The question is Spielberg vs Cameron ….who is the best? Steven Spielberg and James Cameron are two of the most successful directors of all time. So I figured it would be fun to compare these two legendary directors.
Combined they have directed 38 movies. Those movies have grossed over $12 billion in adjusted box office in North America and over $25 billion in Worldwide adjusted box office grosses. Their movies have earned 163 Oscar® nominations and 52 Oscar® wins. Those wins include a Best Picture Oscar® for Schindler’s List and Titanic. Spielberg has two Best Director Oscars® for Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan while Cameron won the Best Director Oscar® for Titanic
The following Spielberg vs Cameron table looks at all of their movies. The tables ranks Spielberg and Cameron movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information.
This Spielberg vs Cameron Table Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort by who directed the movie
- Sort Spielberg or Cameron movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Spielberg or Cameron movies by adjusted worldwide box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Spielberg or Cameron movies by how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Spielberg or Cameron movie received.
- Sort Spielberg or Cameron movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
| CreditRank | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Review % | Oscar Nom / Win | S | UMR Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CreditRank | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Actual B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | B.O. Rank by Year | Review % | Oscar Nom / Win | S | UMR Score |
| 2 | Schindler's List (1993) AA Best Picture Win AA Best Director Win |
Directed by Steven Spielberg | 96.10 | 290.1 | 970.1 | 9 | 94 | 12 / 07 | 100.0 | |
| 2 | Titanic (1997) AA Best Picture Win AA Best Director Win |
Directed by James Cameron | 621.80 | 1,693.3 | 5,523.5 | 1 | 78 | 14 / 11 | 99.8 | |
| 1 | Saving Private Ryan (1998) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Director Win |
Directed by Steven Spielberg | 214.50 | 571.8 | 1,278.9 | 1 | 93 | 11 / 05 | 99.8 | |
| 3 | Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Director Nom |
Directed by Steven Spielberg | 246.20 | 1,106.8 | 1,744.3 | 1 | 92 | 08 / 04 | 99.7 | |
| 4 | Jaws (1975) AA Best Picture Nom |
Directed by Steven Spielberg | 262.50 | 1,600.6 | 2,885.1 | 1 | 93 | 04 / 03 | 99.7 | |
| 5 | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Director Nom |
Directed by Steven Spielberg | 416.70 | 1,771.7 | 3,293.0 | 1 | 87 | 09 / 04 | 99.7 | |
| 6 | Lincoln (2012) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Director Nom |
Directed by Steven Spielberg | 182.20 | 286.1 | 432.3 | 13 | 89 | 12 / 02 | 99.6 | |
| 7 | Avatar (2009) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Director Nom |
Directed by James Cameron | 748.80 | 1,247.9 | 4,627.0 | 1 | 85 | 09 / 03 | 99.6 | |
| 10 | Aliens (1986) | Directed by James Cameron | 141.00 | 475.0 | 475.0 | 3 | 94 | 07 / 02 | 99.6 | |
| 8 | The Color Purple (1985) AA Best Picture Nom |
Directed by Steven Spielberg | 94.20 | 331.6 | 500.6 | 4 | 87 | 11 / 00 | 99.5 | |
| 11 | Terminator 2 (1991) | Directed by James Cameron | 204.80 | 608.2 | 1,543.5 | 2 | 89 | 06 / 04 | 99.4 | |
| 12 | Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) AA Best Director Nom |
Directed by Steven Spielberg | 124.40 | 697.3 | 1,659.7 | 3 | 91 | 08 / 01 | 99.4 | |
| 17 | The Terminator (1984) | Directed by James Cameron | 53.10 | 197.6 | 346.4 | 13 | 91 | 00 / 00 | 98.8 | |
| 13 | Minority Report (2002) | Directed by Steven Spielberg | 132.10 | 284.6 | 772.4 | 17 | 88 | 01 / 00 | 98.6 | |
| 14 | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) | Directed by Steven Spielberg | 196.20 | 617.7 | 1,489.8 | 2 | 84 | 03 / 01 | 98.5 | |
| 16 | Jurassic Park (1993) | Directed by Steven Spielberg | 381.10 | 1,150.6 | 3,042.8 | 1 | 81 | 03 / 03 | 98.4 | |
| 15 | Catch Me if You Can (2002) | Directed by Steven Spielberg | 164.60 | 354.8 | 758.9 | 11 | 86 | 02 / 00 | 98.4 | |
| 17 | Avatar:The Way Of Water (2022) AA Best Picture Nom |
Directed by James Cameron | 684.10 | 763.3 | 2,588.8 | 2 | 72 | 04 / 01 | 97.8 | |
| 18 | Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) | Directed by Steven Spielberg | 179.90 | 669.2 | 1,239.2 | 3 | 76 | 02 / 01 | 96.9 | |
| 19 | War of the Worlds (2005) | Directed by Steven Spielberg | 234.30 | 457.6 | 1,155.8 | 4 | 73 | 03 / 00 | 96.3 | |
| 22 | Ready Player One (2018) | Directed by Steven Spielberg | 135.80 | 185.3 | 791.1 | 24 | 78 | 01 / 00 | 95.7 | |
| 23 | The Abyss (1989) | Directed by James Cameron | 54.20 | 170.7 | 282.6 | 24 | 78 | 04 / 01 | 95.2 | |
| 21 | True Lies (1994) | Directed by James Cameron | 146.30 | 448.2 | 1,160.8 | 3 | 71 | 01 / 00 | 95.1 | |
| 23 | Bridge of Spies (2015) AA Best Picture Nom |
Directed by Steven Spielberg | 72.30 | 107.2 | 245.4 | 39 | 88 | 06 / 01 | 94.8 | |
| 25 | Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) | Directed by Steven Spielberg | 317.10 | 552.1 | 1,369.5 | 3 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 94.2 | |
| 28 | A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) | Directed by Steven Spielberg | 78.60 | 173.9 | 522.0 | 28 | 72 | 02 / 00 | 93.3 | |
| 29 | War Horse (2011) AA Best Picture Nom |
Directed by Steven Spielberg | 79.90 | 125.9 | 279.9 | 41 | 74 | 06 / 00 | 91.6 | |
| 27 | The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) | Directed by Steven Spielberg | 229.10 | 623.9 | 1,684.7 | 3 | 59 | 01 / 00 | 91.2 | |
| 30 | The Post (2017) AA Best Picture Nom |
Directed by Steven Spielberg | 81.90 | 114.1 | 243.2 | 39 | 78 | 02 / 00 | 90.7 | |
| 31 | Munich (2005) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Director Nom |
Directed by Steven Spielberg | 47.40 | 92.6 | 254.6 | 62 | 80 | 05 / 00 | 89.8 | |
| 30 | Hook (1991) | Directed by Steven Spielberg | 119.70 | 355.3 | 893.3 | 6 | 49 | 05 / 00 | 88.6 | |
| 32 | West Side Story (2021) AA Best Picture Nom |
Directed by Steven Spielberg | 38.50 | 44.5 | 85.7 | 34 | 86 | 07 / 01 | 88.4 | |
| 34 | The Adventures of Tintin (2011) | Directed by Steven Spielberg | 77.60 | 122.3 | 589.5 | 44 | 76 | 01 / 00 | 88.2 | |
| 35 | Amistad (1997) | Directed by Steven Spielberg | 44.20 | 120.5 | 177.9 | 48 | 73 | 04 / 00 | 87.8 | |
| 36 | The Terminal (2004) | Directed by Steven Spielberg | 77.90 | 156.7 | 441.7 | 35 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 87.5 | |
| 35 | The Fabelmans (2022) AA Best Picture Nom |
Directed by Steven Spielberg | 17.30 | 19.4 | 46.5 | 57 | 87 | 07 / 00 | 85.0 | |
| 37 | Empire of the Sun (1987) | Directed by Steven Spielberg | 22.20 | 71.1 | 211.8 | 52 | 76 | 06 / 00 | 83.2 | |
| 38 | Always (1989) | Directed by Steven Spielberg | 43.90 | 138.1 | 233.4 | 29 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 83.2 | |
| 41 | Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) | Directed by Steven Spielberg | 29.50 | 116.9 | 168.5 | 24 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 80.0 | |
| 40 | The BFG (2016) | Directed by Steven Spielberg | 55.50 | 80.2 | 265.0 | 60 | 71 | 00 / 00 | 79.9 | |
| 43 | 1941 (1979) | Directed by Steven Spielberg | 31.80 | 158.1 | 460.4 | 27 | 43 | 03 / 00 | 78.9 | |
| 39 | The Sugarland Express (1974) | Directed by Steven Spielberg | 7.50 | 50.1 | 50.1 | 54 | 78 | 00 / 00 | 78.3 | |
| 42 | Ghosts of the Abyss (IMAX) (2003) | Directed by James Cameron | 17.00 | 35.3 | 59.5 | 113 | 74 | 00 / 00 | 71.6 | |
| 44 | Aliens of the Deep (IMAX) (2005) | Directed by James Cameron | 9.00 | 17.5 | 24.9 | 154 | 74 | 00 / 00 | 65.3 | |
| 45 | Firelight (1964) | Robert Robyn & Beth Weber |
0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 167 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 27.2 | |
| 46 | Piranaha II: The Spawning (1981) | Directed by James Cameron | 0.40 | 1.7 | 6.2 | 161 | 21 | 00 / 00 | 0.1 |
Possibly Interesting Stats From Our Spielberg vs Cameron Question
1. Movies directed: Steven Spielberg has directed 28 movies. James Cameron has directed 10 movies. Edge goes to Speilberg.
2. Box Office Comparison: James Cameron movies average $304.03 million in adjusted domestic box office gross and $943.60 million in adjusted worldwide box office. Steve Spielberg movies average $290.28 million in adjusted domestic box office gross and $545.07 million in adjusted worldwide box office. Edge goes to Cameron.
3. Critics/Audience Rating: An average Steven Spielberg has a 77.00% rating…while James Cameron’s movies average 76.42% rating according to critics and audiences. Slight edge to Spielberg.
4. Oscar® nominations in any category: Steven Spielberg movies have picked up 118 Oscar® nominations or 4.06 per movie. James Cameron movies have picked up 41 Oscar® nominations or 4.10 per movie. Slight edge to Cameron.
5. Oscar® wins in any category: James Cameron movies have picked up 21 Oscar® wins or 2.10 per movie. Steven Spielberg movies have picked up 31 Oscar® nominations or 1.10 per movie. Edge to Cameron.
6. Best Picture Oscar® nominations: Steven Spielberg has directed 9 movies that received a Best Picture nomination or 31.03% of his movies. James Cameron has directed 2 movies that received a Best Picture nomination or 20.00% of his movies. Edge to Spielberg.
7. Best Director Oscar® nominations: Steven Spielberg has received 7 Best Director nominations….winning twice. James Cameron has received 2 Best Director nominations….winning once. Edge to Spielberg.
8. Average Cogerson Movie Score: A Steven Spielberg movie has a average Cogerson Movie Score of 63.30. A James Cameron movie has a average Cogerson Movie Score of 58.95. Edge to Spielberg.
So those are the stats…who do you think is the best Spielberg or Cameron? As for me? Gotta go with Spielberg.
If you do a comment….please ignore the email address and website section. Plus due to SPAM issues I had to block your first comment. But once one of your comments are approved…you comment will show up right away.
Well, I suppose since your latest movie page dealt with Steven’s potential successors – none of whom measured up – I suppose I should stop by here.
Well. I am not sure how to break this to you. I have never seen a single James Cameron film. I looked over the list. Not one. Really.
And looking over the titles to see which ones I could see me renting, and well. None of them interest me. Titanic I boycotted because everyone in school loved the film while my friends wanted to be unique. Plus, we hated the song.
Yet that is the only theme/genre that might have interested me. Aliens? No. Science Fiction? No. Avatar? I don’t even know the point of that. Arnold action movies? No. (I have seen some of his- Arnold’s – comedies, though.) Weird titles I hadn’t heard of? No.
Yes, I know he is Canadian. There are lots of others originally from Canada. Cameron is *not* my cup of tea.
Steven S.:
I am not a fan of blockbusters, and S.S. has made a career out of them. As such, it is pointless going over top ten, or percentage of all his films, or favourites. But unlike Cameron, I’ve seen some of his films and am interested in some I’ve not seen. So…..
I am most familiar with his TV movie Duel starring Bruce Dern and for which no one warned me about the huge spiders that would appear. Despite the spiders, it is one of Dad’s favourite films of all times. And S.S. directed the priemiere episode of Columbo starring Jack Cassidy (David’s father) as the killer. Cassidy played the killer three times. Yeah, Columbo.
Oh, yes. This is Steven’s movie hub, not television’s hub….
Movies I have seen, in movie score order:
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Catch Me if You Can …hmmm. a spy film with co-starring roles to Martin Sheen and Christopher Walken…hmmm.
Hook
Amistad..oh, Oscar history lesson
1941
The Twilight Zone: The movie…well, it is the twilight zone
Hmmm….regarding some of the famous S.S. titles I haven’t seen:
I’ve explained how I’ve managed to not see E.T. yet.
There are several films that I haven’t seen that I have no interest in seeing…
war films…dinosaur attack films…Cruise films post-Mission Impossible…remakes of classic films which should have been left alone…and disturbing films with much too admire but difficult to watch (Schindler’s list) which I’ll not see ever.
I would like to see for sure, alphabetically:
Always
Empire of the sun
I may eventually see on TV, alphabetically, since they are admirable films though not my genre:
Close encounters on the Third Kind
The Color Purple – I read this in grade 12 and likely would avoid otherwise as it is also very difficult material.
Hey Flora…better late than never…lol. I am amazed that you have been able to avoid all of James Cameron’s movies. Some of his movies have been game changing events…for The Abyss he created a technology that allowed people to be heard under water…Avatar changed how 3-D effects done the proper way….Terminator 2 ushered in many computer special effects that had never been seen….I think it would ok to support a fellow Canuck and watch Titanic….just mute the screen when that song comes on…lol.
As for Steven Spielberg…of the ones you have not seen….I would recommend Empire of the Sun(Christian Bale is awesome in the lead role), Close Encounters(Dreyfuss is outstanding), and E.T.(I am sure your friend has seen it by now….lol). I have not seen The Color Purple or Amistad but other than those two movies I think I have seen all the rest of his movies. I would say you are not missing much by not seeing A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Always or War of the Worlds. Thanks for stopping by and checking out this page
James camron is better and will have more oscars soon so camron is better
Hey The Dude….the only thing going against Cameron is the fact that it takes so long for him to make a movie…I hear he is moving to New Zealand to work on Avatar 2 and Avatar 3….which will be in theaters by 2020. Thanks for the comment. – See more at: http://cogersonmoviescore.com/spielberg-vs-cameron-movies-best-to-worst.html#sthash.8R4anhAD.dpuf
STEVAN AND CAMAROON, both of them work mirracles
Hey Arya vyas….I agree with you 100%…..and I see I need to add War Horse to this page…thanks for the comment. – See more at: http://cogersonmoviescore.com/spielberg-vs-cameron-movies-best-to-worst.html#sthash.8R4anhAD.dpuf
The best movies of Cameron is Avatar and Terminator 2 , the best movies of Spielberg is War of the Worlds .
James Cameron is Best , Avatar is beautiful but Steven Spielberg is very good , I love the movie War of the Worlds ..
Hey Steven Cameron…nice name…lol. Thanks for the votes….I was somewhat disappointed in War of the Worlds…the first half of the movie was awesome…the final quarter was very disappointing….thanks for stopping by and for the comments.
close call but spielberg for jurassic park
Thanks for checking out my movie page gh, I agree that it is Spielberg in a close call….the only thing holding Cameron back is his lack of productivity..