The 10 highest-grossing gangster movies ranked from worst to best
The American gangster movie is a cinematic staple, with some of Hollywood‘s greatest contenders deriving from the genre with the utmost polished style and engaging stories. A gangster film explores concepts of power, corruption, loyalty and revenge woven into tales of mob bosses, Mafia members and aspiring crooks, all looking to rise in the ranks of power, status and finance. Through their popularity, gangster movies rack up huge numbers at the box office.
Revenue through ticket sales signals the success of a movie through prominent word of mouth, marketing and theatre experience; therefore, worldwide profits are some of the most significant in the realm of cinema. Gangster movies generate promising box office earnings and strong critical and audience acclaim, becoming some of cinema’s most popular and powerful features.
Whilst box office earning does not always correlate directly to a film’s artistic integrity, quality and influence, ticket sales indicate a movie’s status and consumption rate. The gangster genre diverts more into examining and analysing style choices and plots, with sci-fi and superhero flicks mainly basing their quality on box office earnings.
With that in mind, here are the top ten highest-grossing gangster movies ranked, including iconic trilogies and Martin Scorsese classics.
The 10 highest-grossing gangster movies:
10. Public Enemies (Michael Mann, 2009)
Michael Mann’s biographical crime drama film is adapted from Bryan Burrough’s 2004 non-fiction book Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933–34. The story charts John Dillinger’s final years as a notorious bank robber, with Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Billy Crudup, Stephen Dorff and Stephen Lang appearing in starring roles.
Public Enemies is the fourth highest-grossing gangster film, making $214million from an $80million budget. Mann’s direction is technical, precise and effortlessly efficient, leading charismatic and intriguing performances working. However, the writing lacks drama and could be more compelling.
9. Gangs of New York (Martin Scorsese, 2002)
Director Martin Scorsese worked with screenwriters Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian and Kenneth Lonergan to bring Herbert Asbury’s 1927 book The Gangs of New York to the big screen. The film takes place in 1862 and sees a long-running Catholic-Protestant feud erupts into violence, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis and Cameron Diaz in leading roles.
Making $193million from a $100million budget, Gangs of New York is the fifth highest-grossing gangster movie ever. Scorsese’s direction and the cast’s brilliant performances make it one of the best films of 2002, with production and performances reading as electric and impressive. However, the plot overworks itself with too many themes and little time to thoroughly explore each one, resulting in a sprawling and overly complicated watch that relies on visuals.
8. Road to Perdition (Sam Mendes, 2002)
Sam Mendes’ film Road to Perdition takes place in 1931, during the Great Depression and narrates a mob enforcer (Tom Hanks) and his son (Tyler Hoechlin) seeking vengeance against a mobster who murdered the rest of their family (Paul Newman). Jude Law and Daniel Craig also make on-screen appearances.
Road to Perdition comes in as the sixth highest-grossing gangster film through its $183million earnings from an $80million budget. The film is solemn from performance to tone, hooking a father and son dynamic in its crime, corruption and power landscape. Captivating visuals and edited sequences make up for surface-level concepts and a plot that plays tug of war between gritty and overly sentimental rather than balancing the two equally.
7. American Gangster (Ridley Scott, 2007)
American Gangster is directed and produced by Ridley Scott, and Steven Zaillian’s script tells the story of Frank Lucas, a gangster from La Grange, North Carolina. Denzel Washington plays Lucas, who smuggles heroin into the United States on American service planes returning from the Vietnam war. Russell Crowe appears as detective Ritchie Roberts who detains the criminal.
Scott’s film is the third highest-grossing movie of the gangster genre thanks to a $266.5million profit from its $100million budget. American Gangster is not the most historically accurate feature, as character arcs and plot events are fabricated to create drama. Nevertheless, the writing poses something intelligent as grand themes play out terrifically on the big screen thanks to its powerhouse stars.
6. The Godfather Part III (Francis Ford Coppola, 1990)
The third and final instalment in Francis Ford Coppola’s timeless Godfather series sees Micheal Corleone deciding to end his family’s criminal empire and crowning his nephew as his successor. However, the mob refuses to go down without a fight. The concluding act stars Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Andy García, Eli Wallach, Joe Mantegna, Bridget Fonda, George Hamilton, and Sofia Coppola.
As part of one of American cinema’s most notorious trilogies, The Godfather Part III grossed $136.9million from a $54million budget, the seventh highest-grossing gangster film of all time. Despite being part of a trio of stories, the third film slips into convoluted as it reads as a stand-alone story, bringing a weary and weak tonal shift. However, powerful performances and hints of the previous instalments’ emphasis on themes rejuvenate the film.
5. The Untouchables (Brian De Palma, 1987)
Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables saw writer David Mamet adapting from Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley’s book. The story takes place during the prohibition period in the USA, where Robert De Niro’s Al Capone, a mobster, continues his liquor business. A federal agent, Eliott Ness (Kevin Costner), is assigned to uncover Capone’s illegal business and deliver swift justice. The film also stars Sean Connery and Andy Garcia.
The film ranks number eight in the top ten highest-grossing gangster movies, earning $ 106 million during its box office run from a $25million budget. De Palma’s direction brings a sharp yet artistic exploration of the film’s period, moving with an assured energy. Its depictions of real-life figures drift into a heightened and dramatic realm, losing historical credibility with striking visuals having to pull everything back up.
4. Scarface (Brian De Palma, 1983)
Al Pacino stars as Cuban-born Tony Montana in Brian De Palma’s adaptation of Armitage Trail’s novel of the same name. Scarface charts Montana’s journey from an impoverished kitchen worker to a powerful drug lord. Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Robert Loggia also appear in De Palma’s classic.
From its box office earnings of $66million against a $37million budget, Scarface is the tenth highest-grossing gangster movie in history. It is a dark, brooding, powerful story that shines through its distinct iconography and iconic lines in pop culture. Every character is specific and layered, with interactions ranging from charismatic to dangerously intense.
3. The Departed (Martin Scorsese, 2006)
This epic crime thriller, based loosely on the Winter Hill Gang, stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg and Martin Sheen. An Irish mob boss called Frank Costello plants a spy within the Massachusetts State Police as the force assigns an undercover trooper to Costello’s crew. Scorsese’s film is a remake of Andrew Lau and Alan Mak’s 2002 Hong-Kong movie Internal Affairs.
The Departed takes the top spot in the gangster genre’s highest-grossing list, making $291.5million at the box office from a $90million budget. As shown through its several accolades, the film successfully presents the gangster lifestyle, with fantastic performances bringing an engaging and gritty script to life. Lau told Apple Daily, as reported by The Guardian: “Of course, I think the version I made is better, but the Hollywood version is pretty good too. [Scorsese] made the Hollywood version more attuned to American culture.”
2. The Godfather Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
This sequel and prequel was written by Coppola and original author Mario Puzo and reveals Vito Corleone’s childhood, with De Niro playing the young version. The additional story focuses on his son Michael, played by Pacino, running the family business after an attempt on his life.
Coppola’s The Godfather Part II is the ninth highest-grossing gangster film thanks to its $93million from a $13million budget. Although initial watches interpret the movie as complicated and convoluted due to its narrative divide, both stories are compelling, thrilling and insightful, with outstanding performances from some of Hollywood’s greatest setting the energy ablaze with their untouchable talent. The story tweaks something unapologetically raw and dynamic between its landscape of power, greed and corruption.
1. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
Coppola’s original Godfather film charts the Corleone family with patriarch Vito, played by Marlon Brando, overseeing everything. After living as an outsider, he hopes his son Michael (Al Pacino) will become a ruthless Mafia boss.
The Godfather is an undisputed American classic considered one of the most significant examples of cinema’s properties and power. From a box office earning of $291million from a $7.2million budget, it is the second highest-grossing gangster movie. Dazzling, intense, sentimental, yet brutal, it is complicated yet gorgeous, balancing its values of love, family and loyalty with power, wealth and corruption. With some of Hollywood’s greatest faces coming together on a shared screen, The Godfather is a crowned jewel in both the gangster genre and cinema.
