10 Highest Grossing Directors Of All Time

Who says good movies can't make a lot of money too?

Tim Burton Batman
Warner Bros.
A director never gets into the film business with box office takings at the front of their mind - there's too much hard graft required to be motivated by taking billions of audience's money - but it's got to be nice when a movie they've made rakes it in. And even nicer when box office success becomes a trait of their career. Although bigger budgets are often associated with artistic compromise, getting consistent box office success can be a jumping board to more creativity - many of the directors in this gallery got to make their most personal films on the back of well received movie first. Of course, how much money a movie makes isn't really a mirror of quality - some of the best loved movies of all time are also some of biggest bombs of all time as well. Still, to consistently make a killing must require some modicum of filmmaking grit, right? Not quite. What's striking about this collection of names is the balance between highly regarded masters of the blockbuster and hacks who produce movie after movie that proves a box office hit despite being a resounding dud in terms of quality. Clearly there's more than one way to make a successful directing career. Here are the ten highest grossing directors of all time.

10. Steven Spielberg

Tim Burton Batman
LOIS BERNSTEIN/AP

Rating: Total Gross: $9.011 billion

Most Successful Movie: Jurassic Park ($1.029 billion)

Who else but the creator of the blockbuster could have made almost $10 billion with his movies? Steven Spielberg has been one of the best working directors for over forty years, and doesn't look like he'll be stopping any time soon.

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Contributor

Film Editor (2014-2016). Loves The Usual Suspects. Hates Transformers 2. Everything else lies somewhere in the middle. Once met the Chuckle Brothers.