Box Office: The 25 Highest-Grossing Movies Ever Directed By Women – Forbes

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If the coronavirus pandemic had not wiped out theaters across the country, Black Widow would undoubtedly be enjoying a second weekend atop the domestic box office.

Heck, the Cate Shortland-directed Marvel film would be No. 1 across the world. In fact, it would have probably already ranked amongst the highest-grossing movies to ever be directed by a woman.

Thankfully, the presence of female directors is increasing rapidly. Last year, the the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative found that of the 100 top-grossing movies of 2019, about 89.4% were directed by men and 10.6% were directed by women. And while those numbers are still incredibly low for women, that’s a significant rise from the 2018 study (when the percentage stood at 4.5%) and 2007 (when it was a mere 2.7%).

Expert predictions showed that Black Widow would have earned around $300 million domestically in a non-coronavirus world. And if that were the case, the movie would have ranked in the top five of movies to ever be directed by a woman.

So what are the highest-grossing female-directed movies of all time? Let’s list them out one by one. We’ll cover the domestic box office—including earnings after accounting for inflation—as well as the international box office.

Domestic Box Office

First, let’s start with the domestic box office. The top-earning films are dominated by recent animated features and comic book adaptation, but there’s also a fair share of dramatic films represented as well.

1. Frozen 2, co-directed by Jennifer Lee ($477.4 million)
2. Captain Marvel, co-directed by Anna Boden ($426.8 million)
3. Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins ($412.6 million)
4. Frozen, co-directed by Jennifer Lee ($400.7 million)
5. The Matrix Reloaded, directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski ($281.6 million)
6. Shrek, co-directed by Vicky Jenson ($267.7 million)
7. Brave, co-directed by Brenda Chapman ($237.3 million)
8. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, directed by Betty Thomas ($219.6 million)
9. Twilight, directed by Catherine Hardwicke ($194 million)
10. Pitch Perfect 2, directed by Elizabeth Banks ($184.3 million)
11. What Women Want, directed by Nancy Meyers ($182.8 million)
12. The Matrix, directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski ($171.5 million)
13. Fifty Shades of Grey, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson ($166.2 million)
14. Kung Fu Panda 2, directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson ($165.2 million)
15. The Proposal, directed by Anne Fletcher ($164 million)
16. Shark Tale, co-directed by Vicky Jenson ($160.9 million)
17. Mamma Mia!, directed by Phyllida Lloyd ($144.2 million)
18. Dr. Dolittle, directed by Betty Thomas ($144.2 million)
19. Deep Impact, directed by Mimi Leder ($140.5 million)
20. Look Who’s Talking, directed by Amy Heckerling ($140.1 million)
21. The Matrix Revolutions, directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowsk ($139.3 million)
22. Sleepless in Seattle, directed by Nora Ephron ($126.8 million)
23. Something’s Gotta Give, directed by Nancy Meyers ($124.7 million)
24. Wayne’s World, directed by Penelope Spheeris ($121.7 million)
25. You’ve Got Mail, directed by Nora Ephron ($115.8 million)
26. Unbroken, directed by Angelina Jolie ($115.6 million)
27. Big, directed by Penny Marshall ($115.2 million)
28. It’s Complicated, directed by Nancy Meyers ($112.7 million)
29. A League of Their Own, directed by Penny Marshall ($107.5 million)

As you can see, a few big names appear several times on this list: Nancy Meyers, Nora Ephron, Vicky Jenson, Lana and Lilly Wachowski, etc.

Of the 89 films that have managed to crack $300 million at the domestic box office, only four have been directed by women. And only eight movies directed by women have eclipsed $200 million.

Domestic Box Office (After Inflation)

The rankings slightly shift after we account for ticket price inflation.

1. Frozen 2, co-directed by Jennifer Lee ($496.5 million)
2. Frozen, co-directed by Jennifer Lee ($461.8 million)
3. Captain Marvel, co-directed by Anna Boden ($443.9 million)
4. Shrek, co-directed by Vicky Jenson ($443.2 million)
5. The Matrix Reloaded, directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowsk ($437.6 million)
6. Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins ($431 million)
7. Look Who’s Talking, directed by Amy Heckerling ($330.7 million)
8. What Women Want, directed by Nancy Meyers ($317.8 million)
9. The Matrix, directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski ($316.3 million)
10. Sleepless in Seattle, directed by Nora Ephron ($287 million)
11. Deep Impact, directed by Mimi Leder ($280.7 million)
12. Brave, co-directed by Brenda Chapman ($279.3 million)
13. Wayne’s World, directed by Penelope Spheeris ($274.8 million)
14. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, directed by Betty Thomas ($274.4 million)
15. Big, directed by Penny Marshall ($262.6 million)
16. Twilight, directed by Catherine Hardwicke ($253.2 million)
17. Shark Tale, co-directed by Vicky Jenson ($242.8 million)
18. A League of Their Own, directed by Penny Marshall ($242.7 million)
19. Dr. Dolittle, directed by Betty Thomas ($238.7 million)
20. You’ve Got Mail, directed by Nora Ephron ($231.4 million)
21. Pitch Perfect 2, directed by Elizabeth Banks ($217 million)
22. The Matrix Revolutions, directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowsk ($216.5 million)
23. The Proposal, directed by Anne Fletcher ($204.9 million)
24. Kung Fu Panda 2, directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson ($195.2 million)
25. Something’s Gotta Give, directed by Nancy Meyers ($193.8 million)

After we adjust the numbers a bit, the box office data shows that women have directed nine movies have crossed the $300 million barrier and 23 movies that have made at least $200 million.

Frozen made a big jump from No. 4 to No. 2, almost overtaking the sequel Frozen 2 in the No. 1 spot. By far the biggest leap, however, belongs to Amy Heckerling’s Look Who’s Talking, which rose from the No. 20 spot all the way up to No. 7. After inflation, the 1989 movie’s domestic gross increased from $140.1 million to $330.7 million.

Global Box office

Finally, we have the worldwide box office rankings. Keep in mind that this list does not account for global ticket price inflation.

1. Frozen 2, co-directed by Jennifer Lee ($1.450 billion)
2. Frozen, co-directed by Jennifer Lee ($1.281 billion)
3. Captain Marvel, co-directed by Anna Boden ($1.128 billion)
4. Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins ($821.8 million)
5. The Matrix Reloaded, directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowsk ($741.8 million)
6. Kung Fu Panda 2, directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson ($665.7 million)
7. Mamma Mia!, directed by Phyllida Lloyd ($609.9 million)
8. Fifty Shades of Grey, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson ($569.7 million)
9. Brave, co-directed by Brenda Chapman ($539 million)
10. Shrek, co-directed by Vicky Jenson ($484.4 million)
11. The Matrix, directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski ($465.3 million)
12. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, directed by Betty Thomas ($443.1 million)
13. The Matrix Revolutions, directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowsk ($427.3 million)
14. Twilight, directed by Catherine Hardwicke ($408.4 million)
15. Shark Tale, co-directed by Vicky Jenson ($374.6 million)
16. What Women Want, directed by Nancy Meyers ($374.1 million)
17. Deep Impact, directed by Mimi Leder ($349.5 million)
18. The Proposal, directed by Anne Fletcher ($317.4 million)
19. Look Who’s Talking, directed by Amy Heckerling ($297 million)
20. Dr. Dolittle, directed by Betty Thomas ($294.5 million)
21. Pitch Perfect 2, directed by Elizabeth Banks ($287.1 million)
22. Bridget Jones’s Diary, directed by Sharon Maguire ($281.9 million)
23. Something’s Gotta Give, directed by Nancy Meyers ($265.3 million)
24. Bridget Jones’s Diary, directed by Beeban Kidron ($265.1 million)
25. You’ve Got Mail, directed by Nora Ephron ($250.8 million)

The only newcomers to this list are the first two Bridget Jone’s Diary movies—which were directed by two different women.

Of the 46 movies that have made at least $1 billion at the worldwide box office, only three have been directed by women—and one woman, Jennifer Lee, made two of those films. And of the 119 movies that have ever made $500 million, only nine were directed by women.

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