The Biggest Ridley Scott Movies Of All Time

Ridley Scott has been directing movies for over four decades now. In that time, he's produced enough classics to ensure that every generation has their own unique Scott feature to call their own. Maybe you are a child of the '70s and Scott's second feature, "Alien," blew your mind. Perhaps you were born later in the 1990s and "Gladiator" was a film that redefined what movies in the 21st century could look like. The list goes on and on, with projects ranging from "Thelma and Louise" to "The Martian" also serving as milestones in Scott's career. Given how influential his works have been, it's no surprise that Scott has also helmed a surplus of box office hits.  

Looking at the highest-grossing movies at the worldwide box office in Scott's filmography, it's remarkable to see how many genres he's worked in as well as the varying factors that have informed his most lucrative titles. Scott hasn't cultivated box office glory from tying himself to just one franchise; over the decades, he's consistently worked with exciting new artists while daring to venture into genres many saw as unfeasible in the modern film landscape. To look upon the biggest Ridley Scott movies of all time is to appreciate the qualities that have defined this enduring filmmaker.

Some directors take years in between movies, but not Ridley Scott. Not only does this filmmaker regularly make new films, but he's also been known to occasionally deliver two movies in a single year. That happened in 2001 when Scott kicked off the year with "Hannibal" and then delivered "Black Hawk Down" in the final days of December 2001. Rather than being a movie that was too rushed to resonate with audiences, Scott's second 2001 directorial effort proved to be a big hit, particularly in North America.

Grossing $159.6 million worldwide, "Black Hawk Down" made $108.3 million of that haul from its ticket sales in North America. That's no surprise given that the film was about U.S. military personnel and mirrored how future box office hits based on soldiers, like "Lone Survivor" and "American Sniper," would make drastically more in their home country than in international territories. "Black Hawk Down" benefited mightily from launching its wide release theatrical run in January 2002, where it had less competition to face than if it had opted to open a month earlier during the bustling Christmas season. Generally positive reviews and a renewed pro-America sentiment after 9/11 just months earlier also helped give "Black Hawk Down" enough ammunition to hit impressive heights at the box office.

Medieval-themed movies always tend to play better overseas than they do in North America. European moviegoers especially tend to flock to such titles, which regularly employ mythology and/or historical figures from those countries. This is good news for titles like "Kingdom of Heaven," which just wiped out at the North American box office. Scott's first foray into a historical epic after "Gladiator," "Kingdom of Heaven" made only $218.6 million worldwide, including a dismal $47.3 million domestically. Among 2005 releases in North America, the significantly costly "Kingdom of Heaven" made less than much cheaper titles like "Kicking and Screaming" or "Just Like Heaven."

Whereas "Gladiator" had earned positive marks from critics, "Kingdom of Heaven" was dragged down by mixed reviews. Plus releasing a new action movie, even an R-rated one, in May 2005 in such close proximity to "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith" was a miscalculated scheduling move. Scott also expressed his belief that the marketing for the film in the U.S. just didn't click and expressed particular frustration for how much the ads in this territory emphasized the romantic-drama elements but not the political details. Adding insult to injury, Scott also felt that last-minute edits to trim the movie down hurt its overall quality, which could have contributed to its mixed reviews. If the beloved director's cut of "Kingdom of Heaven," released later, had made it to screens instead, perhaps it would have ended up higher on this list!

Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott reunited once again for "American Gangster" after their unforgettable collaboration on "Gladiator," but leading man Denzel Washington was front and center in this movie's marketing campaign, and for good reason. Washington is a reliable box office draw, especially in adult-skewing crime dramas.

Bringing all these big-name artists together turned out to be an easy recipe for box office glory, as "American Gangster" grossed $267.9 million worldwide. The success of this project was especially felt in North America, where its sizeable opening weekend was seen as rejuvenating a stagnant box office marketplace. That impressive debut led to a $130.1 million North American sum that cemented the title as Washington's biggest movie ever domestically. It was also a welcome change of pace for Crowe at the box office given that his last two projects, "Cinderella Man" and "A Good Year," failed to catch on with moviegoers. The same could be said for Scott, who scored his first $100 million+ domestic grosser with "American Gangster" since "Black Hawk Down" six years earlier. As a cherry on top for the filmmaker, "American Gangster" was also the director's third-biggest movie ever at the global box office at that time. Sometimes, movies bring together a bunch of A-list talent and end up with disappointing box office, but in the case of "American Gangster," so many famous faces yielded sizeable financial rewards.

Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe have reteamed multiple times in the years after "Gladiator" in the hopes of replicating the enormous success of that 2000 movie. However, none of their subsequent projects have resonated anywhere near as powerfully with moviegoers as that sword-and-sandal epic. To date, the last effort Scott and Crowe teamed up on was "Robin Hood," a 2010 feature that leaned on the "Gladiator" comparisons by having Crowe play a vengeful figure in a period-era setting heavy with grit and violence.

Though it may have seemed like an easy recipe for making the "Gladiator" lightning strike twice on paper, there were always going to be inherent problems in making "Robin Hood" just a profitable venture, let alone the second coming of "Gladiator." For one thing, Robin Hood is a character who's been adapted so many times, even in modern cinema, that just doing another film starring this archer isn't enough to get people's attention. Meanwhile, "Robin Hood" came out in 2010, a whole decade after "Gladiator." The latter film hadn't been forgotten or become hated, but it wasn't the buzziest thing in the marketplace anymore. Combining all that with the enormous budget, it's clear that "Robin Hood" was a severely challenged project. Considering all that, its eventual $322.4 million worldwide haul isn't great (it's less than half of what "Gladiator" made), but its box office results could have been a lot worse. Just ask the 2018 Taron Edgerton "Robin Hood" movie.

Though the summer of 2012's box office would be dominated by "The Avengers" and "The Dark Knight Rises," "Prometheus" was still one of the most hotly-anticipated titles of the season. How could it not be? Ridley Scott's return to sci-fi cinema, and the "Alien" franchise in particular, had been eagerly awaited for years. Distributor 20^th Century Fox played on this interest by putting together a spectacular marketing campaign for the film that sold distinctive imagery and an ominous tone that ensured the film wouldn't just come off as a rehash of "Alien."

In the end, "Prometheus" ended up doing solid business, if not quite as big as its pre-release hype would suggest. Grossing $402.4 million worldwide, "Prometheus" had no problem vastly exceeding the global box office hauls of all prior "Alien" movies and all but one of Ridley Scott's directorial efforts at that time. The production was also a significant feat for its cast members, serving for example as Michael Fassbender's biggest non-"300" movie ever at the worldwide box office. If there was anything keeping "Prometheus" from hitting the next level of box office success, it was probably the mixed fan reception to the title. There was lots of pre-release internet hype for "Prometheus," but this was one case of fans finding the marketing more enticing than the actual film. Even with that caveat, though, "Prometheus" proved to be enough of a hit to reaffirm Scott's ability to produce appealing moneymakers.

Before "The Martian" was launched into cinematic orbit, Ridley Scott wasn't quite on a cold streak, but he had experienced his fair share of box office underperformers. In the years since "Gladiator" in 2000, only one of Scott's films ("Prometheus") had exceeded $400 million globally. Otherwise, he had largely directed films like "Robin Hood" that failed to turn a profit or indisputable box office bombs like "Body of Lies." That would change dramatically with "The Martian," which wasn't just a run-of-the-mill hit, but became the biggest movie of Scott's whole career.

Grossing $655.1 million globally, "The Martian" was buoyed by several key factors that put it over the top. For starters, the film had a great premise, a simple concept (man tries to survive after being marooned on Mars) with obvious and engaging stakes. Packing the film with A-list stars, conveying a hopeful atmosphere in the marketing, and scoring great reviews further helped "The Martian" exceed all financial expectations. His first directorial effort to crack the $500 million mark worldwide, "The Martian" proved that a veteran filmmaker like Scott could still deliver a sizeable hit.