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James Cameron standing in front of a flaming Avatar sign
James Cameron in the premiere of "Avatar: Fire and Ash."

Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images

  • Only 5 directors are worth over $1 billion.
  • James Cameron is the latest filmmaker to earn the distinction.
  • He joined the elite club thanks to "Titanic" and franchises like "The Terminator" and "Avatar."

For most, filmmaking isn't a lucrative profession. But for a select few, it can really pay off.

In an industry where few want to be a part of failures and seemingly everyone wants a piece of the successes, these five directors have risen above the fray to not just be master storytellers, but get paid like them.

James Cameron, who has made the highest-grossing movies of all time on numerous occasions, is the latest to join the three-comma club.

Here are all the directors who are worth more than $1 billion, according to Forbes.

James Cameron - $1.1 billion net worth
Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, and James Cameron on the set of
(L-R) Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, and James Cameron on the set of "Titanic."

Paramount

Thanks to "Titanic" and the "Avatar" franchise, both of which spent some time as the highest-grossing movies of all time, Cameron has crafted a lucrative empire.

Tyler Perry - $1.4 billion net worth
Tyler Perry sitting in a soundstage
Tyler Perry.

Tyler Perry Studios

Thanks to the stage, film, and TV productions surrounding his character Madea, and the 330-acre movie studio he created in Atlanta, Tyler Perry is the richest Black filmmaker of all time.

Peter Jackson - $1.7 billion net worth
Peter Jackson sitting at his office with a long pipe in his mouth
Peter Jackson.

Robert Patterson/Getty Images

Peter Jackson went from making low-budget horror movies to helming one of the most successful franchises of all time with "The Lord of the Rings." It was a massive commercial and critical success, with Jackson collecting Oscars for best picture, best director, and best adapted screenplay.

George Lucas - $5.3 billion net worth
George Lucas standing with C3PO on the set of Star Wars
George Lucas on the set of "Star Wars."

Sunset Boulevard/Corbis/Getty Images

One of the architects of the modern Hollywood blockbuster, George Lucas' "Star Wars" franchise didn't just change the movie business forever, it also change how creatives can monetize their work. By demanding to own the merchandising and sequel rights to "Star Wars," which movie studios saw as losses back in the late 1970s, Lucas pulled the ultimate fast one on the establishment.

Steven Spielberg - $7.1 billion net worth
Steven Spielberg on the phone next to a photo of a shark with mouth wide open
Steven Spielberg on the set of "Jaws."

Universal/Getty Images

Out of the "Hollywood brats" who redefined the movie business in the 1970s, Steven Spielberg remains the last to consistently produce massive event movies to this day. His credits — "Jaws," "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "E.T.," the "Indiana Jones" franchise, the "Jurassic Park" franchise — didn't just make him a billionaire; they unlocked the imaginations of generations of people.

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Entertainment, Movies, james-cameron, tyler-perry, george-lucas, steven-spielberg, peter-jackson, directors, net-worth, Billionaires
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Only 5 directors are worth over $1 billion. Here they all are.