American director James Mangold is one of Hollywood’s most successful filmmakers. He joins the growing list of Hollywood’s modern filmmakers whose films have grossed over $2 billion at the Box Office. As a versatile filmmaker, Mangold has worked on several multi-genre projects.
With two Oscar nominations, James Mangold received an additional three nominations at the 2025 Oscars. At the 97th Academy Awards, Mangold was nominated for Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Picture. With his last film, A Complete Unknown, released in 2024, Mangold has directed 13 feature-length films. Here’s a look at James Mangold’s highest-grossing movies from the least to the highest.
10. A Complete Unknown – $64.7 Million
The 2024 biographical drama A Complete Unknown is based on the iconic American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. The movie focuses on the transformative early years of Dylan’s career. It is set between 1961 and 1965, with Timothée Chalamet portraying Bob Dylan. A Complete Unknown is James Mangold’s second film nominated for Best Picture. Although a critical success, A Complete Unknown underperformed at the Box Office, grossing only $64.7 million from an estimated $50–70 million budget.
9. 3:10 to Yuma – $71.2 Million
James Mangold also directed the 2007 Western action-drama 3:10 to Yuma. The film starred Russell Crowe and Christian Bale as the main antagonists and protagonists, respectively. 3:10 to Yuma follows the tense story of Dan Evans (Bale), a one-legged war veteran struggling rancher, and Ben Wade (Crowe), a notorious outlaw and gang leader.
Set in the late 1800s, the film begins with Wade being captured after a robbery. Evans, desperate to save his family from financial ruin, volunteers to escort Wade to a train bound for Yuma, where Wade will stand trial. The movie grossed $71.2 million at the Box Office and was also a critical success. 3:10 to Yuma was also the first film James Mangold did not contribute to its screenplay.
8. Kate & Leopold – $76 Million
The 2001 Kate & Leopold is one of James Mangold’s earliest films. It is a romantic comedy sci-fi that starred Meg Ryan, Hugh Jackman, and Liev Schreiber. The story begins when Leopold (Jackman) accidentally travels through time to the 21st century through a portal discovered and opened by Stuart Besser (Schreiber). In 21st-century New York, Leopold, a charming and chivalrous 19th-century Duke, meets and falls in love with Stuart’s ex-girlfriend, Kate McKay (Meg Ryan), a modern-day career-driven marketing executive. Kate & Leopold received average to mixed critical reviews and performed moderately at the Box Office. It grossed $76 million against a $48 million production budget.
7. Identity – $90.3 Million
James Mangold followed Kate & Leopold with a mystery psychological thriller Identity (2003). The film was produced on a much lower budget of $28 million but performed excellently at the Box Office, grossing $90.3 million after its theatrical run. Identity’s plot unfolds on a dark, stormy night when ten strangers are stranded at a remote Nevada motel due to a relentless downpour. Among them are Ed Dakota (John Cusack), a former cop turned limo driver; Samuel Rhodes (Ray Liotta), a correctional officer transporting a convicted murderer; and Robert Maine (Jake Busey), a convicted murderer being transported by a police officer.
Others include Paris Nevada (Amanda Peet), a call girl, a young married couple, and a family with a young boy, Timmy (Bret Loehr). As the storm rages on, the group begins to realize that they’re being killed off one after the other. Suspicion and paranoia rose as they tried to figure out the identity of the killer. Meanwhile, in a parallel storyline, a psychiatrist is arguing for the insanity plea of a convicted killer with dissociative identity disorder. As the film progresses, the two narratives converge, revealing that the strangers are not random individuals but manifestations of the killer’s fractured psyche. The motel killings represent a battle for dominance among the identities, to leave only one personality behind. The shocking twist at the end revealed the true nature of the killer’s personality and who ultimately survived.
6. Walk the Line – $186.8 Million
The 2005 Walk the Line was James Mangold’s first biographical movie. It was also his first film to cross the $100 million mark at the Box Office. Walk the Line was a biographical drama about the life of legendary musician Johnny Cash. The film explores Cash’s rise to fame, his struggles with addiction, and his complicated personal life, particularly his love story with singer June Carter.
Joaquin Phoenix portrayed Johnny Cash, while Reese Witherspoon portrayed June Carter. Phoenix’s performance as Cash earned the actor his second Oscar nomination. Witherspoon was also nominated for an Academy Award, which was her first nomination and Oscar win. Walk the Line was produced on a $28 million budget and grossed $186.8 million after its theatrical run.
5. Ford v Ferrari – $225.5 Million
Ford v Ferrari (2019) is another of James Mangold’s biographical dramas, which was also a critical and commercial success. The film is based on the true story of the rivalry between Ford Motor Company and Ferrari in the 1960s. Ford v Ferrari follows visionary car designer Carroll Shelby (portrayed by Matt Damon) and fearless British race car driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale) as they team up to build a revolutionary race car for Ford.
Tasked with defeating Scuderia Ferrari at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France, the duo faced intense corporate interference, engineering challenges, and personal struggles. Ford v Ferrari grossed an impressive $225.5 million against its $97.6 million budget. Ford v Ferrari was James Mangold’s first film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. Mangold’s direction also received special praise from critics.
4. Knight and Day – $262 Million
James Mangold’s 2010 Knight and Day was the second time Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz were playing the lead in a film after the 2001 Vanilla Sky. In Knight and Day, Diaz’s June Havens character, an ordinary woman, becomes entangled in the high-stakes world of secret agents after encountering Cruise’s Roy Miller character. June’s life is turned upside down when she discovers that Roy, a charming but mysterious spy, is being hunted by the CIA and a group of dangerous mercenaries. Although received with mixed reviews, Knight and Day grossed $262 million against its $117 million budget, becoming James Mangold’s first movie to cross the $200 million mark at the Box Office.
3. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny – $384 Million
After Steven Spielberg had stepped down from the project, James Mangold was hired to direct the fifth and final installment of the Indiana Jones film series. The 2023 Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is set in 1969 with an older, retired Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) pulled out of retirement by his estranged goddaughter, Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge). She seeks his help in locating the legendary Archimedes’ Antikythera mechanism, a device said to possess the power to alter time.
As usual, Indiana Jones isn’t the only one looking for the device; others seek it for their own gains. With a production budget of $295–387 million, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is one of the most expensive films ever made. Although its $384 million Box Office earnings make it one of James Mangold’s highest-grossing films, it was a commercial flop, losing Disney over $140 million when marketing costs are included.
2. The Wolverine – $414.8 Million
The Wolverine became one of James Mangold’s biggest projects, especially because of its genre. The superhero film was based on the Marvel Comics character Wolverine (portrayed by Hugh Jackman). It was created as a spin-off/sequel to Brett Ratner’s 2006 X-Men: The Last Stand. The Wolverine explores Logan’s journey to Japan, where he grapples with his immortality and his past. The films also starred Famke Janssen (as Jean Grey) and Hiroyuki Sanada (as Shingen). The Wolverine received generally positive reviews and fared well at the Box Office. The film, produced on an estimated $100–132 million budget, grossed $414.8 million.
1. Logan – $619.2 Million
With The Wolverine’s success, it was unsurprising that James Mangold was hired to direct the third and final installment of the Wolverine trilogy. The 2017 Logan is James Mangold’s highest-grossing movie, with Box Office earnings of $619.2 million against its $97–127 million budget. The film follows an aging and weary Logan (Hugh Jackman), formerly known as Wolverine.
Logan struggles to care for the ailing Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) in a world where mutants are nearly extinct. Logan’s self-imposed exile is disrupted when a young girl named Laura (Dafne Keen), a mysterious mutant with powers strikingly similar to his own. Logan was a critical masterpiece and a powerful send-off for Hugh Jackman’s portrayal of Wolverine. Logan marks one of the most critically acclaimed entries in the X-Men franchise.
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