By The Numbers: Ranking Hollywood's Directors From Past, Present and Future- Part 5

With a new month comes part five of my massive director ranking: numbers 76-67. This section features more franchise directors, along with a few more prestige directors. At this point, we are in the middle group of directors. None of them is bad at this point, but they aren't the best of the best either. An important disclaimer is that I will not be including any movies released in 2026, as it wouldn't be fair to have some directors from earlier in the year not have their new movies count while directors from later in the year have theirs count. The only exception is my personal scoring, as that does not factor into the overall ranking.

76. Gavin O'Connor

Gavin O'Connor is more of an underrated director. His filmography consists largely of sports films (Miracle, Warrior, and The Way Back) and action movies (Jane's Got a Gun and The Accountant films) with hits in both genres. His biggest film is probably Miracle, as it is the most famous story. His highest rated movie is Warrior with a 84% on Rotten Tomatoes, an 8.1/10 on IMDb, and a 4/5 on Letterboxd. I have seen four of his films, Miracle, Warrior, and the two Accountant films, and gave an average score of 7.5/10. My favorite movie of his is Warrior. He has not received any Oscars, nor has he made any films with a big cultural impact.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 67.125% Average IMDb: 6.9/10 Average Letterboxd: 3.33/5

Oscar Nominations: 0 Cultural Impact:0 Total Score: 203.125/330

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

75. Gore Verbinski

Gore Verbinski is a big franchise director, specifically for Disney, who is becoming more of a company man for Disney instead of his own voice. However, he has broken out of that recently with his newest film, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die, which was released this year. Some of his biggest movies are the Pirates of the Caribbean films, along with the horror classic The Ring. He is also a frequent collaborator with Johnny Depp with the Pirates movies, Rango, and The Lone Ranger. His highest rated movie is Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 79%, an 8.1/10 on IMDb, and a 4/5 on Letterboxd. I have seen 4 of his films, The Three Pirates films, and The Lone Ranger, and gave an average score of 7.33/10. My favorite of his is Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, but this year's Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die is pretty good too. He has received one Oscar nomination and won Best Animated Feature for Rango, and gets a cultural impact score of 2 for The Pirates franchise and The Ring.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 56.5% Average IMDb: 6.9/10 Average Letterboxd: 3.34/5

Oscar Nominations: 1 Cultural Impact:2 Total Score: 203.3/330

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

74. Ron Howard

Ron Howard is another long-standing director who has made some classics while also making some solid minor films. Through the 80s,90s, and early 2000s, some of his big hits were Apollo 13, Willow, and Frost/Nixon. His biggest movie is probably Apollo 13, as that is the one that is often quoted. He is also a frequent collaborator of Tom Hanks with movies like Angels and Demons, Inferno, The Da Vinci Code, Apollo 13, and Splash. His highest rated movie is Apollo 13 with a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 7.7/10 on IMDb, and a 3.8/5 on Letterboxd. I have seen 4 of his movies, Willow, Far and Away, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Solo, and gave them an average score of 6.5/10. Technically, I have seen Apollo 13, but I was super sick when I saw it and don't remember any of it. My favorite movie of his is Willow. He has received 2 Oscar nominations and 2 Oscar wins. He was nominated for Best Picture and Director for both A Beautiful Mind and Frost/Nixon, and won both for A Beautiful Mind. He also gets a cultural impact score of 1 for Apollo 13.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 62.5% Average IMDb: 6.8/10 Average Letterboxd: 3.25/5

Oscar Nominations: 4 Cultural Impact:1 Total Score: 204.5/330

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

73. Francis Lawrence

Francis Lawrence is a relatively established director, having made some pretty well-known films. He has done Steven King books, YA dystopian books, comic book stories, and children's stories and has been pretty successful at all of them. He has done big hits like I am Legend, 4 out of the 5 Hunger Games movies (he did all but the first one), and the new Hunger Games movie coming this year. His biggest movies are probably the Hunger Games films. His highest rated movie is The Hunger Games: Catching Fire with a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 7.5/10 on IMDb, and a 3.9/5 on Letterboxd. I have seen 7 of his movies, the 4 Hunger Games films, The Long Walk, I am Legend, and Slumberland, and gave them an average score of 7.29/10. My favorite of his is tied between The Long Walk and Catching Fire. He has not gotten any Oscar nominations, but does get a cultural impact score of 1 for his work on the Hunger Games franchise and I Am Legend.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 64.1% Average IMDb: 6.85/10 Average Letterboxd: 3.36/5

Oscar Nominations: 0 Cultural Impact:1 Total Score: 204.8/330

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

72. John Carpenter

John Carpenter is an icon of the horror genre. His work on Halloween is what launched the slasher genre and made it what it is today. He had a very impressive run in the 70s and 80s with movies like Halloween, The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, and Escape From New York. He is considered by many as one of the greatest and most influential horror directors of all time. His biggest movies are obviously The Thing and Halloween. His highest rated movie is The Thing with an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, an 8.2/10 on IMDb, and a 4.4/5 on Letterboxd. The only movie of his that I have seen is Halloween, which I gave an 8/10. He has not received any Oscar nominations, but gets a cultural impact score of 2 for The Thing and Halloween.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 64.6% Average IMDb: 6.61/10 Average Letterboxd: 3.36/5

Oscar Nominations: 0 Cultural Impact:2 Total Score: 208.1/330

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

71. Bryan Singer

Bryan Singer is one of the main directors who helped launch the superhero genre. He directed the original 2 X-men films which opened the doors for Spider-Man and the MCU. He also did Superman Returns and two of the rebooted X-Men films. Outside of the superhero genre, he has also done films like Bohemian Rhapsody, The Usual Suspects, and Valkyrie. His biggest films are probably the X-Men movies that he did. His highest rated film is The Usual Suspects with an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, an 8.5/10 on IMDb, and a 4.1/5 on Letterboxd. I have seen 7 of his movies, the 4 X-Men movies, Superman Returns, Valkyrie, and Bohemian Rhapsody, and gave them an average score of 7.57. My favorite movie of his is X-Men: Days of Future Past. He has received 1 Oscar nomination, a Best Picture nomination for Bohemian Rhapsody, and has a cultural impact score of 1 for starting the X-Men franchise.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 68.27% Average IMDb: 7.02/10 Average Letterboxd: 3.21/5

Oscar Nominations: 1 Cultural Impact:1 Total Score: 208.63/330

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

70. Patty Jenkins

Patty Jenkins is the first solo woman director to appear on this list. Patty Jenkins is a relatively new director, as she has only made 3 films. However, there is a huge gap between films, with her first film releasing in 2003 and the next one not until 2017. She gained a name for herself after making Wonder Woman, but unfortunately, she hasn't gotten much work since. She was originally going to make a new Star Wars movie, but that ultimately fell through as the Lucasfilm leadership had no follow-through at the time. Her first two movies were surprisingly consistent with ratings. Wonder Woman 1984 is what is bringing her score down. Her highest rated movie is Wonder Woman with a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 7.3/10 on IMDB, and a 3.2/5 on Letterboxd. I have seen her 2 Wonder Woman movies and gave them an average score of 7/10. My favorite movie of hers is Wonder Woman. She has not been nominated for any Oscars, but gets a cultural impact score of 1 for Wonder Woman.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 77.66% Average IMDb: 6.66/10 Average Letterboxd: 2.97/5

Oscar Nominations: 0 Cultural Impact:1 Total Score: 208.66/330

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

69. Spike Lee

Spike Lee is a director who has been around for a while, having done 25 movies over the past 40 years. He has a very distinct storytelling style and vibe to his movies. His movies also largely feature a predominantly black cast. He hasn't made a ton of mainstream movies, but he does create some movies with a lot of cultural commentary. His biggest movies were probably Jungle Fever or Malcom X. His highest rated movie is Do the Right Thing with a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, an 8/10 on IMDB, and a 4.4/5 on Letterboxd. I have not seen any of his movies and thus do not have a favorite. He has been nominated for 5 Oscars, Best Picture, Director, and won Screenplay for BlacKkKlansman, Best Screenplay for Do the Right Thing, and received an honorary Oscar for his overall career in 2016. He has not made any films with a long-term cultural impact. He has made some topical films, but nothing that has stuck around in movie or pop culture.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 70.24% Average IMDb: 6.48/10 Average Letterboxd: 3.44/5

Oscar Nominations: 5 Cultural Impact:0 Total Score: 208.84/330

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

68. Baz Luhrmann

Baz Luhrmann is one of the more stylized directors on the list. His movies are also very vibrant and colorful, and have a distinct style to them that only Baz Luhrmann can create. He has also gotten around to different genres, doing musicals, biopics, and literary adaptations. His biggest movies are probably either Moulin Rouge or The Great Gatsby. His highest rated movie is Strictly Ballroom with a 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 7.2/10 on IMDb, and a 3.7/5 on Letterboxd. He hasn't really made a low-rated movie, though. I have seen 2 of his movies, The Great Gatsby and Elvis, and gave them an average score of 7/10. My favorite of his is Elvis. The Great Gatsby is one of Sarah's favorite movies. He has been nominated for 2 Oscars, Best Picture for both Elvis and Moulin Rouge, but has not made any films with a huge cultural impact.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 69.33% Average IMDb: 7.10/10 Average Letterboxd: 3.42/5

Oscar Nominations: 2 Cultural Impact:0 Total Score: 210.67/330

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

67. Kathryn Bigelow

Kathryn Bigelow is the second woman on this list, but she is a bit more established than Patty Jenkins. She has been making movies for over 40 years and has made multiple Oscar-nominated films. She is also very consistent in her filmmaking, with most of her movies getting relatively high ratings. She hasn't made any huge movies. Her biggest films are probably Point Break or The Hurt Locker. Her highest rated movie is The Hurt Locker with a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 7.5/10 on IMDb, and 3.8/5 on Letterboxd. I have not seen any of her movies either. She has been nominated for 3 Oscars: Best Picture for Zero Dark Thirty, and Best Picture and Best Director winner for The Hurt Locker. She has not made any films with a huge cultural impact.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 73.45% Average IMDb: 6.75/10 Average Letterboxd: 3.36/5

Oscar Nominations: 3 Cultural Impact:0 Total Score: 211.27/330

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