F Gary Gray and Straight Outta Compton Set Record
F. Gary Gray, Antoine Fuqua, Spike Lee, Keenan Ivory Wayans, John Singleton, Tim Story and Tyler Perry. Do you know what these names represent? These are the six top-grossing black directors in Hollywood, in order. While F. Gary Grey is at the bottom of the list in all-time gross, he is at the top when it comes to the success of a single film.
F. Gary Gray made his mark with "Friday" and again with "Set It Off." He showed his versatility in TLC 's "Waterfalls" video. He made history with "Straight Outta Compton." The good news for Gray is that while "Compton" has already made him the highest-grossing African American director of all time, the movie isn 't done bringing in money. His totals continue to go up by millions of dollars every week and it doesn 't look like that will end anytime soon.
…show more content…
Antoine Fugua is the only black director to direct a film where a black actor won the Best Actor Oscar (Denzel Washington, Training Day). Spike Lee has been nominated for two Academy Awards (Do The Right Thing and 4 Little Girls, won the Academy Honorary Award, and has won awards from the American Black Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, BAFTA Awards, Berlin International Film Festival, Black Movie Awards, Black Reel Awards, and the Gish Prize. Keenen Ivory Wayans held the top spot for his film Scary Movie (2000) until he was bumped out by Tim Story for the Fantastic Four in 2005. John Singleton made his mark with Boyz in the Hood in 1991 and became the first African American and youngest person to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. The film has been officially named a "classic" and "culturally significant" by the U.S. Library of Congress being preserved in the National Film Registry. Tyler Perry of Madea fame has taken the number one opening spot 4 different times as well as several number two openings. Since Perry 's first endeavor, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, his films have grossed over half a billion