Candidates: directors ranking (all time)

Edward Harrison Norton (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor, filmmaker and activist. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards for his work in the films Primal Fear, American History X and Birdman. He also starred in o...

Donnie Yen (born 27 July 1963), also known as Yen Ji-dan (甄子丹), is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film director and producer, action choreographer, and multiple-time world wushu tournament champion...

Japanom Yeerum (Thai: จาพนม ยีรัมย์), formerly Tatchakorn Yeerum (Thai: ทัชชกร ยีรัมย์; Thatchakon Yiram) or Phanom Yeerum (Thai: พนม ยีรัมย์; Phanom Yiram; born February 5, 1976), better known internationally as Tony Jaa, in Thai...

Frank Wilton Marshall (born September 13, 1946) is an American film producer and director, often working in collaboration with his wife, Kathleen Kennedy. With Kennedy and Steven Spielberg, he was one of the founders of Amblin Ent...

Keanu Charles Reeves (born September 2, 1964) is a Lebanese-born Canadian actor, producer, director and musician. Reeves is most well known for his acting career, beginning in 1985 and spanning for more than three decades. He gain...

Henry Selick (born November 30, 1952) is an American stop motion director, producer and writer who is best known for directing The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach and Coraline. He studied at the Program in Ex...

Natalie Portman (born Neta-Lee Hershlag June 9, 1981) is an actress, producer and director with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was in the 1994 action thriller Léon: The Professional, opposite Jean Reno, but...

Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English actor, filmmaker, musician and author. He began acting in theatre in 1979, and gained his first starring film role in Meantime (1983). Oldman continued to lead a stage career,...

Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and producer. He has performed in leading roles in a variety of films, ranging from romantic comedies and dramas to science fic...

Christopher Robert "Chris" Evans (born June 13, 1981) is an American actor and director. Evans is best known for his superhero roles as the Marvel Comics characters Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Human Torch...

Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director, producer and choreographer. He is perhaps best known today for his performances in films such as An American in...

Wong Kar-wai, (born 17 July 1958) is a Hong Kong Second Wave filmmaker, internationally renowned as an auteur for his visually unique, highly stylised, emotionally resonant work, including Days of Being Wild (1990), Ashes of Time...

Zhao Wei (born 12 March 1976), also known as Vicki Zhao, is a Chinese actress, pop singer, and film director. She is considered one of the "Four Dan Actresses" in China. While studying at Beijing Film Academy, Zhao became an Asian...

Sharlto Copley (born November 27, 1973) is a South African actor, producer, and director who has produced and co-directed short films which have appeared at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as commercials and music videos. He is...

Francis Ford Coppola (born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter.

Samuel M "Sam" Raimi (born October 23, 1959) is an American film director, producer, writer and actor.

Friedrich Wilhelm "F. W." Murnau (born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe; December 28, 1888 – March 11, 1931) was a German film director.

Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE (16 April 1889 – 25 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the silent era. His career spanned more than 75 years, from childhood in the Vic...

Bruce Lorne Campbell (born June 22, 1958) is an American film and television actor, director, writer, producer and author. As a cult film actor, Campbell is best known for his role as Ash Williams in Sam Raimi's hit Evil Dead seri...

Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor, film director, producer, musician, and singer. He has won two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and one Emmy Award, and has been nominated for three BAFT...

George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, director, and activist. He has received three Golden Globe Awards for his work as an actor and two Academy Awards, one for acting and the othe...

Steven Andrew Soderbergh (born January 14, 1963) is an American film producer, director, screenwriter, cinematographer and editor.

Leonard Simon Nimoy (March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor, film director, photographer, author, singer, and songwriter. He was known for his role as Mr. Spock of the Star Trek franchise, a character he portray...

William "Bill" Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor, singer, author, producer, director, spokesman, and comedian. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T. Kirk, Captain of the...

Sir Sidney Poitier, (born February 20, 1927), is a Bahamian-American actor, film director, author and diplomat. In 1964, Poitier became the first Bahamian and first African-American to win an Academy Award for Best Actor, for his...