By The Numbers: Ranking Hollywood's Directors From Past, Present and Future- Part 4

With a new month comes part four of my massive director ranking: numbers 86-77. This section features more franchise directors, along with a few other directors known for iconic movies.

86. The Russo Brothers

The Russo Brothers have made some of the biggest movies of the last 10 years, but are surprisingly low on the list. Part of the reason for that is that they are good at working in the MCU system but not great at making movies on their own. Their biggest movies are all a part of the MCU, with two Captain America films and two Avengers films. They are also directing the upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars and Avengers: Doomsday. However, outside of those, their movies are just meh. Their highest rated movie is Avengers: Endgame with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 94%, an 8.4/10 on IMDb, and a 3.9/5 on Letterboxd. Avengers: Endgame is also the second-highest-grossing movie of all time and was briefly the highest-grossing movie. I have seen six of their films, the four MCU movies, Cherry, and The Grey Man, and gave an average score of 8.66/10. My favorite movie of theirs is Avengers: Endgame. They have not received any Oscar nominations, but have a cultural impact score of 1 for their work in the MCU and for making the second-highest-grossing film of all time. They only get one, as the build-up of the MCU did more of the heavy lifting than they did as directors.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 59% Average IMDb: 7.02/10 Average Letterboxd: 3.16/5

Oscar Nominations: 0 Cultural Impact:1 Total Score: 197.55/330

Click here to see the full list of their films and their respective scores.

85. John Krasinski

John Krasinski is a fairly new director, best known for playing Jim Halpert in The Office. However, he has established himself as a writer and director, with the two Quiet Place films marking his move beyond sitcom fame. Although he is regarded as a one-hit wonder for now, his future trajectory remains to be seen. His highest rated movie is A Quiet Place, with a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, 7.5/10 on IMDb, and 3.6/5 on Letterboxd. I have seen three of his movies—the Quiet Place films and IF—giving them an average score of 7.66/10. My favorite movie of his is A Quiet Place. While he has no Oscar nominations, he scores a 1 in cultural impact for A Quiet Place.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 64.4% Average IMDb: 6.62/10 Average Letterboxd: 3.12/5

Oscar Nominations: 0 Cultural Impact:1 Total Score: 198/330

Click here to see the full list of his films and their respective scores.

84. Fede Alvarez

Fede Alvarez is another fairly new director with only 4 movies, all within the last 13 years. He has mostly gotten into the horror space and has made several standout films there. He doesn't really have any big movies he is known for, but the one that is most known is Alien: Romulus, though he likely got tapped for that movie due to his work on Evil Dead and Don't Breathe. His other movie, A Girl in the Spider's Web, is just there. His highest rated movie is Don't Breathe with a 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 7.1/10 on IMDB and a 3.3/5 on Letterboxd. I have only seen one of his movies, Alien: Romulus and gave it an 8/10. He has not received any Oscars, nor has he made any films with a big cultural impact. However, he is definitely a director to watch out for.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 67.25% Average IMDb: 6.7/10 Average Letterboxd: 3.22/5

Oscar Nominations: 0 Cultural Impact:0 Total Score: 198.75/330

Click here to see the full list of his films and their respective scores.

83. Richard Donner

Richard Donner is one of the more classic directors from the 70s and 80s, making several well-known classics. His biggest films include two Superman movies, The Goonies, and The Lethal Weapon trilogy. His biggest accomplishment is putting Superman on the big screen and casting Christopher Reeve as Superman. His highest rated film is, of course, Superman with a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 7.4/10 on IMDB and a 3.7/5 on Letterboxd. I have seen four of his movies, the two Superman movies, The Goonies, and Scrooged, and gave an average score of 7.25. My favorite movie of his is Superman. He has not received any Oscars, but gets a cultural impact score of 2 for Superman and The Goonies.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 57.7% Average IMDb: 6.66/10 Average Letterboxd: 3.23/5

Oscar Nominations: 0 Cultural Impact:2 Total Score: 198.75/330

Click here to see the full list of his films and their respective scores.

82. The Wachowskis

The Wachowskis, consisting of siblings Lana and Lily, are another directing duo that made one really big movie and then a bunch of mediocre films. They had a few other gems besides The Matrix, but most of them are not great. Their biggest film is obviously The Matrix, which launched a franchise and became a movie spoofed by everyone. Their highest rated film is also The Matrix with a 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, an 8.7/10 on IMDB and a 4.2/5 on Letterboxd. The Matrix is also the 16th highest rated film on IMDB. I have seen four of their films, the Matrix Trilogy and Jupiter Ascending, and gave an average score of 6.5/10. My favorite movie of theirs is also The Matrix. They have not received any Oscars, but get a cultural impact score of 1 for The Matrix.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 58.8% Average IMDb: 6.94/10 Average Letterboxd: 3.4/5

Oscar Nominations: 0 Cultural Impact:1 Total Score: 201.28/330

Click here to see the full list of their films and their respective scores.

81. Matthew Vaughn

Matthew Vaughn is one of the directors that I have watched all of their films. He is known for having high energy in his films and for helping revive the Spy genre. He has dabbled in a bunch of different genres, from Superhero to crime to fantasy and Spy. His biggest films are probably the Kingsman movies, along with X-Men: First Class, with Kingsman bringing back the classic spy film. His highest rated movie is X-Men: First Class with a 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 7.7/10 on IMDB and a 3.6/5 on Letterboxd. I have seen all of his movies, giving them an average score of 7.125. My favorite movie of his is Kingsman: The Secret Service. He has not received any Oscars, nor has he made any films with a big cultural impact, but he is definitely a director to watch out for.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 65.25% Average IMDb: 7.06/10 Average Letterboxd: 3.27/5

Oscar Nominations: 0 Cultural Impact:0 Total Score: 201.38/330

Click here to see the full list of his films and their respective scores.

80. John Woo

John Woo is a big director in the martial arts movie space. He started as a filmmaker in Hong Kong, creating films like A Better Tomorrow and The Killer, and then moved to American filmmaking. Some of his biggest American films were Hard Target (starring Jean Claude Van Damme), Mission Impossible 2, and Face/Off. He is seen as a highly influential figure in the action movie genre, establishing styles like Gun-Fu, Bullet Ballet, Mexican Standoffs, and his use of slow motion. His highest-rated movie is The Killer with a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 7.7/10 on IMDB and a 4.1/5 on Letterboxd. I have only seen one of his films, Mission Impossible 2, and gave it a 5/10. He has not gotten any Oscar nominations, but gets a cultural impact score of 1 for his heavy influence on the martial arts and action movie genre.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 70.8% Average IMDb: 6.25/10 Average Letterboxd: 3.18/5

Oscar Nominations: 0 Cultural Impact:1 Total Score: 201.94/330

Click here to see the full list of his films and their respective scores.

79. Gareth Edwards

Gareth Edwards is another director whom I have watched all of their films. Gareth Edwards has a unique style to his films, particularly the shooting and cinematography. You can always count on big sweeping shots and lots of oranges and reds, with the shooting style of his films often feeling like a documentary. His biggest films were Godzilla and Rogue One, but his work on Monsters, his first film, is probably what got him tapped for these other films. His highest rated movie is Rogue One: A Star Wars Story with a 84% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 7.8/10 on IMDB, and a 3.8/5 on Letterboxd. I have seen all of his films and gave them an average score of 6.8/10. My favorite of his is Rogue One. He has not received any Oscars, nor has he made any films with a big cultural impact, but he is definitely a director to watch out for.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 70.8% Average IMDb: 6.68/10 Average Letterboxd: 3.22/5

Oscar Nominations: 0 Cultural Impact:0 Total Score: 202/330

Click here to see the full list of his films and their respective scores.

78. Rob Reiner

Rob Reiner was a big hit director in the 80s and 90s with several iconic films that became staples of their genre. He tragically passed away in December of 2025. 4 of his first 5 films were This is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, When Harry Met Sally, and The Princess Bride, and following that up with Misery and A Few Good Men, which makes for a very impressive starting resume. His highest rated film is The Princess Bride with a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, an 8/10 on IMDB and a 4.1/5 on Letterboxd. I have seen three of his films, When Harry Met Sally, The Princess Bride, and A Few Good Men, and gave them an average score of 8.33/10. My favorite of his is A Few Good Men. He has one Oscar nomination, A Few Good Men for Best Picture, and gets a cultural impact score of 3 for A Few Good Men, The Princess Bride, and When Harry Met Sally.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 52.8% Average IMDb: 6.81/10 Average Letterboxd: 3.28/5

Oscar Nominations: 1 Cultural Impact:3 Total Score: 202/330

Click here to see the full list of his films and their respective scores.

77. Brian DePalma

Brian DePalma is the final director on this section of the list. Brian DePalma's career has been a bit all over the place in terms of genre. He did Carrie (a high-profile horror film), Scarface (an iconic gangster movie),and Mission: Impossible (an iconic spy movie). He never really got tied down to one genre or style. His highest rated film is Carrie with a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 7.4/10 on IMDB and 3.9/5 on Letterboxd. I have only seen one of his films, Mission: Impossible, and gave it a 7/10. He has gotten no Oscar nominations, but gets a cultural impact score of 2 for Scarface and Mission: Impossible.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 63.46% Average IMDb: 6.27/10 Average Letterboxd: 3.37/5

Oscar Nominations: 0 Cultural Impact:2 Total Score: 203.1/330

Click here to see the full list of his films and their respective scores.