is updated daily to reflect the latest studio reports.
Note: This chart is not adjusted for inflation.
Image attributions
Hans Zimmer: Richard Yaussi [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
John Williams: TashTish at en.wikipedia [GFDL or CC-BY-3.0], from Wikimedia Commons
