One Time's The Charm
It isn't easy to make a good movie and/or a successful movie, so any director that's done either (or both) once deserves credit. However, for this list, we'll be looking at those who've ONLY done it once.
Tom Hanks: That Thing You Do!
As an actor, Tom Hanks is a multi-hit wonder, having starred in more great movies than we have time to name here. His first foray into directing gave us That Thing You Do!—the story of a fictional 1960s one-hit wonder pop band—and it was great. Funny, dramatic, and that song was ridiculously catchy. But ironically, just like the band in his movie, Hanks hasn't directed anything good since then.
Although, to be fair, he's only directed one more movie: Larry Crowne.
Twentieth Century, That Thing You Do! (1996)
Billy Bob Thornton: Sling Blade
Sling Blade proved that Thornton was a great actor—and we've seen that play out in multiple performances over the decades. It also showed that he was a talented director. Although, on that front, he hasn't had a hit since that 1996 feature film directorial debut. He has tried a few times, most notably with All the Pretty Horses, which dropped in 2000 but made very little money and garnered lots of negative reviews.
Marlon Brando: One-Eyed Jacks
Did you know that one of, if not the greatest actor of all time, actually directed a great movie? It's a movie Quentin Tarantino cited as one of his three favorite Westerns—and it was the only film Brando ever directed.
Paramount Pictures, Wikimedia Commons
Tony Kaye: American History X
It feels a little weird calling Tony Kaye a one-hit wonder off of American History X given that he disowned the film, complained that the final cut was nothing like what he wanted it to be, and took out ads denouncing Edward Norton and the studio while trying to get his name taken off it. But his name remained, and the film is acclaimed by many, so Kaye finds himself with a place on our list.
New Line Cinema, American History X (1998)
David Mickey Evans: The Sandlot
For a certain generation, The Sandlot holds a special place in our hearts. The same can't be said about anything else Evans directed, including Beethoven's 3rd, Beethoven's 4th, First Kid, and The Sandlot 2.
Twentieth Century, The Sandlot (1993)
Bill Murray: Quick Change
Bill Murray co-directed this underappreciated 90s comedy with Howard Franklin. It is Murray's only director credit.
Warner Bros., Quick Change (1990)
Howard Franklin: Quick Change
Unlike his Quick Change co-director, Franklin did direct again—although neither The Public Eye nor Larger Than Life made any waves with critics or audiences.
Trilogy Entertainment Group, Larger Than Life (1996)
James McTeigue: V For Vendetta
V for Vendetta could've been better, but the film McTeigue made was generally well-received and took home over $130 million on a $50 million budget. Unfortunately, audience members might have a vendetta against McTeigue if they paid to see anything he's made since: Ninja Assassin, The Raven, Survivor, or Breaking In.
Warner Bros., V for Vendetta (2005)
Richard Kelly: Donnie Darko
Donnie Darko wasn't a hit when it was released in 2001—but it gained a cult following and holds an 87% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and an 80% audience rating. So, Kelly definitely had some buzz around him going into his next projects. Unfortunately, those projects became Southland Tales and The Box. He hasn't made a movie since 2010.
Pandora Cinema, Donnie Darko (2001)
Daniel Myrick And Eduardo Sanchez: The Blair Witch Project
This might be cheating a little since Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez haven't co-directed a film together since they made The Blair Witch Project. But neither of them has made anything on their own worth talking about anyway.
Haxan Films, The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Paul Brickman: Risky Business
Yup, Paul Brickman is the guy who directed Tom Cruise sliding into the living room in his underwear. He also could've been the guy to direct more hits, like Rain Man or Forrest Gump. But instead, he retreated from the fame and only came back to direct one more film, 1990's Men Don't Leave—which, while well-reviewed, was a big flop.
Geffen Pictures, Risky Business (1983)
Troy Duffy: The Boondock Saints
To some, calling The Boondock Saints a hit is iffy at best. But, it did gain a cult following and enable Duffy to make a sequel, The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day—that was the second, and last, film he directed.
Franchise Pictures, The Boondock Saints (1999)
Boaz Yakin: Remember The Titans
Remember The Titans was a crowd-pleasing hit that raked in over $135 million at the box office. Yakin has directed eight other movies besides Titans and the total box office for all eight of them is probably barely $135 million. None of them are very good either: Death in Love, Max, Safe, Uptown Girls...
Walt Disney, Remember the Titans (2000)
Roger Kumble: Cruel Intentions
Kumble saw some minor success with films like The Sweetest Thing, College Road Trip, and After We Collided. But none of them were as financially successful or as ingrained in our pop culture memory as Cruel Intentions.
Columbia, Cruel Intentions (1999)
Jonathan Frakes: Star Trek: First Contact
For his directorial debut, Jonathan Frakes was given the reins to one of the most popular sci-fi franchises of all time—and he delivered one of the better Star Trek movies of the entire film series. Star Trek: First Contact made $146 million at the 1996 box office and holds a 93% Rotten Tomatoes score. Unlike the next film he directed, Star Trek: Insurrection—which made $117 million and is at 55% on Rotten Tomatoes. He was also in the director's chair for the forgettable Clockstoppers and Thunderbirds.
Paramount, Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Josh Trank: Chronicle
Josh Trank has, so far, directed three movies. The first one was the found footage superhero thriller, Chronicle, which was a big hit at the box office and with critics. After that, he made the terrible 2015 Fantastic Four movie and the 2020 film, Capone—which features a strong performance by Tom Hardy as Al Capone, but not much else.
Twentieth Century, Chronicle (2012)
Bryan Bertino: The Strangers
The Strangers was a surprise horror hit back in 2009—making $82 million on a $9 million budget. Bertino originally wrote the screenplay with no plans of directing it. But after a couple other directors backed out, the project came back to Bertino and he turned out a hit in his directorial debut. Although, since then, while he has found some critical success, he hasn't had a film even hit $1 million at the box office since.
Rogue Pictures, The Strangers (2008)
Charles Laughton: The Night Of The Hunter
While you probably know Laughton as one of the great actors of the 40s and 50s, he directed one movie in his career—and had we been compiling this list back in 1955, Laughton wouldn't have been on it, given the negative reception the film garnered from both audiences and critics alike (which is why Laughton stayed away from the director's chair after that).
However, the film has seen itself re-evaluated in the intervening decades—to the point it is now not just praised, but talked about as one of the greatest films ever made.
United Artists, The Night of the Hunter (1955)
Herk Harvey: Carnival Of Souls
Like with The Night of the Hunter, Carnival of Souls is another film that wasn't appreciated at all when it came out, but has since seen its reputation grow in stature. It was also, like Laughton, Harvey's only time in the director's chair.
Harcourt Productions, Carnival of Souls (1962)
Craig Brewer: Hustle & Flow
To paraphrase the hit song from Brewer's acclaimed Hustle & Flow, it's hard out there for Craig Brewer to make another great movie. It looked like he had a chance with his follow-up, Black Snake Moan, but it fell short—and since then, he's seen little recognition for Footloose, Dolemite Is My Name, and Coming 2 America.
MTV Films, Hustle & Flow (2005)
Rob Marshall: Chicago
Sure, he's made films that have made a lot of money (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Mary Poppins Returns, The Little Mermaid)—but nothing of the quality of Chicago, one of the greatest musicals of the century.
Benh Zeitlin: Beasts Of The Southern Wild
Zeitlin was nominated for a Best Director Oscar for his directorial debut, Beasts of the Southern Wild, released in 2012. It would be eight years before he made his second movie, Wendy.
Cinereach, Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
James Foley: Glengarry Glen Ross
Based on David Mamet's amazing play, Glengarry Glen Ross is an endlessly quotable film that hits harder with its words than many action stars do with their fists. A brilliant film. There are no other brilliant films on Foley's resume. Instead there's Who's That Girl, Fear, Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed—to name a few.
New Line Cinema, Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
DJ Caruso: The Salton Sea
DJ Caruso's directorial debut, The Salton Sea, wasn't a hit at the box office—in fact, it barely made over $1 million. But where it failed financially, it succeeded in quality as a visually engaging, inventive, original thriller that looked to harken the arrival of a director with real vision and potential. Unfortunately, that original and engaging vision never really materialized again—as Caruso has gone on to make films like Two for the Money, I Am Number Four, and XXX: Return of Xander Cage.
Even Disturbia—which begins as a pretty interesting take on Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window—devolves into a generic and predictable thriller.
Castle Rock, The Salton Sea (2002)
Scott Hicks: Shine
Scott Hicks' movie about the life of pianist David Helfgott was a smart, moving, and beautiful film that went beyond the simple clichés and melodrama that it could have so easily fallen into—a film that was very deserving of its Best Picture nomination. But while he has made beautiful films to look at since then (Snow Falling On Cedars, Hearts of Atlantis), nothing has reached Shine's level (or even come close, for that matter).
Joe Carnahan: Narc
Starring Ray Liotta and Jason Patric, Narc is a gritty crime thriller that feels like a film from a director with a real drive and vision and excitement. Since then, Carnahan has made some decent action films, but he seems to have fallen into the generic Hollywood director mold and lost that strong personal vision that Narc had.
Mathieu Kassovitz: La Haine
La Haine won numerous awards and French director Mathieu Kassovitz took home the Best Director prize at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival for the film. But since then, he's had films with great potential not come together coherently (The Crimson Rivers) and bad films make good at the box office (Gothika).
George Sluizer: Spoorloos (The Vanishing)
Dutch filmmaker George Sluizer made his mark with Spoorloos in the 80s. The excellent thriller had everyone from Roger Ebert to Stanley Kubrick singing his praises. They were praises he would never hear again as no other film on his resume was able to reach those heights—not even the poorly-received English remake of The Vanishing he made a few years later.
Argos Films, The Vanishing (1988)
Gary Oldman: Nil By Mouth
Oldman is another great actor who dipped his toes into the directing pool once and made something impressive—earning a Palm D'or nomination at Cannes, and making a movie that, in 2017, Time Out called the 21st greatest British film of all time. If he ever decides to direct again, we are definitely going to want to see it.
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