History Main / DirectorDisplacement

This trope tends to happen more in America than elsewhere due to Hollywood being a very producer-focused system, as opposed to other countries where directors get much more clout. UsefulNotes/TheAuteurTheory was formed to avert and correct this trope, however, and it has generally succeeded in giving more attention to the work of directors and craftsmen. It, too, has received criticism for attributing entire movies to directors and not considering the contributions of writers, cinematographers, editors, and, ironically enough, producers.

** Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto largely stepped back into a producer/advisor role starting with the UsefulNotes/{{Nintendo 64}} generation, the last game he directed being ''Franchise/{{Mario}} Artist Paint Studio'' in 1999. Despite this, sequels in various franchises he created, such as ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' and ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', still get attributed to him to some extent (the torch of ''Mario'' games was given to Creator/YoshiakiKoizumi, who then became an example in his own right when he passed that torch to series director Kenta Motokura, while that of ''Zelda'' games was given to Creator/EijiAonuma and later shared with Hidemaro Fujibayashi). This is especially the case with the ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'' games, which he created after backing away from the directorial role and thus never actually directed a single installment.

** Jose Luis Márquez of Creator/MercurySteam directed ''VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns'' and ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'', a role he shared with Takehiko Hosokawa for the former and Fumi Hayashi for the latter. But the two games are primarily considered projects of Creator/YoshioSakamoto, who produced the games. This is likely because Sakamoto had a much longer history with the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' series before then (he directed the games up through the controversial ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'', after which he became a producer), and ''Dread'' is admittedly based on a game concept he had worked on as far back as the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS long before ever considering a collaboration with [=MercurySteam=].

This trope tends to happen more in America than elsewhere due to Hollywood being a very producer-focused system, as opposed to other countries where directors get much more clout. UsefulNotes/TheAuteurTheory was formed to avert and correct this trope, however, and it has generally succeeded in giving more attention to the work of directors and craftsmen.

** Nintendo R&D1's early games (''VideoGame/Metroid1'', ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'', ''VideoGame/WarioLand''... etc) are often credited to executive producer Creator/GunpeiYokoi, who was more focused on hardware development and had little input on the games his department produced.

* Creator/VictorFleming is the credited director of both ''Film/GoneWithTheWind'' and ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', but they each went through several different directors and are now mostly remembered as the work of their producers: David O. Selznick for ''Gone with the Wind'' and Mervyn [=LeRoy=] for ''The Wizard of Oz''.

* Although Creator/JordanPeele has been [[Film/GetOut a]] [[Film/{{Us}} writer-director]], he wrote and produced 2021's ''Film/{{Candyman|2021}}'', but Creator/NiaDacosta is the director.

* Creator/SamRaimi produced ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' and ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'', but didn't create either of them.

** ''AnimatedFilm/{{Antz}}'' is often pointed out as "his" most financially successful film. He didn't write it or direct it, and was merely a voice actor for hire.

* Creator/JohnWoo executive-produced and choreographed the action scenes for ''Film/TheReplacementKillers'', which Creator/AntoineFuqua directed. He was also a producer on ''Film/BulletproofMonk'', which Paul Hunter directed.
* Woo's last collaboration with Creator/ChowYunFat in the 90s, ''Film/PeaceHotel'', also features Woo's name in promotional materials, owing to the duo's previous collaborations (the first two ''Film/ABetterTomorrow'' films, ''Film/TheKiller1989'', ''Film/HardBoiled'' and to a lesser extent, ''Film/OnceAThief''). In actuality Woo is only a producer, the film is directed by Wai Ka-fai.
* Another Woo example, ''Film/BloodBrothers2007'', a HeroicBloodshed film from the 2000s, proudly sells Woo's involvement in it's promotional materials, when it was actually directed by Alexis Tan.

* Woo's last collaboration with Creator/ChowYunFat in the 90s, ''Film/PeaceHotel'', also features Woo's name in promotional materials, owing to the duo's previous collaborations (the first two ''Film/ABetterTomorrow'' films, ''Film/TheKiller1989'', ''Film/HardBoiled'' and to a lesser extent, ''Film/OneAThief''). In actuality Woo is only a producer, the film is directed by Wai Ka-fai.

* Due to the success of ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'', many people assume Creator/ChristopherNolan has a great deal of control over the ''Superman'' reboot ''Film/ManOfSteel''. In reality, he's just the film's producer and has said his direct involvement ended pretty much at the stage of story development because he knew director Creator/ZackSnyder was more suited to the ''Superman'' material than he was. Unlike many examples, [[DownplayedTrope this died down over time]], due to [[Film/ThreeHundredRiseOfAnEmpire other movies]] promoting Snyder as "the director of ''Man of Steel''" and Snyder's name being front and center in the campaign for the sequel, ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', with Nolan's name nowhere in sight despite being an executive producer.
** Snyder would later end up being a publicity usurper himself, with his name outshining director Noam Murro's in the promotion of ''Film/ThreeHundredRiseOfAnEmpire'', due to having directed the original film and being the producer.

* Any movie that comes from Ghost House Pictures will be more associated with Creator/SamRaimi than the directors, similar to Creator/MichaelBay and his Platinum Dunes studio mentioned above.
** The trailer for the former company's ''Film/ThePossession'' has an extreme example. In addition to Raimi, it puts more emphasis on the film's ''screenwriters'', Juliet Snowden and Stiles White, over director Ole Bornedal (who's name is basically buried at the end of the trailer).

* Knowingly averted by Creator/MelBrooks, who kept his name out of promotional efforts for ''Film/TheElephantMan'' despite producing it, for fear of audiences mistaking it for a comedy film because of his involvement.
** Also the case with ''Film/{{The Fly|1986}}''.
** Brooks has a cameo in the Creator/GeneWilder comedy ''Film/TheAdventureOfSherlockHolmesSmarterBrother''. Brooks ''was'' supposed to direct, but he didn't feel comfortable working with someone else's material.

* Creator/FrancisFordCoppola wrote the script for ''Film/TheGreatGatsby1974'', which was directed by Jack Clayton.
** He was also a writer on ''Film/{{Patton}}'', which Franklin J. Schaffner directed.
* Creator/TheCoenBrothers wrote the scripts for ''Film/TheNakedMan'' (J.Todd Anderson), ''Film/{{Gambit}}'' (Michael Hoffman) and ''Film/{{Unbroken}}'' (Creator/AngelinaJolie), and, with the exception of the latter, are the primary figures associated with the films.

** Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto largely stepped back into a producer/advisor role starting with the UsefulNotes/{{Nintendo 64}} generation, the last game he directed being ''Franchise/{{Mario}} Artist Paint Studio'' in 1999. Despite this, sequels in various franchises he created, such as ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' and ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', still get attributed to him to some extent (the torch of ''Mario'' games was given to Creator/YoshiakiKoizumi, who then became an example in his own right when he passed that torch to current series director Kenta Motokura, while that of ''Zelda'' games was given to Creator/EijiAonuma and later shared with Hidemaro Fujibayashi). This is especially the case with the ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'' games, which he created after backing away from the directorial role and thus never actually directed a single installment.

** Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto largely stepped back into a producer/advisor role starting with the UsefulNotes/{{Nintendo 64}} generation, the last game he directed being ''Franchise/{{Mario}} Artist Paint Studio'' in 1999. Despite this, sequels in various franchises he created, such as ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' and ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', still get attributed to him to some extent (the torch of ''Mario'' games was given to Yoshiaki Koizumi, who then became an example in his own right when he passed that torch to current series director Kenta Motokura, while that of ''Zelda'' games was given to Creator/EijiAonuma and later shared with Hidemaro Fujibayashi). This is especially the case with the ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'' games, which he created after backing away from the directorial role and thus never actually directed a single installment.

* An example in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' comes from the game's soundtrack. The game was heavily promoted to have famed movie composer Harry Gregson-Willaims as the man behind the game's score. And while he does compose the official theme of the game and some cutscene music, all of the in-game music and even majority of the cutscene music was done by Norihiko Hibino. This became confusing when fans of the music purchased the official soundtrack, only to discover that all of the in-game music was missing, causing Konami to release another soundtrack, which included all of Hibino's work, meaning majority of the music found in the game. There is also the fact that Willaims' name is shown in big bold print during the openings of both part 1 and part 2 of the game, while Hibino's name is shown in small print during the ending credits.

* Creator/TimBurton's ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'' - actually directed by Creator/HenrySelick. Burton merely produced it...which helped confuse people fifteen years later when Selick's ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}'' was being advertised. The marketing stated correctly that it was from the director of ''Nightmare''. Because of the earlier muddled marketing of ''Nightmare'', people mistakenly assumed ''Coraline'' was a Creator/TimBurton film (in reality, Burton had precisely ''nothing'' to do with it). It got to the point where Creator/NeilGaiman had to [[http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/02/by-way-of-preamble.html address this in his blog.]] This was probably intentional by the marketing team since Tim Burton's name pretty much sells to his own little niche, whereas the only people who have heard of Selick tend to be hardcore animation fans.

* ''Film/TheMuppets'': The film seems better known for its writing from Creator/JasonSegel than Director James Bobin. This partly seems due to the fact that as a professed Muppet fan, he had the ambition of bringing them to the forefront again.

** Nintendo R&D1's early games (''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'', ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'', ''VideoGame/WarioLand''... etc) are often credited to executive producer Creator/GunpeiYokoi, who was more focused on hardware development and had little input on the games his department produced.

** Jose Luis Márquez of Creator/MercurySteam directed ''VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns'' and ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'', a role he shared with Takehiko Hosokawa for the former and Fumi Hayashi for the latter. But the two games are primarily considered projects of Creator/YoshioSakamoto, who produced the games. This is likely because Sakamoto had a much longer history with the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' series before then (he directed the games up through the controversial ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'', after which he became a producer), and ''Dread'' is admittedly based on a game concept he had worked on as far back as the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS before ever considering a collaboration with [=MercurySteam=].

* An example in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'' comes from the game's soundtrack. The game was heavily promoted to have famed movie composer Harry Gregson-Willaims as the man behind the game's score. And while he does compose the official theme of the game and some cutscene music, all of the in-game music and even majority of the cutscene music was done by Norihiko Hibino. This became confusing when fans of the music purchased the official soundtrack, only to discover that all of the in-game music was missing, causing Konami to release another soundtrack, which included all of Hibino's work, meaning majority of the music found in the game. There is also the fact that Willaims' name is shown in big bold print during the openings of both part 1 and part 2 of the game, while Hibino's name is shown in small print during the ending credits.