Want to know the best William Hurt movies? How about the worst William Hurt movies? Curious about William Hurt box office grosses or which William Hurt movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which William Hurt movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
William Hurt (1950-2022) was an Oscar®-winning actor. His IMDb page shows 106 acting credits from 1977 to 2022. This page will rank William Hurt 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. Drivel part. I decided to do this page after reading Phil’s comment on our 1980s decade that said “the only major movie star from the 1980s that does not have a UMR page is William Hurt”…..well….no more. As we now have a William Hurt page.
William Hurt 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
2019
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
2018
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
2016
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
1983
The Big Chill (1983)
AA Best Picture Nom
1987
Broadcast News (1987)
AA Best Picture Nom
AA Best Actor Nom
2021
Black Widow (2021)
2008
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
2001
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
2004
The Village (2004)
1986
Children of a Lesser God (1986)
AA Best Picture Nom
AA Best Actor Nom
1981
Body Heat (1981)
2002
Changing Lanes (2002)
1985
Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
AA Best Picture Nom
AA Best Actor Win
1980
Altered States (1980)
1996
Michael (1996)
1988
The Accidental Tourist (1988)
AA Best Picture Nom
2005
Syriana (2005)
1991
The Doctor (1991)
2010
Robin Hood (2010)
2005
A History of Violence (2005)
AA Best Supp Actor Nom
1998
Lost in Space (1998)
2006
The Good Shepherd (2006)
1998
One True Thing (1998)
2007
Into the Wild (2007)
1983
Gorky Park (1983)
1995
Smoke (1995)
1998
Dark City (1998)
2008
Vantage Point (2008)
1999
Sunshine (1999)
2002
Tuck Everlasting (2002)
1990
Alice (1990)
1981
Eyewitness (1981)
1994
Second Best (1994)
2011
Too Big To Fail (2011)
HBO Movie
2007
Mr. Brooks (2007)
2016
Race (2016)
1996
Jane Eyre (1996)
1991
Until the End of the World (1991)
2020
The Last Full Measure (2020)
1990
I Love You to Death (1990)
2005
Neverwas (2005)
2008
The Yellow Handkerchief (2008)
2001
Rare Birds (2001)
2018
The Miracle Season (2018)
2005
The King (2005)
2014
The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (2013)
2006
Beautiful Ohio (2006)
Film Festival Circuit Only
2004
The Blue Butterfly (2004)
2007
Noise (2007)
1993
Mr. Wonderful (1993)
2009
Endgame (2009)
2010
The River Why (2010)
Film Festival Circuit Only
2001
The Simian Line (2001)
1999
The 4th Floor (1999)
Video On Demand 
2022
The King's Daughter (2022)
1996
A Couch In New York (1996)
1998
The Proposition (1998)
1994
Trial by Jury (1994)
1997
Loved (1997)
1988
A Time of Destiny (1988)
2013
The Host (2013)
2011
Hellgate (2011)
2014
Days and Nights (2014)
2014
Winter's Tale (2014)
William Hurt 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 by William Hurt movies his co-stars
- Sort William Hurt movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort William Hurt movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort William Hurt 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 William Hurt movie received.
- Sort William Hurt 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.
| R | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | Review | Oscar Nom / Win | UMR Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 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 | UMR Score | S |
| 2 | Avengers: Endgame (2019) | Robert Downey Jr. & Chris Evans |
858.40 | 1,010.2 | 3,290.80 | 1 | 89 | 01 / 00 | 98.8 | |
| 4 | Avengers: Infinity War (2018) | Robert Downey Jr. & Chris Evans |
678.80 | 803.3 | 2,421.60 | 2 | 87 | 01 / 00 | 98.6 | |
| 5 | Captain America: Civil War (2016) | Robert Downey Jr. & Chris Evans |
405.10 | 504.8 | 1,433.60 | 3 | 85 | 00 / 00 | 98.2 | |
| 6 | The Big Chill (1983) AA Best Picture Nom |
Glenn Close & Kevin Kline |
56.30 | 192.8 | 192.80 | 14 | 72 | 03 / 00 | 97.0 | |
| 5 | Broadcast News (1987) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Actor Nom |
Holly Hunter & Jack Nicholson |
51.20 | 141.3 | 185.60 | 18 | 85 | 07 / 00 | 97.0 | |
| 6 | Black Widow (2021) | Scarlett Johansson | 183.70 | 194.7 | 399.60 | 4 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 96.0 | |
| 9 | The Incredible Hulk (2008) | Edward Norton | 134.80 | 202.4 | 395.50 | 18 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 94.8 | |
| 8 | A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) | Directed by Steven Spielberg | 78.60 | 150.0 | 450.10 | 28 | 72 | 02 / 00 | 91.9 | |
| 11 | The Village (2004) | Sigourney Weaver | 114.20 | 198.2 | 445.60 | 20 | 52 | 01 / 00 | 89.9 | |
| 10 | Children of a Lesser God (1986) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Actor Nom |
Marlee Matlin | 31.90 | 92.6 | 92.60 | 32 | 76 | 05 / 01 | 89.9 | |
| 12 | Body Heat (1981) | Kathleen Turner | 24.10 | 93.3 | 93.30 | 36 | 86 | 00 / 00 | 89.6 | |
| 13 | Changing Lanes (2002) | Samuel L. Jackson & Ben Affleck |
66.80 | 124.2 | 176.40 | 40 | 73 | 00 / 00 | 88.9 | |
| 11 | Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985) AA Best Picture Nom AA Best Actor Win |
Raul Julia | 17.00 | 51.6 | 51.60 | 53 | 84 | 04 / 01 | 88.2 | |
| 16 | Altered States (1980) | Drew Barrymore | 29.10 | 120.6 | 120.60 | 27 | 70 | 02 / 00 | 87.9 | |
| 14 | Michael (1996) | John Travolta | 95.30 | 232.5 | 292.00 | 16 | 44 | 00 / 00 | 86.9 | |
| 16 | The Accidental Tourist (1988) AA Best Picture Nom |
Geena Davis & Kathleen Turner |
32.60 | 85.6 | 85.60 | 34 | 69 | 04 / 01 | 86.5 | |
| 17 | Syriana (2005) | George Clooney & Matt Damon |
50.80 | 85.6 | 158.30 | 56 | 76 | 02 / 01 | 86.4 | |
| 18 | The Doctor (1991) | Christine Lahti & Elizabeth Perkins |
38.10 | 97.6 | 97.60 | 32 | 72 | 00 / 00 | 85.0 | |
| 20 | Robin Hood (2010) | Russell Crowe | 105.30 | 143.8 | 439.50 | 26 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 84.8 | |
| 19 | A History of Violence (2005) AA Best Supp Actor Nom |
Viggo Mortensen | 31.50 | 53.1 | 102.30 | 92 | 82 | 02 / 00 | 83.8 | |
| 21 | Lost in Space (1998) | Gary Oldman | 69.10 | 158.9 | 158.90 | 29 | 46 | 00 / 00 | 81.5 | |
| 23 | The Good Shepherd (2006) | Matt Damon & Robert DeNiro |
60.00 | 98.2 | 163.00 | 50 | 64 | 01 / 00 | 81.1 | |
| 21 | One True Thing (1998) | Meryl Streep | 23.20 | 53.4 | 53.40 | 74 | 76 | 01 / 00 | 80.7 | |
| 22 | Into the Wild (2007) | Vince Vaughn & Directed by Sean Penn |
18.40 | 28.8 | 88.10 | 111 | 82 | 02 / 00 | 79.4 | |
| 25 | Gorky Park (1983) | Lee Marvin | 15.90 | 54.3 | 54.30 | 46 | 73 | 00 / 00 | 77.7 | |
| 26 | Smoke (1995) | Ashley Judd | 8.40 | 20.7 | 34.40 | 119 | 80 | 00 / 00 | 74.7 | |
| 27 | Dark City (1998) | Rufus Sewell & Keifer Sutherland |
14.40 | 33.0 | 33.00 | 99 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 73.6 | |
| 29 | Vantage Point (2008) | Dennis Quaid | 72.30 | 108.5 | 227.00 | 44 | 48 | 00 / 00 | 71.7 | |
| 28 | Sunshine (1999) | Ralph Fiennes | 5.10 | 10.9 | 10.90 | 145 | 77 | 00 / 00 | 67.8 | |
| 30 | Tuck Everlasting (2002) | Ben Kingsley | 19.20 | 35.6 | 36.00 | 110 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 67.6 | |
| 31 | Alice (1990) | Directed by Woody Allen | 7.30 | 18.7 | 18.70 | 106 | 73 | 01 / 00 | 66.4 | |
| 34 | Eyewitness (1981) | Sigourney Weaver | 6.40 | 24.8 | 24.80 | 86 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 63.9 | |
| 32 | Second Best (1994) | Nathan Yapp | 0.10 | 0.2 | 0.20 | 227 | 77 | 00 / 00 | 63.6 | |
| 33 | Too Big To Fail (2011) HBO Movie |
James Woods & Paul Giamatti |
0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 303 | 77 | 00 / 00 | 62.6 | |
| 37 | Mr. Brooks (2007) | Kevin Costner | 28.50 | 44.7 | 75.40 | 88 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 58.1 | |
| 35 | Race (2016) | Jason Sudeikis & Jeremy Irons |
19.20 | 23.9 | 31.20 | 115 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 57.7 | |
| 36 | Jane Eyre (1996) | Charlotte Gainsbourg | 5.20 | 12.7 | 12.70 | 148 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 56.0 | |
| 38 | Until the End of the World (1991) | Solveig Dommartin | 0.80 | 2.1 | 2.10 | 174 | 71 | 00 / 00 | 53.8 | |
| 39 | The Last Full Measure (2020) | Samuel L. Jackson & William Hurt |
2.90 | 3.5 | 3.50 | 46 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 53.5 | |
| 41 | I Love You to Death (1990) | River Phoenix & Keanu Reeves |
16.20 | 41.3 | 41.30 | 74 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 50.1 | |
| 41 | Neverwas (2005) | Nick Nolte | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 373 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 47.5 | |
| 40 | The Yellow Handkerchief (2008) | Maria Bello | 0.30 | 0.5 | 0.50 | 246 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 46.6 | |
| 42 | Rare Birds (2001) | Andy Jones | 0.10 | 0.2 | 0.20 | 277 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 38.9 | |
| 43 | The Miracle Season (2018) | Helen Hunt | 10.20 | 12.1 | 12.10 | 126 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 38.2 | |
| 44 | The King (2005) | Gael García Bernal | 0.30 | 0.5 | 0.50 | 259 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 36.3 | |
| 45 | The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (2013) | Jessica Chastain & James McAvoy |
0.60 | 0.8 | 1.30 | 192 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 36.2 | |
| 46 | Beautiful Ohio (2006) Film Festival Circuit Only |
Rita Wilson | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 434 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 33.2 | |
| 46 | The Blue Butterfly (2004) | Marc Donato | 1.80 | 3.0 | 3.00 | 187 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 32.6 | |
| 47 | Noise (2007) | Tim Robbins | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 367 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 31.9 | |
| 49 | Mr. Wonderful (1993) | Matt Dillon | 3.10 | 8.1 | 8.10 | 156 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 26.2 | |
| 51 | Endgame (2009) | Chiwetel Ejiofor | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 368 | 58 | 00 / 00 | 26.1 | |
| 51 | The River Why (2010) Film Festival Circuit Only |
Amber Heard | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 321 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 23.2 | |
| 53 | The Simian Line (2001) | Lynn Redgrave | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 393 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 21.1 | |
| 54 | The 4th Floor (1999) Video On Demand |
Juliette Lewis & Shelley Duvall |
0.00 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 335 | 55 | 00 / 00 | 19.6 | |
| 55 | The King's Daughter (2022) | Pierce Brosnan | 1.50 | 1.5 | 1.50 | 114 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 19.4 | |
| 56 | A Couch In New York (1996) | Juliette Binoche | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 321 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 18.8 | |
| 57 | The Proposition (1998) | Kenneth Branagh | 0.10 | 0.3 | 0.30 | 232 | 52 | 00 / 00 | 16.0 | |
| 58 | Trial by Jury (1994) | Joanne Whalley | 7.00 | 18.4 | 18.40 | 132 | 45 | 00 / 00 | 13.3 | |
| 59 | Loved (1997) | Sean Penn | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 328 | 49 | 00 / 00 | 11.5 | |
| 60 | A Time of Destiny (1988) | Timothy Hutton | 1.20 | 3.2 | 3.20 | 179 | 47 | 00 / 00 | 10.2 | |
| 61 | The Host (2013) | Saoirse Ronan | 26.60 | 35.3 | 84.00 | 97 | 35 | 00 / 00 | 8.9 | |
| 62 | Hellgate (2011) | Cary Elwes | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 242 | 45 | 00 / 00 | 7.4 | |
| 61 | Days and Nights (2014) | Katie Holmes | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 264 | 44 | 00 / 00 | 6.7 | |
| 64 | Winter's Tale (2014) | Colin Farrell & Russell Crowe |
12.60 | 16.6 | 41.10 | 134 | 36 | 00 / 00 | 4.6 |
William Hurt Adjusted World Wide Box Office Grosses
Possibly Interesting Facts About William Hurt
1. William McChord Hurt was born in Washington, D.C. in 1950.
2. William Hurt studied acting at the Juilliard School from 1972 to 1976. You might have heard of two of his classmates: Christopher Reeve and Robin Williams.
3. After only three television appearances, William Hurt, was the lead actor in his very first movie…1980’s Altered States.
4. William Hurt has been nominated for 4 Oscars®. He received a Best Actor nomination three years in a row (1985-1987)…winning the Oscar® for 1985’s Kiss Of The Spider Woman. His 4th and final Oscar® nomination was a Best Supporting Actor Oscar® nomination for 2005’s A History of Violence.
5. Five William Hurt movies in the 1980s were nominated for a Best Picture Oscar®: 1983’s The Big Chill, 1985’s Kiss of the Spider Woman, 1986’s Children of a Lesser God, 1987’s Broadcast News and 1988’s The Accidental Tourist.
6. William Hurt has been married two times. He has 4 children.
7. William Hurt turned down the role played by Sam Neill in 1993’s Jurassic Park.
8. William Hurt’s Lost in Space is the movie that bumped Titanic out of the number one box office spot after spending 15 weeks of being the number one movie in America.
9. William Hurt was the first recipient of the Spencer Tracy Award in 1988 for outstanding screen performances.
10. Check out William Hurt‘s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
Check out Steve Lensman’s William Hurt You Tube Video
If you do a comment….please ignore the email address and website section.
William Hurt, is the # 100 most connected actor of the 1990’s.
Added Steve’s William Hurt You Tube video to this page. Our thoughts found below.
“Nice video subject. I have seen 29 of the movies listed here. Seen 37 of his movies overall. Favorites include #6 Body Heat, #11 Broadcast News and his many Marvel movies. For awhile he was one of the most popular leading men making movies. He has become a dependable supporting character actor. Good video. Voted up and shared.”
Hi Bruce, your tally of 29 out of 40 beats my 21, Flora has seen 2. Nice to see you have a page on William Hurt.
What was my original UMR tally? let me check… 21 out of 55, 22 if you had included Avengers Endgame. Thanks for the comment, vote and share, always appreciated.
HI STEVE: Thanks for the useful feedback and some thoughtful quotes from William. My own further comments are as follows:
1/Altered States was showing in the same multiplex as a film called Inside Moves starring John Savage and I had to choose so I chose the latter. However I have since always been on the lookout for Altered States on TV rerun as having gotten to like William I would be interested in seeing it as it was his debut film.
2/I WAS actually going to complain about you ranking those Marvel flicks above Hurt’s personal classics but I thought “Steve already knows my views on the subject generally so why flog them to death?”
3/However I agree with you that it’s better to be “honest than fatuous” which is why I am always painfully honest about Joel and The Thin Woman. Besides whilst The Work Horse would apparently like us to be supremely positive on his site about EVERYTHING I believe that if you adopt that approach nobody can ever be confident of knowing your true opinions so that when you do genuinely praise something such praise is in a way meaningless. I remember being disappointed that my boss did not give me the top marking in my annual work report but he reassured me with “I have a reputation as an honest assessor so that a 2 marking from me is considered as good and at times even better than a 1 from most other managers.”
4/Unrelated to the present topics you may recall that a few months back you “outed” my Joan as a “gay icon”. Well I watched a documentary about my Doris over the weekend and it transpires that she too is a gay icon. So that’s two of my top 3 fave actresses who are gay icons and one of my half dozen or so personal top male idols – The Great Mumbler – who is a lesbian icon. I am pleased that three of my all time personal fave performers have such ‘cross-demographic’ appeal. Keep safe.
BRUCE:
I’ve just watched and commented on Steve’s [to me] exciting new William Hurt video which ideally complements this page and I see that you and Steve agree on 5 of William’s Top 6 best reviewed films. The odd man out is Avengers: End Game which he makes his No 1 and you don’t include it at all in your entire table.
You round off your own 6 with Into the Wild/A History of Violence [both joint 6th in your chart]. Did you overlook updating your page with Avengers: End Game or did you not consider William’s role in it large enough for mention? I notice you HAVE included on William’s page 2 of this year’s updates [Black Widow and The Last Full Measure].
Hi Bob, William Hurt had a tiny cameo in Avengers Endgame, so I can understand why Bruce didn’t want to include that film.
I wanted to include all 4 films in which Hurt played Thaddeus Ross for completists sake, so in it went. Controversial decision but if it wasn’t Endgame than Infinity War would be no.1 so it would have been a Marvel film at the top anyway. They were both highly rated.
Have to dash but I’ll be back later to check your review.
Cheers.
HI STEVE: Thanks for your thoughts on this though it is a brave man who tries to 2nd guess The Work Horse and many more timid souls would probably wait until he/she got the information straight from “The Horse’s Mouth” Say I’m rather proud of that very appropriate pun!
Your suggestion that William might not have a large enough role in End Game to satisfy WH certainly would though explain why you and Bruce are Split over the inclusion of End Game. That’s actually another very appropriate and witty pun from me if I do say so myself which you may not understand but HE certainly will.
I’ve tried to get him to rectify the matter concerned but you know the old saying: “You can take a Horse to water but you cannot MAKE it drink.” Goodness – I’m firing on all cylinders today! Anyway as always I look forward to your usually substantial reply to my own comment on the video.
Decided to add Avengers End Game to the page….his part was bigger than others that have been included in other pages.
William has 4 more movies in the pipeline.On top of his prolific film career in terms of output William has been in 21 TV productions between 1977 and 2018 and performed an audiobook narration [The Polar Express] in 1989. IMDB credits him with overall 18 acting awards and 29 noms and his reported current net worth is $18 million.
I very much welcome this new video and it pleases me to the tune of a 98% personal satisfaction rating. You and WH agree on 5 of William’s Top 6 best reviewed movies- but see my separate post to the Big Guy immediately after this one. BEST STILLS:
1/Until the End of the World
2/Lost in Space
3/Michael
4/Eyewitness
5/The Village – awful film in my opinion.
6/Alice
7/Yellow Handkerchief
8/Incredible Hulk
9/Altered States
10/A. I.
11/Accidental Tourist
12/Body Heat
13/Captain England – Civil War
14/Robin Hood
15/Avengers Infinity War
16/Avengers End Game
Hi Bob, thanks for the review, generous rating, info and trivia, much appreciated.
Happy you liked the posters, stills and lobby cards.
I think the first film I saw William Hurt in was Altered States, which quickly became a sci-fi favorite of mine. Hard to believe it was directed by crazy Brit Ken Russell, but it does contain weird visuals that only he could concoct e.g. a crucified Jesus with the head of a multi-eyed and multi-horned sheep.
I was worried that I might get some flak for topping Hurt’s video chart with three Marvel blockbusters, and one of them a cameo, but so far only one complaint.
Looking at my files his top rated top billed film is Kiss of the Spider Woman followed by Body Heat and Accidental Tourist. The only three films in the top 10 in which Hurt was billed first.
No films scored 10 out of 10 from my sources, two films scored 9 – Into the Wild, and Syriana, but they dropped down the charts after the ratings average was calculated.
Top rated at IMDB is Avengers Infinity War, no.1 at RT is Avengers Endgame.
Bruce doesn’t include Endgame on his chart but he does have Infinity War at no.1 on his critics chart, followed by Body Heat, which just missed my top 5.
“Body Heat was the best structured film I ever read. It was a better structure than Altered States. But I spent the first six hours with Larry Kasdan telling him why he couldn’t direct it. He didn’t know what he had. It was a gem, pure and simple. He listened. Because I was the only person that was honest with him. He had not directed before. I was simply saying that his odds of pulling it off were remote. Which was true. It’s much nicer to be treated with honesty than it is to be treated fatuously.”
William Hurt on playing a drag queen in Kiss of the Spider Woman – “I didn’t play him as gay. I played him as a woman … I’m not gay myself, but many of my friends are – and I wasn’t getting it. There was something that wasn’t working. And I was walking in the street one day and I was looking at a woman who was walking ahead of us, and I said “I don’t think Molina’s gay. I think he’s a woman. I think he really is a woman, he’s just caught in a man’s body.”
William Hurt on winning the Oscar for Kiss of the Spider-Woman – “I went up onstage and Sally Field whom I knew very well, because we’d done a play together which was broadcast live, she brings it over, and I said to her, “Sally” – this is the words I said to her, onstage, she put it in my hand and I said, “Sally, what the hell do I do with this?” She looked at me hard because she knew me – she was a wonderful woman – and she looked back and she said, “You live with it,” which was a wonderful response. So I held it, I walked over, and I started living with it.”