10 Highest Grossing Films By Black Directors
#RunTheCulture
Check out our list of the 10 highest grossing films by black directors. Featuring some of the best and brightest The Culture has to offer and showing their tremendous range and exceptional abilities to tell great stories and bring in audiences.
10. Ride Along – Tim Story
Total Box Office: $154.5 million
Tim Story struck box office gold with this buddy cop comedy starring Ice Cube and Kevin Hart. The film made a whopping 6 times more than it cost to make making it one of the most profitable films ever and it is the #2 highest grossing comedy of all-time by a black director.
9. 2 Fast 2 Furious – John Singleton
Total Box Office: $236.6 million
The second film in the franchise, and the first to be helmed by a black director. Singleton stepped out of his directing comfort zone and helped keep the budding film juggernaut going despite the departure of Vin Diesel. The film introduced future staples Tyreese and Ludacris to the franchise and was so successful it helped bring Diesel back to the franchise in the future.
8. Straight Outta Compton – F. Gary Gray
Total Box Office: $201.6 million
F. Gary Gray directed this biopic about the rise of the world’s most dangerous rap group, NWA. The film was a true watershed moment for The Culture. When it released, it was everywhere spawning memes, gifs, and putting the group’s music right back on the map. It was also a full circle moment for Gray who began his directing career shooting videos for Ice Cube in the 90’s.
7. Get Out – Jordan Peele
Total Box Office: $255.4 million
Jordan Peele’s Get Out is another game changing film. The movie turned the horrors of racism into an actual horror film. Get Out sparked fresh new conversations and think pieces about racism in America. And besides being a hit, the movie earned Jordan Peele an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, making him the first Black screenwriter to win the award.
6. Us – Jordan Peele
Total Box Office: 255.5 million
Peele’s follow up to Get Out was another thought provoking smash hit. The trippy horror film starring Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke broke several records. Its $71 Million opening weekend is the biggest opening for any original horror film ever made (and the third largest overall), and it is the largest opening for a film with a black female lead.
5. Scary Movie – Keenen Ivory Wayans
Total Box Office: $278 million
The Wayans family changed the horror-comedy genre when Scary Movie dropped in 2000. Spoofing horror classics and putting the unique Wayans family comedic touch was a winning recipe. The brutally satirical movie was a monster success and spawned 5 sequels, several spinoffs and countless copycats. It held the record for highest grossing R-rated comedy for years and is still the most successful black directed comedy of all-time.
4. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer – Tim Story
Total Box Office: $301.9 million
Story’s second hit on the list and his second superhero directing gig giving him the distinction of being the only black director to make two big-budget superhero blockbusters (until Ryan Coogler makes Black Panther 2 of course). Being entrusted to helm the sequel to a blockbuster is a big deal for a black director. Not bad for a creator who started out directing indie music videos.
3. The Fantastic Four – Tim Story
Total Box Office: $333.5 million
Tim Story’s third mention here but this was his official big break in Hollywood. The first Fantastic Four is Story’s biggest box office hit. He became the first Black person to direct a big-budget superhero flick when he took on the Fantastic Four. The movie came out before the current Marvel Cinematic Universe was created but it was still a massive hit and spawned the aforementioned Silver Surfer sequel.
2. The Fate of the Furious – F. Gary Gray
Total Box Office: $1.23 billion
F. Gary Gray makes his second appearance on this list with the eighth entry in the Fast and the Furious franchise to make the list. Gray kept the franchise moving with all the action, stunts, and explosions one expects in an F&F flick. The movie was predictably huge in America but went next level internationally brining in an unheard of 1 billion overseas alone making Gray the first black director to hit the billion dollar mark.
1. Black Panther – Ryan Coogler
Total Box Office: $1.34 billion
There’s no surprise that Black Panther is No. 1 on this list. A true cultural sensation, the Ryan Coogler-directed film broke box office records around the world. It is the highest-grossing solo superhero film, the third-highest-grossing superhero film overall, the ninth-highest-grossing film of all time, and the highest-grossing film by a black director. “Wakanda Forever” is now a solidified part the world’s everyday lexicon and the film is proof that a movie with a predominately black cast can be successful both in the states and overseas.
We hope you enjoyed this look at the 10 Highest Grossing Films By Black Directors. Make sure to check out some of our other lists:
Written by @TalentedMrFord
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