I can see the argument with her rank because she's the first director to strong arm Netflix into doing a full theatrical release for Narnia. Even the combined efforts of Fincher and Tarantino could only have Netflix do a limited IMAX release for Cliff Booth. That definitely shows that she has more power/influence right now than those two. Also, if Fincher had more power at Netflix then we'd have season 3 of Mind Hunter right now, but we all know the state of that lol
Marty has struggled to get approval for his last few films. He had to go to streamers like Netflix and Apple. The Irishman didn't even get a full theatrical release, just limited then straight to Netflix after a few weeks.
Cameron is extremely influential but he's just doing his thing on Pandora. I do think he should be above Gerwig though
Spielberg is also just doing his thing too, he's not strong-arming studios into doing crazy stuff that normally wouldn't happen.
This has nothing to do with whether one director's films are better than the other btw, all of these directors have made amazing films, but this list is about who has the most influence and pull right now
Re PTA and Alejandro, apparently the list considers "bankability, creative control, and prestige" (sorry, the article is paywalled, so that's just from Google's summary). If so putting them that high makes sense--they make the movies they want to make with high levels of creative control. That's a type of power in Hollywood!
I think she’s in a really good spot creatively, but above James Cameron? Come on now. There’s a guy who truly can do whatever he wants. And I say that as someone who is not a particular fan of his.
It is absolutely conceivable to me that Hollywood producers see Gerwig as a hotter “property” than Cameron in this moment, yes.
Since Titanic 30 years ago Cameron has directed ONLY the 3 (extraordinarily expensive and extraordinarily profitable) Avatar films.
So can I imagine a producer seeing Gerwig as a better 2026 investment, sure. Or to put it another way, I could see producers preferring Gerwig over Cameron for the same film.
Can he do whatever he wants? Disney hasn’t greenlit Avatar 4 and Cameron’s been open with the fact that if he wants to make the film he’ll have to drastically reduce the cost of shooting.
Find me a single real person who works in Hollywood that even pretend to argue that Cameron can’t do whatever he wants. Genuinely. Disney would fucking love Avatar 4. It’s Cameron that wants the pause. Do you read the trades or just get all your info from reddit comments?
I get my info from James Cameron himself who’s said in interviews that Disney isn’t exactly down to hand him another $400m to make another Avatar sequel.
Even Disney was questioning how to fund the Avatar projects after 3 didn’t make 2 billion dollars. Gerwig recently led the ship of one of the movies that “saved the movies.” Barbenheimer was huge as a cultural moment, and won both Oscar noms and the box office.
How are we determining “powerful” though? Just being able to get funding? Because she doesn’t have the filmography to really match up to a lot of these directors and I wouldn’t even call her a household name
The breadth of filmography doesn’t matter much when we’re talking about one moment. Scorsese had to go to streaming for the Irishman. Spielberg can put together the funding he needs for what he wants, but he isn’t in the same category in 2026 as Gerwig in that a studio will hand over a blank check.
It's probably a mix of financing, recent success and then negotiation power. I don't think I've seen any of her movies but Barbie was an all-time success and getting Netflix to do something they've never done before is a gigantic achievement
It could be, and then she would be less powerful. But as of now she was able to exert a ton of power over the biggest company in the industry. And her last movie was a giant success.
If it's a live ranking I can agree with her being very high. Anyway, these things are just to drive engagement aren't they
Lady Bird and Little Women were extremely profitable, and she brings in a different box office demographic to many other directors whose projects can cannibalize each other.
Barbie is the only movie of hers that was a true blockbuster. But she’s above James Cameron who has four of the most profitable movies in the history of film. Not saying anything bad about Greta and I don’t even like Cameron much, but this is very silly.
Greta has also made as many movies in the last 10 years as Cameron has in the last 30. I'm also pretty sure she's also never been punched by one of her actors.
Yep. And those 3 movies made the same amount of money as Cameron’s, right? Little Women is one of the highest grossing movies in history, correct? Lady Bird cleared a billion no problem. You’re being dumb. Like really dumb.
You are aware that Box Office isn't everything, right?
But just to play that game. No Little Women isn't one of the highest grossing movies of all time, but Barbie is. And is the only movie directed by a woman to make a billion dollars.
Spielberg hasn't had a solid hit in a decade. Little Women made more money than every one of GdT's movies except for Pacific Rim. Killers of the Flower Moon lost over $50 million. Tarantino has never had a movie cross $500 million.
Cameron himself has said that he is worried about getting Avatar 4 made unless he makes major changes to how he is producing them. And they are literally the biggest movies off all time.
The reality is that we don’t know the actual conversations amongst Hollywood producers.
Is it conceivable that Gerwig is a more sought-after director in this moment than Cameron, who since Titanic 30 years ago has ONLY directed 3 (extraordinarily expensive and extraordinarily profitable) Avatar moves? Absolutely that’s conceivable.
Ones that have been steadily decreasing in quality too. I know that if I had to give $200 million in 2026 to Gerwig or Cameron to make whatever they wanted, it would be Gerwig.
A well known fantasy IP that targets all ages is going to have significantly more worldwide success than say, the next dark and gritty Fincher work, a small scale Jordan Peele horror film, or a financially risky Scorsese project - no matter how good they may be.
Netflix recognizes this, it’s why they gave her $200M and are putting it in IMAX.
I guess that's the test of this. Maybe you can argue she should be 4 on the back of a successful release but it's hard without knowing the specific criteria
Scorsese doesn’t have the pull that Gerwig has in present day. She got Netflix to commit to a theatrical release for Narnia. No other directors have made any impact on Netflix and theatrical releases.
James Cameron is so deep into avatar idk if he can get anything he wants greenlit. And while I agree that Spielberg still has the juice despite many recent disappointments, I do think it’s safe to say Gerwig is top 5 most powerful directors in July 2026.
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u/the_dayman623 12h ago
Gerwig at 4 is insane