Box Office Star Records > International > Lifetime Specific Technical Role > Top International Composers

Top Grossing Composer at the International Box OfficeBETA


See also: Top Domestic Composers - Top International Art Directors - Top International Assistant Directors - Top International Assistant Editors - Top International Associate Producers - Top International Casting Directors - Top International Cinematographers - Top International Co-Producers - Top International Costume Designers - Top International Costume Supervisors - Top International Dialogue Editors - Top International Directors - Top International Editors - Top International Executive Producers - Top International Make-up and Hair Designers - Top International Music Editors - Top International Music Supervisors - Top International Producers - Top International Production Designers - Top International Re-recording Mixers - Top International Screenwriters - Top International Second Unit Directors - Top International Set Decorators - Top International Set Designers - Top International Sound Designers - Top International Sound Editors - Top International Sound Effects Editors - Top International Sound Mixers - Top International Story Creators - Top International Stunt Coordinators - Top International Supervising Sound Editors - Top International Unit Production Managers - Top International Visual Effects Supervisors - Top Worldwide Composers

This list shows the highest grossing Composers based on the international box office of the movies they worked on.

Since we are still actively researching technical roles, we consider this chart to be in beta mode. The table includes data for movies in The Numbers database. While we make every effort to collect all available data, there are inevitably omissions and errors. Please help us by sending corrections to corrections@the-numbers.com.

  1
Hans Zimmer photo
Hans Zimmer
Best known as a Composer based on credits in that role in 113 films.
Top films contributed to this record: The Lion King ($1,117,816,360 in 2019), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ($804,642,000 in 2011), Top Gun: Maverick ($735,268,289 in 2022), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End ($651,576,067 in 2007), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest ($642,863,913 in 2006), The Dark Knight Rises ($634,089,008 in 2012), The Lion King ($564,408,500 in 1994), The Da Vinci Code ($550,284,321 in 2006), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($544,000,000 in 2016), Inception ($533,210,699 in 2010)

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  2
John Williams photo
John Williams
Best known as a Composer based on credits in that role in 80 films.
Top films contributed to this record: Star Wars Ep. VII: The Force Awakens ($1,119,384,610 in 2015), Star Wars Ep. VIII: The Last Jedi ($702,399,689 in 2017), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone ($644,703,600 in 2001), Jurassic Park ($643,049,687 in 1993), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ($612,564,723 in 2002), Star Wars Ep. I: The Phantom Menace ($558,938,785 in 1999), Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ($554,749,272 in 2019), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ($533,380,905 in 2004), Star Wars Ep. III: Revenge of the Sith ($488,513,692 in 2005), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ($469,534,294 in 2008)

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  3
Michael Giacchino
Best known as a Composer based on credits in that role in 46 films.
Top films contributed to this record: Spider-Man: No Way Home ($1,106,395,051 in 2021), Jurassic World ($1,017,657,016 in 2015), Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom ($890,603,542 in 2018), Spider-Man: Far From Home ($740,936,182 in 2019), Zootopia ($684,216,755 in 2016), Incredibles 2 ($634,223,615 in 2018), Coco ($585,937,150 in 2017), Spider-Man: Homecoming ($544,271,773 in 2017), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ($521,543,605 in 2016), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes ($502,098,977 in 2014)

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Complete List

Rank Name International
Box Office
Movies Average
1 Hans Zimmer $20,751,368,299 113 $183,640,427
2 John Williams $13,957,940,367 80 $174,474,255
3 Michael Giacchino $13,159,994,573 46 $286,086,839
4 James Newton Howard $10,505,604,233 124 $84,722,615
5 Alan Silvestri $10,417,133,437 94 $110,820,568
6 Brian Tyler $9,856,804,396 63 $156,457,213
7 Danny Elfman $9,727,071,617 98 $99,255,833
8 John Powell $9,020,125,890 55 $164,002,289
9 James Horner $7,760,100,086 101 $76,832,674
10 Henry Jackman $6,979,294,615 38 $183,665,648
11 Christophe Beck $6,628,544,455 76 $87,217,690
12 Howard Shore $6,341,091,143 69 $91,899,872
13 Harry Gregson-Williams $6,081,504,331 54 $112,620,451
14 Alexandre Desplat $5,725,389,663 62 $92,344,995
15 Heitor Pereira $5,642,901,648 31 $182,029,085
16 Thomas Newman $5,462,782,098 88 $62,077,069
17 John Debney $5,003,975,997 101 $49,544,317
18 Lorne Balfe $4,768,607,462 44 $108,377,442
19 Steve Jablonsky $4,457,335,347 29 $153,701,219
20 Marco Beltrami $4,095,473,107 69 $59,354,683
21 Mark Mothersbaugh $3,942,533,381 73 $54,007,307
22 Randy Newman $3,610,504,855 24 $150,437,702
23 Tom Holkenborg $3,609,393,653 24 $150,391,402
24 Tyler Bates $3,526,754,245 47 $75,037,324
25 Rupert Gregson-Williams $3,469,423,322 32 $108,419,479
26 Alan Menken $3,230,801,387 13 $248,523,184
27 John Ottman $3,140,224,627 32 $98,132,020
28 Ludwig Göransson $3,139,506,564 18 $174,417,031
29 Patrick Doyle $3,131,756,362 47 $66,633,114
30 David Arnold $3,112,299,309 25 $124,491,972
31 Carter Burwell $2,981,503,822 89 $33,500,043
32 Mark Mancina $2,784,457,103 30 $92,815,237
33 Jerry Goldsmith $2,642,513,626 108 $24,467,719
34 Trevor Rabin $2,274,669,238 39 $58,324,852
35 Theodore Shapiro $2,251,959,270 62 $36,321,924
36 Ramin Djawadi $2,251,624,757 23 $97,896,729
37 Benjamin Wallfisch $2,248,702,540 30 $74,956,751
38 David Newman $1,906,658,552 76 $25,087,613
39 Dario Marianelli $1,900,226,772 32 $59,382,087
40 Christopher Young $1,820,701,781 70 $26,010,025
41 Michael Kamen $1,797,859,314 53 $33,921,874
42 Mychael Danna $1,724,770,860 51 $33,819,036
43 Simon Franglen $1,721,246,536 3 $573,748,845
44 Craig Armstrong $1,659,666,052 28 $59,273,788
45 Harald Kloser $1,658,241,210 7 $236,891,601
46 Christopher Lennertz $1,378,697,917 36 $38,297,164
47 Daniel Pemberton $1,362,930,971 23 $59,257,868
48 Mark Isham $1,323,025,657 99 $13,363,896
49 Joseph Bishara $1,311,687,615 17 $77,158,095
50 Aaron Zigman $1,304,974,368 48 $27,186,966
51 Nicholas Hooper $1,283,259,838 5 $256,651,968
52 Klaus Badelt $1,242,004,191 31 $40,064,651
53 Dan Romer $1,228,382,623 17 $72,257,801
54 Steven Price $1,218,118,285 14 $87,008,449
55 Geoff Zanelli $1,214,874,612 22 $55,221,573
56 Graeme Revell $1,178,569,506 73 $16,144,788
57 John Paesano $1,174,906,085 13 $90,377,391
58 Andrew Lockington $1,159,979,744 15 $77,331,983
59 Harold Faltermeyer $1,127,835,764 13 $86,756,597
60 Rob Simonsen $1,092,663,195 35 $31,218,948
61 Matthew Margeson $1,047,617,641 11 $95,237,967
62 Andrea Datzman $1,045,851,588 1 $1,045,851,588
63 Joby Talbot $1,018,271,670 5 $203,654,334
64 Thomas Wander $1,008,116,754 5 $201,623,351
65 Pharrell Williams $961,927,791 4 $240,481,948
66 Don Davis $954,030,934 4 $238,507,734
67 Hildur Guðnadóttir $943,475,520 8 $117,934,440
68 Randy Edelman $938,013,902 17 $55,177,288
69 Rolfe Kent $920,018,358 44 $20,909,508
70 Michael Andrews $883,135,824 32 $27,597,995
71 Dominic Lewis $876,321,373 13 $67,409,336
72 Eric Serra $850,171,745 9 $94,463,527
73 Marc Streitenfeld $849,843,188 11 $77,258,472
74 Joseph Trapanese $844,264,475 19 $44,434,972
75 Pinar Toprak $839,142,238 4 $209,785,560
76 David Holmes $834,249,756 22 $37,920,443
77 Steve Mazzaro $809,314,408 5 $161,862,882
78 Atticus Ross $789,430,889 23 $34,323,082
79 Wan Pin Chu $739,022,963 1 $739,022,963
80 Lady Gaga $735,268,289 1 $735,268,289
81 Alberto Iglesias $717,192,246 19 $37,746,960
82 George Fenton $714,697,404 61 $11,716,351
83 John Murphy $700,768,186 9 $77,863,132
84 Jeff Danna $699,471,166 10 $69,947,117
85 Kris Bowers $682,941,581 16 $42,683,849
86 Trent Reznor $672,518,010 13 $51,732,155
87 Elliot Goldenthal $657,926,967 10 $65,792,697
88 Ilan Eshkeri $648,955,488 19 $34,155,552
89 Marc Shaiman $642,945,022 17 $37,820,295
90 Joe Kraemer $631,116,615 4 $157,779,154
91 Roc Chen $612,719,479 3 $204,239,826
92 Joel J. Richard $609,411,258 5 $121,882,252
93 David Buckley $609,281,335 16 $38,080,083
94 Teddy Castellucci $607,513,048 19 $31,974,371
95 Lucas Vidal $607,493,130 10 $60,749,313
96 Opetaia Tavita Foa’i $598,755,825 1 $598,755,825
97 Nathaniel Mechaly $598,516,198 8 $74,814,525
98 Clint Mansell $596,625,087 26 $22,947,119
99 George S. Clinton $586,004,946 45 $13,022,332
100 Hong Han $581,641,120 1 $581,641,120

The International Market is defined as all territories excluding the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Guam.

This table is updated daily to reflect the latest studio reports.

Note: This chart is not adjusted for inflation.

Image attributions

Hans Zimmer: Richard Yaussi [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

John Williams: TashTish at en.wikipedia [GFDL or CC-BY-3.0], from Wikimedia Commons