The Highest Grossing Western Films, Ranked

Highlights

• Western films have consistently been popular and financially successful, from classics like Dances With Wolves to modern reimaginings like The Dark Tower .
• Movies like Blazing Saddles and Unforgiven challenged traditional Western tropes, tackling social issues like racism and moral ambiguity, while still earning significant global grosses.
• The Magnificent Seven and Django Unchained offer modern twists on the Western genre, combining traditional elements with action, adventure, and compelling performances. These films were both critically acclaimed and box-office successes.

The Western world of film has long fascinated moviegoers with the genre's deserts, guns in hand, and epic stories of right against wrong. But which movies have done well in cinemas?

These films have continuously illustrated their financial appeal, drawing fans worldwide into the untamed frontier, from classic Old West tales to modern versions that tackle timeless topics.

Western films have been consistently popular and fetched a lot of money, from the sweeping epic Dances with Wolves to the gritty realism of The Revenant.

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The Western is far from a forgotten relic of Hollywood's past; these movies can be either modern reinterpretations of classic tales or new and fresh takes on the genre.

10 The Dark Tower

$113.2 Million

A 2017 Western directed by Nikolaj Arcel, The Dark Tower is based on the famous Stephen King science-fiction novel series. It stars Idris Elba as Roland Deschain, a gunslinger who seeks to preserve the Dark Tower – a legendary construction that keeps the world together.

Despite being among the most expensive movies with a budget of $66 million, it received average ratings from both critics and fans of the novels. However, it earned about double its budget as it reached a worldwide gross of $113.2 million.

This is why the movie is among the highest-grossing Westerns that combine Western, fantasy, and science fiction genres.

9 Blazing Saddles

$119.50 Million

Mel Brooks directed a 1974 comedy western film titled Blazing Saddles. This movie presents a satire of the Western genre, ridiculing that period's racial stereotypes and social problems.

The story stars Cleavon Little as a Black sheriff appointed to a predominantly White town; he explores themes of prejudice and bigotry through humor. The movie was revolutionary for its brazen handling of such topics and was nominated for three Academy Awards.

It earned a good turnover of $119.5 million and is now considered a cult film.

8 Unforgiven

$159 Million

The western movie Unforgiven was produced and starred in by by Clint Eastwood in 1992. The film centers upon the intricacies and moral ambiguity of the American West, undermining the stereotypes of American Westerns.

Billy the Kid is a man portrayed by Eastwood as William Munny, an ex-gunslinger with one last contract to fulfill – to gain revenge for a heinous offense. The movie was also critically and commercially successful, making $159.16 million globally.

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This movie is considered one of the most realistic Westerns ever filmed, with an impressive characterization. It succeeds in destroying the myths of the Old West by presenting its characters as more complex than they were previously perceived to be.

7 Legends Of The Fall

$160.5 Million

Legends Of The Fall is a Western drama genre movie written by Edward Zwick and released in 1994. It takes place in rural Montana in the early 19th century, and focuses on the lives of three brothers and their father.

Love, betrayal, and the intricacies within families during wartime in American society are the main themes of this film. The movie proved highly successful commercially, earning $160.5 million worldwide; it garnered positive reviews and nominations for some Oscars, and won in the cinematography category.

6 The Magnificent Seven

$162.3 Million

The Magnificent Seven (2016) is a reboot of a famous Western film from 1960. The film was inspired by Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and was directed by Antoine Fuqua, with a cast featuring Denzel Washington.

The film takes place in the Old West, where a helpless town hires a group of seven gunmen to fight a malicious industrialist and his troops. This film was highly praised for its action sequences and performances by the cast, and grossed $162.3 million worldwide.

It offers a modernized twist on the Western, and a combination of traditional and recent features.

5 Wild Wild West

$222 Million

Will Smith and Kevin Kline's Wild Wild West is an action comedy film released in 1999 by Barry Sonnenfeld. It is a steampunk update of the famous TV program by the same name from the 1960s.

This film is set in the Civil War period where two special agents (James West played by Smith, and Artemus Gordon played by Kline) are trying to prevent an evil plot by a Confederate scientist who uses a wheelchair, portrayed by Kenneth Branagh.

The film featured Hollywood stars and a compelling premise, but critics' reactions were generally unfavorable. Nevertheless, it earned $222 million globally.

4 True Grit

$252 Million

True Grit (2010), co-directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, features Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Hailee Steinfeld as actors. It is a remake of a 1969 film with the same title, and is based on Charles Portis' novel.

The plot revolves around a fourteen-year-old girl named Mattie Ross and her search for the person who killed her father, accompanied by an elderly but tough U.S. Marshal named Rooster Cogburn. Unsurprisingly, the movie earned ten Oscar nominations, and recorded $252 million globally.

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True Grit is a Western movie about the American Old West famous for its realistic depiction of the natural world, powerful acting, and superb photography.

3 Dances With Wolves

$424 Million

Kevin Costner, as "Dances With Wolves," directs and stars in the movie Dances With Wolves (1990). It was critically acclaimed and received seven Oscar nominations, winning four awards.

The movie had a Metacritic "Metascore" of 72, and made $424 million internationally in revenue. Nevertheless, it is a classic Western film remembered for its story, camera work, and respectful treatment of Indigenous Americans.

2 Django Unchained

$426 Million

Django Unchained is a 2012 western film directed by Quentin Tarantino, in which Jamie Foxx plays a formerly enslaved person called Django. Django joins forces with a ruthless bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) to rescue his wife from the hands of a cruel plantation owner depicted by Leonardo DiCaprio.

The film is set in the pre-Civil War American South and contains adventure, drama, and historical background components. It earned critical praise and became a box-office hit with a worldwide gross of $426 million.

The movie had stylistic violence, witty dialogue, and intricate interpersonal conflicts. Tarantino won two Academy Awards for it, one of which was for Best Original Screenplay.

1 The Revenant

$533 Million

In 2015, the movie The Revenant was released under the direction of Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who casted Leonardo DiCaprio as the frontier man on a trading expedition in the 1820s. When he is mauled by a bear and left for dead, he survives and seeks revenge on those who betrayed him.

The movie was praised, and DiCaprio won an Oscar for it in the category of Best Actor. The movie managed to have a Metacritic "Metascore" of 76 and grossed $183.64 million globally; the film's portrayal of life in the Wild West combines action, adventure, and gritty realism.

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