Every Golden Globes Best Director – Motion Picture winner

26 ceremonies, 2000–2025. 21 different winners.

Martin Scorsese ×3Alfonso Cuarón ×2Ang Lee ×2Sam Mendes ×2

One band per year, because no winner here has ever gone back-to-back. Colored by network / distributor; scroll sideways for the full run.

Sam Mendes'00

Ang Lee'01

Robert Altman'02

Martin Scorsese'03

Peter Jackson'04

Clint Eastwood'05

Ang Lee'06

Martin Scorsese'07

Julian Schnabel'08

Danny Boyle'09

James Cameron'10

David Fincher'11

Martin Scorsese'12

Ben Affleck'13

Alfonso Cuarón'14

Richard Linklater'15

Alejandro González Iñárritu'16

Damien Chazelle'17

Guillermo del Toro'18

Alfonso Cuarón'19

Sam Mendes'20

Chloé Zhao'21

Jane Campion'22

Steven Spielberg'23

Christopher Nolan'24

Brady Corbet'25

Wins by network / distributor

Universal5Warner Bros.5Searchlight320th Century2Miramax2Netflix2Other7

Who kept losing

Counting nominations in this category only, 2000–2025.

Most nominated, never won

Alexander Payne4 noms
Ridley Scott4 noms
Quentin Tarantino3 noms
Anthony Minghella2 noms
Baz Luhrmann2 noms
Bradley Cooper2 noms

Most losses

Steven Spielberg5L · 1W
Alexander Payne4L · 0W
Clint Eastwood4L · 1W
Ridley Scott4L · 0W
David Fincher3L · 1W
Martin Scorsese3L · 3W

The full list

Year	Winner	Network / Distributor
2025	Brady Corbet (The Brutalist) beat 5 others Payal Kapadia (All We Imagine as Light) Sean Baker (Anora) Edward Berger (Conclave) Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez) Coralie Fargeat (The Substance)	A24
2024	Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer) beat 5 others Greta Gerwig (Barbie) Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon) Bradley Cooper (Maestro) Celine Song (Past Lives) Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things)	Universal
2023	Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans) beat 4 others James Cameron (Avatar: The Way of Water) Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin) Baz Luhrmann (Elvis) Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once)	Universal
2022	Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog) beat 4 others Kenneth Branagh (Belfast) Denis Villeneuve (Dune) Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Lost Daughter) Steven Spielberg (West Side Story)	Netflix
2021	Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) beat 4 others David Fincher (Mank) Regina King (One Night in Miami...) Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago 7)	Searchlight Pictures
2020	Sam Mendes (1917) beat 4 others Martin Scorsese (The Irishman) Todd Phillips (Joker) Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) Bong Joon-ho (Parasite)	Universal
2019	Alfonso Cuarón (Roma) beat 4 others Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman) Peter Farrelly (Green Book) Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born) Adam McKay (Vice)	Netflix
2018	Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water) beat 4 others Ridley Scott (All the Money in the World) Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk) Steven Spielberg (The Post) Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)	Fox Searchlight
2017	Damien Chazelle (La La Land) beat 4 others Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge) Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea) Tom Ford (Nocturnal Animals)	Lionsgate
2016	Alejandro González Iñárritu (The Revenant) beat 4 others Todd Haynes (Carol) George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road) Ridley Scott (The Martian) Tom McCarthy (Spotlight)	20th Century Fox
2015	Richard Linklater (Boyhood) beat 4 others Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)) David Fincher (Gone Girl) Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel) Ava DuVernay (Selma)	IFC Films
2014	Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity) beat 4 others Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave) David O. Russell (American Hustle) Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips) Alexander Payne (Nebraska)	Warner Bros.
2013	Ben Affleck (Argo) beat 4 others Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained) Ang Lee (Life of Pi) Steven Spielberg (Lincoln) Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty)	Warner Bros.
2012	Martin Scorsese (Hugo) beat 4 others Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) Alexander Payne (The Descendants) George Clooney (The Ides of March) Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)	Paramount
2011	David Fincher (The Social Network) beat 4 others Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) David O. Russell (The Fighter) Christopher Nolan (Inception) Tom Hooper (The King's Speech)	Columbia/Sony
2010	James Cameron (Avatar) beat 4 others Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds) Clint Eastwood (Invictus) Jason Reitman (Up in the Air)	20th Century Fox
2009	Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) beat 4 others David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon) Stephen Daldry (The Reader) Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road)	Fox Searchlight
2008	Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) beat 4 others Ridley Scott (American Gangster) Joe Wright (Atonement) Joel Coen and Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men) Tim Burton (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)	Miramax
2007	Martin Scorsese (The Departed) beat 4 others Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel) Clint Eastwood (Flags of Our Fathers) Clint Eastwood (Letters from Iwo Jima) Stephen Frears (The Queen)	Warner Bros.
2006	Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) beat 5 others Fernando Meirelles (The Constant Gardener) George Clooney (Good Night, and Good Luck.) Peter Jackson (King Kong) Woody Allen (Match Point) Steven Spielberg (Munich)	Focus Features
2005	Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby) beat 4 others Martin Scorsese (The Aviator) Mike Nichols (Closer) Marc Forster (Finding Neverland) Alexander Payne (Sideways)	Warner Bros.
2004	Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) beat 4 others Anthony Minghella (Cold Mountain) Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation) Peter Weir (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World) Clint Eastwood (Mystic River)	New Line Cinema
2003	Martin Scorsese (Gangs of New York) beat 5 others Alexander Payne (About Schmidt) Spike Jonze (Adaptation.) Rob Marshall (Chicago) Stephen Daldry (The Hours) Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers)	Miramax
2002	Robert Altman (Gosford Park) beat 5 others Steven Spielberg (A.I. Artificial Intelligence) Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind) Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring) Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge!) David Lynch (Mulholland Drive)	USA Films
2001	Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) beat 4 others Steven Soderbergh (Erin Brockovich) Ridley Scott (Gladiator) István Szabó (Sunshine) Steven Soderbergh (Traffic)	Sony Pictures Classics
2000	Sam Mendes (American Beauty) beat 4 others Neil Jordan (The End of the Affair) Norman Jewison (The Hurricane) Michael Mann (The Insider) Anthony Minghella (The Talented Mr. Ripley)	DreamWorks

More Golden Globes categories

Film (Drama)Film (Comedy)TV (Drama)TV (Comedy)Film Actor (Drama)Film Actress (Drama)Film Actor (Comedy)Film Actress (Comedy)Browse the full show

Call next year’s winner before your friends do

You’ve seen the whole history. Now put a pick on the record and run a live pool when the Golden Globes come back around.

Start a free party