Films that you personally think, genuinely hurt a director's career

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by L-Rouge

^ no doubt my friend, after Alan Smithee's efforts with Dune, I am not surprised to see his career falter...consistently!.

"Alan Smithee" only directed the extended cut of Dune, Lynch's name is still of the theatrical cut.

[klauswhereareyou]

Frank Oz: The Stepford Wives (2004)
John Carpenter: Ghosts of Mars (2002)
John Landis: Beverly Hills Cop 3 (1994)

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by klauswhereareyou

I think it's interesting to see where Tarantino and Rodriguez careers have gone after Grindhouse (2007).

Despite its financial failure, Grindhouse was a minor diversion which didn't have a negative effect on either career. Rodriguez career was already on a downward trajectory while with Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained Tarantino made his two most successful films since Pulp Fiction

[Todd Tomorrow]

Popeye put Robert Altman's career on the back burner for a decade till he made a comeback with The Player.

The disaster and deaths on the set of The Twilight Zone - The Movie and the resulting lawsuits badly impacted on Joe Dante's career.

The Night of the Hunter, now a bonafide classic, was so poorly received, Charles Laughton never got to direct another film.

One From the Heart went so badly over budget (from 2 million to 25 million), it bankrupted Francis Ford Coppola and most of his subsequent career choices were made to dig his way out of the depth incurred.

Heaven's Gate wrecked Michael Cimino's career.

[SymbioticFunction]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

The disaster and deaths on the set of The Twilight Zone - The Movie and the resulting lawsuits badly impacted on Joe Dante's career.

Landis?

[klauswhereareyou]

Landis actually didn't have too hard of a time getting a movie made until after Beverly Hills Cop 3 (1994). With that he proved he couldn't even make a decent Eddie Murphy movie anymore, and most of his later films were either barely released or went directly to video/dvd. From Twilight Zone the Movie to Beverly Hills Cop 3 he directed 7 movies plus the Thriller and Black or White Michael Jackson music videos.

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by SymbioticFunction

Landis?

John Landis, sorry for the brain fart.

[wonkavision]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

Popeye put Robert Altman's career on the back burner for a decade till he made a comeback with The Player.

And then right back onto the back burner.

[klauswhereareyou]

Altman's 90's/00's resurgence was due in large part to the fact that the indie movie scene of the time lended itself to the types of movies he liked to make (acting/writing heavy affairs).

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by wonkavision

And then right back onto the back burner.

Short Cuts and Gosford Park were very well received and are counted among his best films. He was a director who took artistic risks, so his career always went up and down, but Popeye ended his chances of a mainstream Hollywood career.

[Lord Method Man]

Heaven's Gate effectively ended Michael Cimino's career and the whole "New Hollywood" thing in general.

[Todd Tomorrow]

The double whammy of Daisy Miller and At Long Last Love, both made in a failed attempt to make the only moderately talented Cybill Shepperd a star, took Peter Bogdanovich off the A-list.

The financial failure of the costly Sorcerer and the controversy around Cruising didn't do William Friedkin any good.

Many of the great 70s directors eventually stumbled with projects which were considered self-indulgent follies (see also Coppola, Cimino and Altman who I've already mentioned)

Spielberg's 1941 was his folly and at the time considered a potentially ruinous career choice, but he bounced back with Raiders and E.T.

[wonkavision]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

Short Cuts and Gosford Park were very well received and are counted among his best films. He was a director who took artistic risks, so his career always went up and down, but Popeye ended his chances of a mainstream Hollywood career.

True, but I didn't really like Short Cuts or Gosford Park. Altman should have never been attached to Popeye, it was an odd choice. Not sure why Altman took it either, unless he is a Popeye fan. Altman could never be mainstream hollywood though, especially with your point that he is a director that always took risks and generally made films that were anything but mainstream and/or easily accessible. Gee, even the way he did Popeye was not mainstream. Although, I actually really like Popeye.

[JimDiGriz]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

"Alan Smithee" only directed the extended cut of Dune, Lynch's name is still of the theatrical cut.

Id still love to see that extended cut on blu-ray in a decent form of course.

[Todd Tomorrow]

John Carter killed off animation director Andrew Stanton's live action career. It wasn't just that the film was a failure, there also was a lot of bad publicity around how he mishandled the promotion of the film. He went back to Pixar to direct a sequel to his own Finding Nemo.

Southland Tales sank Richard "Donnie Darko" Kelly's career.

Frank Capra considered It's a Wonderful Life ruinous to his career. The film was both a financial and critical flop and it only became popular over subsequent decades via TV showings.

[madmojo]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

John Carter killed off animation director Andrew Stanton's live action career. It wasn't just that the film was a failure, there also was a lot of bad publicity around how he mishandled the promotion of the film. He went back to Pixar to direct a sequel to his own Finding Nemo.

Southland Tales sank Richard "Donnie Darko" Kelly's career.

Frank Capra considered It's a Wonderful Life ruinous to his career. The film was both a financial and critical flop and it only became popular over subsequent decades via TV showings.

It's a shame too, because at the worst, John Carter is simply mediocre. It's in no way horrible. I actually like it, and have never spoken to anyone that hated it. It didn't help that the rumors of troubles on the set made the media consider the film a flop 6 months before it was even released.

For Richard Kelly, I think it was more The Box that killed his career. Southland Tales was at least well recieved by SOME critics. (I actually liked both films, but not in the way they were meant. I saw Southland Tales as a comedy and The Box as a throwback to 70s conspiracy films.)

And yeah, I had heard that about It's A Wonderful Life. In my opinion, the original critics were right. Never saw the draw to that one in comparison to Capra's other work.

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by madmojo

It's a shame too, because at the worst, John Carter is simply mediocre. It's in no way horrible. I actually like it, and have never spoken to anyone that hated it. It didn't help that the rumors of troubles on the set made the media consider the film a flop 6 months before it was even released.

For Richard Kelly, I think it was more The Box that killed his career. Southland Tales was at least well recieved by SOME critics. (I actually liked both films, but not in the way they were meant. I saw Southland Tales as a comedy and The Box as a throwback to 70s conspiracy films.)

I really hated John Carter, didn't actually make it to the end, so I'm your first. Both Titanic and Avatar were predicted to be flops months before their release and it didn't hurt them.

The Box didn't help matters, but at least it broke even. Southland Tales had its defenders, but not many and it was considered a fiasco, making only $300.000 at the box office world wide. There were widely publicised re-edits to make the film more coherent, but none of it helped Kelly's reputation, the film was seen as self indulgent and Kelly as a director who got ahead of himself. The Box just came and quietly disappeared again, like so many mid-budget horror films. Kelly only got to make The Box because he already had it in the pipeline when Southland Tales got released. The Box would have had to be huge to make up for the fallout from Southland Tales.

[Kevin Holly]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

Death is indeed a bit of a career killer.

Originally Posted by klauswhereareyou

Yeah, so I guess Eyes Wide Shut would fall under this category also.

Yeah, but it's not exactly the same. Leone died because the edits to OUATIA were so obscene, his heart literally broke and he died.

Kubrick just happened to die after finishing his film, unless you believe the conspiracy theory (I don't) that he was assassinated for revealing too much of a real secret society's inner dealings. And, as a side note, quite frankly, the censorships they put in are trivial compared to how OUATIA was ravaged.

Originally Posted by klauswhereareyou

Well he did go to jail.

Touche.

Originally Posted by dallywhitty

You know, I'm a huge King fan and I still haven't seen Maximum Overdrive. Should I pay penance?

It's a lot of fun, especially for big King fans like us! Just watch it with people, and you'll have a laugh riot

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by Kevin Holly

Yeah, but it's not exactly the same. Leone died because the edits to OUATIA were so obscene, his heart literally broke and he died.

That's total bullsh*t, but of course this sob story is far more dramatic than the truth. Leone died six years after OUTIA had been released and he was in the middle of pre-production to a war film. His heart did not "literally break", he simply had a heart attack. Being a film director can be stressful and it didn't help that Leone was also quite overweight and a heavy smoker. It's sad, but it happens.

The short chronologically organised cut imposed by the studio did cause him grief, but the longer International cut, (which was the only version released everywhere else in the world) which was his approved version, was released in the US only half a year after the butchered version came out. The longer version was critically acclaimed as far superior and the shorter cut was never seen again. Leone lived to see that and he lived on for several years after that.

[Kevin Holly]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

That's total bullsh*t, but of course this sob story is far more dramatic than the truth. Leone died six years after OUTIA had been released and he was in the middle of pre-production to a war film. His heart did not "literally break", he simply had a heart attack. Being a film director can be stressful and it didn't help that Leone was also quite overweight and a heavy smoker. It's sad, but it happens.

The short chronologically organised cut imposed by the studio did cause him grief, but the longer International cut, (which was the only version released everywhere else in the world) which was his approved version, was released in the US only half a year after the butchered version came out. The longer version was critically acclaimed as far superior and the shorter cut was never seen again. Leone lived to see that and he lived on for several years after that.

If what you say is true, then wow.

Shame on people for perpetrating the myth (myself inlcuded apparently). In fact, in the booklet for the new Blu-ray, the myth is once again told.

In that case, too bad he didn't finish his war film. It's too bad he only left his Western comfort zone so late in the game.