James Cameron has been among the most prolific and biggest filmmakers of our time. Three of his films have crossed $2 billion at the box office, and one other has held the record for being the highest-grossing film ever. In all, films that he has directed or produced have grossed just under $10 billion. Yet, that is just one-third of the most successful and highest-grossing filmmaker of all time – a man who has never sat on the director’s chair and yet has made films grossing over $31 billion. (Also read: World’s most successful director has made $10 billion at box office, it’s not Christopher Nolan, James Cameron, Russos)
The highest-grossing filmmaker of all time
Kevin Feige, the current President of Marvel Studios and the brain behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is the highest-grossing filmmaker of all time. The films he has produced have grossed over $31.1 billion at the box office. This astonishing number is more than double the next person on the list – Harry Potter producer David Heyman, with less than $14 billion against his name. Steven Spielberg’s films (including the ones he produced but did not direct) have grossed $11 billion, while Christopher Nolan‘s films have earned $8 billion at the box office. All these greats put together are still lagging behind Kevin Feige’s astonishing box office haul.
How Kevin Feige dominated the box office
Kevin Feige’s main claim to fame has been creating the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the biggest and most successful film franchise in history. The series has seen 34 films released in theatres over the last 17 years. These films have collectively earned over $31 billion at the box office, and Kevin Feige has been the producer of all of them.
The key to Feige’s success has been his prolific nature. The MCU is a giant beast with multiple releases in a year, including one of the biggest all-time series in Avengers (the 4 Avengers films have earned $7.7 billion). Other producers have a dozen or so releases in this time period but due to the branching out, expanding nature of the MCU, Feige has managed to release 34. The fact that the MCU has a dozen films planned for the future means this franchise will certainly inch towards the $50 billion mark.
Kevin Feige’s rise to the top
After graduating with a degree in film from the University of Southern California in 1995, Kevin Feige worked as an assistant to executive producer Lauren Shuler Donner on Volcano and You’ve Got Mail. Donner made Feige an associate producer on X-Men (2000) after he was impressed by his knowledge of Marvel Comics. The same year, Marvel Entertainment boss Avi Arad hired him as a producer. During his tenure here, Feige realised that Marvel still held the rights to several key characters, including the core Avengers. This led to him pitching a franchise of interconnected films, a shared universe of sorts, similar to how Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had done in the comics in the 60s. His idea was greenlit in 2007, and he became Marvel’s head of production.
The first film in the MCU – Iron Man – was released in 2008 and was a smash hit. After its success, Feige was promoted to president of Marvel Studios, a position he still holds. In 2019, following the success of Avengers: Endgame and the conclusion of the universe’s Infinity Saga, Feige was also appointed as the chief creative officer for Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Comics, Marvel Television, and Marvel Animation.
