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.
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.
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I don’t think we should compare these legends. as for summer blockbuster jaws started it as for pop culture icon terminator 2 started but Spielberg created movies for America & American people like e.t, Jurassic park, saving Private Ryan, war of the world’s etc. Cameron also created like that but he evolved like an hell like auteur there is a steep structural & visual deviation in his films. I’ll compare Cameron to Verne Jules. Like titanic its the ultimate cinematic love story and planet earths favourite and also avatar its ultimate fantasy film so Cameron reaches to broader audience and minds.titanic created records like tsunami first 200m budget film, 11 Oscar tied with ben-hur, Cameron won three Oscar in a single night, first film to cross 1 billion dollars and also first film to cross 1b dollors in inter box office. So its Cameron he’s the “king of the world”
Hey Anonymous….thanks for the well thought out comment. You make some very solid points. I think the only thing I do not agree with is that “Spielberg created movies for America & American People”. Pretty sure Spielberg has reached the entire world….and the worldwide box office grosses back up that point. But I think saying Cameron is the “king of the world”….works…..every movie he makes is magical….too bad he does not make more movies. He seems to be the David Lean of our generation. Lean only made 5 movies from 1956 to 1984. Thanks for stopping by and talking movies.
Whether you like it or not,
Spielberg set the tone for Special Effects and even taking the science fiction to another level.
I think Him and George Lucas were the pioneers.
Every one else including Cameron – have been inspired by these geniuses.
I am pretty sure Close Encounters, ET, Star Wars have had an impact on pretty much everyone in Hollywood.
My vote goes to Spielberg. I ve seen all of Spielberg and Camerons movies. Cameron is really a great director and I love his movies. But no mattor how great cameron is and this is only my opinion, I think he could never make a great movie like Schindlers List that movie is a truly masterpiece so great. Schindlers list and Jurassic Park are My favorites Spielberg movies Great site keep up the good work.
Hey Movie Fan. My vote is with you too. You make very good points. I think Cameron would get bored making a movie like Schlindler’s List. Thanks for stopping by….thanks for the comment …..and thanks for the compliment…..they are all greatly appreciated.
David Cronenberg.
Good answer Neil M…..I like it.
Well…Cameron despite his innovations in special effects and tons of money at the box office is an egotistical douche who rubs his Oscar wins and money in other people’s faces. He treats his cast and crew on set very harshly. Some like it others don’t. Spielberg has done the same thing but he has gotten washed up over the years. He’s descended into sentimentality so sickening it’s scary. But, I would pick Spielberg because I like more of his movies than Cameron’s. The only movie that I liked from Cameron was Terminator 2.
Spielberg may have more hits, but I admire Cameron because of what he’s done for science.