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.
Hi its been little more than 7 years since i posted here. Just wanted to say something about Spielberg vs Cameron topic. Hope everybody understand i am not so good in english. In my older posts i wrote that its not even a contest. And imo its even more far away now. Since i last wrote 2015 spielberg has directed movies like the post, bridge of spies, and the great west side story. His direction in west side story was phenomenal. IMO he should have got the Oscar last year. Now it seems he would get his 3 oscar with the fabelmans which i havent seen yet. Cameron had only done 1 movie since then avatar the way of water which was really amazing to look at. But besides from all the technical greatness that movie had the story was pretty weak and some of the dialogue was really bad. It seems to me that Cameron wait and wait and wait for the cgi to get better so he can make the most beautiful movie ever. He doesnt concentrate so much on the story the characters which is very important i think. It seems important to him that his movies should be number 1 at the boxoffice. Which is maybe why the first avatar has had more rereleases. Really looking forward to the movie Bullit which i think can be very good. Nice topic this is of course this is only my opinions Happy new year everybody All the Best.
Hey Movie Fan….well…welcome back after 7 years. Great points on Spielberg and Cameron. I think Spielberg’s The Fabelmans is about to get a bunch of Oscar nominations…..which is what West Side Story did as well. As for Cameron….not thinking he is ever going to start cranking out a ton of movies. I think it is a good chance that Avatar 3 might be his last movie EVER. Good feedback, I hope you make it back to UMR before 2030 gets here. Good stuff!
Spielberg’s page has 33 movies, but he has “28” (actually 31) movies here? Is this a mistake? Also, I’d like to know Cameron and Spielberg domestic and worldwide adjusted grosses.
Hey BascoBal…..it was a mistake…or more of a case of “laziness”….our Spielberg page is updated every time he has a new directed movie….the Spielberg vs Cameron page had the three missing Spielberg movies….that number is down to 1 now….as I added in 2 of the 3 missing movies. I will figure which one I missed later this week…when I have a little more time to research that.
As for adjusted worldwide grosses our….Spielberg page lists them….https://www.ultimatemovierankings.com/steven-spielberg-movies/ as for Cameron…..the attached trailer pages have the adjusted worldwide grosses…..just click the link. Hope that helps. Thanks for the visit.
Hey BascoBal. Here is the worldwide grosses for Steven Cameron and James Spielberg movies.
MovieYear WBOI_Mill
Titanic (1997) $3963.6
Avatar (2009) $3320.4
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) $2363.0
Jurassic Park (1993) $2183.5
Jaws (1975) $2070.3
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) $1251.7
Lost World: Jurassic Park, The (1997) $1209.0
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) $1191.0
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) $1107.6
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) $1069.1
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) $982.7
Saving Private Ryan (1998) $917.7
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) $889.3
True Lies (1994) $833.0
War of the Worlds (2005) $829.4
Schindler’s List (1993) $696.2
Hook (1991) $641.0
Ready Player One (2018) $579.7
Minority Report (2002) $554.2
Catch Me if You Can (2002) $544.6
Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, The (2011) $423.0
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) $374.6
Color Purple, The (1985) $359.2
Aliens (1986) $340.8
1941 (1979) $330.4
Terminal, The (2004) $316.9
Lincoln (2012) $310.2
Terminator, The (1984) $248.6
Abyss, The (1989) $202.8
War Horse (2011) $200.9
BFG, The (2016) $190.1
Munich (2005) $182.7
Bridge of Spies (2015) $176.1
Post, The (2017) $174.5
Always (1989) $167.5
Empire of the Sun (1987) $152.0
Amistad (1997) $127.7
Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) $120.9
Sugarland Express, The (1974) $36.0
Ghosts of the Abyss (IMAX) (2003) $32.9
Aliens of the Deep (IMAX) (2005) $17.9
Piranaha II: The Spawning (1981) $4.5
Firelight (1964) $.1
Thank you!
Where is Ready Player One?
Good point Steve…Ready Player One was indeed missing from this page….BUT….it has now been fixed. Thanks for the headsup.
It will be in the right ranking order the next time we update the entire database. It has a spot waiting for it in the 24th spot.
beep of
Hey war….thanks for the suggestion.
You are welcome mate. First I must say that my english is not the best but i will try the best I can. I definately agree with you that Cameron would get bored with a movie like Schindlers List. I like this discussion because Spielberg and Cameron happens to be my favorite directors. This is what I think both directors have had amazing Careers. Spielberg has directed almost 30 movies while Cameron has directed 8 maybe 10 if you count his underwater movies like ghost of the abyss. Like i said before both are great and like everything else It all come down to different opinions and different tastes. You can like Cameron movies more and think they are more entertaining. I think the Terminator movies Aliens And one of my favorite movies Titanic are all more entertaining then many of Spielberg movies. But if you must say who is the best then no Cameron is not on the same level as Spielberg. Not to take anything away from Cameron but for me this is not even a contest as Spielberg win this easily. Spielberg is overall the better director he has so many different movies with a seriously deep in them. He can direct almost all genres drama action sfi fi history adventure you name it while Cameron is a master of Sci Fi and maybe underwater movies. Spielberg has had misses of course with lost world 1941 indy 4 was a little dissapointed to name a few. But when Spielberg is On top of his game then I think noone can top him. Like Jaws Schindlers List, Extra Terresrial, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Saving Private Ryan, are all incredibly movies. Cameron has not made alot of great movies to be considered better than Spielberg. The Terminator movies are great love them. Avatar abyss, and Titanic were very good but his masterpiece for me is Aliens that movie is near perfect. Cameron upcoming projects are avatar movies then who knows if he make more movies after them. While Spielberg has alot more going on and I strongly believe he will come back maybe with a blockbuster or with a third Oscar maybe with the movie Its What I Do or with Montezuma or with another movie who knows. I think both these legendary directors will be remembered forewer. But I think without a doubt that people will remember Spielberg more because of his not one or two but great movies he has done. For me he is one of the best directors of all time. Boy this was very long it was fun to express my opinion about this Thanks for reading. Best regards/Movie Fan.
I wrote wrong before when you write so much you miss words. What I meant was that Spielberg will be remembered more not only for one or two great movies he has done but for many. That will remain classics forever. Thanks for me.
Got it….you did awesome! Thanks for stopping by and talking movies.
Hey Movie Fan.
1. Your English is awesome….I am impressed.
2. Glad you liked this page. My son suggested it…the end result is filled with so many great movies….that it has turned into one of my pages.
3. I agree with you….both directors are awesome.
4. Terminator, T2 and Aliens are my favorite Cameron movies too…not too much some of my favorites of alltime
5. I also give Spielberg the edge…..if only for the amount of movies he has made.
6. Cameron is making Avatar 2, 3 and 4. I wonder when Avatar 4 will actually hit theaters…2030?
7. I think Spielberg might get another Oscar nomination for Bridge of Spies…plus like you, I think a 3rd Oscar is coming.
8. Spielberg not only has the movies he directed….but the also the ones he helped produce….and many of those are classics too. He is the Cecil B. DeMille of our times.
9. Thanks again for such a great comment.
Avatar 2 – 2017
3 – 2018
4 – 2019
Hey Rohan….If Cameron can keep to that schedule I will be impressed. He has never worked that fast before. I am betting Avatar 4 will be closer to 2030 than 2020…those years look scary….I think I am getting older…lol.