Movies That Wrecked Directors' Careers

Movie Joe is where all

directors

who once had promising

careers

end up when they make the mistake that movie studios hate most: losing money, it's the one place no director wants to end up, but as budgets become tremendously expensive and few films are made, chances are that's where

directors

will inevitably end up, it's even claimed that some of Hollywood's brightest stars derailed their

careers

for years, if not forever, when Daman Chazelle arrived on the scene. , he was kind of a Hollywood wunderkind, here he was a guy who wasn't even 30 yet. and he had already directed Whiplash, considered one of the best films of the 21st century.

Even better, the film was a surprising commercial success, grossing $49 million on a small budget of $3.3 million and, just 2 years later, made history with 2016's La La. Land the Musical grossed $447 million on a budget 30 million and, similar to Whiplash, it is also considered one of the best films of the 21st century. More important for Chazelle, though he made him at age 32 the youngest director to win the Academy Award for Best Director for context. the previous record was also set by Norman for 1931's Skippy, when he was also 32 and 30. Chazelle had two critical and commercial hits on his hands and was the next big thing, then everything started going wrong, very, very bad, first came 2018. man, a biopic about Neil Armstrong, the movie had great reviews and it's a good movie about an interesting stoic man, but it didn't do well at the box office, okay, a movie that underperformed wasn't great thing, but what was important was that his next film was not only the most expensive he made, but it was also an unqualified box office disaster.

This was 2022 is Babylon and an epic about Hollywood's transition from solo films to talkies in the late 1920s. Babylon had a lot going against it, on the one hand it was a very polarizing film for two, it was a very long 3 hours and 9 minutes. Movie theaters don't like

movies

longer than 3 hours because they end up taking up valuable screen space for long periods of time and they especially don't like it. When the movie Babylon was trying to compete with was James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water, now the third highest-grossing movie of all time and perhaps the most anticipated movie of 2022, it sure featured Margo Robbie, but this was before of Barbie and Robbie was just Coming off another bomb from the film Amsterdam directed by David O Russell, he didn't stand a chance against the Juggernaut that was Avatar, the path of water, so you won't be surprised to learn that he collapsed under his own weight, dragging approximately 63.4 million. a budget of up to 80 million

movies

needs to earn at least 2 and 1 times its budget to break even, so Babylon would have needed to earn 200 million to break even, that didn't happen, although Babylon wasn't the only victim, although Damon.

Chazelle's shining star dimmed along with the film. He landed in what we call movie jail, the place where those who commit the cardinal sin by losing a lot of money to the movie studio go to reflect on their mistakes and build up their confidence so they can get another one. Again, there's a big budget, of course, the executives who green light these movies don't come around that often, but that's for another video. In this video I want to see three main things, the first is how the directors end up landing on the movie Joo, the second is something else. directors who have been or are in the same position as Shazel and what happened to them, including if and how they got out, and the third is how Hollywood can change to ensure things like this don't happen because they are shooting themselves in the foot. the foot and those changes will have to happen on both sides of the aisle, the movie Joe is not a difficult concept to understand, it basically means that if you lose these studios' money on a movie, that movie could be the last one you make forever or for For a long time, if you're lucky enough to still be making movies, your budget will be much smaller, you'll be on a much tighter leash, and the producers will probably control every penny.

The more interesting question is why it exists at all and the impact it can have on a director's career and person as movies have become more expensive and fewer are made, along with the pandemic and recent strikes, the Film creatives are on a knife's edge if they lean too far to one side and fall off that edge, they could very quickly find themselves out of a job, a movie that doesn't even underperform could be enough to get you in trouble with the studios. Part of the reason the Gill movie exists is because of the bigger business picture, most major studios right now, like Paramount, which produced Babylon, are public companies or part of public companies, meaning they have to investors and Wall Street on their backs for showing improvements quarter after quarter when a movie flops.

Hollywood has always had a push-pull relationship between the creative side and the business side and it has changed throughout the decades from the late 60s to the 70s when the UR-driven era where the director was the star of the film, but a bombshell from Michael Chimino, one of the directors we'll talk about in a minute, brought about the end of that era and the rise of the studio. The 80s lean more towards the commercial side, which makes sense since Blockbusters were something new. Star Wars had proven that toys and merchandise were billion-dollar businesses, and there was a general period of consolidation ushered in by deregulation pushed by Ronald Reagan.

The 90s changed once again, creatives had more power thanks to films being cheaper. to make and more revenue streams like home distribution, there's a reason the '90s were a decade of independent film and then we hit the 2000s, the internet would turn everyone into a critic, so the films had to tread carefully, which also meant they became critics. More homogenized studios would take fewer risks and find solace in nostalgia-driven sequels, remakes and reboots, some of which were successful, many of which were not. The rise of streaming made them more dependent on safe bets that were sure to be hits with audiences, especially with the MCU, which dominated most of the 2010s, in fact, of the 50 highest-grossing films of 20110, only a few few were original.

One problem with this safe environment was that creative risk is not only underappreciated but can actively end careers in February 2024. Chazelle was on the Talking Pictures podcast and not only learned but reflected on her career after Babylon in his words quote I have no illusions I won't be getting a budget the size of Babylon anytime soon or at least not in the next final quote The fact that he got the next one is a miracle in itself, although considering his overall track record, should be justified. Shazel is a great director and has a lot left to do, but the boon doggo that was Babylon left something of a metal. scar on Damian Chazelle had mentioned being on a fast-paced End Mind type date and that he learned the hard way that there will be a fundamental part of me that will be anxious regardless of whether the previous one worked or didn't end quote: some people have the notion that once you get knocked down you will get back up like nothing happened in real life, that's not how it works after you get knocked down, some of it will stay with you and you will understandably become nervous, that's what happened to him to chazelle, who also said that while you try not to let it get to you, you can't help but let it get to you, the pressure is further increased by the pulls in the industry, which could be the biggest contributing factor to If fewer are made both big-budget and mid-budget films, the latter an especially painful loss because it traditionally served as a training ground and proving ground for directors.

Normally you would make an independent film and if that was successful you would get a slightly bigger budget and make a mid-budget film and if that was successful you would have the opportunity to make a big-budget film. Chad stahelski Damen chazelle Greta gwi and Ryan cougler followed this path to varying degrees, but the future landscape has moved almost entirely towards IP-driven features and often come with producers micromanaging these films, the biggest offender probably Sea Marvel and others have made excellent videos about homogeneity in Marvel movies. You don't need to look any further than how the film is marketed, it's always Marvel Studios that delivers. and so and not Ryan Cougler presents Black Panther or John Ferro presents Iron Man the studio that is the franchise the intellectual property replaces the movie star and the director as the star for most of the last decade and a half of films the studios also They are getting stricter with their financial strengths and who they hire for a job.

Mia Galupo, writing for The Hollywood Reporter, wrote an article about the state of hiring directors in the industry and pointed out that directors who don't write or hired directors who direct films that other people have written. are having a harder time getting jobs and that directors who appear on the festival circuit with some films also find it difficult to get into their words quote new Talent must deliver multiple successful projects in a row and slide UPS before being granted the money the grace, even if limited, to fill at the studio level, final quote, the studio, of course, has its own needs, it needs people who can deliver the films on time, on budget and on brand, basically they need more Ridley Scots and less Stanley Kubric granted.

Scott had a recent flop in Napoleon, but earned a decades-long reputation for making films that were often finished on or before deadline and on or under budget. Meanwhile, Kubri would take all the time and money he wanted to make a movie, but no one would do it. I question because it was Stanley Kubric and he gave the man all the time and budget he wanted at this time. Studios prefer Scott's model. Outlook isn't much different or better on the streaming side, unless you're already familiar. With theater directors like David Fincher, Zack Snider, Ryan Johnson or Martin Scorsi, it's unlikely you'll see an increase in prospects thanks to streaming.

I was thinking about all the movies I'd seen on Netflix, Apple TV, Amazon Prime, and other places, and I realized that I don't really know any of the directors making these two direct streaming movies. I know the brand Netflix, Apple TV, etc., but that's it. I don't know who directed 365 Days or the sequel and I don't know who directed The Kissing Booth movies. saying that the most successful Netflix originals are all from directors who already became famous in the industry, there is no local success in Mia Goo's article on directors' jail, one of the people she asked questions was even more direct and said not to quote anyone.

You care if your movie did well on streaming end of quote, it makes sense in a sense, film is a cutthroat industry full of ambitious people and theater is still the way to make a name for yourself in the industry throughout decades, several other directors found themselves in exactly the same situation. position like Damon Chazelle, it's actually a little strange how similar his stories are. They were often young men who arrived on the scene with a critical or financial bang. Their first or second film did very well and they were able to get more creative and financial freedom. from the studios, but often this creative and financial freedom would end up being their undoing, they took massive liberties, sometimes taking a couple of miles when they were only given an inch, often with disastrous results, some of them would have other opportunities, but For many, his stories were Indeed, perhaps the most famous case of the film Gill happened with Michael Chimino.

His first film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot was a solid critical and commercial success based on its $4 million budget, but it was his next film, The Deer Hunter, that really took Hollywood by storm. One of the best films ever made, the film received critical acclaim and was a modest box office success and was nominated for five of the nine Academy Awards, including best picture and best director, so for his next film, chimino He got a huge budget for that moment and it was complete. creative control, they gave him an inch and he decided that he would go as many miles as he could and he did.

Heaven Gate was a disastrous bomb that grossed only $3.5 million fromits crazy $44 million budget. It was called one of the worst films ever made and according to some, it contributed to the downfall of United Artists and creative control returned to the hands of the studios who did not want another instance like this. Chimino let the deer hunter's success go to his head and screwed him up in the end. The original budget was much more modest, around 11 million, but the costs kept going up and up. Now, that happens from time to time. Seven Samurai directed by Air Carawa also had costs going up and up, but Michael Chimino wasn't Aira Kurosawa, he was something. of a dictator on set and was obsessive to the point of ridiculousness with some of the shots of him.

The funniest story is that he once directed a production, so a particular cloud was in the frame before the cameras rolled. Tamino's next film was The Year of the Dragon, another failure. That came 5 years after Heaven's Gate, none of his films after The Deer Hunter would do well and his last film was The Sunchaser in 1996, which grossed $2.583 million. It was the last film he would make. Phight Sham is another example, although he eventually worked on his Out of Jail movie, he was held up as the next Spielberg around the time The Sixth Sense came out and it's easy to see why, like Chazelle Shyamalan, he was hugely successful at the time. 29 years old and his next films, Unbreakable SS and The Village, were similar hits.

He took a little dip with the lady in the water, but he was back on top with what happened, but then came the two missteps that would derail his career: The Last Airbender and After Earth.In the last ear, Bender was criticized, but he still managed to double his budget, so he had another chance, but after Earth not only was criticized, but he couldn't even double his budget, meaning he probably lost money considering the huge impact of rotten tomatoes and considering both. films with mediocre ratings shamalan was relegated to film jail he couldn't get a budget for more films so to get out of film jail he had to risk everything admirably shaan took out a loan against his house and self-financed his The next film in 2015, The visit was made on a budget of $5 million, the film earned almost A1 million at the box office.

The 2016 split was similar to a self-financed venture to the tune of 9 million that generated nearly 279 million at the box office when it was sent to the movies Joe Shyamalan didn't depend on the studios to bring him back, he decided to move away from the big budget wastes and returned to his roots, small, strange films that could make a big impact at the box office, so he escaped cinematic prison. himself and in that sense he is one of the few who does Josh Tran, however he is on the much more depressing other side of the spectrum. The saddest thing about Tran is that there isn't much to say because he couldn't do much before his death.

His career collapsed in part thanks to a movie. He arrived on the scene at the tender age of 28 with 2012's Chronicle, a $15 million superhero movie that grossed $127 million at the box office and earned good reviews, but was suddenly taken over by producer 20th Century Fox for some reason. decided to take a huge risk by giving Tran the reigns of 2015's Fantastic Four. Tran jumped from a modest $15 million budget to a $120 million budget that ballooned to $155 million. One might assume that with great power would also come great responsibility, but that was not the case. The Trink Fantastic Force production case was a disaster.

Tran and his Fox producers clashed, leading Fox to change the film without Tran's permission, while we will likely never know the true story of what happened. One thing is clear at a certain point. point Tran was removed as director in all but name and would later disavow the film entirely saying that the version of him is not the version we see and whether the reports of his erratic behavior were true or not, this led to missed opportunities. . Tran was tapped to direct an independent Boba Fett film, but after reports of the disastrous A Fantastic Four production he was fired from that role, his most recent film was 2020's Capone, a film about Al Capone whose accounts unfortunately coincided with the height of the pandemic. it failed to perform at the box office and also did not perform well with critics.

He's still a young guy, so I hope he can come back. Chronicle was an interesting film and has a biopic about Theodore Rosevelt in development. Unfortunately, for 4 years there has been nothing that could last an eternity in Hollywood. Patty Jenkins has had possibly the most undeserved stint in movie jail. She was only 32 years old when she released Monster, a wildly successful movie about a serial killer, aliens, cautionary notes that begin Charlie's story. Then it had a small budget of 1-.2 million and grossed 64.2 million at the box office, it was a critical success and even won an Academy Award, but then for some reason there was no movie for 14 years despite attempts to make one and I would say that he has more than enough skill to deliver the products that he would work on television during that time until he was finally able to direct Wonder Woman, one of the few DC films that actually made money.

Wonder Woman was a commercial and critical success. Wonder Woman 1984, unfortunately. Its release was delayed several times and had a simultaneous release on HBO Max, which negatively affected its box office prospects. Jenkins, however, served his undeserved time in movie jail and doesn't seem likely to return anytime soon, some directors end up in movie jail because they are, for lack of a better word, disturbing, there's a BR singer who made movies like The Usual Suspects, the X-Men movies and Bohemian Rapity, but he hasn't had a project since 2019. Stark Phoenix, a critical and commercial failure whose Ries coincided with sexual abuse allegations.

The same was true for Brett Ratner, who directed The Rush Hour Trilogy and 2014's Hercules, but stopped producing films around 2017 due to new sexual assault allegations. John McAn, who directed perennial action favorites like Predator and Die Hard, didn't so much go to movie jail as go to jail after being one of the most in-demand directors of the late '80s and '90s. He hired an investigator private, Anthony Pano, to illegally connect two people's phones, then committed perjury and spent a year in prison. His last movie was 2003's Basic, after which his star practically imploded, now getting out of the movie is obviously a lot harder than getting into M shamalan Petty Jenkins and Damian Shazel really represent the three ways of doing it.

Shamalan's route is the simplest but also the riskiest instead of relying on Studios to provide the money needed, he provided it himself, he took the risk and it paid off but it also could have failed. His name had been dragged through the mud at the time of the visit and I'm sure he was as surprised as anyone when the film ended up being a hit, finally after several more years and several self-financed theatrical hits he was able to get a hit show. on Apple TV plus and reliably puts out a movie every two years or so, Petty Jenkins later.

The success of her first feature film tried to get others made, but all those deals failed, so she took the television route and made a name for herself there, finally being able to tackle a project that interested her and a Warner Brothers studio. and got one. Woman Made, of course, that also took over a decade to achieve, so this is not a quick route and there's a good chance nothing will come of it. Damian Shazel's route is a little more complicated. He has been able to rely on past success with just one. notable failure and that is Babylon.

He still wants to make movies, so he'll probably have to make some concessions. The first is that for his next film with Paramount Pictures he will direct, write and produce with a smaller budget than the one he had for Babylon. The second is that he will probably have more supervision than he would like from the studio, but it represents an opportunity to return to the studios and the public. Everyone loves a comeback story and if there's one thing Hollywood loves, it's Nostalgia. The film is scheduled to be released in 2025, almost a decade since its historic Academy Award win.

If that's not a great comeback, I don't know what is, it's never been easier to end up in film jail and I think studios and creatives need to find a way. A happy medium that works for both of us. Creatives must understand that they must mix art with Commerce. Otherwise, unless they're Stanley Kubri, Paul Thomas Anderson, or Yoro Elanos, no one is going to want to give them the budget to make a movie. Studies need it too. to understand that a one strike and its out model is not a table model if they do not cultivate talent, they will shoot themselves in the long run if directors were only judged by their first film, no one could be a director since those Movies almost always lose money.

Studios need a more sustainable path that guides directors from independent films to big-budget films, as was the case with Chad Stahelski, Greta Gerwig, Ryan Cougler, and Daman Shazel, who all went from small-budget films to mid-budget films. Big budget movies, the only difference between them is that Chazelle had a stumble with Babylon, he got too ambitious and it backfired, but I think in general studios need to be a little more forgiving of mistakes. Shazel had many more successes than errors. After all, the sticking point is budgets, which need to be reduced across the board as the current model appears unsustainable.

Relying on brand name studios like Marvel, DC or Disney to generate hits is unreliable as they are ultimately unfaithful and unlikable. re institutions yes, but institutions can crumble the movie has always been about personalities people you can support or support no one wants to support a company, but they will support Christopher Nolan or gr gerwick or denal n Oppenheimer Barbie and her arrival each one shows That one incredibly successful movies can be made with budgets of $100 million or less and a budget of almost $400 million for something like Indiana Jones and the Dial of Doom is unnecessary and unjustified.

What cinematic prison will ever completely disappear? No, probably not, but I hope more people. In it, having the opportunity to go out and have the periods shortened. Filmmakers like Shazel, in fact, are not a dime a dozen and in this era where even nostalgia-driven films like Indiana Jones or Titanic franchises like the MCU underperform, we need more people. Like Damian Chazelle no less