12 Greatest Ben Stiller Movies Ranked From Best To Worst

Quick Facts

Ben Stiller is an award-winning comedian, actor, producer, director, writer, and philanthropist. He was born on November 30, 1965, in New York City. His parents, Anne and Jerry Stiller were also in the entertainment industry (as actress and comedian respectively) which to a large extent influenced Ben’s career choice. He has an elder sister, Amy, who is also an actress and has appeared in a few Ben Stiller Movies.

Stiller is reportedly worth between $120 million to $200 million, and he made most of his fortune from his multi-billion dollar grossing movie features. And even though he has had a glittering career, there have been a few which have not turned up so well in terms of Box Office or general output. So, here is a list of 12 of Ben Stiller movies in the course of his impressive acting career rated from the best to the worst.

Ben Stiller Movies – From The Best To The Worst

1. Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (2012)

The 2012 film, produced by Dreamworks Animation is a 3D animation film, which sees starring as the voice of Alex, a lion. He leads his friends – Marty (a zebra voiced by ), Gloria (a hippo voiced by), Melman (a giraffe voiced by David Schwimmer), and King Julien XIII (a lemur voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen), on a quest to Monte Carlo to find their friends – the penguins and chimpanzees. Their failed attempt to rescue their friends, prompts the casino owners to call in Animal Rescue to get rid of the loose animals. The leader of the Animal Rescue team has vowed to add Alex’s head to the array of animal heads on her wall. Alex has to evade the Animal Rescue team and manage to bring his friends safely back home.

The movie grossed $747 million at the Box Office on a budget of $145 million to make it as one of the top ten highest grossing films of 2012 and it also earned a 79% rating from film aggregating site, Rotten Tomatoes. The movie was directed by the trio of Conrad Vernon, Eric Darnel, and Tom McGrath.

2. Madagascar 2: Escape To Africa (2008)

This movie is the prequel to the aforementioned Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted. Young Alex (originally named Alakay) was captured by poachers and during transport, his crate fell into the ocean and drifted to New York. He meets his friends – Marty, Gloria, Melman and the rest and they take a vacation to Madagascar where they discovered their watering hole has dried up and set out to find out why.

The main characters of this movie remain the same as already listed above. It grossed $604 million at the Box Office on a budget of $ 150 million and was directed by the duo of Tom McGrath and Eric Darnel.

3. Night At The Museum (2006)

This film stars Ben Stiller as Larry Daley, a divorced father who applies for a job as a night watchman at New York City’s American Museum of Natural History and subsequently discovers that the exhibits, animated by a magical Egyptian artifact, come to life at night. 20th Century Fox released the film on December 22, 2006, and it grossed $574 million from a budget of $ 150 million.

The movie was directed by Shawn Levy and is based on a children’s book of the same name written in 1993. The star-studded cast includes Ben Stiller as Larry Daley, as Tess, as Theodore Rosevelt, Owen Wilson as Jedediah etc.

4. Madagascar (2005)

In Madagascar which is the first installment of the Madagascar franchise, it is Marty’s birthday and having grown bored of his daily routine, he wanted more for his special day; so he tried to escape from the zoo with the penguins and chimpanzees. Alex, Gloria, and Melma attempt to convince Marty to return back to the zoo with them, but a series of unfortunate events land them in Madagascar. They must brave the elements, and find a way to return back home safely.

The movie was directed by Tom McGrath and Eric Darnel and grossed about $533 million at the Box Office on a budget of $75 million.

5. Meet the Fockers (2004)

This 2004 American comedy film tells the story of a couple who decides to meet each other’s parents but finds out that the two parents have very sharp contrasting ideas about family life. As soon as they began getting to know each other, their contrasting lifestyle threatens to tear them apart.

The movie was directed by Jay Roach and it grossed $ 516 million at the Box Office on a budget of $80 million. The cast includes Ben Stiller as Gaylord Focker, as Jack Byrnes, Dustin Hoffman as Bernard Focker, as Rozalin Focker, Terri Polo as Pam Focher, as Dina Brynes, among others.

6. There’s Something About Mary (1998)

When Mary Jensen () asks Ted Stroehmann (Ben Stiller) to go to the prom with her, his dream to go out with his dream girl was about to come true; but Ted has an injury and couldn’t make the date. He then lost contact with Mary. Thirteen years later, he still loves Mary and seeks to reconnect with her but he is drawn into a web with other guys who are also crushing on Mary, each with his lies and schemes. He has to do all he can to win over Mary.

This 1998 American comedy film was directed by the Farrelly brothers (Bobby and Peter). The movie was produced with a budget of $23 million but went on to gross $370 million at the Box Office.

7. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014)

This is the concluding part of the Night at the Museum series (others being Night at the Museum (2006) and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009). Ben Stiller, plays the role of Larry Daley, the night guard of the American Museum of Natural History who is informed that the magical tablet of Ahkmenrah, whose magical powers bring the museum to life at night is corroding and losing its powers. Larry turns to Ahkmenrah’s parents in the British Museum to help restore the powers of the magic tablet but run into trouble doing so.

The star-studded cast of the movie is the same as listed above. This Shawn Levy-directed movie grossed $363 million at the Box Office on a budget of $127 million.

8. Meet the Parents (2000)

In this movie, Ben Stiller stars as Greg Focker, who intends to propose to his girlfriend Pam. Pam’s sister is getting married, and they decided it would be a good opportunity to meet Pam’s parents at their home, where Greg intends to officially propose to Pam. Pam’s father, Jack, is not a fan of Greg and believes he is not the best fit for his daughter. Greg goes all out to impress Jack, but a series of mishaps and accidents further convinces Jack about Greg’s unsuitability for Pam. Jack later changes his mind and accepts Greg as part of his family.

The movie, which is a prequel to the 2004 Meet the Fockers was directed by Jay Roach. It had a budget of $55 million and grossed well over $330 million at the Box Office.

9. Along Came Polly (2004)

Ben Stiller and star in this 2004 American rom-com. Reuben Feffer (Ben Stiller), who works in an insurance firm as a Risk Analyst, is not a risk taker. On his honeymoon with wife Lisa Kramer (Debra Messing), he catches her in bed with the scuba instructor, Claude (), and returns back home without her.

He later met Polly Prince (Jennifer Aniston), and they began a relationship, one that exposes him to all that he tried to stay away from. As his relationship with Polly grows stronger, Lisa (his ex-wife) returns and wants his forgiveness. Reuben has to decide which woman he wants to be with between Polly and Lisa.

The movie was directed by John Hamburg, and it grossed about $173 million on a budget of $42 million.

10. Tower Heist (2011)

Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda), the billionaire tenant in the apartment which Josh Kovaks (Ben Stiller) manages, has recently embezzled $2 billion and was placed under house arrest. Josh has invested his pension fund and that of his colleagues in Shaw’s firm and has lost everything. While having an altercation with Shaw, Josh and some of his friends are fired from their jobs. They hatch a plan to steal back some of the money stolen by Shaw, but their plan did not go according to plan.

This movie was released in 2011 and directed by Brett Ratner. It had a production budget of $85 million and grossed $153 million at the Box Office. Some other casts include as Darnell Davis, Casey Affleck as Charles Gibbs, as Claire Denham, among others.

11. Tropic Thunder (2008)

This Ben Stiller movie is an American action comedy which was produced on a budget of $92 million. It tells the story of a group of actors who are dropped in the middle of a jungle to film a life-like movie, but unknown to the cast and crew, they have been dropped in the middle of the Golden Triangle, fortress of the heroin-producing Flaming Dragon gang. The actors still naively believe they are filming under controlled circumstances with special effects, but things begin to get real pretty fast, as the gang closes in on them.

The movie was directed by Ben Stiller and grossed about $188 million at the Box Office. It featured prominent casts such as Ben Stiller as Tugg Speedman, as Jeff Portnoy, as Kirk Lazarus, as Four Leaf Tayback, etc.

12. Zoolander (2001)

On this list of Ben Stiller Movies, this seems to be the least. Ben Stiller plays the role of a dim-witted top fashion model, Derek Zoolander, whose career is on the decline. He is, however, recruited by an evil fashion czar, Jacobim Mugatu (), and brainwashed into killing the visiting Malaysian Prime Minister, who is against child labor in his country (which had made Mugatu’s “business” in the region difficult). Matilda Jeffries (Christine Taylor) and Hansel McDonald (), having realized Mugatu’s plans, must prevent Derek from assassinating the visiting Prime Minister and stop Mugatu.

Ben Stiller directed this movie, and it grossed $61 million at the Box Office on a budget of $28 million.

Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.