Michael Bay Is More Powerful Than Christopher Nolan & Joss Whedon According To Forbes

Forbes magazine has released their annual list of the 100 most powerful celebrities, and the rankings of some of the celebrities on the list might surprise many of our readers. We've already covered that The Wolverine outranked Iron Man on the list. But in addition to actors and actresses, there were also quite a few directors on the list. The top ranked director on the list was Stephen Spielberg at number 3. Spielberg had a critical and box office hit with Lincoln, and his earnings for the past year were an amazing $100 million. After winning the Best Picture Oscar for Argo, Ben Affleck also made the list at number 36. Affleck had earnings of $25 million for the past year. Peter Jackson took the number 55 spot on the list, while Jerry Bruckheimer took the number 58 spot. However, it's the last three directors in the top 100 most powerful celebrities list, which will likely inspire the most debate among fans. Michael Bay took the number 61 spot with earnings of $82 million, followed by Christopher Nolan in the number 76 spot with earnings of $40 million, and followed by Joss Whedon in the number 99 spot with earnings of $25 million. Forbes list isn't based on earnings alone, but also factors in other criteria to try to measure fame. What's surprising to us is that the two directors with the highest grossing movies in 2012 are the two lowest ranked directors on the list. Joss Whedon directed The Avengers, which was the highest grossing movie of 2012, while Christopher Nolan directed The Dark Knight Rises, which was the second highest grossing movie of 2012. Of course, The Avengers was released in May 2012, and the list is based on earnings from June 2012 to June 2013. However, it would still seem like Joss Whedon, who signed a new exclusive contract with Disney, would have ranked higher on the list.