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Making a movie is a lot more difficult and testing than anyone could imagine, which is why clashes between filmmakers and financiers is an unfortunate reality in the business. However, some directors took these disagreements too far.
At times, a director got too full of themselves and let their ego destroy their career. In other cases, the filmmaker in question did terrible things off-camera and tanked their careers and reputations in the process.
WARNING: Some of these entries discuss sensitive matters and events. Read at your own discretion.
10 Troy Duffy Burned His Hollywood Bridges Before Even Directing The Boondock Saints
In 1997, bartender Troy Duffy sold his script The Boondock Saints to Miramax and even got a directorial debut. Believing himself to be the next break-out auteur filmmaker, Duffy threw his weight around in pre-production and burned his connections before they were even secured. Sick of his behavior, Miramax dropped the movie and blacklisted Duffy.
Duffy eventually got Franchise Pictures to finance The Boondock Saints, but it flopped and contractual stipulations made sure he didn’t earn royalties from its resurgence through video and TV. Since then, Duffy only directed The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day a decade later and his fall from grace was chronicled in the more successful documentary Overnight.
9 Jason Lei Howden Used Guns Akimbo’s Official Social Media To Cyberbully People
In 2019, Much Ado About Cinema’s editor-in-chief Dilara Elbir’s DMs were leaked, where she casually used racial slurs. This led to staff quitting and Guns Akimbo’s director defending her. Problem is, he blamed “cancel culture” and he seemed to specifically target women. Worse, he leaked the contact details of the staff who quit on his and Guns Akimbo’s Twitters.
All of this occurred a week before Guns Akimbo’s release, which was Howden’s biggest movie so far that was also predicted to be his gateway to bigger and better projects. In retaliation for his cyberbullying, critics and moviegoers boycotted the movie, leading to its financial failure. Howden apologized, but it’s unlikely his career will ever recover.
8 Josh Trank Lost Control Of Fant4stic & Made His Grievances Public
After making the genre-busting Chronicle, Trank was chosen to reboot the Fantastic Four. Unfortunately, the movie wasn’t just bad but controversial, thanks to Trank and producers’ public arguments. Before Fant4stic was released, Trank took to Twitter to disown the movie and blamed its faults on 20th Century Fox’s interference.
Producers retaliated by saying that Trank was difficult to work with and that his cut was so unwatchable that it needed reshoots. Trank then left his Star Wars movie and took a five-year hiatus. Later, Trank confessed that the pressure of blockbuster filmmaking overwhelmed him. He’s since started a comeback with Capone, though he swore off big-budget movies.
7 Steven Seagal Blew Up His Acting & Directing Career With On Deadly Ground
In the ’90s, Steven Seagal was heralded as being part of the new generation of action stars. With hits like Under Siege to his name, Seagal convinced producers to let him star in and direct his passion project On Deadly Ground. Unfortunately, Seagal’s environmentally-charged directorial debut wasn’t just received poorly, but it bombed financially.
Seagal’s career never recovered, and he’s since been relegated to making z-grade direct-to-video movies. Not helping was his long string of controversies which include: numerous accounts of being hard to work with, accusations of sexual assault, and openly supporting controversial political figures like Russian President Vladimir Putin.
6 John McTiernan Went To Prison For Wiretapping His Producer
John McTiernan is considered to be the father of the modern action movie, and for good reason. He directed watershed movies like Die Hard, Predator, and The Hunt For Red October, all of which changed the genre for the better. But due to creative differences on the Rollerball remake, McTiernan broke the law and ended his career.
Fearing that producer Charles Roven would interfere, McTiernan hired a private detective to prove his suspicions via wiretapping. In 2013, McTiernan was sent to prison for this and perjury. Though released and currently working on a new movie, McTiernan hasn’t directed anything since 2003 and his chances at a comeback are incredibly slim.
5 Joss Whedon’s Geekdom Pedestal Was Demolished After His On-Set Hostility Was Exposed
For the longest time, Joss Whedon was regarded as one of the patron saints of pop culture. Not only did his works like Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and The Avengers become iconic, but his quirky writing style became a genre of its own. Whatever hero-worship he cultivated ended after Justice League, and not because he remade Zack Snyder’s movie.
In 2020, Ray Fisher, Gal Gadot, and more revealed that Whedon bullied them on set. Buffy stars like Charisma Carpenter corroborated this, saying this was his true personality. Whedon has yet to be charged with anything, but he’s since fallen from grace, been dropped from numerous projects, and will probably not adapt another popular property again.
4 Bryan Singer Walked Out Of Bohemian Rhapsody In The Middle Of A Scandal
When filming the Queen biopic, director Bryan Singer abruptly left and was replaced by Dexter Fletcher. There are conflicting reports about why this happened. Cast and crew claimed he was difficult to work with which led to his firing, while the X-Men director defended himself by saying that he needed time off in lieu of his mother’s ailing health.
However, many speculate that this was Singer’s reaction to new accusations of sexual assault that emerged during production. This isn’t the first time he faced such charges, all of which came from people who claim Singer assaulted them when they were minors. Singer was dropped from projects like the new Red Sonja, and he hasn’t been heard from since.
3 Mel Gibson’s Monstrous Side Was Exposed & Tarnished His Reputation Forever
From the ’90s to the 2000s, Mel Gibson was at the height of his career. When he wasn’t starring in the latest Lethal Weapon sequel, he was making influential movies like Braveheart or The Passion Of The Christ. This ended in 2006, when he was arrested for drunk driving and caught on camera making offensive anti-Semitic remarks.
Things got worse when his then-partner Oksana Grigorieva made his abusive side public. In response, Hollywood blacklisted Gibson. Roughly a decade later, Gibson made a comeback as actor and director. That said, his current works are a far cry from his peak and there’s still an air of hesitation in Hollywood when it comes to working with him.
2 Woody Allen’s Controversial Past Has Clouded His Movies Since The ’90s
With movies like Annie Hall to his name, Woody Allen was credited for defining the modern indie movie. However, his legacy was tarnished by his personal life. In 1992, Allen’s adopted daughter Dylan Farrow accused him of sexual assault. Allen denied these but didn’t help his case when, in 1997, he married his adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn. Allen still made movies after, but things changed in 2019.
Shortly after the #MeToo movement shed new light on his cases, Amazon dropped his four-movie deal while actors and filmmakers boycotted him. Allen successfully sued for the rights to his Amazon movies and was compensated financially, but it’s unlikely that he’ll make another movie soon. That, and his name has lost all artistry and respect it once commanded.
1 Roman Polanski Fled To France To Evade Arrest & Continues To Face Serious Charges
In 1977, Roman Polanski was arrested for sexually assaulting a minor. Polanski secured a plea bargain and time served, but suspected that the judge would overturn this for heavier punishment. A day before his sentencing, Polanski fled to France and never returned. Polanski has been making movies since then, but his glory days were over.
Besides getting expelled (albeit too late) from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2018, he’s been facing endless accusations of assault and worse since the ’70s. Movies like Chinatown or The Pianist may be heralded as cinematic masterpieces, but whatever merits they may have were disregarded by Polanski’s mere mention.
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