Ridley Scott might not have as good of press as other directors, but he’s responsible for some of the most surprising, inventive, and relevant films over the last 50 years. From Alien to Blade Runner, and Gladiator, the director loves a spectacle and shooting action scenes, but he’s also been a visionary, updating movie techniques and being an artisan, moving Hollywood forward and creating a couple of franchises in the process. He’s also one of the highest box office-earning directors ever.
Although he’s 86-years-old, Scott is still directing and going strong. In 2021, he shot two movies that couldn’t be more different; The Last Duel and House of Gucci, and he has six different projects in development for 2024, including a sequel to his Gladiator with Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, and Denzel Washington. Before all that, on November 24th, 2023, we’ll be able to see his newest movie, Napoleon, with Joaquin Phoenix as the lead character, which promises to be another box office success for the director. While we wait, here are Ridley Scott’s 10 highest-grossing movies ever, according to the worldwide numbers of Box Office Mojo.
10 Black Hawk Down (2001) - $173 Million
Black Hawk Down
- Release Date
- December 28, 2001
- Director
- Ridley Scott
- Cast
- Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana, William Fichtner, Ewen Bremner
- Rating
- R
- Runtime
- 144
- Main Genre
- Drama
Black Hawk Down tells the real-life story of how an American helicopter got stuck in enemy territory during the Somalian War, and the rescue mission to get those men back to safety. The film is told almost in first-person perspective, as the director transports audiences to what it would have been like to be there, in full war mode, while trying to survive against all odds.
What Makes It Great
This might be Scott’s most adrenaline-fueled film ever, as there’s no stopping the action and the bullets flying all over the place. With a great leading man performance by Josh Hartnett, and an incredible cast of would-become-famous actors like Orlando Bloom, Tom Hardy, and Hugh Dancy in blink-and-you’ll-miss-them performances, this is a film that transports you inside a real war, with real consequences, where there’s never a moment of rest. When the movie ends, you’ll be able to finally exhale, as the tension and violence will finally be over.
Rent on Apple TV
9 Kingdom of Heaven (2005) - $218 Million
Kingdom of Heaven
- Release Date
- May 3, 2005
- Director
- Ridley Scott
- Cast
- Martin Hancock, Michael Sheen, Nathalie Cox, Eriq Ebouaney, Jouko Ahola, David Thewlis
- Rating
- R
- Runtime
- 138
- Main Genre
- Action
Scott has always loved historical films, with epic sword fights, so it makes perfect sense he would do a film like Kingdom of Heaven, which happens during the Crusades and centers on blacksmith Bailan de Ibelin (Orlando Bloom), who wants to make peace between Muslims and Christians.
What Makes It Great
The original movie that was released in the cinemas wasn’t as good as the director’s cut, showing that in the new version, 50 more minutes made all the difference, and was one of the few times that more was better (Almost Famous being another example). Scott always directs amazing action scenes, and the performances by Eva Green, Edward Norton, Jeremy Irons, and Brendan Gleeson are all great, making for an excellent watch.
Watch on Starz
8 Alien: Covenant (2017) - $241 Million
alien covenant
- Release Date
- May 9, 2017
- Director
- Ridley Scott
- Cast
- Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, Carmen Ejogo
- Rating
- R
- Runtime
- 123
- Main Genre
- Sci-Fi
Alien: Covenant is a sequel to Prometheus, and, at the same time, a prequel to the original Alien film, and it has all the ingredients of the franchise; a tough woman as the Ripley-like figure, a crew who keeps getting killed by Xenomorphs, and some gory, disgusting, frightening scenes of how that happens.
What Makes It Great
This film is, for the moment, the last time Scott has played in his Alien sandbox, and he brought it back to its most horrific origins, where every scene can make audiences scream in terror. The director is having fun, while making what might be the most nihilistic film in the whole franchise, and with an incredible Michael Fassbender performance at its center, where he plays two different androids, David and Walter, who are just as villainous as the Xenomorphs themselves.
Rent on Apple TV
7 American Gangster (2007) - $270 Million
American Gangster
- Release Date
- November 2, 2007
- Director
- Ridley Scott
- Cast
- Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin, Lymari Nadal, Ted Levine
- Rating
- NR
- Runtime
- 157
- Main Genre
- Biography
American Gangster is inspired by the real-life story of Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington), a smooth heroin smuggler, who also knows how to get tough and deadly when needed. He’s filling the New York streets full of heroin, and there’s only one man who can stop him, Essex County Detective Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe).
What Makes It Great
This is one of the best Black gangster movies ever made, and has Washington at the top of his game, creating a charismatic and frightening character in Lucas. Although this could’ve been a Scorsese ripoff, Scott sees and shoots things very differently, making for a tense, violent movie where anyone can get shot at any moment, and that has a fun cat-and-mouse game between Lucas and Roberts. The Jay-Z album inspired by the film is also astounding.
Stream on Max
6 Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) - $268 Million
exodus
- Release Date
- December 3, 2014
- Director
- Ridley Scott
- Cast
- Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver, Maria Valverde, Indira Varma
- Rating
- PG-13
- Runtime
- 142
- Main Genre
- Drama
Exodus: Gods and Kings tells the biblical story of Moses (Christian Bale) and his fight with his brother, Ramses (Joel Edgerton), in the most action-heavy, epic, dramatic way, while also trying to realistically explain some of the unique events happening, like the parting of the Red Sea.
What Makes It Great
Although the film might be one of the worst made by Scott, he’s having the time of his life directing all the action, and using every technological advancement Hollywood could give him at the time, be it CGI, green screens, hundreds of extras, or camera movements he could’ve only had dreamed of years before. The cast is also great, with small, but important roles for actors like Sigourney Weaver, John Turturro, Indira Varma, and Aaron Paul
Stream on Max
5 Robin Hood (2010) - $322 Million
There have been many Robin Hood adaptations. This time, Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott decided the archer was much more of a hardened ex-soldier who might have PTSD after all he saw in the Crusades, looking for a more realistic approach to the material, and transforming Robin into a fugitive who wants to liberate his people against an awful tyrant.
What Makes It Great
As with any Scott film set before the 20th century, there are incredible battle scenes, where fights with arrows, swords, and horses, are spectacular, while also helping to show who the characters are by how they react to everything that is happening around them, and Crowe still plays a great action hero who believes in a cause bigger than himself.
On why he keeps working with Crowe, including in Robin Hood, Scott told The Guardian: “What I like about Russell is that he and I like to keep people honest. We're always challenging things, which can easily be misread as being grumpy. But I'm not grumpy and neither is Russell. He's got a great sense of humour – he's fun. But as I say, you'd better be on your toes!"”
Rent on Apple TV
4 Hannibal (2001) - $352 Million
Hannibal is a sequel to Silence of the Lambs, showing what the cannibal has been up to since he escaped, living in Florence, and having some problems of his own, while an old victim, Mason Verger (Gary Oldman), is trying to get his revenge on him.
What Makes It Great
After the incredible success of Silence of the Lambs, any sequel was going to have a hard time getting to the same heights, and Scott’s film, recasting Clarice with Julianne Moore, almost gets there in the goriest, most scary scenes in both Florence and Venice. Hopkins’ performance as Lecter is still top-notch, showing some more layers now that he’s the absolute lead of the film, and Scott’s direction gives the movie a different style and movement than the first one, giving it more of a thriller vibe. The fact that they were able to shoot on location also gives the director the ingredients to shoot some of his most beautiful images ever.
Stream on Max
3 Prometheus (2012) - $403 Million
Prometheus
- Release Date
- May 30, 2012
- Director
- Ridley Scott
- Cast
- Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce, Logan Marshall-Green
- Rating
- R
- Runtime
- 124
- Main Genre
- Adventure
Prometheus is a prequel to the whole Alien franchise, and tells the story of the Prometheus ship and all the explorers in it, who discover some divine figures they’ve found in ancient cave paintings. Unfortunately, those divine figures are the species audiences know as Xenomorphs.
What Makes It Great
For some, this sequel was more successful than Alien: Covenant, even if it has a lot more mythology about the creatures, and spends a big part of the movie thinking about themes of exploration and what it means to be human, while trying to tell the origin of the alien species. The film looks incredible, and has a great cast, including Noomi Rapace, Idris Elba, Charlize Theron, and, especially, a very creepy Michael Fassbender, proving Scott’s love for the Alien franchise, and how he still knows how to scare and disgust his audience.
Rent on Apple TV
2 Gladiator (2000) - $503 Million
Gladiator
- Release Date
- May 1, 2000
- Director
- Ridley Scott
- Cast
- Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Richard Harris, Derek Jacobi
- Rating
- R
- Runtime
- 155
- Main Genre
- Action
Gladiator is the film that made Russell Crowe a movie star. This is the story of Maximus Decium Meridius (Crowe), an important Roman general, who is betrayed by the new emperor, Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix), who has his family killed and Maximus enslaved. Maximus then becomes a gladiator who he plots his revenge.
What Makes It Great
This is the best collaboration between Scott and Crowe, the one that revived the swords and sandals genre by itself, and made for an incredible action movie. Crowe is as charismatic as he ever was, Joaquin Phoenix has one of his first great roles as the sleazy Commodus, and Scott proves he’s a master at shooting action, be it between big companies in the woods with fire and horses involved, or in the arena with sword fighting, making for one of the most exciting films of the 2000s. The movie won the Best Picture Oscar, and deservedly so. “Are we not entertained?” indeed.
Rent on Apple TV
1 The Martian (2015) - $630 Million
The Martian
- Release Date
- September 30, 2015
- Director
- Ridley Scott
- Cast
- Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Sean Bean
- Rating
- PG-13
- Runtime
- 130
- Main Genre
- Sci-Fi
Based on the Andy Weir novel, The Martian tells the story of Mark Watney (Matt Damon in one of his best movies), a botanist and astronaut who gets left behind on Mars after his crew thinks he has died. He only has his intelligence and knowledge of botany to help him survive on a planet that wants to kill him every second of every day.
What Makes It Great
This is the only Ridley Scott movie in space where there’s no killer alien, and things get scarier by the minute, and the director still makes an incredible movie. It could’ve been a crude exploration of survival, but what makes the film great is the optimism and humor Watney has (and Damon’s charisma), making his time on Mars much more of a joke on himself, and a test of his abilities, and not a sad, pessimistic story. The movie also goes to great lengths to explain very complicated technological terms in the simplest way possible, so the audience can follow up on everything that is happening.
Stream on Fubo TV
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