The 15 top-earning movie directors of all time at the US box office

But to become an all-time box office great, one must possess unrivaled levels of creativity, longevity, and enterprise - or else, decide to make five "Transformers" movies.

To find out which directors have had the most fiscally successful careers, we looked into Box Office Mojo's data to compile this list of the helmers whose movies have grossed the most money at the domestic box office.

From Steven Spielberg to Christopher Nolan to Michael Bay, the top-grossing directors in U.S. movie history all have compelling and versatile filmographies.

Here are the 15 highest-earning movie directors of all time, ranked by total box office gross: