History Main / PigeonholedDirector

* Creator/RolandEmmerich: sci-fi or regular action movies with lots of destruction (though with less escess than Creator/MichaelBay). He also seems to love TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. When he decided to break the mold with ''Film/{{Anonymous}}'', it was met with indifference.

* Creator/StevenSpielberg is remembered for tales of childlike innocents or intrepid adventurers (or both) triumphing against an unforgiving world, usually in a sci-fi setting. May include ParentalNeglect and/or ParentalAbandonment. He finally broke out of pigeonholing when he made ''Film/SchindlersList'' which became commercially successful. His earlier attempts to break out of the genre (''Film/TheColorPurple'' and ''Film/EmpireOfTheSun'', as well as his first film, ''Film/TheSugarlandExpress'') were commercial disappointments and critically divisive though they did attract some support later on. Since then, Spielberg has been able to shift between genre science-fiction and serious period films, to the extent that ''Film/{{Lincoln}}'' and ''Film/BridgeOfSpies'' were far better received than more Spielbergian fare such as ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'' and ''Film/TheBFG''.

* Creator/JamesWan is the guy who mostly makes horror movies. So far only two of his movies, ''Film/FuriousSeven'' and ''Film/Aquaman2018'' have been non-horror. Oddly enough, [[BlackSheepHit those two exceptions are his highest-grossing films]], grossing over a billion each. Even then, ''Aquaman'' contains horrors elements from [[XenomorphXerox The Trench]], to the point where he was at one point slated to make a fully horror spinoff about them.

* Creator/JamesWan is the guy who mostly makes horror movies. So far only two of his movies, ''Film/FuriousSeven'' and ''Film/Aquaman2018'' have been non-horror. Oddly enough, [[BlackSheepHit those two exceptions are his highest-grossing films]], grossing over a billion each.

To be considered as an artist, a director is expected to have a unique feel to his works, which leads to this. Ostensibly the one time directors try and step out of the genre, they can be accused by fans of OscarBait, subscribing to TomHanksSyndrome and selling out, even if said project might be something they care about. This also makes it harder for them to start DoingItForTheArt because the kind of movies the director wants to make are not what the market and society expects from him. It's not that people don't like those kinds of movies, its just that they don't want those kind of movies from him/her.

* Creator/SamMendes: [[SceneryPorn Painterly composed]] and [[{{Tragedy}} overall sombre films]] about [[BigScrewedUpFamily dysfunctional families]] and [[BlackAndGreyMorality morally flawed characters trying to fix themselves]].
** And yes, ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'' and ''Film/{{Spectre}}'' count as those movies. They're basically Mendes films... which happen to star Film/JamesBond and contain big action set pieces (which are also done in a painterly composition).
** ''Film/AwayWeGo'' still has Mendes' quirks as a director (composed style, dysfunctional families, etc.) but nobody dies at the end. The film is also more optimistic compared to his previous work.

* Creator/TimBurton is always making weird fantasy films that star Creator/Johnny Depp and Creator/HelenaBonhamCarter. Most of the characters have white faces and are outcasts to society.

* Creator/TheWachowskis: Cyberpunk (or at least dystopia), in a flashy and stylized manner, with a strong anti-authoritarian streak, and a lot of philosophizing. When they tried to do something LighterAndSofter with ''Film/SpeedRacer'', the audience and critical reception was ugly.

* Ishiro Honda, director behind the ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' series also was known for being an assistant to Creator/AkiraKurosawa and directing a number of romance films.

* Creator/RolandEmmerich: sci-fi or regular action movies with lots of destruction (though with less escess than Creator/MichaelBay). He also seems to love TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. When he decided to break the mold with ''Anonymous'', it was met with indifference.

* Creator/TimBurton is always making weird fantasy films that star Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. Most of the characters have white faces and are outcasts to society.
* Creator/TheFarrellyBrothers are always doing gross-out comedies that last for 2 hours. They have edited down their movies because of this. The original cut of ''Film/TheresSomethingAboutMary'' was 3 hours long.
** The same goes for Creator/JuddApatow who also only makes gross-out Creator/FratPack comedies that are 2 hours long. Most of the extras on his [=DVDs=] are deleted scenes. Even if they're not on the deleted scenes section.

* Creator/StevenSpielberg is remembered for tales of childlike innocents or intrepid adventurers (or both) triumphing against an unforgiving world, usually in a sci-fi setting. May include ParentalNeglect and/or ParentalAbandonment. He finally broke out of pigeonholing when he made Film/SchindlersList which became commercially successful. His earlier attempts to break out of the genre (Film/TheColorPurple and Film/EmpireOfTheSun, as well as his first film, Film/TheSugarlandExpress) were commercial disappointments and critically divisive though they did attract some support later on. Since then, Spielberg has been able to shift between genre science-fiction and serious period films, to the extent that ''Film/{{Lincoln}}'' and ''Film/BridgeOfSpies'' were far better received than more Spielbergian fare such as ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'' and ''Film/TheBFG''.

* Creator/RolandEmmerich: sci-fi or regular action movies with lots of destruction. He also seems to love TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. When he decided to break the mold with ''Anonymous'', it was met with indifference.

* All [[Film/TrueLies but]] [[Film/{{Titanic 1997}} two]] of Creator/JamesCameron's films are science fiction.

* Creator/StanleyKubrick outsmarted genre pigeonholing by making a classic in every genre, sometimes more. He ended up being pigeonholed for his SignatureStyle, as he's best known for filming with a cold, controlled eye and slow, steady pacing.

* Creator/AkiraKurosawa is mostly known for his samurai films in America but also made a number of films about contemporary post-war Japan.

* Creator/ChristopherNolan: Neo-noir, non-linear, psychological thrillers with obsessed protagonists.

* Creator/MartinScorsese has become synonymous with (organized) crime dramas, even though he's tried just about every genre you can imagine: musical, romantic comedy, documentary, Biblical epic, costume drama, even a biopic about the Dalai Lama. But the problem is that the only films of his which are successful commercially are the ones in the particular genre, while films dealing with serious and more introspective themes (like Film/{{Silence}} and Film/TheAgeOfInnocence) are commercially unsuccessfully.

** Yes, ''{{Film/Skyfall}}'' and ''{{Film/Spectre}}'' count as those movies. They're basically Mendes films which happen to star James Bond and contain big action set pieces (which are also done in a painterly composition).

* Applied not to a single director, but to a particular ''studio''. Microsoft's Ensemble Studios was seen as experts in making RealTimeStrategy games thanks to the success of their ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpires'' franchise. However, this ended up dooming them. Their pigeonholing as RTS developers meant that they had difficulty getting funding and approval for other types of projects, and the shrinking market for RTS games (relative to the expansion of the market as a whole) eventually led to them closing down shop. Many of Ensemble's former employees regrouped to form Robot Entertainment, where under a new studio brand they could finally branch out into other areas.

* Creator/JimAbrahams, Creator/DavidZucker, and Creator/JerryZucker only make spoof movies.

** The same goes for Creator/JuddApatow who also only makes gross-out comedies that are 2 hours long. Most of the extras on his [=DVDs=] are deleted scenes. Even if they're not on the deleted scenes section.

** The same goes for Creator/JasonFriedberg and Creator/AaronSeltzer.

* Creator/ZackSnyder makes heavily stylized action films, often comic book-based.

* Creator/DavidLynch: MindScrew. Lots and lots of MindScrew. Weirdly, for a few years in the early 1980s, he was considered a mainstream Oscar-friendly director after the success of ''Film/TheElephantMan'' (although even it is a little on the weird side, and apparently nobody had seen [[Film/{{Eraserhead}} his debut picture]]), which is why they gave him the ''Film/{{Dune}}'' movie. After that flopped, he dove right back into the MindScrew, and - with the exception of ''Film/TheStraightStory'' - never looked back, and has been getting progressively weirder since the late '90s.

** Yes, ''{{Film/Skyfall}}'' and ''{{Film/Spectre}}'' count as those movies. They're basically Mendes films which happen to star [[Characters/JamesBondTheCharacter James Bond]] and contain big action set pieces (which are also done in a painterly composition).