The Academy Awards are undoubtedly the most anticipated and acclaimed awards ceremony in the film industry. Every year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honors the highest achievements in film by nominating movies and the people who worked on them in various categories. Best Film Editing, Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Best Cinematography are just a few of the other awards films that can be nominated for. Out of all 24 categories, the four most significant awards presented are, of course, Best Picture, Best Actor and Actress, and Best Director.
Throughout the 2000s, we have seen such innovative and talented directors create films that have turned into classics. History was made at the Oscars throughout the 2000s in terms of directing. A beloved director like Martin Scorsese, for whom people have been rooting for decades, finally won a very well-deserved Oscar for Best Director in 2006, and Kathryn Bigelow made history as the first woman to win a Best Director Oscar in 2009. Here’s our ranking of the Best Director Oscar-winners of the 2000s.
10 Roman Polanski — The Pianist
Canal+
Despite Adrien Brody’s brilliant performance and how praised the 2002 war/drama The Pianist is it’s hard to celebrate director Roman Polanski considering all the allegations against him, as outlined by Rolling Stone. The Pianist is very well done and a truly great film, but in this case, it is difficult to separate the art from the artist. Polanski has directed numerous films over the years including Macbeth, Repulsion, Rosemary’s Baby, and, of course, Chinatown, but it wasn’t until 2003 that he won his first Academy Award for Best Director for The Pianist.
9 Danny Boyle — Slumdog Millionaire
Warner Bros.
Danny Boyle is the mastermind behind The Beach, Steve Jobs, 127 Hours, and the 2008 drama/romance that won the director his Academy Award Slumdog Millionaire. Throughout the director’s career, he has collaborated with some of the greatest actors in the industry, ranging from Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet to Tilda Swinton, Michael Fassbender, and Dev Patel. In addition to Slumdog Millionaire winning Boyle the Oscar for Best Directing, the film also took home the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2009.
8 Steven Soderbergh — Traffic
USA Films
The amount of great films that Steven Soderbergh has put out throughout his career is incredible. Over the year,s it becomes more and more evident how diverse his body of work is, proving even further what a talented filmmaker Soderbergh is. He won the Academy Award for Best Directing in 2001 for the film Traffic, a crime/drama that received great critical acclaim and also earned Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing.
7 Ron Howard — A Beautiful Mind
Universal Pictures
Ron Howard is a legend in the world of film, directing some of the world’s most beloved pieces of cinema from the 1990s and 2000s. In 2002, the director won his first two Academy Awards in the categories of Best Director and Best Picture for the film A Beautiful Mind, starring Russell Crowe. The movie follows a mathematical genius who is on the ups and seems to be getting it all, only to lose himself and end up going down a deep and painful road. The film’s score is beautiful as it was composed by the great James Horner. In addition to A Beautiful Mind, some of Howard’s best work includes Apollo 13, Cinderella Man, Far and Away, The Da Vinci Code, and The Missing.
6 Peter Jackson — The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
New Line Cinema
The cinematic world in which The Lord of the Rings franchise exists is massive. The task of directing such a huge and complicated production such as this one is quite the challenge and one that Peter Jackson did an incredible job managing. In 2004, he won the Academy Award for Best Director for his work on The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the film that also won him Best Picture that same year. These movies made such an impact on cinema and audiences all around the world due to Jackson’s talents.
5 Ang Lee — Brokeback Mountain
River Road Entertainment
Brokeback Mountain was released in 2005 and is still talked about today as one of the greatest LGBTQ+ love stories represented in mainstream cinema. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger who play Jack and Ernis, a rodeo cowboy and ranch hand who fall in love while working in Wyoming. In addition to Ang Lee winning his Oscar for Best Director for his work on the film, Brokeback Mountain was also nominated for Best Picture in 2006. Crash ended up taking home the award, but, per Screen Rant, many consider this one of the greatest Oscar snubs.
4 Joel and Ethan Coen — No Country For Old Men
Scott Rudin Productions
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, better known as the Coen brothers, are masters at the melodrama/ dark comedy genre. The two have been collaborating together as directors and screenwriters since the 1980s. Over the years, they have been nominated for several Oscars for their work on films such as Fargo, True Grit, Burn After Reading, The Big Lebowski, and Raising Arizona, but it wasn’t until No Country for Old Men that they finally took home the Oscar for Best Director. The film also won in the categories of Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture. The Coen Brothers are legends in the world of movie-making, and fans can’t wait to see what other great films they create during their career.
3 Clint Eastwood — Million Dollar Baby
Lakeshore Entertainment
This next person is a true legend and one of the greatest directors, actors, and filmmakers of all time: Clint Eastwood. There aren’t enough ways to articulate how much Eastwood has impacted cinema throughout his career. From starring in classic 60s westerns like The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly and eventually Dirty Harry in the early 70s, to directing incredible stories and re-imagining where the western stands in modern-day cinema with Unforgiven and American Sniper. In 2005, Eastwood won two Oscars for his film Million Dollar Baby in the categories of Best Director and Best Picture. This was his second Academy Award for Best Director, and at 91 years old, Eastwood is still creating movies today.
2 Kathryn Bigelow — The Hurt Locker
Voltage Pictures
In 2010, Kathryn Bigelow made history by being the first woman to ever win the Academy Award for Best Director. After witnessing only men win the award for 81 years, this was a day some weren’t sure they would ever see. It’s no secret that there is gender inequality in Hollywood and that female filmmakers are not given the same chances and opportunities that males are. Bigelow’s win was monumental and, since 2010, Chloé Zhao and Jane Campion, two more female directors, have also won the award for their films Nomadland and The Power of the Dog, respectively. Bigelow and her film The Hurt Locker will go down in history for beating out Lee Daniels, Jason Reitman, Quentin Tarantino, and Bigelow’s ex-husband, James Cameron.
1 Martin Scorsese — The Departed
Coming in at number one on the list of the Best Director Oscar Winners of the 2000s is the greatest living director Martin Scorsese. The beloved auteur and the man behind classics such as Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Casino, Raging Bull, and Mean Streets has had fans rooting for his Oscar win since the very beginning of his career. After being nominated for Best Director eight times, he finally won the Academy Award in 2007 for his film The Departed, starring Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, and Mark Wahlberg. Scorsese is a master and his films will be a part of cinema history forever.
