As one of the most talented and influential filmmakers of all time, there’s no understating the impact that Martin Scorsese has had on the world of cinema, both from an artistic and a business perspective. He has crafted some of the finest films ever to hit the big screen, ranging from Taxi Driver to Goodfellas, Hugo, The Irishman and so many more. Beyond the films that he has personally directed and produced, Scorsese has also been a leader in film preservation, as his non-profit The Film Foundation is dedicated to restoring and protecting some of the earliest cinematic works. It is arguably the most sizable contribution to film history that Scorsese has made, considering an estimated 50% of all American movies pre-1950 and 90% pre-1929 have been lost forever.
Scorsese’s preservation work, in combination with his incredible personal filmography, has cemented him as one of the most important figures in the history of cinema. He has watched and studied how the industry has evolved over the years, and he is still one of the most talented and creatively daring directors working today. Throughout the years, he has directed over two dozen feature films, most of which have received immense acclaim and attention from critics and general audiences alike.
While Scorsese has been outspoken about his distaste for Hollywood’s obsession with box office numbers, it is still intriguing, as a fan, to look back at Scorsese’s films and see which ones have connected with viewers the most and driven the most ticket sales. With estimates courtesy of The Numbers, here are the ten films directed by Martin Scorsese that have grossed the most at the worldwide box office.
10 Goodfellas (1990) – $47,103,483
Arguably Scorsese’s most iconic film, 1990’s Goodfellas isn’t just considered to be one of the best crime movies of all time, it is often thought to be one of the best overall films of all time. It first hit theaters in September 1990, and it grossed just over $6 million in its opening weekend.
Throughout its run at the box office, which was extended thanks to its various award nominations and wins, Goodfellas went on to bring in $46 million in North America, which equates to about $101 million by today’s standards when adjusted for inflation. Since then, the film has had numerous theatrical re-releases, including several overseas runs, which have increased its global total to $47.1 million.
9 The Color of Money (1986) – $52,293,000
Just a few years prior, in October 1986, Scorsese’s film The Color of Money also managed to drum up a solid box office gross. The sports drama which starred Paul Newman and Tom Cruise, who was coming off the success of Top Gun which was released earlier that year, The Color of Money opened with $6.3 million domestically.
It continued its box office run for several months, with it gradually growing to a total gross of $52.2 million. When adjusted for inflation, that would be nearly $130 million today. The Color of Money never received an extended overseas release, and as such its North American box office total accounts for the film’s total haul.
8 Casino (1995) – $110,400,000
Scorsese had an incredible run of films in the ‘90s, one of the most successful of which was 1995’s Casino, which starred Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Sharon Stone. The movie’s domestic run at the box office kicked off in November of ’95 with a $9.9 million opening. In North America, Casino played all the way through March of ’96, and it pulled in a total of $42 million, or $89 million when adjusted for inflation.
Notably, that’s less than both The Color of Money and Goodfellas. However, unlike those films, Casino received an extensive overseas release in 1996 which dramatically increased its box office totals. The film made $67.9 million internationally, bringing its global total to $110 million.
7 Hugo (2011) – $180,047,784
Jumping ahead two decades and into the modern era of movie making, 2011’s Hugo is perhaps Scorsese’s most explicit love letter to the art of cinema and the filmmakers who inspired him. Scorsese successfully brought the story of the cinematic pioneer Georges Méliès, who directed both 1902’s A Trip to the Moon and 1904’s The Impossible Voyage, to general audiences who had likely never heard his name before.
Hugo opened in November 2011 with an $11.3 million debut in North America, where it went on to gross a total of $73 million, which is about $85 million by today’s standards. Internationally, the film performed even stronger than that, as it brought in an additional $106 million and grew Hugo’s global total to $180 million. Hugo performed well upon its release, but it’s often forgotten in the broader landscape of Scorsese’s filmography, which is a crime considering it is one of the filmmaker’s best and most sincere works.
6 Cape Fear (1991) – $182,291,969
Scorsese’s follow-up to Goodfellas was Cape Fear, which was a psychological thriller that starred Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, and Jessica Lange. The film opened in North America in November 1991, just a year after Goodfellas, and it debuted with $10.2 million. The movie went on to gross an impressive $79 million domestically, which is over $170 million today when adjusted for inflation.
An extended theatrical run overseas also cemented Cape Fear’s success, as it managed to pull in $103 million internationally. That brought the film’s global total to $182 million, which isn’t too shabby considering it had a budget of just $35 million.
5 Gangs of New York (2002) – $183,124,621
Another film that is often considered to be one of Scorsese’s best is 2002’s Gangs of New York. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz and Daniel Day-Lewis, the film is a nearly three-hour crime epic that was both an awards darling and a box office success. Gangs of New York opened in December 2002, just in time for the holiday season, but its debut was just a mere $9.4 million.
However, the film showed pretty solid staying power over the following months, as it grew to $77 million domestically. When adjusted for inflation, that equates to about $120 million by today’s standards. Internationally, it grossed an additional $105 million, which brought its global total to $183 million. The film went on to be nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor (for Day-Lewis).
4 The Aviator (2004) – $208,370,892
Scorsese followed Gangs of New York with The Aviator in 2004, which was a biopic about the eccentric filmmaker and pilot Howard Hughes, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. The film had an extensive and impressive supporting cast that consisted of Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, Alan Alda, Alec Baldwin, John C. Reilly, Ian Holm, Jude Law, Gwen Stefani, Adam Scott, Danny Huston, Willem Dafoe and more. Though the film technically debuted with just $858 thousand when it opened in December 2004, that was in a limited release of just 40 theaters. It went wide the next week and jumped up to a weekend gross of $8.6 million, which was again beaten by the following weekend’s $11.3 million gross.
The Aviator topped out at $102 million domestically, which is $148 million after adjusting for inflation, and it brought in an additional $105 million overseas. With that, the film became Scorsese’s first to gross over $200 million worldwide, as its total came in at $208 million. It also surpassed Gangs of New York at the Academy Awards, as it was nominated for 11 awards, of which it won five.
3 The Departed (2006) – $289,660,619
As Scorsese has become known to do over the years, he was producing hit after hit throughout the 2000s. After the solid success of both Gangs of New York and The Aviator, his next cinematic outing was 2006’s The Departed. The movie, which was an American remake of the Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs from 2002, was a major hit with both critics and general audiences, and it is still considered to be one of the director’s best films.
The Departed debuted in October 2006 with an opening weekend gross of $26 million. From there, it played all the way through March 2007, bringing in a domestic total of $132 million, which is about $184 million by today’s standards. The film grossed an additional $157 million internationally, bringing its global total to $289 million. While it was only nominated for five Academy Awards, it won several of the biggest awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
2 Shutter Island (2010) – $299,461,782
After The Departed, it would be another four years before Scorsese’s next film would hit theaters. That film, 2010’s Shutter Island, connected with general audiences in a way that Scorsese had rarely done before. It opened in February 2010 with $41 million, and it still holds the record as the largest opening of Scorsese’s career. In North America, it went on to pull in $128 million, which is $148 million when adjusted for inflation.
It found even more success overseas, where it grossed $171 million. This nearly got Shutter Island to the $300 million milestone, but the film fell just short of it, with its total haul coming in at $299.4 million. That box office success came with a bit of a tradeoff, though, as the film failed to receive a lot of awards love that year.
1 The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) – $389,816,136
Finally, the highest-grossing film of Scorsese’s career is unsurprisingly 2013’s The Wolf of Wall Street. The movie was a biopic about the American stockbroker Jordan Belfort, who was played in the film by Leonardo DiCaprio. The movie opened in late December 2013 with just $18 million in its opening weekend, but with solid word-of-mouth and impressive week-to-week drops, it ended up grossing $116 million in North America, which is about $131 million after adjusting for inflation. Interestingly, that’s less than both Shutter Island and The Departed.
What really made The Wolf of Wall Street a smash hit was its overseas performance. Internationally, it grossed an incredible $272 million, bringing its global total to $389 million. The film went on to be nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor (for DiCaprio), and Best Supporting Actor (for Jonah Hill). The movie has also retained an immense cultural presence, as it has continued to grow its audience in the decade since its release, primarily through its streaming availability on services like Netflix and Paramount+.