It’s quite a common thing in every profession to be a one-hit hero. However, it is a little more difficult to make a career-defining smash when it comes to filmmaking and directing. That being said r, in Hollywood, one big hit is all it takes to keep going. Here are five famous directors whose careers have been shaped by a single great film:
1. Seth Gordon: The King of Kong
Gordon moved into narrative filmmaking after achieving a major breakthrough with the gaming documentary The King of Kong in 2007. However, it became a difficult ride for him ever since, because none of his subsequent films were well received by critics. To be fair, he’s had a lot more success as one of the most famous directors in television, with shows like Parks and Recreation and The Office, as well as dramas like Sneaky Pete.
2. Sean S. Cunningham: Friday the 13th
Sean S. Cunningham, best known for his legendary movie Friday the 13th, is one of the most popular names in the horror genre. This film itself, without a doubt, showed potential about somebody who had the capacity to make a name for himself. Cunningham, on the other hand, returned to mostly engaging in low-budget underhanded slasher flicks after making the greatest horror movie in years. He was never regarded as a great director, but more as someone who struck it rich.
3. Josh Trank: Chronicle
Chronicle was a huge commercial success as well as acclaimed by critics when it was released in 2012. Viewers could not get over Trank’s first film, which grossed $126.6 million on a budget of under $12 million. As a result, it was not shocking at all when Marvel hired him to work on the Fantastic Four in 2015. Regrettably, this was a risky strategy that paid off for no one. Fantastic Four was a dreary, humorless, and excruciatingly sluggish affair that lacked the originality found in Chronicle.
4. Michael Cimino: The Deer Hunter
With The Deer Hunter, Cimino launched his masterpiece upon the world, recounting the tale of three old friends from Pennsylvania who enroll in the military to fight in the Vietnam war. The film received a lot of praise for its horrific portrayals of war’s real impact. Cimino later went on to direct several other films over the next 12 years, with little to no recognition. Overly extended runtimes and an absence of storytelling consistency were common critiques about his subsequent works.
5. Brian Helgeland: 42
Brian Helgeland has had far better outcomes as a writer than as a filmmaker, crafting scripts for films such as Mystic River and L.A. Confidential. He also won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the latter movie. To date, his work behind the camera has been far less remarkable, with just the Jackie Robinson biopic 42 making any kind of impact.
