Every Jon Favreau Movie Ranked By Box Office

Jon Favreau has one of the most interesting career arcs of any filmmaker working today. Favreau began his career as a charismatic, snarky comedic actor, making appearances in shows like The Sopranos and Friends. While he was always an engaging presence in front of the camera, Favreau proved to be a very talented screenwriter after penning the hit comedy Swingers. In the years that followed, Favreau became a massively successful comedy filmmaker who transitioned into action filmmaking.

It’s somewhat amusing to note his humble roots, as Favreau has become Disney’s most valuable franchise storyteller. After kicking off the very first Marvel Cinematic Universe film and rebooting two popular Disney animated films, Favreau was put in charge of the Star Wars franchise on streaming with his role showrunning The Mandalorian. He is now set to direct The Mandalorian & Grogu, the first theatrical film in the franchise since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hit theaters in 2019. Here is every Jon Favreau film, ranked by box office.

9 ‘Made’ (2001)

Worldwide gross: $5,480,653

Given how successful Swingers was within the independent film market, it's unsurprising that Favreau would want to work on a similarly low budget relationship dramedy for his directorial debut. While it was certainly impressive to see what he could do with relatively sparse resources, Favreau’s first feature Made failed to land with any real impact. With a global box office gross of just over $5 million, the film indicated that Favreau would need to level up if he had any hopes of becoming a blockbuster filmmaker.

While the film contains a very funny performance from Vince Vaughn, the mafia movie genre was overexposed at the time of Made’s release.Made may have simply struggled to stand out in comparison, as its comical inversion of the genre’s archetypes wasn’t really presenting anything new. Nonetheless, it was successful in proving Favreau was willing to learn from his failures.

Made

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8 ‘Chef’ (2014)

Worldwide gross: $48,428,048

After a series of critical disappointments in the blockbuster film scene, Favreau chose to return to his roots with his 2014 film Chef. Rather than the spectacle of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Chef told a personal story that reflected Favreau’s equal love of family and film. While stylistically it draws from both Made and Swingers, the more mature depiction of fatherhood indicated that Favreau had truly evolved as an artist. Hailed by critics as a positive depiction of masculinity, Chef grossed an admirable $48 million at the global box office.

While it was never going to contend with Marvel or Disney movies to be his top grossing project, Chef’s financial performance is admirable considering its low budget. The film may have allowed Favreau to refocus his creative energy before leaping back into blockbuster territory and making some of the highest grossing films ever made.

Chef

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7 ‘Zathura: A Space Adventure’ (2005)

Worldwide gross: $65,079,104

Despite being involved with some of the biggest franchises of all-time, it’s easy to forget that Favreau also helmed the underrated family space adventure comedy Zathura: A Space Adventure. Although it was clearly modeled on the success of Jumanji, Zathura: A Space Adventure failed to lift off at the box office, grossing just over $65 million globally. Considering that the film required extensive visual effects and could have feasibly started its own franchise, it's hard to not see Zathura: A Space Adventure as one of Favreau’s biggest disappointments.

A film’s financial performance isn’t always indicative of its quality, and Zathura: A Space Adventure may be Favreau’s most underrated film. It served as further example of his eye for great casting, as the film featured early performances from Josh Hutcherson and Kristen Stewart before they became stars in the subsequent decade.

Zathura

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6 ‘Cowboys & Aliens’ (2011)

Worldwide gross: $174,822,325

While its title more or less explains itself, Cowboys & Aliensfailed to connect with either western or science fiction fans. A confusing tonal mess that didn’t take advantage of its intriguing premise, Cowboys & Aliens underperformed with a global box office gross of under $175 million. Considering that Cowboys & Aliens was most certainly positioned to start a new action franchise and commanded a rather sizable budget, its underperformance was a rare miss for one of the industry’s most reliable filmmakers.

Although bad reviews may have been more to blame than anything else, Cowboys & Aliens’ underperformance is surprising considering its impressive star power. The film marked Harrison Ford’s return to the science fiction genre for the first time since Return of the Jedi, and featured Daniel Craig in one of his very few blockbuster roles amidst the run of the rebooted James Bond franchise.

Cowboys & Aliens

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5 ‘Elf’ (2003)

Worldwide gross: $228,936,304

Although he had certainly been a household name thanks to his highly popular star turn on Saturday Night Live, Will Ferrell proved to be the comedic voice of a generation with Elf. Favreau’s festive Christmas comedy took advantage of Ferrell’s rising popularity and grossed a box office total of over $228 million globally. In addition to solidifying Ferrell as a box office draw, Elf proved that Favreau had what it took to make mainstream studio films that appealed to a broad audience.

Although the film’s initial box office run was certainly impressive, Elf has been accepted as a modern Christmas classic in recent years. During an era where Christmas blockbusters weren’t unusual,Elf managed to merge heart and humor in a way that made it quite rewatchable. The film continues to screen around the holiday season, and even inspired a Broadway musical.

Elf

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4 ‘Iron Man’ (2008)

Worldwide gross: $585,796,247

While the Blade, X-Men, and Spider-Man franchises had certainly proved that Marvel comic book adaptations could be successful, the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it exists today would not exist without the success of Iron Man. Crafting a major blockbuster around a B-list character with a risky lead actor like Robert Downey Jr. led many to speculate that Iron Man would underperform, but the film coasted off of great reviews to earn an incredible box office total of over $585 million globally.

While it has subsequently been outgrossed by other MCU film, Iron Man set the tone that other films within the superhero genre would adopt. Considering the creative issues that the MCU has faced in recent years, it would be in the best interest of Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios to remember why Iron Man was so successful in the first place.

Iron Man

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3 ‘Iron Man 2’ (2010)

Worldwide gross: $623,933,331

Despite a chaotic behind-the-scenes process that included rewrites, recasting, reshoots, and chaning studio dynamics, Iron Man 2managed to outgross its predecessor and solidify the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a sustainable blockbuster franchise. With a global box office gross of over $623 million, Iron Man 2 clearly benefited from the strong word-of-mouth that the first film had earned. Despite a somewhat underwhelming critical reception, Downey Jr.’s charismatic performance ensured that audiences were still invested in the solo Iron Man franchise.

Although it is rarely considered to be one of the MCU’s greatest achievements, Iron Man 2 played an important role in setting up the main plot of The Avengers. The introduction of Scarlett Johnasson as Natash Romanoff and a larger role for Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury helped tease the crossover events that were in Marvel Studios’ immediate future.

Iron Man 2

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2 ‘The Jungle Book’ (2016)

Worldwide gross: $967,724,775

Although Disney has had a somewhat mixed track record when it comes to remaking their classic animated films, The Jungle Bookwas a complete phenomenon that became Favreau’s highest grossing film at that point. While nostalgia for the original animated film certainly didn’t hurt, the overwhelmingly positive response suggested that Favreau’s reimagining had successfully imbued itself to a younger generation. With a global box office total of over $967 million, The Jungle Book marked a major return to form for Favreau.

Although many of Disney’s live-action remakes have been simply shot-for-shot recreations, The Jungle Book made tactful revisions to the original film that made it more exciting. The creative use of lifelike computer generated imagery was also hailed, earning The Jungle Book an Academy Award victory for Best Visual Effects. It’s unsurprising that Disney placed such great responsibilities on his shoulders in the immediate aftermath.

The Jungle Book

Disney's live-action adaptation of The Jungle Book brings the original Rudyard Kipling story to life, telling the story of Mowgli the Man-Cub (Neel Sethi) as he is cared for by the animals of the jungle. Raised by wolves and taught to hunt by the panther Bagheera (Ben Kingsley), Mowgli also befriends the carefree bear, Baloo (Bill Murray). However, the tiger Shere Khan (Idris Elba) wants to kill Mowgli, forcing him to assess whether or not the jungle is a safe place for a human.

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1 ‘The Lion King’ (2019)

Worldwide gross: $1,663,079,059

Considering that the original The Lion King from 1994 is one of the most celebrated animated films of all-time, any live-action reimagining was destined to be fairly successful. While the original film had itself nearly crossed the $1 billion mark, Favreau’s controversial remake outperformed every expectation and became the biggest remake in film history. With an amazing worldwide box office total of over $1.6 billion, The Lion King ranks as one of the ten highest grossing films ever made.

Although Favreau’s decision to essentially recreate the original film shot-for-shot was somewhat controversial, the critical backlash was clearly not an impediment within The Lion King’s box office dominance. It is likely due to the film’s incredible overperformance that Disney has become so reliant on remakes of their animated classics within recent years, as audiences are clearly willing to show up to experience something familiar to them.

The Lion King

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