Writers

Writers are commissioned to create a screenplay from an existing property (such as a novel) or draft a script from scratch. The screenplay maps out the plot, conjures up the characters, and gives them words to say and things to do. Studios will often hire a succession of writers to rework a screenplay before production begins. Writers in these rankings worked on at least two top-grossing films since 2002.

Rank Writer Score Films With smoking With brands
1 Quentin Tarantino 4083 7 7 3
2 Evan Goldberg 2138 7 5 3
3 Seth Rogen 2093 6 4 3
4 Todd Phillips 1887 6 6 2
5 Steven Zaillian 1594 3 3 1
6 Brian Helgeland 1305 6 5 3
7 Ariel Shaffir 1084 2 2 0
Kyle Hunter 1084 2 2 0
8 Scott Silver 1007 3 3 0
9 Shane Black 909 2 2 1
10 Mark Boal 902 3 3 3
11 Edgar Wright 891 5 5 5
12 Steven Knight 876 8 7 1
13 Gary Dauberman 855 6 2 3
14 William Monahan 851 5 4 2
15 Greta Gerwig 850 3 3 5
16 Robert Rodriguez 824 4 4 2
17 Richard Linklater 735 4 4 1
18 Peter Straughan 660 7 7 0
19 Joel Coen 624 6 6 1
Ethan Coen 624 6 6 1
20 Richard Wenk 617 5 5 2
21 Eric Singer 545 2 2 2
22 Eli Roth 527 6 6 3
23 Eric Roth 525 3 3 1
24 Aaron Sorkin 523 3 2 1
25 Terence Winter 520 2 2 1
26 Paul Thomas Anderson 499 5 4 2
27 Christopher Hampton 487 3 3 0
28 Cary Joji Fukunaga 476 2 2 1
29 Jay Cocks 474 2 1 0
30 Oren Moverman 461 3 3 1
31 Craig Brewer 452 2 2 4
32 Harmony Korine 440 2 2 0
33 Wes Anderson 438 4 4 0
34 Richard Curtis 434 4 4 0
35 Justin Haythe 417 3 3 0
36 Simon Pegg 415 4 4 2
37 Sylvester Stallone 410 5 5 1
38 Rob Zombie 403 6 6 2
39 Laeta Kalogridis 396 3 1 0
40 Kenneth Lonergan 379 2 1 0
41 Luc Besson 378 4 4 3
42 Alex Tse 376 2 2 0
43 Derek Kolstad 372 4 4 0
44 Nick Schenk 361 3 2 0
45 David O. Russell 350 3 1 0
46 Ben Affleck 344 3 3 0
47 Mike Mills 341 2 2 2
48 Katie Dippold 335 2 2 0
49 Paul Haggis 323 5 5 0
50 Eric Johnson 310 2 2 1
51 Tom Ford 309 2 2 1
52 Scot Armstrong 307 4 4 1
53 Tracy Letts 303 2 2 1
54 Jonathan Hensleigh 302 2 2 0
55 William Broyles, Jr. 297 3 3 0
56 Dave Callaham 291 3 3 0
57 Guy Ritchie 281 3 3 0
58 Kurt Johnstad 278 4 1 1
59 Paul Scheuring 275 2 2 0
Christian Gudegast 275 3 2 0
60 Andrew Dominik 273 2 2 0
61 Andrea Berloff 272 3 3 0
Craig Mazin 272 3 2 0
62 Noah Baumbach 269 5 5 2
63 James Vanderbilt 262 4 2 1
64 David Levien 261 2 2 1
Brian Koppelman 261 3 2 1
65 David Ayer 259 2 2 0
66 David S. Goyer 255 4 3 0
Lorene Scafaria 255 2 2 2
67 Matthew Vaughn 246 4 4 0
68 Dan Gilroy 245 3 2 1
69 Spike Lee 243 2 2 0
Ryan Murphy 243 2 2 0
Kevin Willmott 243 2 2 0
70 Jane Goldman 242 4 4 0
71 Kevin Brodbin 240 2 2 1
72 Stuart Beattie 239 3 1 5
73 Taylor Sheridan 235 4 4 2
74 Edward Zwick 232 4 4 0
Joe Carnahan 232 5 4 1
75 Damon Lindelof 230 2 2 0
76 Etan Cohen 228 2 1 1
77 Peter Morgan 226 2 2 2
78 Marshall Herskovitz 217 3 3 0
79 Neill Blomkamp 216 3 3 0
80 Andy Wachowski 215 4 3 0
Scott Cooper 215 3 3 0
81 Adam McKay 214 4 3 0
82 Hossein Amini 208 3 3 1
83 Stephen Chow 207 2 2 0
84 Paul Wernick 201 5 3 0
Rhett Reese 201 5 3 0
85 Billy Ray 200 5 4 0
86 Sofia Coppola 198 4 3 0
87 Guillermo del Toro 197 4 2 0
Charlie Kaufman 197 4 4 1
88 Matt Cook 192 3 2 3
89 Paul W.S. Anderson 191 6 4 0
David Scarpa 191 2 1 0
90 Derek Cianfrance 189 2 2 0
91 Franc Reyes 188 2 2 1
92 Zach Braff 183 2 2 1
93 Terri Tatchell 181 2 2 0
94 Art Linson 180 2 2 1
95 James Gray 179 3 3 0
John Logan 179 3 3 0
Eric Bress 179 3 3 0
96 Simon Beaufoy 178 2 1 1
David Self 178 2 2 0
97 Gillian Flynn 174 2 2 0
98 Nicolás Giacobone 171 2 2 0
Armando Bo 171 2 2 0
99 Alejandro González Iñárritu 169 2 2 0
100 Fede Alvarez 165 4 4 0
101 J. Mackye Gruber 162 2 2 0
102 Tyler Perry 159 3 3 1
103 Tony Gayton 158 2 2 0
104 Grant Heslov 155 2 2 2
George Clooney 155 2 2 2
105 Jay Chandrasekhar 153 4 4 0
Kevin Heffernan 153 4 4 0
106 Andrew Knight 150 2 2 0
Drew Goddard 150 2 2 0
107 Kevin Smith 149 4 4 0
108 Michael Mann 147 2 2 0
109 Helen Fielding 145 2 1 0
110 Sacha Baron Cohen 144 4 4 0
111 Jim Taylor 142 3 2 3
Alexander Payne 142 3 2 3
112 Jonathan Levine 140 2 2 0
113 Tom Tykwer 137 2 2 0
Ronald Harwood 137 2 2 0
114 Dustin Lance Black 135 2 2 0
David Benioff 135 3 2 0
115 Jason Smilovic 134 2 2 1
Spike Jonze 134 2 1 3
116 Larry Wachowski 132 3 2 0
117 Skip Woods 131 4 4 0
Rob McKittrick 131 2 1 0
Martin McDonagh 131 3 3 0
118 Gustin Nash 128 2 2 0
119 Andrew Bovell 127 2 2 0
120 Russell Gewirtz 126 2 2 0
121 Chad Hayes 124 5 3 0
Steve Lemme 124 3 3 0
Carey Hayes 124 5 3 0
122 Julie Delpy 122 2 2 0
Michael Green 122 2 2 0
123 Robert Eggers 113 3 1 0
124 Leigh Whannell 112 6 3 0
Erik Stolhanske 112 2 2 0
125 Wes Craven 109 3 2 0
126 Sean Anders 108 4 3 0
John Morris 108 4 3 0
127 John Ajvide Lindqvist 107 2 2 1
128 Paul Soter 105 2 2 0
Stuart Blumberg 105 2 2 0
129 James Ellroy 104 2 2 1
David Wagner 104 2 2 0
Brent Goldberg 104 2 2 0
130 Mark L. Smith 101 3 3 0
131 Charles Randolph 100 4 4 0
132 Alexandre Aja 97 4 2 0
Grégory Levasseur 97 4 2 0
Scott Frank 97 2 2 0
133 Scott Derrickson 96 3 3 0
134 J.C. Chandor 90 2 2 0
Pedro Almodóvar 90 4 4 0
135 Michael Finch 89 4 3 0
136 Pam Brady 86 2 2 1
137 Jason Hall 85 2 2 0
John J. McLaughlin 85 2 2 0
138 Michael Patrick King 84 2 2 0
139 Damian Shannon 83 3 1 0
140 Thomas Harris 81 2 2 0
Jon Bokenkamp 81 2 1 0
David Johnson 81 2 2 0
Judd Apatow 81 5 5 0
141 Mark Heyman 80 2 1 0
Ian Mackenzie Jeffers 80 2 2 0
142 Todd Farmer 79 2 2 1
143 Mike Leigh 78 2 2 0
Peter Baynham 78 2 2 0
144 Phil Johnston 77 2 2 0
Jeff Schaffer 77 3 3 0
145 James Schamus 76 2 2 0
146 Danny McBride 75 6 4 1
147 Nikolaj Arcel 74 2 1 0
Steve Faber 74 2 2 0
Rasmus Heisterberg 74 2 1 0
Bob Fisher 74 2 2 0
148 Michael H. Weber 73 2 2 3
149 Jason Reitman 72 2 1 4
Brad Ingelsby 72 3 3 0
150 Wayne Kramer 71 2 2 0
Glenn Ficarra 71 2 2 0
John Requa 71 2 2 0
151 James Wan 70 2 1 0
152 Chris Rock 69 2 2 0
153 Dan Mazer 68 4 3 0
Marn Davies 68 2 2 0
Ivan Atkinson 68 2 2 0
Jordan Peele 68 4 2 0
154 Reid Carolin 67 2 2 0
155 Seth MacFarlane 66 3 2 0
Alec Sulkin 66 3 2 0
Wellesley Wild 66 3 2 0
156 Ari Aster 65 2 1 0
James Gunn 65 3 3 0
157 Ruben Östlund 64 2 2 0
158 Brendan O'Brien 63 4 3 0
Andrew Jay Cohen 63 4 3 0
Kurt Wimmer 63 3 3 1
159 Kelly Masterson 62 2 2 2
160 Preston Lacy 60 2 2 0
161 Sebastián Lelio 59 2 2 0
Beau Willimon 59 2 1 2
Gonzalo Maza 59 2 2 0
162 Patrick Melton 58 6 3 0
Marcus Dunstan 58 6 3 0
163 Dan Fogelman 57 2 2 1
Mark Neveldine 57 3 3 0
Will Ferrell 57 2 1 0
Brian Taylor 57 3 3 0
164 David Griffiths 56 2 2 0
David Kajganich 56 3 1 0
Peter Griffiths 56 2 2 0
165 Jon Lucas 55 6 2 1
Scott Moore 55 6 2 1
166 David Mamet 54 2 2 0
167 Guillermo Amoedo 53 2 2 0
168 Anthony Hines 51 2 2 0
169 Peter Craig 50 3 3 0
170 Art Monterastelli 48 2 2 0
171 Jon Hurwitz 46 4 2 2
Neil Marshall 46 2 2 0
Hayden Schlossberg 46 4 2 2
Kenya Barris 46 2 1 0
172 Diablo Cody 45 3 1 0
173 Alan B. McElroy 44 2 2 1
174 John Michael McDonagh 42 2 2 0
Jamie Moss 42 2 2 1
Rodo Sayagues 42 3 3 0
175 Matthew Stone 41 2 1 0
176 Alec Berg 38 2 2 0
Alex Garland 38 6 2 0
J. Michael Straczynski 38 3 2 0
John Erick Dowdle 38 3 2 0
David Mandel 38 2 2 0
Drew Dowdle 38 3 2 0
177 Guy Busick 37 2 2 0
Aaron Guzikowski 37 2 1 0
178 Joel Edgerton 36 2 1 0
Anthony Tambakis 36 2 1 0
179 Richard Menello 35 2 2 0
180 Scott Kosar 34 3 3 0
181 Michael Moore 33 4 3 0
182 Gareth Evans 32 2 2 0
Christina Hodson 32 2 2 0
183 Mike Binder 31 2 2 0
Steve Conrad 31 2 2 3
John Hamburg 31 2 1 0
184 Michael Brandt 30 2 2 0
Derek Haas 30 2 2 0
185 Josh Safdie 28 2 2 0
Ronald Bronstein 28 2 2 0
186 Peter Berg 27 2 2 0
Dean Craig 27 2 2 0
187 James DeMonaco 26 5 2 0
188 Matthew Michael Carnahan 24 3 2 0
Daniel Pyne 24 2 2 0
189 Kieran Fitzgerald 22 2 2 0
Rowan Joffe 22 3 2 0
Josh Heald 22 2 2 0
Aaron Stockard 22 2 2 0
Mike White 22 3 3 0
190 Shane Salerno 19 2 1 0
191 Creighton Rothenberger 18 2 1 0
Allison Burnett 18 3 1 0
Katrin Benedikt 18 2 1 0
192 Chad St. John 17 2 1 0
193 John D. Brancato 16 2 1 3
Justin Malen 16 2 1 0
Josh Singer 16 2 2 0
Michael Ferris 16 2 1 3
Jeff Buhler 16 2 2 0
Sean Hood 16 2 2 0
194 Ted Tally 15 2 2 0
195 Sebastian Gutierrez 14 2 1 0
196 Woody Allen 12 3 2 0
Michael Haneke 12 2 2 0
Alessandro Camon 12 2 1 0
197 David Twohy 11 2 2 1
Josh Stolberg 11 5 2 0
Pete Goldfinger 11 4 2 0
Oliver Stone 11 2 1 0
198 Mike Flanagan 9 2 1 0
Jim Jarmusch 9 3 3 0
Niall Leonard 9 2 1 0
199 Bill Dubuque 8 2 1 0
Susanna Fogel 8 2 1 0
David Koepp 8 2 1 0
200 Lee Eisenberg 7 2 1 0
Ulf Ryberg 7 2 2 0
Gene Stupnitsky 7 2 1 0
Deon Taylor 7 2 0 0
Eric Heisserer 7 3 1 0
Ray Wright 7 3 1 0
201 Bobby Farrelly 6 2 1 0
Jason Segel 6 3 2 0
Sheldon Turner 6 2 1 0
Peter Farrelly 6 2 1 0
Nicholas Stoller 6 4 2 0
202 Michael Bacall 5 3 2 0
203 Erin Cressida Wilson 4 2 1 0
Simon Barrett 4 2 1 0
Nicole Holofcener 4 3 1 0
Wesley Strick 4 3 2 0
204 Jorma Taccone 3 2 1 0
Rick Alvarez 3 3 1 0
Akela Cooper 3 2 0 0
Marlon Wayans 3 3 1 0
205 Dax Shepard 2 2 1 0
206 Mark Duplass 1 2 1 0
Jay Duplass 1 2 1 0
Kevin Hart 1 2 1 0
207 David Wain 0 2 0 0
Ben Falcone 0 2 0 0
Mark Swift 0 2 0 0
Jeff Baena 0 2 0 0
John Francis Daley 0 2 0 0
Anders Thomas Jensen 0 2 0 0
John Hodge 0 2 0 0
Ken Marino 0 2 0 0
Melissa McCarthy 0 2 0 0
Jonathan Goldstein 0 2 0 0
Matthew Robbins 0 2 0 0
Oren Peli 0 3 0 0
Christopher Landon 0 5 0 0
Mel Gibson 0 2 0 0
Zack Snyder 0 2 0 0
James Iver Mattson 0 2 0 0
Scott Z. Burns 0 2 0 0