Favorite Top Box Office Black Directors
by urbanemovies | created - 02 Feb 2016 | updated - 15 Aug 2019 | PublicEach February in the USA, we recognize black achievements during Black History Month. These directors are among the highest career box office earners adjusted for inflation.
Which select and influential top box office* grossing black director is your personal favorite? *USA total box office totals and top film gross are inflation adjusted
Black History Month Companion Polls
Celebrated Black-Led Movies : Top Black-Directed Movies : Top Grossing Black Directors : Black Multimedia Superheroes
Cast your vote here or Discuss the topic here.
1. Tim Story
Director | Fantastic Four
Timothy Kevin Story was born on March 13, 1970 in Los Angeles, California. Attended Westchester High School in Los Angeles, California with jazz pianist Eric Reed and actresses Regina King and Nia Long. Graduated from USC film school.
Top Box Office Film: Fantastic Four (2005)
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2. Tyler Perry
Writer | Diary of a Mad Black Woman
Perry was born and raised in New Orleans, to Willie Maxine (Campbell) and Emmitt Perry, Sr. His mother was a church-goer and took Perry along with her once a week. His father was a carpenter and they had a very strained and abusive relationship, which led Perry to suffer from depression as a ...
Top Box Office Film: Madea Goes to Jail (2009)
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3. John Singleton
Writer | Boyz n the Hood
Son of Danny Singleton, a mortgage broker, and Sheila Ward, a pharmaceutical company sales executive, and raised in separate households by his unmarried parents, John Singleton attended the Film Writing Program at USC, after graduating from high school in 1986. While studying there, he won three ...
Top Box Office Film: 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
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4. F. Gary Gray
Director | Set It Off
Felix Gary Gray is an African-American music video director, film producer and film director from New York City known for directing films such as Friday, Men in Black: International, Be Cool, The Fate of the Furious, Set It Off, The Negotiator, Straight Outta Compton and The Italian Job. He ...
Top Box Office Film: The Fate of the Furious (2017)
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5. Spike Lee
Director | Do the Right Thing
Spike Lee was born Shelton Jackson Lee on March 20, 1957, in Atlanta, Georgia. At a very young age, he moved from pre-civil rights Georgia, to Brooklyn, New York. Lee came from artistic, education-grounded background; his father was a jazz musician, and his mother, a schoolteacher. He attended ...
Top Box Office Film: Inside Man (2006)
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6. Antoine Fuqua
Producer | The Magnificent Seven
Antoine Fuqua is an American film director, known for his work in the film Training Day as well as The Replacement Killers, Tears of the Sun, King Arthur, Shooter, Brooklyn's Finest, Olympus Has Fallen and The Equalizer.
He has directed music videos for such artists as Arrested Development, Prince, ...
Top Box Office Film: Training Day (2001)
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7. Keenen Ivory Wayans
Writer | White Chicks
The trail-blazing linchpin of a sprawling family dynasty of comic entertainers, it was multi-talented writer/director/producer Keenen Ivory Wayans (born June 8, 1958, in New York City) who led the familial pack and was the first to achieve national prominence when he successfully created, launched,...
Top Box Office Film: Scary Movie (2000)
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8. Sidney Poitier
Actor | In the Heat of the Night
Sidney Poitier was a native of Cat Island, Bahamas, although born, two months prematurely, in Miami during a visit by his parents, Evelyn (Outten) and Reginald James Poitier. He grew up in poverty as the son of farmers, with his father also driving a cab in Nassau. Sidney had little formal ...
Top Box Office Film: Stir Crazy (1980)
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9. Michael Schultz
Director | Cooley High
Michael Schultz was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Cooley High (1975), Car Wash (1976) and Krush Groove (1985). He has been married to Lauren Jones since December 6, 1965. They have two children.
Top Box Office Film: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978)
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10. Thomas Carter
Director | Coach Carter
Thomas Carter was born on July 17, 1953 in Austin, Texas, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Coach Carter (2005), Equal Justice (1990) and Save the Last Dance (2001).
Top Box Office Film: Save the Last Dance (2001)
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11. Malcolm D. Lee
Director | Girls Trip
Malcolm D. Lee was born on January 11, 1970 in the USA. He is a writer and director, known for Girls Trip (2017), The Best Man (1999) and The Best Man: The Final Chapters (2022). He has been married to Camilla Banks since 2000. They have three children.
Top Box Office Film: Girls Trip (2017)
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12. Allen Hughes
Director | The Book of Eli
Albert and Allen Hughes began making movies at age 12, but their formal film education began their freshman year of high school when Allen took a TV production class. They soon made a short film entitled How To Be A Burglar and people began to take notice. Their next work, Uncensored videos, was ...
Top Box Office Film: The Book of Eli (2010)
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13. Albert Hughes
Director | The Book of Eli
Albert and Allen Hughes began making movies at age 12, but their formal film education began their freshman year of high school when Allen took a TV production class. They soon made a short film entitled How To Be A Burglar and people began to take notice. Their next work, Uncensored videos, was ...
Top Box Office Film: The Book of Eli (2010)
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14. Forest Whitaker
Actor | The Last King of Scotland
Forest Steven Whitaker has packaged a king-size talent into his hulking 6' 2", 220 lb. frame. He won an Academy Award for his performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the film The Last King of Scotland (2006), and has also won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. He is the fourth African-American male to...
Top Box Office Film: Waiting to Exhale (1995)
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15. Carl Franklin
Director | One False Move
Carl Franklin studied history and dramatic arts at UC Berkeley. After several years as a television actor with guest shots, roles in TV movies, miniseries, and appearing as a regular on a few unsuccessful series, he returned to school and received his master's degree in directing from the American ...
Top Box Office Film: High Crimes (2002)
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16. Bill Duke
Actor | Predator
Duke Media Entertainment, led by actor, director, producer, writer and humanitarian, Bill Duke, is dedicated to bringing quality Edutainment to audiences around the globe. Formerly Yagya Productions, Duke Media has successfully produced critically acclaimed film and television content for more than...
Top Box Office Film: Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993)
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17. Lee Daniels
Producer | Precious
Lee Daniels gave his parents an early Christmas present when he entered the world on December 24, 1959; unfortunately, the Philadelphia native was to have a difficult relationship with his police officer father who later reacted violently to his son's sexuality. Despite the brutality of his ...
Top Box Office Film: The Butler (2013)
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18. Gordon Parks
Director | The Learning Tree
The pre-eminent American photojournalist of sub-Saharan descent. An acclaimed photographer for Life magazine from the late 40s through late 60s, he turned to directing films, his second of which, the blaxploitation movie Shaft (1971), achieved success at the box office. In 1989 his first film ...
Top Box Office Film: Shaft (1971)
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19. Kevin Hooks
Actor | Innerspace
Kevin Hooks was born on September 19, 1958 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Innerspace (1987), Last Resort (2012) and Passenger 57 (1992). He is married to Cheryl. They have two children. He was previously married to Regina Hooks.
Top Box Office Film: Passenger 57 (1992)
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20. Ryan Coogler
Director | Black Panther
Ryan Kyle Coogler is an African-American filmmaker and producer who is from Oakland, California. He is known for directing the Black Panther film series, Creed, a Rocky spin-off and Fruitvale Station. He frequently casts Michael B. Jordan in his works. He produced the Creed sequels, Judas and the ...
Top Box Office Film: Black Panther (2018)
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21. Rick Famuyiwa
Producer | Dope
Rick Famuyiwa was born on June 18, 1973 in the USA. He is a producer and director, known for Dope (2015), The Mandalorian (2019) and The Chi (2018). He has been married to Gienita Mosley since 1999.
Top Box Office Film: The Wood (1999)
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22. Ernest R. Dickerson
Director | Juice
Ernest Roscoe Dickerson A.S.C., aka. Ernest R. Dickerson, is an American film director and cinematographer. As a cinematographer, he is known for his frequent collaborations with Spike Lee. As a director, he is known for films such as Juice (1992), Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995), Bones (...
Top Box Office Film: Bulletproof (1996)
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23. Charles Stone III
Director | Drumline
Charles Stone III was born in 1966. He is known for Drumline (2002), Paid in Full (2002) and Mr. 3000 (2004).
Top Box Office Film: Drumline (2002)
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24. Jordan Peele
Writer | Nope
Jordan Peele is an Oscar- and Emmy-winning director, writer, actor, producer, and founder of Monkeypaw Productions. Peele's first feature film, "Get Out," was a critically acclaimed blockbuster, recognized with four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. The film would earn Peele the ...
Top Box Office Film: Get Out (2017)
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Answer Option Added 28 March 2017
25. Peter Ramsey
Director | Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Peter Ramsey is the director of Dreamworks Animation's 2012 feature film "Rise Of The Guardians". He also directed the Halloween TV special, "Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space" as well as serving as a story artist on several of Dreamworks Animation's feature films. Prior to ...
Top Box Office Film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
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26. Gina Prince-Bythewood
Writer | Love & Basketball
Gina Prince-Bythewood (Writer/Producer/Director) studied at UCLA Film School, where she received the Gene Reynolds Scholarship for Directing and the Ray Stark Memorial Scholarship for Outstanding Undergraduate. She was a member of UCLA's track and field team, qualifying for the Pac-10 Championships...
Top Box Office Film: The Secret Life of Bees (2008)
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27. Chris Rock
Actor | Top Five
Christopher Julius Rock was born in Andrews, South Carolina and raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York. He is the son of Rosalie (Tingman), a teacher and social worker for the mentally handicapped, and Julius Rock, a truck driver and newspaper deliveryman, whose own father was a preacher.
...
Top Box Office Film: Head of State (2003)
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28. Melvin Van Peebles
Actor | The Shining
Melvin Van Peebles was born on August 21, 1932 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Shining (1997), Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971) and Don't Play Us Cheap (1972). He was married to Maria Marx. He died on September 21, 2021 in Manhattan, New York City, New ...
Top Box Office Film: Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971)
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29. Denzel Washington
Actor | Fences
Denzel Hayes Washington, Jr. was born on December 28, 1954 in Mount Vernon, New York. He is the middle of three children of a beautician mother, Lennis, from Georgia, and a Pentecostal minister father, Denzel Washington, Sr., from Virginia. After graduating from high school, Denzel enrolled at ...
Top Box Office Film: Fences (2016)
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30. Steve McQueen
Director | 12 Years a Slave
Steve McQueen was born on October 9, 1969 in London, England, UK. He is a director and producer, known for 12 Years a Slave (2013), Shame (2011) and Hunger (2008). He is married to Bianca Stigter. They have two children.
Top Box Office Film: 12 Years a Slave (2013)
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31. Paris Barclay
Producer | NYPD Blue
A preeminent force in television entertainment, Paris Barclay has directed nearly 200 episodes of television and was active as a Director/Producer for series including: Station 19, Pitch, Sons of Anarchy, In Treatment, Cold Case, City of Angels and NYPD Blue. He also has directed episodes of a wide...
32. Ava DuVernay
Writer | Queen Sugar
A director, producer, writer, marketer and film distributor, Ava DuVernay made her feature film debut with the documentary This is the Life (2008), a history on hip hop movement that flourished in Los Angeles in the 1990's. This was followed by series of television music documentaries which ...
Top Box Office Film: A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
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Answer Option Added 23 July 2017
33. Reginald Hudlin
Producer | Marshall
Reginald Hudlin was born on December 15, 1961 in Centerville, Illinois, USA. He is a producer and director, known for Marshall (2017), House Party (1990) and Django Unchained (2012). He has been married to Chrisette Suter since November 30, 2002. They have two children.
Top Box Office Film: Boomerang (1992)
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Answer Option Added 19 February 2018
34. George C. Wolfe
Director | Rustin
George Wolfe was raised in the state capital of Kentucky, Frankfort. As a member of the Frankfort High School Senior class of 1972, he was one of the leading lights of the drama club and a writer for the literary magazine. George left Frankfort in 1972, but returned many years later as a favored ...
Top Box Office Film: Nights in Rodanthe (2008)
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35. Robert Townsend
Producer | Hollywood Shuffle
Robert Townsend transcends any medium he touches whether he's performing stand up, acting, writing, directing, producing, or running a television network. A Chicago native, Townsend is often referred to as one of the "Godfathers" of the Independent Film World." With over 30 years in the business, ...
Top Box Office Film: Eddie Murphy: Raw (1987)
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