Yesterday, the industry got a reminder of that when Warner Bros. and DC Studios announced that Steven Soderbergh will help director Matt Reeves finish production on “The Batman Part II” while Reeves deals with a family matter. Thank you to all for your concern and well wishes.” This, of course, is not the first time in the history of popular cinema that an outside director stepped in to take a project over the finish line. However, few of the other switches were done with friendship, collaboration and support, as is the case with Soderbergh and Reeves.
Whether it was ballooning budgets, off-camera scandal, or personal differences, Hollywood has no shortage of studios scrambling to replace their director when disaster struck. Here is a list of seven instances in movie history where a film had to be finished by a second director. Star Kirk Douglas, whose company, Bryna Films was producing “Spartacus,” was the one calling the shots on this classic gladiator movie, as far as the director was concerned.
After two weeks of shooting, Douglas got the approval of the studio to replace Anthony Mann, an experienced director of Westerns, saying Mann had lost control and was letting co-star Peter Ustinov direct his own scenes. Douglas brought in Stanley Kubrick, who had directed him in “Paths of Glory,” and the film ended up winning four Oscars as well as the Golden Globe for best drama. The studio temporarily halted production due to a “health matter” involving Singer — his mother was later revealed to have been ill — but reports swirled about Singer’s unreliability on set, verbal abuse and his alleged disagreements with star Rami Malek.
Dexter Fletcher, who was previously attached to the project, was brought in to replace Singer and finish the final third of the film. Though he wasn’t mentioned in promotional materials, Singer received a sole directorial credit, in line with DGA guidelines, and Fletcher was credited as executive producer. It became the highest-grossing musical biopic until “Michael” was released, and won four Oscars in addition to a best picture nomination.
In 2017, Zack Snyder stepped away from the film during post-production to grieve with his family after his daughter took her own life. Joss Whedon, who five years earlier hit big directing Marvel’s “Avengers,” was brought in and made sweeping changes to the film. Allegations of misconduct followed, and the understandable outrage of Snyder fans eventually led to the 2021 release of “The Snyder Cut” of “Justice League,” which clocked in at just over four hours.
During a recent sit-down with Variety, Snyder said he’s never seen Whedon’s version of “Justice League,” given the hardships he and his family were experiencing at the time of release: “I’ve never seen it. There was a point when the movie was released that was a low point for me because the pile-on effect was so insane. Not only did I lose my daughter, but also they’ve released this version of the movie that I had nothing to do with and my name is on a movie that I didn’t make.” The production of “The Island of Dr.
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