Billy Ray (born 1962) is an American screenwriter and film director. He began writing for television and movies in 1994 with Color of Night. He has written numerous films, including the first Hunger Games film (2012), Richard Jewell (2019), and Captain Phillips (2013), earning an Oscar nomination for the latter. Description above from the Wikipedia article Billy Ray (screenwriter), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- September 21, 1971 (55)
- Los Angeles, California, USA
- Writer, director and producer
- 23 on MovieCove · 27 credits in all
What are Billy Ray's films like?
Across their 20 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Morality and Survival.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 1 · Earnest 19
Light 1 · Serious 6 · Dark 13
Grounded 12 · Stylized 7 · Heightened 1
Gentle 2 · Charged 5 · Intense 13
Steady 7 · Shifting 12 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 16 · Some laughs 4 · Funny 0
Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 13 · Relentless 5
A split, not a type: Casual 2 · Engaged 7 · Full focus 11
Easy watch 3 · Affecting 10 · Heavy 7
A split, not a type: Resolved 11 · Open-ended 7 · Ambiguous 2
Moods and endings
- Happy3
- Bittersweet12
- Tragic1
- Ambiguous4
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Billy Ray's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 12 of their 23 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (5).
Subscription and free streaming for Billy Ray's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
27 credits, 23 with a MovieCove page; 4 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)
Animals(2026)
Midcredits score: 37th percentile of all films
Juk. (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)
The Comey Rule(2020)
Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all shows
Richard Jewell(2019)
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films
Terminator: Dark Fate(2019)
Midcredits score: 42nd percentile of all films
Gemini Man(2019)
Midcredits score: 27th percentile of all films
Overlord(2018)
Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all films
The Last Tycoon(2016)
Midcredits score: 73rd percentile of all shows
Secret in Their Eyes(2015)
Midcredits score: 48th percentile of all films
The Breakup Girl(2015)
Midcredits score: 7th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
Captain Phillips(2013)
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all films
Chasing Ice(2012)
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films
The Hunger Games(2012)
Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all films
State of Play(2009)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all films
Breach(2007)
Midcredits score: 81st percentile of all films
Flightplan(2005)
Midcredits score: 53rd percentile of all films
Suspect Zero(2004)
Midcredits score: 29th percentile of all films
Shattered Glass(2003)
Midcredits score: 86th percentile of all films
Hart's War(2002)
Midcredits score: 50th percentile of all films
Legalese(1998)
Midcredits score: 41st percentile of all films
Volcano(1997)
Midcredits score: 27th percentile of all films
Hidden Assassin(1995)
Midcredits score: 17th percentile of all films
Earth 2 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1994)
Color of Night(1994)
Midcredits score: 18th percentile of all filmsJ6 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 26 titles, 24 of them dated from 1994 to 2026.
Biggest box office
The Hunger Games (2012)
Highest rated
Captain Phillips (2013)
Most popular right now
Animals (2026)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
Awards
1 major award from 5 major nominations, 2004–2014.
- Oscar, nominated · Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay
- BAFTA Award, nominated · Best Adapted Screenplay
+2 other major bodies · 1 win and 1 nomination
- Writers Guild Award, won · Best Adapted Screenplay
- Critics Choice Award, nominated · Best Adapted Screenplay
- Independent Spirit Award, nominated · Best Screenplay
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Billy Ray's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 50th percentile, the median of all 21; across their 20 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 51st percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up8
- 50th to 74th5
- 25th to 49th7
- Below 25th3
Shape of the crowd
9 of their 23 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved4
- Crowd Pleaser9
- Broadly Agreed5
- Mixed5
Reviewers score the dialogue 46/100 and the plot and story 48/100 in their films, across 19 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Billy Ray's work okay for kids?
Across up to 15 MovieCove titles with content scores, violence & gore, profanity and frightening / intense run heavier than most films and sex & nudity lighter.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.
Who does Billy Ray work with?
People who share at least 2 of Billy Ray's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Ben Affleck shares the most, 2.
Actors
- Ben AffleckShared titles: Animals (2026), State of Play (2009)See all 2 shared titles with Ben Affleck
- Harry LennixShared titles: State of Play (2009), Suspect Zero (2004)See all 2 shared titles with Harry Lennix
- Peter SarsgaardShared titles: Flightplan (2005), Shattered Glass (2003)See all 2 shared titles with Peter Sarsgaard
- Bruce WillisShared titles: Hart's War (2002), Color of Night (1994)See all 2 shared titles with Bruce Willis
Composers and editors
- Christopher RouseShared titles: Animals (2026), Captain Phillips (2013)See all 2 shared titles with Christopher Rouse
- Jeffrey FordShared titles: Breach (2007), Shattered Glass (2003)See all 2 shared titles with Jeffrey Ford
- Mychael DannaShared titles: Breach (2007), Shattered Glass (2003)See all 2 shared titles with Mychael Danna
- Thom NobleShared titles: Flightplan (2005), Color of Night (1994)See all 2 shared titles with Thom Noble
Producers
- Adam GoodmanShared titles: Gemini Man (2019), Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)See all 2 shared titles with Adam Goodman
- Dana GoldbergShared titles: Gemini Man (2019), Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)See all 2 shared titles with Dana Goldberg
- David EllisonShared titles: Gemini Man (2019), Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)See all 2 shared titles with David Ellison
- Don GrangerShared titles: Gemini Man (2019), Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)See all 2 shared titles with Don Granger
Mixed roles
- Stacy ShermanShared titles: The Babushkas of Chernobyl (2015), The Breakup Girl (2015)See all 2 shared titles with Stacy Sherman