Sometimes you’ve got to fall down before you get back up, and all thesefilmmakersachieved major comebacks following films that flopped, underperformed, or downrightbombed at the box office. Featuring works from some ofthe greatest directors who ever lived, these acclaimed auteurs quickly turned failure into success as they followed up disappointing releases with some of their greatest works.
From Peter Jackson following upThe FrightenerswithThe Lord of the RingstoDavid Lynch never again giving up final cut privilegesafterDune, the lessons learned from film failures have led to bold reinventions. With some career-defining masterpieces,these directors allowed their failures to mark creative turning points and to return better than ever.
6Kathryn Bigelow
K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)
Kathryn Bigelow has had an interesting career, as her early work differs so greatly from her later output. Bigelow’s career began with the outlaw biker movieThe Loveless, and she went on to make cult classics likePoint BreakandStrange Days. These fantastic action and sci-fi movies showcasedBigelow as one of the most underrated directors of the 1990s.
However, Bigelow struggled in the early 2000s, and bothThe Weight of WaterandK-19: The Widowmakerbombed at the box office. Despite having access to major stars like Sean Penn and Harrison Ford, Bigelow’s work during this period failed to connect with audiences or critics, leading many to question her future in Hollywood.
Doubts about Bigelow’s talent were put to rest in 2008 when she releasedThe Hurt Locker, a surprise success that surpassed all expectations and made her the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director. This re-established Bigelow as a major name, and later films likeZero Dark Thirtysolidified her reputation for making tense, politically charged thrillers.
5Danny Boyle
A Life Less Ordinary (1997)
The English director Danny Boyle burst onto the filmmaker scene in the early 1990s with the stylish indieShallow Graveand the cultural phenomenon that wasTrainspotting. These were early examples of a bold new voice in British cinema that all came crashing down with the chaotic romantic fantasyA Life Less Ordinary.
As an attempt to blend comedy, crime, and the supernatural,A Life Less Ordinarydidn’t really work and signaled the end of Boyle’s ongoing creative partnership with Ewan McGregor before they patched things up forT2: Trainspottingin 2017.A Life Less Ordinaryfailed at the box officeand led many to question whether Boyle’s early successes had been a fluke.
However, following minor success withThe Beach, Boyle truly bounced back with28 Days Later, a zombie horror that revitalized the genre for the 21st century. Boyle reached new heights when he won Best Picture withSlumdog Millionaireand has maintained his relevance to this day with the recent success of28 Years Later.
4Darren Aronofsky
The Fountain (2006)
After an impressive debut with the gritty and experimental thrillerPiand the devastating exploration of addiction seen inRequiem for a Dream, Darren Aronofsky was hailed as one of the most promising auteurs of the early 2000s. But this momentum hit a wall withThe Fountain, an ambitious sci-fi romance that baffled audiences and critics alike.
As a box office bomb that failed to connect emotionally or commercially,The Fountainexplored metaphysics, universal patterns, Biblical symbolism, and boundless love over thousands of years. Yet, for all its lofty ambitions, it just didn’t work, andits failure could have seriously derailed Aronofsky’s career.
However, Aronofsky got straight back to work with the impressive character studyThe Wrestler, a critically acclaimed sports movie that rejuvenated Mickey Rourke’s career. Following this, Aronofsky made perhaps his best movie,Black Swan, which was an artistically mature exploration of obsession that was also a hit at the box office.
3Steven Spielberg
1941 (1979)
Steven Spielberg is perhaps the best-known filmmaker in American history, although it took him a while to fully realize his unique balance of spectacle and storytelling. While Spielberg achieved his breakout hit withJawsand followed this up with the excellentClose Encounters of the Third Kind, it was after this that Spielberg had his first major filmmaking disappointment.
1941was a misguided World War II comedy that ultimately failed to deliver laughs. Despite a few standout moments, most notably an elaborate jitterbug dancehall sequence, the film was a chaotic jumble that wasted its star-studded cast, including comedy legends like John Belushi, John Candy, and Dan Aykroyd.
As a director who never managed to get comedies right, it was only after the failure of1941that Spielberg discovered his talent for sentimentality and family-friendly favorites likeE.T. the Extra-TerrestrialandJurassic Park. In later years,Spielberg matured further as a filmmaker and stepped beyond crowd-pleasing blockbustersto make artistically mature and powerful works likeSchindler’s List.
2David Lynch
Dune (1984)
The late directorDavid Lynch was one of the most starkly original filmmakers ever, and his unique cinematic voice arrived fully formed with the release ofEraserheadin 1977. From here, Lynch stepped out of the arthouse scene toward more mainstream filmmaking with the historical biopicThe Elephant Manbefore going full blockbuster with the ambitious sci-fi adaptationDune.
Dunewas meant to be Lynch’s big break into mainstream Hollywood, but it underperformed at the box office and taught him an important lesson about maintaining artistic control. Without final cut privilege, Lynch’sDunewas an incoherent mess, and he even went so far as to disown the film and have it credited under the pseudonym Alan Smithee.
Rather than bend to the system and change his style to suit the desires of studio executives, Lynch returned in 1986 with the neo-noir mysteryBlue Velvet, a dreamlike, surreal film that re-established his creative identity. This marked a new beginning for a fearless and uncompromising career that included all-time great works likeMulholland DriveandTwin Peaks.
1Peter Jackson
The Frighteners (1996)
The New Zealand filmmakerPeter Jackson has had an extraordinary career whose trajectory would have been impossible to predict. What started with sci-fi action comedies likeBad Tasteand the satirical adult-oriented puppet parodyMeet the Feebleslater grew into sprawling epics such asThe Lord of the Ringstrilogy andKing Kong.
In the middle of these two hugely different periods in Jackson’s career liesThe Frighteners, a cult classic supernatural comedy about a psychic architect (Michael J. Fox) who can see, hear, and speak with ghosts. This cult classic underperformed at the box office, and it would take five years before Jackson returned with the series that would come to define his career.
Although Jackson had made good films beforeThe Lord of the Rings, it was this epic that showcased him as one of the most capable filmmakers of his generation. As a grand and epic story based on the beloved fantasy book by J.R.R. Tolkien, Jackson had achieved the impossible and made a trilogy that pleased everybody.
