Want to know the best Michael Douglas movies? How about the worst Michael Douglas movies? Curious about Michael Douglas’s box office grosses or which Michael Douglas movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Michael Douglas movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
When trying to figure which movie page to do next, I was getting numerous suggestions for one of the most famous father/son actors in Hollywood history, Kirk Douglas and Michael Douglas. So I decided to do both of them. You can check out the Kirk Douglas’ page at this link Kirk Douglas Movies. Before doing this page, I was aware that Michael Douglas’ big break was on the television show, The Streets of San Francisco (1972-1976).
Before writing this page I did not know that Michael Douglas (1944-) was nominated for a Golden Globe® as best newcomer in the 1969 movie Hail, Hero! It would be 15 years before he would become a movie star. In 1984, he starred in the box office smash, Romancing the Stone, co-starring Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito.
From 1984-2000, Douglas would become one of the biggest and most bankable movie stars acting in movies. He would appear in the box office hits like….Fatal Attraction (1987), War of the Roses (1989), Basic Instinct (1992), Disclosure (1994) and A Perfect Murder (1998)….and critically acclaimed movies like Wall Street (he won an Oscar® for his role), The American President, and Traffic (won Oscar® for Best Picture).
It was announced on August 16, 2010, that Douglas was suffering from throat cancer and underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment. After losing 32 pounds due to the treatment, Douglas went back to work and has been working steadily.
His IMDb page shows 59 acting credits from 1966-2017. This page will rank 42 Michael Douglas movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos and movies that were not released in theaters were not included in the rankings.
Michael Douglas Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
Year
Movie (Year)
Rating
S
Year Movie (Year) Rating S
2000
Traffic (2000)
AA Best Picture Nom
2019
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
1987
Fatal Attraction (1987)
AA Best Picture Nom
1979
The China Syndrome (1979)
1989
The War of the Roses (1989)
2015
Ant-Man (2015)
2018
Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
1984
Romancing the Stone (1984)
1994
Disclosure (1994)
1995
The American President (1995)
1992
Basic Instinct (1992)
1978
Coma (1978)
1985
The Jewel of the Nile (1985)
2023
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
1987
Wall Street (1987)
AA Best Actor Win
1997
The Game (1997)
1998
A Perfect Murder (1998)
1993
Falling Down (1993)
1989
Black Rain (1989)
2000
Wonder Boys (2000)
1996
The Ghost and the Darkness (1996)
2010
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)
2011
Haywire (2011)
2006
You, Me and Dupree (2006)
2013
Last Vegas (2013)
1980
It's My Turn (1980)
2001
Don't Say a Word (2001)
2009
Solitary Man (2009)
1983
The Star Chamber (1983)
2013
Behind The Candelabra (2013)
HBO Movie
2006
The Sentinel (2006)
2007
King of California (2007)
1971
Summertree (1971)
2009
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009)
1985
A Chorus Line (1985)
1979
Running (1979)
2017
Unlocked (2017)
1992
Shining Through (1992)
1972
Napoleon and Samantha (1972)
1970
Adam At Six A.M. (1970)
2003
The In-Laws (2003)
2001
One Night at McCool's (2001)
2003
It Runs in the Family (2003)
2014
And So It Goes (2014)
2014
Beyond The Reach (2014)
1969
Hail, Hero! (1969)
2009
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009)
Michael Douglas Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.
- Sort Michael Douglas movies by co-stars of his movies.
- Sort Michael Douglas movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Michael Douglas movies by adjusted worldwide box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Michael Douglas movies 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 Michael Douglas movie received.
- Sort Michael Douglas 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.
- Use the sort and search buttons to make this a very interactive table.
| 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 |
| 1 | Traffic (2000) AA Best Picture Nom |
Dennis Quaid & Catherine Zeta-Jones |
124.10 | 248.2 | 415.0 | 15 | 81 | 05 / 04 | 99.2 | |
| 3 | Avengers: Endgame (2019) | Robert Downey Jr. & Chris Evans |
858.40 | 1,010.2 | 3,290.8 | 1 | 89 | 01 / 00 | 98.8 | |
| 2 | Fatal Attraction (1987) AA Best Picture Nom |
Glenn Close | 154.60 | 426.4 | 877.1 | 2 | 74 | 06 / 00 | 98.3 | |
| 5 | The China Syndrome (1979) | Jack Lemmon & Jane Fonda |
51.70 | 222.1 | 222.1 | 15 | 77 | 04 / 00 | 97.5 | |
| 4 | The War of the Roses (1989) | Kathleen Turner & Danny DeVito |
86.90 | 235.9 | 435.0 | 13 | 79 | 00 / 00 | 97.3 | |
| 8 | Ant-Man (2015) | Michael Douglas | 180.20 | 230.4 | 664.0 | 14 | 77 | 00 / 00 | 96.8 | |
| 6 | Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) | Paul Rudd & Evangeline Lilly |
216.60 | 256.4 | 736.6 | 9 | 76 | 00 / 00 | 96.7 | |
| 6 | Romancing the Stone (1984) | Kathleen Turner & Danny DeVito |
76.60 | 245.7 | 374.0 | 8 | 75 | 01 / 00 | 96.3 | |
| 10 | Disclosure (1994) | Demi Moore | 83.00 | 219.3 | 565.5 | 14 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 93.1 | |
| 11 | The American President (1995) | Annette Bening & Michael J. Fox |
60.10 | 148.9 | 267.3 | 29 | 78 | 01 / 00 | 92.8 | |
| 9 | Basic Instinct (1992) | Sharon Stone | 117.70 | 305.8 | 916.8 | 9 | 59 | 02 / 00 | 92.7 | |
| 13 | Coma (1978) | Richard Widmark & Genevieve Bujold |
32.40 | 149.5 | 149.5 | 18 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 90.5 | |
| 12 | The Jewel of the Nile (1985) | Kathleen Turner & Danny DeVito |
76.00 | 230.7 | 293.9 | 7 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 89.9 | |
| 14 | Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) | Paul Rudd & Michelle Pfeiffer |
214.50 | 214.5 | 463.6 | 8 | 52 | 00 / 00 | 89.6 | |
| 14 | Wall Street (1987) AA Best Actor Win |
Charlie Sheen | 43.80 | 120.9 | 120.9 | 26 | 71 | 01 / 01 | 88.2 | |
| 15 | The Game (1997) | Sean Penn | 48.30 | 113.5 | 257.0 | 40 | 72 | 00 / 00 | 87.4 | |
| 17 | A Perfect Murder (1998) | Gwyneth Paltrow | 67.60 | 155.5 | 294.3 | 30 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 86.8 | |
| 16 | Falling Down (1993) | Robert Duvall | 40.90 | 106.5 | 106.5 | 36 | 71 | 00 / 00 | 86.4 | |
| 18 | Black Rain (1989) | Andy Garcia | 46.20 | 125.5 | 364.4 | 28 | 62 | 02 / 00 | 85.4 | |
| 19 | Wonder Boys (2000) | Robert Downey Jr. | 19.40 | 38.8 | 66.9 | 97 | 79 | 03 / 01 | 81.1 | |
| 20 | The Ghost and the Darkness (1996) | Val Kilmer | 38.60 | 94.2 | 183.0 | 38 | 59 | 01 / 01 | 78.8 | |
| 21 | Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010) | Shia LaBeouf | 52.50 | 71.7 | 184.1 | 65 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 73.1 | |
| 22 | Haywire (2011) | Ewan McGregor | 18.90 | 25.8 | 45.4 | 120 | 73 | 00 / 00 | 69.3 | |
| 24 | You, Me and Dupree (2006) | Owen Wilson & Matt Dillon |
75.60 | 123.9 | 213.7 | 31 | 43 | 00 / 00 | 69.0 | |
| 24 | Last Vegas (2013) | Robert DeNiro & Morgan Freeman |
63.90 | 84.7 | 178.2 | 56 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 68.0 | |
| 26 | It's My Turn (1980) | Jill Clayburgh | 13.60 | 56.4 | 56.4 | 58 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 63.3 | |
| 29 | Don't Say a Word (2001) | Sean Bean | 55.00 | 104.9 | 190.8 | 46 | 42 | 00 / 00 | 62.4 | |
| 28 | Solitary Man (2009) | Susan Sarandon | 4.40 | 6.3 | 7.4 | 168 | 74 | 00 / 00 | 62.3 | |
| 28 | The Star Chamber (1983) | Hal Holbrook | 5.60 | 19.0 | 19.0 | 88 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 55.3 | |
| 29 | Behind The Candelabra (2013) HBO Movie |
Matt Damon & Rob Lowe |
0.10 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 282 | 72 | 00 / 00 | 54.4 | |
| 31 | The Sentinel (2006) | Keifer Sutherland | 36.30 | 59.4 | 127.9 | 85 | 49 | 00 / 00 | 47.7 | |
| 32 | King of California (2007) | Evan Rachel Wood | 0.30 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 264 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 45.2 | |
| 32 | Summertree (1971) | Jack Warden | 2.10 | 13.9 | 13.9 | 117 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 43.9 | |
| 36 | Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009) | Matthew McConaughey | 55.30 | 79.4 | 146.9 | 56 | 41 | 00 / 00 | 43.0 | |
| 35 | A Chorus Line (1985) | Terrence Mann | 14.20 | 43.1 | 43.1 | 62 | 50 | 03 / 00 | 42.0 | |
| 36 | Running (1979) | Susan Anspach | 6.00 | 25.8 | 25.8 | 77 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 41.7 | |
| 35 | Unlocked (2017) | Orlando Bloom & John Malkovich |
0.10 | 0.1 | 8.0 | 402 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 37.6 | |
| 39 | Shining Through (1992) | Liam Neeson | 21.60 | 56.2 | 113.9 | 59 | 45 | 00 / 00 | 36.2 | |
| 38 | Napoleon and Samantha (1972) | Jodie Foster & Johnny Whitaker |
5.20 | 32.7 | 32.7 | 62 | 52 | 01 / 00 | 35.9 | |
| 40 | Adam At Six A.M. (1970) | Lee Purcell | 1.30 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 135 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 34.7 | |
| 40 | The In-Laws (2003) | Albert Brooks | 20.50 | 36.6 | 48.1 | 107 | 47 | 00 / 00 | 27.9 | |
| 42 | One Night at McCool's (2001) | Matt Dillon | 6.30 | 12.0 | 25.7 | 142 | 49 | 00 / 00 | 16.2 | |
| 42 | It Runs in the Family (2003) | Kirk Douglas | 7.50 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 134 | 44 | 00 / 00 | 10.9 | |
| 43 | And So It Goes (2014) | Diane Keaton | 15.20 | 20.0 | 33.4 | 125 | 38 | 00 / 00 | 7.6 | |
| 44 | Beyond The Reach (2014) | Jeremy Irvine | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 229 | 42 | 00 / 00 | 5.5 | |
| 44 | Hail, Hero! (1969) | Arthur Kennedy | 1.10 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 130 | 38 | 00 / 00 | 4.6 | |
| 46 | Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009) | Jesse Metcalfe | 0.10 | 0.1 | 6.4 | 301 | 34 | 00 / 00 | 1.7 |
10 Possibly Interesting Facts on Michael Douglas
1. Michael Douglas has won two Academy Awards, his first Oscar® came as the producer of the 1975’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, which won the Oscar® for Best Picture. Twelve years later he won the Best Actor Oscar for 1987’s Wall Street.
2. Douglas and his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones both share the same birthday…September 25th……just 25 years apart.
3. Douglas has co-starred with Kathleen Turner in three box office hits…..Romancing the Stone, Jewel of the Nile and The War of the Roses…..Danny Devito costars in all three movies and directed their third and final pairing.
4. He has been a major supporter of gun control since John Lennon was murdered in 1980.
5. Douglas got the part of Jack T. Colton in Romancing the Stone only after Sylvester Stallone and Christopher Reeve passed on the part.
6. His character from Wall Street, Gordon Gekko, is on the list of 50 greatest villians in movie history.
7. Douglas originally declined the role of Robert Wakefield in Traffic, and it was offered to Harrison Ford, who accepted. Ford worked with director to improve the character, but then decided not to do the movie. Douglas liked the change in the character so much, he accepted the revamped part.
8. Robert Redford was originally cast in the lead role in The American President, but was replaced with Douglas after falling out with director Rob Reiner.
9. Michael Douglas turned downed the following roles….Ocean’s Eleven (Clooney part), Sin City (Willis part), Misery (Caan part), Love Story, Yentl, and Starman (Bridges part).
10. Check out Michael Douglas’s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
Steve Lensman’s Michael Douglas You Tube Video
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences.
For comments….all you need is a name and a comment….please ignore the rest.
must say that my favourite Michael Douglas work is The Streets of San Francisco. I wish it would come back to a channel I get.
Here are my favourite five performances (..and no, Coma isn’t on the list though I do enjoy watching MD and RW together.):
Alphabetically:
The American President
The China Syndrome
A Chorus Line
Fatal attraction
Wall Street
Hey Flora, well I am sure since the new Hawaii Five-O is a tv hit….CBS will be looking to reboot The Streets of San Francisco…..and when that happens I image the old series will reappear on one of your Canadian cable networks.
I am indeed surprise the Michael Douglas/Richard Widmark movie Coma did not make your Top 5. Well 4 of the 5 movies you mention made the Movie Score Top 10….as for Chorus Line….I remember when it first came out….the Hollywood industry was shocked when it failed at the box office….I think they thought it would be another All That Jazz. As always your comments and Tops list are always greatly appreciated.
I had to include A Chorus Line as I love it. Coma is my #6th. I believe Michael actually appeared as an extra as a child in one of kirk’s films. I think it was The Heroes of Telemark, but I may be confusing this movie with another.
Hey Flora…I think(thanks to IMDB)…the movie that Michael appeared in was 1966’s To Cast A Giant Shadow….he played Jeep Driver. Did you know Tom Selleck plays one of the corpses in Coma? Thanks for the clarification on Coma.
Hey Cogerson – another wonderful page. I like most of Michael Douglas’s films. Such great work. I like The American President. Looking forward to plenty more movies and I also wish him the best of health in the years to come. THANKS AGAIN FOR THE TWO DOUGLAS pages.
Hey BERN1960…thanks for the compliment….so do you think Robert Redford would have made a better President than Douglas in The American President? I am glad you liked the Michael Douglas hub that you requested. Thanks for reading and stopping by.
I never missed an epsiode of The Streets Of San Francisco! Michael and Karl Malden were a dashing duo! Basic Instinct, Falling Down and Romancing The Stone were my favorites BUT I enjoyed every one of his movies! I didn’t know that him and Catherine shared the same birthday….that’s fun news!!!
I’m wishing the best for Michael to continue to beat throat cancer. I was sad to see photos of him today smoking…not sure if it was cigarettes but regardless not a good idea after having radiation to his throat tissue. Makes my heart sad. On a lighter note EXCELLENT HUB to a exceptionally multi-talented actor!!
Hey Sunshine625….one of the things I read in my research on this hub….was how close Douglas was to Karl Malden….and how they close they remained until Malden died…..my mom loved The Streets of San Francisco….I remember her watching that show all the time. Well hopefully it is not cigarettes he is smoking….maybe it is the new smokeless tobaccoless air cigarettes some people are using…seen in the Johnny Depp movie The Tourist. Thanks for stopping by.
Execellent movie page, Michael Douglas is a great actor, I was sorry to see him and his fight with cancer. But at least it looks like he is currently winning that battle. I have always liked him since he was in Streets of San Fran, the Romancing the Stone movies are great, lately he seems to be in supporting roles, but I thought he was funny in Ghosts of Girlfriends.
PS. I know the answer Steve Lensman to your quote, but I had to google the answer so I will not share the answer.
Hey hinton1966….I am also glad his fight with cancer has gone well so far….his roles lately have not been as great as his awesome run from 1984-2000….I liked Solitary Man….except for the ending….but his supporting roles have been funny….Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and One Night At McCools(although I might be the only person in the world that liked that movie)….glad you know which movie Steve references….thanks for the compliment.
She knows where I live and breathe”
Bet no one knows which film that quote is from. 🙂
Son of Kirk, Michael is a good actor who has managed to do something his legendary dad couldn’t, win an Oscar for Best Actor. I liked him in Wall Street and I liked him Romancing the Stone. I haven’t watched Fatal Attraction in a long while, but did see Basic Instinct on blu-ray a few months ago.
You know I’ve never seen American President, somehow it passed me by. I’ll keep an eye out for it.
I wasn’t that impressed with Traffic, but did like Douglas in Falling Down.
I saw Kathleen Turner in a film recently and barely recognised her, wow she really let herself go. So sexy back in the 80’s.
Another epic page Cogerson, well done sir.
Hey SteveLensman…..well I have no idea about the quote….my guess would be Fatal Attraction…am I correct? I would highly recommend The American President…it is a movie that my wife always seems to be putting in the DVD….I have been looking for it on Blu-Ray…I do not think it is available on Blu-Ray…Michael J. Fox is excellent in the movie. As for Kathleen Turner….I think I saw her recently…hard to believe she is the same lady….that made men so uncomfortable in the 1980s….I have vivid memories of her performance in Body Heat. I appreciate the compliment and the votes.