No film director has ever been more successful than . There's literal proof of it in the numbers. As of the fall of 2023, Spielberg's movies had made a massive $10.7 billion worldwide, putting him a whole $2 billion above the second-place slot held by . Spielberg has been pumping out instant classics since the 1970s, and while big family-centered films were his specialty, . With films like , , and , Spielberg became a purveyor of mainstream horror. He has taken a big step back from it over the past several years, but with the genre on fire again, it's time for his return. And it looks like we might be getting it very soon.

Steven Spielberg was mainly a TV director before he broke out in 1971 with Duel, based on a short story by . Duel was a simple film about a psychotic truck driver chasing down a man () in his car through the desert. That simplicity was made effective by Spielberg's use of tension, and through his ability to make the truck feel like a murderous animal. Watch it now, and you can see so much of what Jaws, and even later slasher movies, would be.

. It was the first blockbuster, and although it was PG and attracted audiences of all ages, it was pure nightmare fuel. The director reeled in his audience by making the characters the focal point, then hiding his monster for as long as possible, before giving us a tense and unforgettable third act of horror. A whole generation was afraid to go into the water because of that film.

Spielberg didn't stop there with the genre. and can't be classified as horror, but there are certainly some scary scenes, especially for kids. Spielberg directed a segment of 1983's called "Kick the Can", and after years of making more traditional films, he returned to horror in the biggest way possible with 1993's Jurassic Park. No sequel, not even his own, , was able to top the fear factor of the original. In 2005, .

Steven Spielberg isn't just known for the movies he made, but the ones he has produced as well. For example, would never have happened without his guidance. . He co-wrote and produced 's , and for decades there has been controversy over who really directed it. Spielberg is the one who found ' script for , initially an R-rated horror film, and decided to make it more family-friendly while keeping the horror intact. He has also produced , , , , , and .

Since 2005, . He has stayed in the Oscars race with powerful movies like , , and , but has also played it safe with , , , , and . All of these are good to great films, but they are not what Spielberg excels at best.

Steven Spielberg became a household name by creating a sense of awe and wonder among his audience. Over and over, he would take normal people and drop them in extraordinary circumstances, whether it was being chased by a truck, hunted by a shark, stalked by dinosaurs, or tracked by aliens. He didn't use gore and body counts to scare us, but by giving us people to care about, then slowly winding the tension around them until it became unbearable.

The movies need Spielberg making those awe-inspiring horror films of old, the ones that would go on to influence so much of today. Watch Stranger Things and you can't help but see the inspirational hand of Spielberg on all of it. It's understandable why he moved away from the genre. In the 90s and 2000s, horror wasn't always in a great state. Unless you were making a slasher like Scream or a splatter film like Saw, you weren't going to get much attention. Neither of those examples fit Spielberg's style. In the last few years, however, horror has become celebrated in everything from the Terrifier movies, to Barbarian and Talk to Me, to the Oscar-nominated The Substance. Now is the perfect time for Steven Spielberg to show why he was the master that inspired so many of today's filmmakers. It's what he did decades ago that made it all possible. With the news that he is directing a film centered around a plot involving a UFO, we might only have to wait until next year.