History CreatorKiller / FilmIndividualCreators

* Creator/AlexProyas was well-regarded as the director of ''Film/TheCrow1994'' along with critical darling and later CultClassic ''Film/DarkCity'' before hitting a pretty serious career speed-bump with ''Film/{{Knowing}}'' in 2009, not directing another film until ''Film/GodsOfEgypt'' in 2016. Its massive loss of nearly $100 million, combined with his bitter diatribe against the critics who panned it, seems to have frozen his career in its tracks.

* Creator/JacquesTati's 1967 film ''Film/{{Playtime}}'' took three years to film and cost 17 million francs, principally because Tati built a set so huge it was called "Tativille"--streets, buildings, the whole works. Tati went deep into debt to get the film completed. It bombed, and when Tati defaulted on his loans he lost his production company, the rights to his old films, and his house. He only made one more theatrical film, 1971's ''Film/{{Trafic}}'', before he died in 1982.

* ''Westernanimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' sank down directors Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise after a great start with ''Westernanimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' and a somewhat successful follow-up in ''Westernanimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney''. They kept steadily working, with Trousdale in particular doing many Creator/DreamWorksAnimation animated shorts, but the only feature-length animation either of them has directed ever since is Wise's ''Bobbleheads: The Movie'', which was a huge flop critically and commercially.

* Gordon Willis had a legendary career as a cinematographer, with numerous credits including ''Film/TheGodfather'' (all three movies) as well as many Creator/WoodyAllen movies in The70s and The80s. His directorial career began and died with 1980's ''Windows'', a five-time [[MediaNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward Razzie]] nominee which he admitted was a mistake. Given the film's about a lesbian (Creator/ElizabethAshley) who hires a man to rape the woman she fancies (Creator/TaliaShire) to put her off men so she can promptly have her all for herself, he's justified in deeming it his OldShame. Let's just say the UnfortunateImplications alone were enough to kill both the film and his directing career.

* The war film disaster that was ''Film/{{Inchon}}'' killed the respected career of screenwriter and director Terence Young, known for directing three of the first four ''Franchise/JamesBond'' movies, excluding ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}''. Aside from a couple more films in his home country, he never directed a film that received an international release again.

* Acclaimed yet controversial independent filmmaker Creator/SamuelFuller never made another major motion picture following the ExecutiveMeddling-induced failure of ''Film/WhiteDog'', an anti-racism film detailing a young woman's efforts to rehabilitate a dog trained to attack black people. Long story short: Paramount never gave the film a theatrical run domestically over fear of an uproar from civil rights organizations. Following its wide release on home video by Creator/TheCriterionCollection decades after it was originally completed, many critics and audiences denounced Paramount's decision to suppress its release.

* Michael Lehmann never topped the early success of ''Film/{{Heathers}}'' as all of his films afterwards failed to match it, with ''Film/HudsonHawk'' earning him a Razzie nomination for Worst Director. After ''Because I Said So'' and ''Flakes'' got torn to shreds by viewers in 2007, he's exclusively directed television and hasn't made another movie.

* Acclaimed comedy screenwriter David Zucker had his career take a screeching halt with ''Film/AnAmericanCarol'', a political satire film that was criticized for its lame jokes and failed at the box office. He making a comeback with ''Film/ScaryMovie 5'', but it ended up being a critical bomb instead.

* Acclaimed yet controversial independent filmmaker Creator/SamuelFuller never made another major motion picture following the ExecutiveMeddling-induced failure of ''Film/WhiteDog'', an anti-racism film detailing a young woman's efforts to rehabilitate a dog trained to attack black people. Long story short: Paramount never gave the film a theatrical run over fears of an uproar from civil rights organizations. Following its wide release on home video by Creator/TheCriterionCollection decades after it was originally completed, many critics and audiences denounced Paramount's decision to suppress its release.

* Creator/KevinWilliamson was a highly-sought screenwriter in TheNineties thanks to ''Film/Scream1996'' and ''Film/IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer'', as well as the popularity of ''Series/DawsonsCreek'' on television. He attempted to parlay that success into his 1999 directorial debut ''Film/TeachingMrsTingle'', which was a critically ravaged BoxOfficeBomb. While his screenwriting and TV show-running careers were thankfully unaffected, he hasn't had any directing projects lined up until being announced to direct ''Scream VII'' in March 2024.

* Acclaimed comedy screenwriter David Zucker had his career take a screeching halt with ''Film/AnAmericanCarol'', a political satire film that was criticized for its lame jokes and failed at the box office. He tried to make a comeback with ''Film/ScaryMovie 5'', but it ended up being a critical bomb instead.

* The near-[[FranchiseKiller franchise killing]] reception of ''Film/StarTrekNemesis'' ended the directing career of editor Stuart Baird, who infamously wasn't at all familiar with ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' going in (a point ''[[Website/TheOnion The AV Club]]'' did not miss when they covered his DVDCommentary for their "Commentary Tracks Of The Damned" feature). He actually got the directing job primarily due to his editing work for Paramount's ''Film/MissionImpossibleII'' and ''Film/LaraCroftTombRaider'', and to this day maintains a steady editing career.

* Wych "Kaos" Kaosayananda, after establishing himself in his native Thailand, had his Hollywood debut with ''Film/BallisticEcksVsSever'', which soon became infamous as one of the worst films ever made, with a 0% rating on Website/RottenTomatoes (and with a total of 119 listed reviews, the most for a film with the score, being the worst-reviewed film in the website's history), plus a humongous BoxOfficeBomb (grossing $20 million on a budget of $70 million). He promptly returned home and didn't direct another film for a decade, and in the years since has spoken out about how displeased he was with the final product; in particular, he cited ExecutiveMeddling plus the producers yanking away control from him in post-production for how awful the finished film ended up. He since said that the hellish ordeal making this film has disillusioned him from working in Hollywood again.

* Creator/JerryLewis took a decade-long hiatus during TheSeventies after making a rather successful comedic career for himself in previous ones (first as half of the comedy duo Creator/MartinAndLewis with Creator/DeanMartin, then later solo) before he tried making a comeback in 1980 with ''Film/HardlyWorking''. However, that film's failure, which not only became a StarDerailingRole for Lewis upon playing the lead (see StarDerailingRole/FilmActors), also killed his career behind the camera too when he co-wrote and directed it, after it got unanimously awful reviews. His next directorial-writing effort, ''Cracking Up'', was released to just as negative reception a few years later, after which he never made a major film again before his death in 2017. His legacy was posthumously tarnished when past allegations of unprofessional behavior on-set came to light.

* The twin bombs of ''Film/{{Mindhunters}}'' and ''Film/ExorcistTheBeginning'' in 2004 (the latter of which got him nominated for a MediaNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward for Worst Director) marked a turning point in Creator/RennyHarlin's career, after which his films started going DirectToVideo. However, it wasn't until 2014's ''Film/TheLegendOfHercules'' (also nominated for a Worst Director Razzie) that Harlin's Hollywood career was well and truly finished. Since then, he's had to go to China and his native Finland in order to keep working as a director.

* Creator/AlexProyas was well-regarded as the director of ''Film/TheCrow'' along with critical darling and later CultClassic ''Film/DarkCity'' before hitting a pretty serious career speed-bump with ''Film/{{Knowing}}'' in 2009, not directing another film until ''Film/GodsOfEgypt'' in 2016. Its massive loss of nearly $100 million, combined with his bitter diatribe against the critics who panned it, seems to have frozen his career in its tracks.

* The failure of ''Film/BlessTheChild'' didn't do any favors for writer Tom Rickman, who was relegated with doing only writing TV movies after this.

* The near-[[FranchiseKiller franchise killing]] performance of ''Film/StarTrekNemesis'' ended the directing career of editor Stuart Baird, who infamously wasn't at all familiar with ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' going in (a point ''[[Website/TheOnion The AV Club]]'' did not miss when they covered his DVDCommentary for their "Commentary Tracks Of The Damned" feature). Baird actually got the directing job in large part due to the editing work he did for Paramount's ''Film/MissionImpossibleII'' and ''Film/LaraCroftTombRaider'', and to this day maintains a steady editing career.

* Alex Cox previously established himself as an underground filmmaker with ''Film/RepoMan'', plus ''Film/SidAndNancy''. Once the failure of the avant-garde film ''Walker'' destroyed his career, Cox spent his life since barely scraping up funds to make DirectToVideo films. He currently works as a film school teacher.

* Creator/AndrewDavis has had mixed success making movies which connected with either critics or audiences. Though some (''Film/UnderSiege'', ''Film/TheFugitive'', ''Film/{{Holes}}'') became hits, most (''Film/AboveTheLaw1988'', ''Film/ChainReaction'', ''Film/APerfectMurder'', ''Film/CollateralDamage'') underperformed. ''Film/TheGuardian2006'', however, turned out to be the last straw for the filmmaker, for he hasn't directed another feature after it bombed.

* Though his career had begun to decline after the failure of ''Film/TrailOfThePinkPanther'', Creator/BlakeEdwards retired from filmmaking after ''Film/SonOfThePinkPanther'' obtained an awful reception both critically and commercially. He thus retreated to stage work before dying of pneumonia in 2010.

* Acclaimed controversial filmmaker Creator/SamuelFuller never directed or wrote another major motion picture following the ExecutiveMeddling and absolute flop of ''Film/WhiteDog'', an anti-racism film about a woman attempting to rehabilitate a dog trained to attack black people. (Long story short: Paramount never gave the movie a wide release over fears of a massive uproar from civil rights groups.) Following its wide release on DVD by The Criterion Collection, many critics and audiences denounced Paramount's decision to suppress its release.

* John Gulager got his start on ''Project Greenlight'', where he, along with writers Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, made their debut with ''Film/{{Feast}}''. While the sequels to ''Feast'' got worse reviews, it wasn't until the critical and financial flop that was ''Film/Piranha3DD''. He would go on to direct TV/direct-to-video movies and has since become a cinematographer.

* Before ''Film/Loser2000'', Amy Heckerling directed hit movies like ''Film/FastTimesAtRidgemontHigh'', ''Film/LookWhosTalking'', and ''Film/{{Clueless}}''. Afterward, she's only directed two feature films, one of which (''Film/ICouldNeverBeYourWoman'' in 2007, seven years later) went DirectToVideo and the other (''Film/{{Vamps}}'' in 2012) having received a limited release. Apart from those movies, she's done mostly TV work.

* Richard Brooks was a prolific filmmaker in the last days of the Golden Age of Hollywood who transitioned successfully into the New Hollywood era, though his name wasn't as widely familiar like some of his peers. His repertoire included, among countless other hits, ''Film/BlackboardJungle'', ''Film/CatOnAHotTinRoof'', ''Film/ElmerGantry'', ''Film/InColdBlood'', etc. Unfortunately, ''Wrong Is Right'' and ''Fever Pitch'' (the latter of which got him nominated for a Razzie for Worst Director) flopping back-to-back in TheEighties snuffed out his success. They were the last films he directed before he died in 1992.

* Despite its [[VindicatedByHistory later]] [[AcclaimedFlop acclaim]] as one of the greatest films of all time, ''Film/CitizenKane'' effectively killed Creator/OrsonWelles' standing in Hollywood. Prior to the film, Welles was a young hotshot director on the rise. He was given [[ProtectionFromEditors full creative control]] over ''Kane'', a mock biography of media mogul William Randolph Hearst -- something that Hearst noticed and was infuriated by, causing him to pour great effort into crushing the film. It failed at the box office, and Welles' subsequent studio films all suffered heavy ExecutiveMeddling thanks to ''Kane'' killing his credibility. His next film, ''Film/TheMagnificentAmbersons'', went unreleased on DVD for many years due to the heavy butchering it received, and composer Bernard Herrmann also suffered the consequences of Hearst's campaign: he actually went so far as to try to get his credit removed because the studio had dared to edit his score as roughly as they did the film itself. As for Welles himself, ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' was the straw that broke the camel's back, and he quit Creator/RKOPictures after finishing that picture. At least he didn't have it as bad with the other studios, both in Hollywood and abroad...

* Donald Petrie has made a number of films that mostly weren't very well received critically but did well to fine at the box office. Then he released two flops, ''Film/WelcomeToMooseport'' and ''Film/JustMyLuck'', in a row, and the following movies he's made have all been independent films.

* Stewart Raffill's films were never beloved by critics or moviegoers. However, ''Film/MacAndMe'' and ''Film/{{Mannequin}} Two: On the Move'' were the last straw. After both films flopped at the box office, he has stuck to directing independent and direct-to-DVD films and has not directed another mainstream film since.
* In the 1980s and early 1990s, actor-turned-director Creator/RobReiner had one of the greatest hot streaks in Hollywood history, directing a series of commercial and critical successes in many different genres, from ''Film/ThisIsSpinalTap'' to ''Film/ThePrincessBride'' to ''Film/{{Misery}}'' to ''Film/AFewGoodMen''. Then came ''Film/{{North}}'', which was not only his first box-office failure but one of the worst-reviewed movies of all time, best known for inspiring Creator/RogerEbert to write "I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it." While Reiner has had successes since then, he never recovered the critical standing or box-office clout he had before ''North''.

* Kinka Usher was a commercial director who tried to become a film director by directing ''Film/MysteryMen''. However, while it got mixed to positive reviews from critics, it bombed at the box office. Since then, he has stuck to directing commercials.

* Stephen Wallace said the failure of ''Turtle Beach'' killed his directing career, partly due to ExecutiveMeddling.
* Peter Webb was a TV director before getting his feature debut with ''Film/GiveMyRegardsToBroadStreet'', an expensive and incoherent vanity project starring and written by Music/PaulMcCartney. The film tanked so badly that Webb's only production credit since has been as an engineering manager on an episode of ''Series/TheTwoRonnies''.

* J. S. Cardone had a career going back to The80s writing and sometimes directing low-budget thrillers, horror films, and action films, many of which went DirectToVideo. That ended in 2009 when he wrote the remake of ''Film/TheStepfather2009'', the scathing critical reception and box-office failure of which ensured that he wouldn't write or direct another movie again.

* Alex Cox previously established himself as an underground filmmaker with ''Film/RepoMan'', plus ''Film/SidAndNancy''. After the failure of the avant-garde film ''Walker'' destroyed his career, Cox spent his life since barely scraping up funds to make [[DirectToVideo direct-to-DVD]] films.

* Though his career had begun to decline after the failure of ''Film/TrailOfThePinkPanther'', Creator/BlakeEdwards retired from filmmaking after ''Film/SonOfThePinkPanther'' obtained a poor reception both critically and commercially, retreating to stage work before dying of pneumonia in 2010.

* Robert Fuest had a very promising career following the Dr. Phibes films and ''The Final Programme''. Then he did ''The Devil's Rain'', which was such a critical misfire it took a huge [[CreatorBreakdown blow]] on Fuest. After that, it was nothing but TV projects and the softcore porno ''Aphrodite'' for most of the 1980s.

* Creator/DennisHopper was a rising star during the 1960s, but the massive success of ''Film/EasyRider'' in 1969 (which he co-wrote, directed, and starred in) catapulted him onto the A-list and left him [[ProtectionFromEditors carte blanche]] to pursue his choice of projects. With his newfound freedom, he wrote, directed, and starred in a bizarre, nearly incomprehensible film-within-a-film called ''Film/TheLastMovie''. It was such a critical and commercial disaster that Hopper couldn't even get another ''acting'' job in Hollywood until 1976 when Creator/FrancisFordCoppola offered him what would turn out to be a [[CareerResurrection career-reviving role]] in ''Film/ApocalypseNow'', released three years later. Meanwhile, it completely killed his writing and directing careers; 1988's ''Colors'' was the only significant movie that he directed after that, and he never wrote another screenplay.

* Creator/SergioLeone was once renowned for his works in the SpaghettiWestern genre, with his most notable achievement being the ''Film/DollarsTrilogy'' starring Creator/ClintEastwood. Unfortunately, his later works ended up becoming the victim of excessive ExecutiveMeddling, with the editors removing sequences deemed to be too controversial or insensitive, and the quality of his works began to deteriorate as a result. The final straw of this was ''Film/OnceUponATimeInAmerica'', which was stripped down to 139 minutes from its original 246-minute-long cut and ended up receiving initially trashing reviews and abysmal box office receipts. According to writer Christopher Frayling, the film's failure left Leone so devastated and disillusioned by the persistent intervention from studio executives in America that he never directed or wrote another movie again. He had several projects laid out as possible [[CareerResurrection comebacks]], but he died before any of them could come to fruition.

* Creator/AlanParker never directed another major film following the critical and commercial bashing of his 2003 legal drama ''Film/TheLifeOfDavidGale'', and he eventually passed away in 2020.

* Donald Petrie has made a number of films that mostly weren't very well received critically but did well to okay at the box office. Then he released two flops, ''Film/WelcomeToMooseport'' and ''Film/JustMyLuck'', in a row, and the following movies he's made have all been independent films.

* Creator/JohnWoo attempted to reconstruct his reputation, tarnished by the divisive reception of ''Film/MissionImpossibleII'', with the Creator/BenAffleck film ''Film/{{Paycheck}}''. It instead received negative reviews, failed domestically at the box office, and helped Affleck make his chance of winning the Razzie Award for Worst Actor certain (thanks to two other films, ''Film/{{Gigli}}'' and ''Film/{{Daredevil}}'', in which his performances were savagely criticized). After ''Paycheck'' failed, Woo declared he would never work in Hollywood again. It should be noted that his loss of faith in Hollywood started just a decade before, during post-production of ''Film/HardTarget''. There were several allegations and accounts (one of them [[http://books.google.com/books?id=xSnpNoth_SsC&pg=PA240&lpg=PA240&dq=john+woo+locked+for+editing+room&source=bl&ots=5mbEdgrNks&sig=CvlD1E6G_hOUtFicuR9R1kRA3MI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=9ffDU6HDLIGQyATJ9ICIDw&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=john%20woo%20locked%20for%20editing%20room&f=false here]]) that Woo was locked out from the editing room by star Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme by order of the Universal executives after both Van Damme and the executives were skeptical toward Woo's cut of the film, and [[ExecutiveMeddling decided to take things to their own hands]]. Some have also claimed the same thing happened between star Creator/TomCruise and Woo during post-production of ''Mission Impossible II'' as well. His return to Hollywood with ''Film/SilentNight2023'', an action film with no dialogue, didn't do so well when it opened to an unenthusiastic response.

* Creator/SofiaCoppola had a solid debut with 1999's ''Film/TheVirginSuicides''. After 2003's ''Film/LostInTranslation'' proved a major hit, many predicted that she would equal, if not surpass, the career of her father Creator/FrancisFordCoppola. Unfortunately, her career instead flamed out even faster than his did as her next film, ''Film/MarieAntoinette2006'', was a poorly reviewed BoxOfficeBomb. She slowly restored her critical status with a string of well-received independent films in TheNewTens, plus ''Marie Antoinette'' being VindicatedByHistory (its once-controversial AnachronismStew stylization becoming greatly influential on later period pieces). A full CareerResurrection wouldn't come until 2023's ''Film/{{Priscilla}}'', though.

* Actor Creator/CharlesLaughton was never given a chance to direct a second film after the failure of ''Film/TheNightOfTheHunter''. A damn shame too, because the film [[VindicatedByHistory has since been recognized as a classic]].

* John Badham was one of the top successful filmmakers throughout the late '70s and 1980s with hit films as ''Film/SaturdayNightFever'', ''Film/{{WarGames}}'', ''Film/ShortCircuit'' and ''Film/{{Stakeout}}''. But by the time the 1990s rolled around, he endured a string of disappointments which culminated in ''Film/NickOfTime'' flopping at the box office in 1995. After his last theatrical feature ''Incognito'' was barely acknowledged, Badham turned to helming TV movies and directing here-and-there episodes of numerous TV shows; he has since focused on his teaching career at Chapman University in California.

* ''Film/GreenLantern2011'' killed Creator/MartinCampbell's career. After it bombed at the box office, he was relegated to directing TV shows and TV movies until he finally got the gig directing ''Film/TheForeigner2017''. That action film, which starred Creator/JackieChan and Creator/PierceBrosnan, was a moderate success, although none of Campbell's films since made as big a mark.

* Writer/director Kerry Conran started and ended his career with ''Film/SkyCaptainAndTheWorldOfTomorrow''. He had been set to follow it up by directing the film adaptation of ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars'', but apparently got fired within hours of the opening weekend numbers for ''Sky Captain'' coming in. The film was very popular with critics (and big names in Hollywood including Creator/GeorgeLucas, Creator/StevenSpielberg, and Creator/RobertZemeckis, who invited Kerry and his brother Kevin, ''Sky Captain'''s co-creator, who helped to design and produce the film, to Skywalker Ranch to praise them for their accomplishments in special effects) but the audiences were more lukewarm. Years after the fact, the Conran brothers admitted in interviews that they were disillusioned by the schmoozing and elbow-rubbing which they thought seemed necessary to succeed in Hollywood, which neither of them was interested in or enjoyed doing. Kevin Conran even claimed that he and his brother could have made the film for a tenth of what it ended up costing, but the studio wanted big-name stars and the budget quickly ballooned; he ''did'' praise Creator/JudeLaw for really believing in the project, but says that neither he nor Kerry - who directed the film! - have any idea where most of the money actually went.
* Creator/SofiaCoppola had a solid debut with 1999's ''Film/TheVirginSuicides'', and after 2003's ''Film/LostInTranslation'' proved a major hit, many predicted that she would equal, if not surpass the career of her father Creator/FrancisFordCoppola. Unfortunately, her career instead flamed out even faster than his did, as her next film, ''Film/MarieAntoinette2006'', was a poorly-reviewed BoxOfficeBomb. She slowly restored her critical status with a string of well-received independent films in the 2010s, as well as ''Marie Antoinette'' being VindicatedByHistory (its once-controversial AnachronismStew stylization becoming highly influential on later period pieces), but a full comeback wouldn't come until 2023's ''Film/{{Priscilla}}''.

* Creator/BrianDePalma, [[The70s for]] [[The80s three]] [[The90s decades]], was regarded as one of the best directors ever with hits like ''Film/{{Carrie|1976}}'', ''Film/BlowOut'', ''Film/{{Scarface|1983}}'', ''Film/TheUntouchables'', ''Film/CarlitosWay'', ''Film/MissionImpossible'', etc. However, directing 2000's ''Film/MissionToMars'', which tanked both critically and financially, severely damaged his reputation. Then his next two films, ''Film/{{Femme Fatale|2002}}'' and ''Film/TheBlackDahlia'', also became ill-received {{Box Office Bomb}}s. He hasn't directed another mainstream film since then and mainly sticks to making low-budget films.

* Creator/JohnFrankenheimer was probably considered one of the best dramatic directors of the 1960s and '70s, with a track record featuring ''Film/BirdmanOfAlcatraz'', ''Film/TheManchurianCandidate'', ''Seven Days in May'', ''Film/TheTrain'', ''Grand Prix'', and ''Film/BlackSunday''. He had a few duds, such as ''The Extraordinary Seaman'', but he was able to recover from those. But his career seemed to hit a major decline in 1979 with the critical failure of ''Film/{{Prophecy}}'' (the box office, however, was decent, if somewhat of a disappointment for the studio), which coincided with a mild CreatorBreakdown (Frankenheimer's alcoholism hit its peak while that film was in production). Frankenheimer continued to work up until his death in 2002 (''Film/Ronin1998'' got solid reviews, but his next film, ''Film/ReindeerGames'', bombed horribly, and at the time of his death he was attached to direct what would become ''[[Film/TheExorcist Exorcist: The Beginning]]''), but he was never able to reach the heights of his earlier work.

* Creator/RyanGosling took a short hiatus from his successful acting career to make his directorial debut ''Lost River'', based on an original script he wrote himself (and also produced). It also is the only film he's directed thus far.

* Oliver Hirschbiegel's follow-up to the highly acclaimed ''Film/{{Downfall}}'' was ''Film/TheInvasion'', a remake of ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers''. It was a TroubledProduction; he was kicked off of during production after a poor rough cut and replaced with Creator/JamesMcTeigue to finish the film. His next major project ''Diana'', a biopic of Princess Diana starring Creator/NaomiWatts, was so lambasted by the British press that it forewent a full theatrical release in America and was quietly released straight-to-DVD. Even his rise was a stroke of luck--he tried to pull out of ''Downfall'' to do another film but was forced to stay on for contractual reasons. The film he almost did? ''Film/BladeTrinity'', which ended that franchise.

* Throughout the '80s, Creator/JohnHughes was a popular screenwriter and director who made hit films like ''Film/SixteenCandles'', ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'', and ''Film/FerrisBuellersDayOff''. In the '90s, however, his movies started getting negative reviews and more of his movies started underperforming, if not flopping altogether (though ''101 Dalmatians'' and ''Film/{{Flubber}}'', while they didn't get good reviews, did manage to turn in a profit). Then he made ''Film/HomeAlone3'', which also underperformed at the box office and caused him to not get another mainstream job for at least four years. After that, he only did two other movies, ''Film/JustVisiting'' and ''Film/MaidInManhattan'', before retiring from writing altogether – in fact, the last movie to have his name on it as credit before his death in 2009, ''Film/DrillbitTaylor'', was only a story credit.

* ''Hearts of Fire'' has been described as a ''literal'' creator killer for Richard Marquand. A critically acclaimed director who had previously worked on ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', ''Jagged Edge'' and ''Eye of the Needle'', he passed away only two months before the film's release, which ended up being a commercial and critical flop.

* Creator/JohnMilius moved from a successful screenwriting career to directing successful films like ''Film/TheWindAndTheLion'', ''Film/{{Conan the Barbarian|1982}}'' and ''Film/RedDawn1984''. Then in the late '80s, he released two high-profile flops -- ''Farewell to the King'' and ''Film/FlightOfTheIntruder'' -- which destroyed his directorial career. Milius's only directing credit since was the made-for-TV film ''The Rough Riders'', and while he did continue with writing and producing afterward, he has done absolutely nothing since HBO's ''Series/{{Rome}}'' ended in 2007.

* Actor Creator/LeonardNimoy's first three directorial efforts - ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock'', ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome'', and ''Film/ThreeMenAndABaby'' - were all box office hits, with the latter being the highest-grossing film of 1987. Due to the success of ''Three Men'', Nimoy looked like he was going to build a solid directorial career independent of the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' franchise, but then his next movie ''The Good Mother'' flopped with both critics and at the box office and ended his hot streak for good. His last two features, ''Funny About Love'' and ''Holy Matrimony'', were also both negatively received flops. Nimoy continued with his acting career before dying of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in 2015.

* Brad Silberling had directed supernatural family films like ''Film/{{Casper}}'' and ''Film/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents2004'' which were modest successes. Then he directed ''Film/LandOfTheLost'', a film that flopped so bad that it somewhat put his film career on hold. He has had success as the executive producer of the TV series ''Series/JaneTheVirgin'', ''Series/Dynasty2017'' and ''Series/Charmed2018'', but his only movie directorial effort since then, ''An Ordinary Man'', got dumped straight-to-video in 2018.

* Creator/BarrySonnenfeld made many well-received hit films in the '90s, including ''Film/TheAddamsFamily'' movies, ''Film/GetShorty'', and ''Film/MenInBlack''. Then he made ''Film/WildWildWest'', which bombed with critics and was considered a box office disappointment. After that movie, he's only done five movies since, with only one of them (''Film/MenInBlack3'') doing well with critics; the other three movies he's made (''Film/MenInBlackII'', ''Film/BigTrouble'', ''Film/{{RV}}'' and especially ''Film/NineLives2016'') were all critical and/or box office disappointments. Beyond that, he's mostly stuck to doing TV movies or directing episodes of TV shows (such as the critically acclaimed ''Series/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents2017'').

* Joel Zwick started off directing hit TV shows like ''Series/FullHouse'' and ''Series/{{Webster}}''. In 2002, he directed the smash romantic comedy ''Film/MyBigFatGreekWedding''. His next film ''Film/FatAlbert'' got negative reviews and although it didn't really bomb that much, it was still a bit of a box office disappointment. Except for the direct-to-video ''Elvis Has Left the Building'', Zwick has since gone back to the small screen.