Making movies is a notoriously difficult process, prone to all sorts of setbacks. One of the most challenging setbacks that can befall a production is losing a director. The director is the creative driving force of a film, the captain of the ship.
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But it does happen - directors are fired, or they quit, or other unexpected circumstances come up that forces them to depart. What’s important is that the production team pulls itself back together, finds a new director, and gets back to work. In fact, some of the most successful and timeless films managed to do just that.
The first cinematic adaptation ofStephen King’s novel,ItseesBill Skarsgårdplay the evil shape-shifter Pennywise, who terrorizes a bunch of kids. The film was widely hailed as a successful venture, thatdid justice to the original book, (althoughTim Currystill remains the greatest Pennywise). It also killed at the box office, becoming thehighest-grossing horror movie of all time.
This film did lose a director, and not because he was afraid of clowns!Cary Joji Fukunagarevealed in an interviewthat although the original studio Warner Bros. was happy with Fukunaga’s vision, new studio New Line was not.Fukunaga said that he wanted to do “a drama with horror elements,” and New Line wanted pure horror. Fukunaga therefore stepped down as director, although he retained a co-writing credit. The studio got the horror film it wanted under the supervision of replacement directorAndy Muschietti.
Superman II(1980)
Superman IIis a worthy sequel to the phenomenon that was the firstSupermanfilm. Some evenargue thatSuperman II is better. It depicts the Man of Steel (Christopher Reeve) torn between his duty to protect the world from the evil General Zod (Terence Stamp), and his desire to be a normal guy with his true love, Lois Lane (Margot Kidder). The film alsobroke box-office recordsin a single bound.
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Not unlike the 2022 Oscars, a regrettable controversy overshadowed what was otherwise a quality production.Richard Donner, who directed theLethal Weaponfilms and the firstSuperman, was fired as the director of this one. Despite having finished much of the sequel, Donner was dismissed afterrepeated clashes with producers. He was fired via telegram no less, as he toldThe Hollywood Reporter,and the film was largely re-shot byRichard Lester. After a passionate fan campaign to “release the Donner cut” (sound familiar?),Richard Donner’s cut of Superman IIwas released on DVD in 2006. Side-note: That was the same year thatSuperman Returns, was releasedin cinemas, which is a very boss move, if intentional.
Brave(2012)
Braveintroduces audiences to the feisty Scottish princess Merida (voiced byKelly Macdonald). For this princess, life is not just wearing a dress and waving; Merida must navigate feuds, family tensions, and even a witch’s curse. Althoughreviews forBravewere mixed, the film did manage toimpress at the box office, and collect theOscar for Best Animated Feature. It also broke ground: it was the first Pixar film to have a female protagonist and a female director,Brenda Chapman.
Sadly, Chapman’s experience as director of the film was far from a fairy tale. After working on it for six years,Chapman was dismissed from the filmone year before its release. She was replaced as director byMark Andrews. Chapman has long declined to go into further details about why she was let go, only citing “creative differences” as the reason. On a happier note, shewas rightfully credited asBrave’sco-directorand co-accepted the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, the first woman to ever win it!
Watership Down(1978)
Terrifying, horrifying, traumatizing… just some of the words that have been used to describe the animated filmWatership Down.The film follows a colony of rabbits that traverse the English countryside looking for a new home, but face several grisly dangers along the way. Despite the negative rap it gets, the film is regarded as a classic and a cultural icon. So much so,it was adapted into a Netflix seriesin recent years.
While (spoiler alert) many rabbits do not survive in this film, the film itself did manage to survive a particularly hairy situation: the firing of its director. The film’s original director was legendary animatorJohn Hubley, the man behindMister Magoo. According to a2018 interview with the film’s producer,Martin Rosen, Hubley was dismissed when it was discovered that he was working on another project on the side. Hubley died during heart surgery shortly after which ruined any chance of a reconciliation. This led to Rosen himself stepping in as director, even though he had no animation experience. Evidently, he was able to learn the ropes, and generations of kids have been scarred as a result!
No Time To Die(2021)
Audiences flocked in huge numbers to see the finalJames Bondmovie starringDaniel Craig. It was, for a time, thehighest-grossing film of the pandemic era. And what a film it is! James Bond faces his most sadistic and well-resourced foe ever (Safin, played byRami Malek). Bond must also endure genuine heartbreak, and his own mortality.
What Bond goes through is mild compared to the tribulations that happened behind the scenes. Production of this film was hit with numerousdelays due to COVID, anon-set injury, and staff turnover. Original directorDanny Boyleleft the project(along with his co-writerJohn Hodge), saying that the producers weren’t happy with the direction they were going in. Cary Joji Fukunaga (yes, the director who walked away fromIt) jumped at the chance to fill the director’s chair. Fukunaga, according to aninterview withThe Hollywood Reporter, received Boyle’s personal blessing. The rest is Bondian history.
Moneyball(2011)
Moneyballis a baseball movie that focuses less on the bats and balls and more on the statistics. Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), the general manager of a baseball team, and his numerical friend Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), innovatively use empirical evidence to assemble a successful team. Despite this seemingly dry subject matter,Moneyballwas a big success. The film earned critical praise, box office success, and several Oscar nods.
Although it eventually hit a home run,Moneyballdid endure several foul balls along the way. That is to say, the film lost its director and almost lost its studio… before filming had even started!Sony pulled the plug on the filmwhen directorSteven Soderberghpresented a revised version of the script which the studio found unacceptable. In the end, Sony kept the film, and it was Soderbergh that departed.Bennett Millertook over as director and theMoneyballwell and truly bounced back.
Bohemian Rhapsody(2018)
This biopic charts how humble youngFarrokh Bulsara(Rami Malek) became the superstarFreddie Mercury,the lead singer ofQueen. The film was ahuge success, earning almost $1 billion at the global box office, and scooping up four Oscars. This includes a deserved Oscar for Malek’s electrifying performance.
But this success did not come easy. It was no bed of roses, no pleasure cruise.Bohemian Rhapsodytookalmost 10 years to make, in which time the production team lost theirlead actorSacha Baron Cohenand their directorBryan Singer.Singer was fired, shortly before production was due to finish, primarily because of his repeated absences from the set.Dexter Fletcherstepped in as directorand saw the film through to completion. They kept on fighting til the end!
Free Willy(1993)
While man’s best friend is a dog, this film proved that boy’s best friend is a killer whale. The tale of troubled orphan Jesse (Jason James Richter) befriending and helping to free Willy (Keiko) warmed the hearts of audiences worldwide.Free Willybecame a summer hit,spawned sequels, and alsoraised awarenessabout the plight of animals in marine parks. Great achievements.
They say not to work with children or animals, but in this case it was an adult human who (allegedly) hindered the film’s production. The original director,Robin Armstrong, was dismissed just before filming began. According to a1993 interview with producerLauren Shuler-Donner, Armstrong was delaying the production by demanding script rewrites, when producers wanted shooting to get underway. Armstrong was replaced by Australian directorSimon Wincer, who put his flipper to the metal and fulfilled the producers' vision.
The Wolverine(2013)
The Wolverineplaces the famous mutant (Hugh Jackman) in Japan where he must do battle with the Yakuza, as well as a mysterious mutant named Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova). This film gives us a darker, more intimate exploration of the character, very different from the flashier X-Men films that came before and since. However, the film did succeed in pleasing fans whorank it highly. It was also a hit at thebox office, which is not surprising for a film that extensively displays Jackman’s physique.
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There are times when a director’s departure has nothing to do with creativity or behavior, just inopportune personal issues.Darren Aronofskydropped out of the filmas he had recently separated fromRachel Weisz, with whom he shares a son. Aronofsky said in a statement that he wanted to spend time with his family, and wasn’t willing to spend a year in another country, which directing this film would’ve required from him. The studio, Twentieth Century Fox, was understanding, and hiredJames Mangoldto fill the director’s chair. Not only was this film successfully completed, but Aronofsky’s career has continued to ascend, withseveral films currently in development.
The Wizard of Oz(1939)
There are successful films, and then there isThe Wizard of Oz.The story of Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) exploring the Land of Oz with her dog and trying to find a way home is now the stuff of timeless legend. It was even declared themost-seen movieof all time by the Library of Congress, and it’s difficult to imagine any other film topping it.The Wizard of Ozwill continue to sell tickets and draw in viewers until humanity itself is over the rainbow.
But not even Oz is immune from the horrors of filmmaking, and they had a particular issue with director turnover. The first directorNorman Taurogwas replaced aftercompleting some of the test footage.His replacement,Richard Thorpe, wasfired after only a few weeksof filming, the producer didn’t like what he had done so far.George Cukorthenbriefly took over as director, his main contribution was removing Dorothy’s blonde wig and heavy makeup which Thorpe had decided upon. After Cukor cameVictor Fleming, theonly director to receive creditfor the film. Fleming is praised as the one who made all the fantastical Technicolor sequences work. When Fleming was asked to take over as director onGone with the Wind,King Vidorreplaced him as Oz director and it was he who oversaw thescenes set in Kansas. Five directors for the one movie! There’s no place like Hollywood.
