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

Top Grossing Composer at the Worldwide Box OfficeBETA


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

This list shows the highest grossing Composers based on the worldwide 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 111 films.
Top films contributed to this record: The Lion King ($1,646,106,779 in 2019), Top Gun: Maverick ($1,468,442,481 in 2022), The Dark Knight Rises ($1,082,228,107 in 2012), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest ($1,066,179,725 in 2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ($1,045,713,802 in 2011), The Dark Knight ($999,240,028 in 2008), The Lion King ($986,193,783 in 1994), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End ($960,996,492 in 2007), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($872,395,091 in 2016), Inception ($825,793,570 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 ($2,064,615,817 in 2015), Star Wars Ep. VIII: The Last Jedi ($1,331,635,141 in 2017), Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ($1,072,767,997 in 2019), Jurassic Park ($1,058,454,230 in 1993), Star Wars Ep. I: The Phantom Menace ($1,027,044,677 in 1999), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone ($963,656,743 in 2001), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ($874,954,228 in 2002), Star Wars Ep. III: Revenge of the Sith ($848,998,877 in 2005), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ($797,307,407 in 1982), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ($786,635,413 in 2008)

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  3
Michael Giacchino
Best known as a Composer based on credits in that role in 45 films.
Top films contributed to this record: Spider-Man: No Way Home ($1,907,836,254 in 2021), Jurassic World ($1,669,963,641 in 2015), Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom ($1,308,323,302 in 2018), Incredibles 2 ($1,242,805,359 in 2018), Spider-Man: Far From Home ($1,132,107,522 in 2019), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ($1,055,083,596 in 2016), Zootopia ($1,002,462,578 in 2016), Spider-Man: Homecoming ($878,271,291 in 2017), Inside Out ($850,566,343 in 2015), Coco ($796,514,370 in 2017)

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Complete List

Rank Name Worldwide
Box Office
Movies Average
1 Hans Zimmer $32,812,100,188 111 $295,604,506
2 John Williams $25,908,570,292 80 $323,857,129
3 Michael Giacchino $21,865,492,451 45 $485,899,832
4 James Newton Howard $19,325,617,414 123 $157,118,841
5 Alan Silvestri $18,853,853,445 91 $207,185,203
6 Danny Elfman $17,984,801,935 97 $185,410,329
7 Brian Tyler $14,861,079,410 62 $239,694,829
8 John Powell $14,468,441,738 54 $267,934,106
9 James Horner $13,987,800,245 101 $138,493,072
10 Christophe Beck $12,026,204,440 75 $160,349,393
11 Henry Jackman $10,849,842,539 35 $309,995,501
12 Howard Shore $10,664,866,838 68 $156,836,277
13 John Debney $10,434,003,151 97 $107,567,043
14 Harry Gregson-Williams $10,195,018,708 54 $188,796,643
15 Thomas Newman $10,176,638,546 84 $121,150,459
16 Alexandre Desplat $9,049,623,498 58 $156,027,991
17 Heitor Pereira $7,789,515,991 30 $259,650,533
18 Marco Beltrami $7,453,506,798 68 $109,610,394
19 Lorne Balfe $6,998,898,176 38 $184,181,531
20 Steve Jablonsky $6,995,724,143 29 $241,231,867
21 Randy Newman $6,965,337,694 24 $290,222,404
22 Mark Mothersbaugh $6,732,112,685 72 $93,501,565
23 Jerry Goldsmith $6,467,079,336 107 $60,439,994
24 Rupert Gregson-Williams $6,211,466,868 30 $207,048,896
25 Tyler Bates $6,117,266,438 45 $135,939,254
26 Carter Burwell $6,007,036,642 88 $68,261,780
27 Alan Menken $5,515,490,089 13 $424,268,468
28 Ludwig Göransson $5,435,219,719 17 $319,718,807
29 David Newman $5,310,444,018 76 $69,874,263
30 John Ottman $5,280,732,441 32 $165,022,889
31 Patrick Doyle $5,111,450,705 47 $108,754,270
32 David Arnold $4,985,127,136 24 $207,713,631
33 Theodore Shapiro $4,799,211,631 60 $79,986,861
34 Trevor Rabin $4,648,289,764 39 $119,186,917
35 Tom Holkenborg $4,610,470,043 23 $200,455,219
36 Mark Mancina $3,857,866,040 28 $137,780,930
37 Michael Kamen $3,850,481,823 53 $72,650,600
38 Christopher Young $3,751,042,155 70 $53,586,317
39 Ramin Djawadi $3,608,549,168 22 $164,024,962
40 Mark Isham $3,597,524,175 98 $36,709,430
41 Christopher Lennertz $3,422,665,266 35 $97,790,436
42 Benjamin Wallfisch $3,189,056,691 24 $132,877,362
43 Graeme Revell $3,150,496,354 73 $43,157,484
44 Aaron Zigman $3,113,964,733 48 $64,874,265
45 Mychael Danna $3,038,222,916 50 $60,764,458
46 Harold Faltermeyer $2,698,343,574 13 $207,564,890
47 Craig Armstrong $2,684,024,378 28 $95,858,014
48 Simon Franglen $2,531,437,786 3 $843,812,595
49 Daniel Pemberton $2,505,175,717 19 $131,851,354
50 Dario Marianelli $2,385,826,406 28 $85,208,086
51 Harald Kloser $2,358,061,579 7 $336,865,940
52 Rolfe Kent $2,357,897,799 42 $56,140,424
53 Klaus Badelt $2,168,773,384 30 $72,292,446
54 Joseph Bishara $2,144,967,146 17 $126,174,538
55 Steven Price $2,128,032,775 12 $177,336,065
56 Michael Andrews $2,054,679,908 32 $64,208,747
57 Teddy Castellucci $2,037,221,520 19 $107,222,185
58 George S. Clinton $1,938,683,009 45 $43,081,845
59 Randy Edelman $1,930,144,166 16 $120,634,010
60 Nicholas Hooper $1,929,343,570 5 $385,868,714
61 Marc Shaiman $1,855,851,859 16 $115,990,741
62 George Fenton $1,854,464,372 60 $30,907,740
63 Geoff Zanelli $1,849,300,175 21 $88,061,913
64 Andrew Lockington $1,702,027,334 14 $121,573,381
65 Lalo Schifrin $1,674,091,863 40 $41,852,297
66 Joby Talbot $1,670,635,304 5 $334,127,061
67 Don Davis $1,596,867,730 4 $399,216,933
68 Joseph Trapanese $1,581,205,338 18 $87,844,741
69 Matthew Margeson $1,545,219,108 11 $140,474,464
70 Lady Gaga $1,468,442,481 1 $1,468,442,481
71 Basil Poledouris $1,449,495,822 44 $32,943,087
72 Thomas Wander $1,418,052,038 5 $283,610,408
73 John Paesano $1,417,345,764 12 $118,112,147
74 Elliot Goldenthal $1,410,837,065 10 $141,083,707
75 Marc Streitenfeld $1,373,136,095 11 $124,830,554
76 David Holmes $1,347,357,983 21 $64,159,904
77 Pinar Toprak $1,331,374,084 3 $443,791,361
78 Atticus Ross $1,298,948,279 21 $61,854,680
79 Elmer Bernstein $1,282,606,458 18 $71,255,914
80 Lyle Workman $1,282,065,403 12 $106,838,784
81 John Murphy $1,258,461,433 8 $157,307,679
82 Rachel Portman $1,202,427,448 24 $50,101,144
83 Dominic Lewis $1,198,951,097 11 $108,995,554
84 Hildur Guðnadóttir $1,192,951,548 7 $170,421,650
85 Jeff Danna $1,171,619,329 10 $117,161,933
86 Eric Serra $1,132,805,639 8 $141,600,705
87 Ennio Morricone $1,126,126,648 29 $38,831,953
88 Jon Brion $1,103,634,478 15 $73,575,632
89 David Buckley $1,100,960,468 15 $73,397,365
90 Charlie Clouser $1,075,540,307 12 $89,628,359
91 Edward Shearmur $1,056,614,573 15 $70,440,972
92 Trent Reznor $1,032,693,640 11 $93,881,240
93 Joel J. Richard $1,018,490,575 4 $254,622,644
94 Nathaniel Mechaly $1,016,290,755 7 $145,184,394
95 Brad Fiedel $1,011,350,993 6 $168,558,499
96 Clint Mansell $1,008,818,521 26 $38,800,712
97 Gabriel Yared $995,445,427 15 $66,363,028
98 Bear McCreary $988,028,713 20 $49,401,436
99 Eric Clapton $954,511,350 5 $190,902,270
100 Robert Rodriguez $953,559,090 9 $105,951,010

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