Film-making is not an easy endeavor. Even if you could muster the money that’s required, you would still need to rent the equipment, hire the actors, producers, and scout locations for the shooting. One of the most important, if not THE most important aspect of film-making, is finding somebody who wrangle all that together and try to make a coherent film. You need a director. A director’s job is make sure the actors do their job, co-ordinate shots with the director of photography and various other aspects of the film. Making a movie is hard, making a GOOD movie is even harder, so you have to have the right people with the right mind-set and talent to pull it off. You’ve got AAA talent like Steven Spielberg and James Cameron who have incredibly impressive backgrounds, but you also have great indie film-makers like Jesse V. Johnson who have made compelling films in their own right. But for every Steven Spielberg, you have a hundred or so Troy Duffies. I’ll get to him in a bit, but the point is, is that not everybody is cut out to be film director and they shouldn’t be. That doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t try, but it’s not always going to work out. Here are some directors that got famous or infamous for a particular movie and ended up not making anything else worthwhile.
George Lucas – Star Wars
Before people start trying to crucify me for putting Mr. Lucas on this list, let me explain: This guy did direct two movies before Star Wars: American Graffiti and THX-1138. Those films weren’t that successful. It wasn’t until 1977’s Star Wars that George Lucas was vindicated. Star Wars changed the film-making landscape forever. Everything that everybody knew about making movies was essentially turned on its head, and we ended up with one of the greatest science fiction and fantasy films of all time. Nearly every movie made after 1977 owes something to George Lucas and his creation. His work has inspired and continues to inspire film-makers today. My respect for what George Lucas accomplished is never-ending. However, he never really branched out much from Star Wars. Yeah, he’s got producing credits for films like Willow and Indiana Jones, but as a director, he never got past Star Wars. In fact, the last movie that he directed himself was Revenge of the Sith. That was 15 years ago. As a story-teller, George Lucas is fantastic, but as a writer and director, he never really got beyond his own creation.
The Wachowskis – The Matrix
In 1999, one of the greatest science fiction movies ever made was released: The Matrix. It was such a unique concept and the execution was brilliant. It was a combination of Cartesian philosophy, Kung-Fu, gun fights, and a cyberpunk world. The film was a smash hit with both audiences and critics alike. It fused a futuristic world with revolutionary visual effects and slow motion techniques that nobody had seen before. It had a great story and great characters. It was also a film that made you think. Unfortunately, the Wachowskis never managed to replicate the success of The Matrix. Aside from the two Matrix sequels, every movie that the Wachowskis had made since then has been a failure on some level. Speed Racer, Cloud Atlas, and Jupiter Ascending all failed to meet expectations and disappointed everyone in the process. The movies looked fantastic, but the writing kept relying on the whole Alice-in-Wonderland concept that was a huge part of The Matrix.
Troy Duffy – The Boondock Saints
There’s a word that I want everyone to consider: Hubris. Hubris, as defined, is excessive self-confidence and pride. This is something that can get people into a lot of trouble in certain industries, and more often than not, the damage can be permanent. Troy Duffy, who directed the indie hit, The Boondock Saints, is a perfect example of this concept. Troy Duffy failed to grasp one of the basic rules of getting into the film industry: It’s not what you know, it’s WHO you know. Thinking he was going to a new power player in Hollywood, Mr. Duffy contacted some people about a movie that he wanted to make. However, because of his abusive behavior, he managed to push everybody away to the point that nobody wanted to work with him. It’s a miracle that The Boondock Saints was even made and released. Duffy had insulted some pretty big names in the industry including Kenneth Branagh and Keanu Reeves. Troy Duffy was, and from what I understand, is still a jack-ass of epic proportions. Harvey Weinstein(Yes, THAT one), had enough of Duffy’s behavior, and the rumor has it that he got Duffy blacklisted. When you get blacklisted in Hollywood, it’s damn near impossible to recover from something like that. Duffy somehow managed to get a sequel to The Boondock Saints made, but it was a disaster of a film, and he hasn’t done anything since, mostly because nobody wants to work with him. The man’s arrogance and boorish behavior killed his career before it even got off the ground. He burned every bridge that was extended to him, because he thought he was such a hotshot.
Tim Miller – Terminator: Dark Fate
Here’s an example of how one successful movie can really go to your head. Tim Miller made his directorial debut with the phenomenal Deadpool. It was a fantastic movie. It was funny, action-packed, super violent and pretty much everything that I wanted from a Deadpool movie. Here’s the thing, though: The success of Deadpool was not because of Tim Miller. No, it was because Ryan Reynolds was passionate about getting the character right. It was because of Ryan Reynolds that Deadpool was so amazing. Tim Miller didn’t return for the sequel, because he felt that Reynolds had too much creative control. Listen up, Tim: You don’t get to make those decisions yet because you only made one movie and the success of that film was on somebody else’s shoulders, not yours. Regardless, Tim Miller was given the opportunity to direct a new Terminator film with producer James Cameron. It seemed like a good idea, but Cameron and Miller had….differing opinions on the story of the film. Cameron wanted it one way and Miller wanted it another. This is where Miller’s ego got him into trouble. Going toe-to-toe with one of the most powerful directors in the industry is not a good idea. James Cameron earned his position and his ability to make movies, because he knew what it took to get the job done and he was very successful at it. He’d been at it for decades. Miller? Not so much. The behind-the-scenes issues are evident in the final cut of Terminator: Dark Fate. It’s a clash of tones and ideas and it didn’t work as well as it should have. Once the feud between Cameron and Miller got out to the public, that pretty much killed any ability for Tim Miller to helm any big-budget movie again. Will he? Maybe, but it’s going to be a while. Add on top of that, Terminator: Dark Fate bombed at the box office, putting the future of the franchise in doubt. It’s going to be a while before we see anything from Tim Miller again as a director.
Well, those are some of what I consider to be “One-Hit Wonders” of directing. Granted, George Lucas built a multi-billion dollar empire from his movies, but he never expanded beyond that. Troy Duffy was an arrogant prick that deserved to be blacklisted. The Wachowskis aren’t bad directors, they’ve just picked bad projects. I’m still curious to see what they do next. Tim Miller? Picking a fight with James Cameron was not the smartest move. To Cameron’s credit, he was willing to let bygones be bygones, so that could end up being better for Miller in the long run. It’s often interesting to see directors manage one successful movie, but not strike gold again for years. It’s a bizarre industry.