Filmmakers don’t just yell “action” and point the camera at them. They are involved in the visuals, story, script and acting of every production, putting all the pieces together to make something better than the building blocks. That’s the idea. Sometimes directors push the envelope, misjudge the material, and churning out pictures that don’t live up to their promises. And the franchise could be the worst because his director is at the mercy of studios, audience expectations, and all his previous films.
Whether there was a different name the project was originally given, someone waiting in the wings who didn’t get a shot, or a connected talent that could have been put to good use, it needed another director. Here are 10 franchise movies that did.
Related: Top 10 Movies That Destroyed The Studios That Made Them
Ten alien 3
immensely popular alienAfter failing to secure Ridley Scott, 20th Century Fox settled on Vincent Ward directing.However, Ward was fired from the production of alien 3 at the eleventh hour because the producers had no control over him. So they brought in up-and-coming David Fincher. Fincher battled the studio-mandated changes, but pushed for it anyway. The result is a movie that didn’t please anyone and killed Hicks and Newt from the second film because the producers couldn’t bring the actors back.
Given that James Cameron was single-handedly responsible for bringing back Sigourney Weaver, alienhe probably would have put the cast back in three. Abyss When T2 All the while making CGI a constant push forward. He would have brought this innovation to his third entry in a bombastic way that made the most of available technology. and would have minimized their interference.[1]
9 Ant-Man
Not a disaster by any means, but the first Ant-Man The movie could have been so much better. Peyton Reed’s first turn in the MCU is a safe, half-baked film that fails to experiment or step outside the franchise’s limited aesthetic boundaries.
of Ant-Man Since then, the film has found its own style under Reed’s care, though it may have turned out to be radically different from the early days of Edgar Wright’s obsession with directing. With a writing team composed of Cornish, the original treatment of the film they’ve been working on since 2003 clearly had a British comic instinct that set it apart from its American-written contemporaries. prize.
Wright is a self-proclaimed geek who initially brought his passion for comics to the position. But more than this, he brought his signature directorial style, with jump cuts, niche music, Easter eggs, and all the usual hallmarks of Edgar Wright’s paintings. Unfortunately, this is what caused the studio to drop him. [Marvel] I really wanted to make an Edgar Wright movie. “[2]
8 Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker
of Star Wars Abrams’ sequel has had a rough ride since its release force awakensin both it and its sequel—Rian Johnson’s the last jedi— divide the audience. Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy Book of Henry Things were set right by bringing back Abrams by Colin Trevorrow, the future director of the third film.Unfortunately this ended up being closer to a trilogy rise of skywalker It suffers from a split vision that matches Abrams’ first film but not the new direction Johnson was taking.
So the man who was tapped to write the film in the first place, Rian Johnson, should have been retained to direct it.
7 Thor: Love & Thunder
rear Avengers: Endgame, there were high hopes for Thor, who survived several crises and came out on the other side with Guardians of the Galaxy in tow. But all that promise was wasted in a frankly baffling fourth solo outing that ditched The Guardian and spent the ensuing 120 minutes dazzling audiences with goat memes, cancer jokes, and a deeply silly protagonist. rice field.
struck gold with Thor: Ragnarokwhich showed the brighter side of Space Vikings, director Taika Waititi was the obvious choice Love & Thunder, yet he manages to take everything he did well the first time around and ruin it with a mismatched tone, erroneous characters and a throwaway villain (Christina Bale’s go).By all accounts, Waititi only instructed Love & Thunder because it’s his real life Akira It was put on hold, so co-author Jennifer Robinson would have taken control. Not only have we seen Marvel nurture up-and-coming talent, but Robinson has proven in his 2022s. take revenge She knows how to create magic where darkness and comedy intersect.[4]
6 no time to die
james bond swan song, no time to die, classic cars, beautiful women, and not one but two physically disfigured villains. Fukunaga, who tried to subvert the audience’s expectations by killing off the series antagonist Blofeld while ultimately trying to meet them with a clichéd third act, misunderstood the appeal of the characters and the universe. Did. But given the director’s history of socially conscious drama, it’s no surprise that he was out of depth.
Danny Boyle was originally a direct report before leaving in 2018 due to “creative differences.”But knowing that this is a big Bond finale, it makes sense that the producers would turn to Martin Campbell, a man who knows the characters and the material and has a rich history of delivering the perfect Bond adventure. It would be appropriate. Director Campbell golden eye When Casino Royale, both are widely considered two of the best Bond films ever made. This also gave the Craig series a satisfying sense of closure, beginning and ending with the same director.[5]
Five F9
When franchises have nowhere to go, they go to space. And that’s exactly where the Fast & Furious gang has aggressively gone comically. F9, directed by Justin Lin and produced by star Vin Diesel. For years, Lynne has led this accusation to absurdity and escalated action on the series. tokyo drift Use Rage 6before he returned home F9But just because he has cinematic history doesn’t mean he knows what’s right for their story trajectory.
Instead of Lynn, Diesel and the studio should have gone back to basics. Fast and the Furious?David Ayer is best known for directing tight, low-budget action thrillers that mix urban environments, gangsters and compelling characters. End Watch. as in the beginning fast A film in which Ayre introduced a gritty tone, tapped into real-life experiences, and fleshed out his characters one-on-one with the cast, he would have brought the action back to reality and revitalized an ailing series.[6]
Four terminator salvation
terminator salvation offered audiences one thing they never expected from the time-traveling robot stalker series. It’s a movie without his travels in time and a robot stalker. Even with a great cast of Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, and Anton Yelchin, director McG fails to deliver the goods in the fourth installment of the series, with a gray palette, hollow setpieces, and one-dimensional characters. , and boring scripts. solution? Franchise creator James Cameron.
first long production Avatar It would have prevented Cameron from making the film in 2009, but it would have been worth waiting a few years to continue the director’s vision from the first two films. and recommended Sam Worthington to McG. terminator For years, I had no plans to direct.All is not lost, though, as Cameron recently referenced talk of returning to reboot and scrub the series Salvation And its successor goes off the map.[7]
3 bad boys for life
Directors Adil and Bilal pulled the third entry in the second half directly from Michael Bay’s playbook. bad boys A franchise with captivating shots of Miami, soft lighting, and cameras on 360-degree dolly tracks. Still, they don’t quite show Bay’s directorial chops, complete with slapdash editing and a lackluster screenplay. The resulting film strays into the same joke territory that sank the fourth. indiana joneswent above and beyond on all fronts and failed to strike the balance of action, comedy and characters that its predecessor managed so well.
Bay himself – Director Bad Boys I When Ⅱ— would have been a better choice. Although he relies heavily on clichés and corny filmmaking techniques, there’s no denying that he had a huge impact on his scene from the 1990s to the early 2000s action blockbusters. bad boys It’s a global franchise today. Considering he’s directing a scene in the film, it would make a lot of sense for him to be on board again. why didn’t they? It took the studio too long to wrap up the project, and Bay waited long enough given his 17-year gap between films.[8]
2 dark phoenix
bring back the writer from x men Making his directorial debut with the latest entry in the franchise’s worst movie may not seem like a wise decision, but that’s what Fox did in 2019. Simon Kinberg, screenwriter X-Men: Last Standdrafted to write and direct dark phoenixthe fourth in the restarted timeline that started with an exception first class, and the movie that sank the X-ship for good. Making such a bet against an unknown entity was not a wise move. dark phoenix The erratic pacing and weak character development failed on almost every front.
It would have made sense to take it home insteadMore first class with the director future past days Co-writer Matthew Vaughn is a comic book buff who has spent years reinvigorating the series and making it big in the meantime. kingsmanBourne would have brought a sense of rapid pacing and continuity to the film, rooted in comics. Additionally, Vaughan was originally enlisted to do a character-focused trilogy. x men The movie, and the reason he walked away in the first place, was due to the studio ignoring him.[9]
1 Hobbit
Of all the bloated productions, CGI nightmares, and studio cash grabs of the 21st century, few are as bad as Peter Jackson’s. Hobbit movie. Jackson hasn’t been active as a filmmaker for quite some time, and he’s only made two films. ring It was a trilogy and lost touch with what the audience wanted, needed and expected. Hobbit The characters and plots of the films are sparse, relying heavily on often substandard computer imaging to construct the world and characters. Additionally, at least one film is too many.
But Hobbit It didn’t come out as three painfully long full-length feature films. It was envisioned by Guillermo del Toro, the project’s original director and co-writer, as a single film split into two parts. He tries to stay true to JRR Tolkien’s thin novel of less than 100,000 words, goes through a painstaking writing process, immerses himself in Tolkien’s books and lore, and uses models, miniatures, paintings, and animatronics. I tried to breathe life into it. Pan’s Labyrinth The director’s flair for fantasy storytelling is evident in all of his work, and his knowledge of how to balance action, universal themes, and visual magic is undeniable. Hobbit I desperately need it.[10]
