Top Ten Black Directors In 2018 – A Historic, Great Year At The Box Office

2018 has been a great year for Black cinema at the box office. With the domestic box office hitting an all-time high of $11.383 billion in 2018 with attendance up 4% from 2017, the top ten feature films by Black directors accounted for a combined $1.363 billion.

Led by Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther, which grossed $700M domestically, becoming the #3 all-time domestic-grossing film.

Other top-grossing films from Black directors include Steven Caple Jr.’s Creed II, which has brought in $109.6M to date and will shortly surpassed its Ryan Coogler-directed predecessor Creed’s domestic take of $109.7M.

Next up was Antoine Fuqua’s Equalizer 2, which starred Denzel Washington and grossed $102M domestically. It’s the fourth time these two have worked together and the first time Washington ever reprised a role.

For Ava DuVernay, she became the first Black woman to not only direct a $100M feature with A Wrinkle In Time, but also have the film gross $100M domestically.

Rounding out the top 5 of Black directors was Malcolm D. Lee’s Night School. Starring Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish, in her first leading role since breaking out in 2017’s Girls Trip, the film brought in $77M from a budget of $29M.

Rising up the charts before the year is over is Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, which was co-directed by Peter Ramsey. As of now, it’s at $73.7M domestically.

Eventually, it will crack $100M, but will it do so before the end of 2018 to make a new record?

Once it hits that plateau, it will be his second $100M grossing film following 2012’s Rise of the Guardians ($103M).

2018 Top 10 Grossing Feature Films (Domestically) By Black Directors

“Black Panther,” directed by Ryan Coogler – $700M
“Creed II,” directed by Steven Caple Jr. – $109.6M
“The Equalizer 2,” directed by Antoine Fuqua – $102M
“A Wrinkle in Time,” directed by Ava DuVernay – $100M
“Night School,” directed by Malcolm D. Lee – $77M
“Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse,” co-dir by Peter Ramsey – $73M
“The First Purge,” directed by Gerard McMurray $69M
“BlacKkKlansman,” directed by Spike Lee – $48M
“Acrimony,” directed by Tyler Perry – $43M
“Uncle Drew,” directed by Charles Stone III – $42M