The film industry is fickle. When factors like mainstream appeal and tactical marketing determine a movie’s success, it is almost impossible to ensure triumph even with a winning idea. Despite making brilliant films for their entire career, some great directors are never heard of. On the other hand, some directors make masterpieces for their first films and become permanently famous. It is an unpredictable industry, and any filmmaker practically gambles when they pour their heart and soul into a project.

Christopher Nolan, widely considered as one of the all-time greats, had to wait years until 2024 for his first Academy Award for Best Directing, and many great modern filmmakers still await their Best Director Oscar. It often takes time to find any recognition, and the lack of positive responses to earlier projects is particularly disheartening. However, as some famous filmmaking careers prove, directors often have to keep making good films that are slept on, before they make the career-defining movie which puts them in the hall of fame.

10

Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

Previously Directed Swiss Army Man (2016) & The Death Of Dick Long (2019)

The Daniels haven’t been a directing duo for long, and they only started their feature filmmaking career in 2016, but Daniel Scheinert made two good movies that didn’t receive the kind of reception they deserve. His first film, co-directed with Daniel Kwan, Swiss Army Man, an absurdist body humor film, is one of those great movies that sound awful when someone explains them. A man trapped on an island finds a flatulent corpse who helps him escape back to civilization.

His next film, The Death of Dick Long, is a dark comedy about a man who gets killed in a comically disturbing way. It is reminiscent of early A24 movies, which used absurdist humor and awkward situations to create dramatic tension. After these two good films, Scheinert went on to co-direct, again with Daniel Kwan, one of the greatest movies in recent history. With a sweep at the Academy comprising 11 nominations and 8 wins, Everything Everywhere All At Once, an A24 feature, placed the directing duo permanently on the map as talent to look out for.

9

Rian Johnson – Looper (2012)

Previously Directed Brick (2005) &The Brothers Bloom (2008)

While he’s most famous or possibly infamous for the highly divisive Star Wars sequel The Last Jedi, and subsequently for the Daniel Craig-led Agatha Christie-like murder mystery franchise Knives Out, Rian Johnson first made a splash in Hollywood with his imaginative time travel thriller Looper. A lean sci-fi flick buoyed by compelling performances from both Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, it was his real breakthrough film that eventually landed him the job as director of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Looper isn’t the first film on which Johnson worked with Gordon-Levitt. The latter is also the lead actor of his debut feature film, Brick, which is a uniquely stylish crime thriller that brings the 2000s high school comedy vibe to the noir genre. Johnson’s creativity shines through despite the budgetary limitations on Brick. Between the two films, Johnson directed The Brothers Bloom, a heist movie featuring Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, and Adrien Brody. Fans of Rian Johnson’s films, especially Knives Out, should check out the first two films to see him develop in the crime thriller genre.

8

Tim Burton – Batman (1989)

Previously Directed Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985) & Beetlejuice (1988)

He’s one of the most easily recognized prominent filmmakers today, but there was a time when Tim Burton’s name wasn’t synonymous with campy horror aesthetics. His sophomore feature, Beetlejuice, which got a sequel after 36 years in 2024, is often thought of as his debut feature, but his first feature film was Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, a slapstick physical comedy about a man whose bicycle gets stolen. While it is his most famous film, Beetlejuice isn’t the movie that Tim Burton struck gold with. A year later, he directed the film where Michael Keaton said his most iconic line ever.

He set a personal record with 1989’s Batman, which he’s yet to beat. His film about the Caped Crusader was the highest-grossing film at the box office that year, and no other Tim Burton film has ever achieved this milestone. Beetlejuice, which introduced the world to Burton’s eccentric, gothic, and comically horrifying world, is a unique horror comedy, but it’s not his biggest. Batman (1989) informed modern superhero filmmaking until Nolan’s Batman trilogy.

7

Denis Villeneuve – Prisoners (2013)

Previously Directed Polytechnique (2009) & Incendies (2010)

Today, he’s known for tackling two of the largest scale sci-fi universes, namely the Blade Runner and Dune franchises, but before that, Denis Villeneuve was making imaginative, often surreal crime thrillers and drama films. While he did make August 32nd on Earth (1998) and Maelström (2000) before Polytechnique (2009), the last of the three is his first big-budget film. It is a retelling of the Montreal Mᴀssacre of 1989, in which a student sH๏τ multiple female students at the Polytechnique Insтιтute in a misogynistic outburst.

While Polytechnique is criticized for being insensitive towards victims of such violence, by approaching the subject with artistic fervor that prioritizes aesthetics, it’s a solid piece of filmmaking in terms of cinematographic techniques employed. The similar issue continues with Incendies (2010), which follows two siblings as they unearth a horrifying truth about their mother. The sensationalism of violence is less in it than in Polytechnique, but it is nonetheless a compelling drama. Prisoners (2013), starring Hollywood stars Hugh Jackman and Viola Davis, put Villeneuve on the map as an auteur because of his patient filmmaking in creating the slow burn thriller.

6

Gore Verbinski – The Ring (2002)

Previously Directed MouseHunt (1997) &The Mexican (2001)

The director of Johnny Depp’s famous Pirates trilogy, Gore Verbinski, before also directing one of the best animated movies that were better than expected with Rango (2011), made the American remake of the iconic Japanese horror movie Ringu (1998). It was critically acclaimed and also a commercial success. It cemented Verbinski as a promising filmmaker, which eventually led to his ᴀssociation with Disney’s Pirates franchise.

Prior to The Ring (2002), Verbinski had directed a slapstick man vs beast movie that feels like an elaborate live-action Tom and Jerry episode, where there are two grown men in place of the cat. MouseHunt (1997) is an underappreciated action comedy that deserves more love. His next film is a little all over the place, but Brad Pitt’s fashion choices create such unintentional hilarity that The Mexican (2001) becomes an entertaining experience nonetheless.

5

Greta Gerwig – Barbie (2023)

Previously Directed Lady Bird (2017) & Little Women (2019)

Greta Gerwig’s filmmaking career began years ago as a co-director of Nights and Weekends (2008), one of the best mumblecore movies of all time. However, her solo directing career didn’t begin for another decade. In the meantime, she developed as a screenwriter, collaborating twice with now-husband Noah Baumbach as a screenwriter for Frances Ha (2012) and Mistress America (2015). Gerwig’s solo directorial debut feature Lady Bird (2017) put herself and Saoirse Ronan on the map, earning both Oscar nominations in their corresponding categories.

While she repeated the feat of earning an Oscar nomination for writing twice more with her next two films, she has yet to receive a Best Director Oscar nomination. However, her biggest film is undoubtedly 2023’s Barbie, which took her from Indie filmmaker with critical acclaim to worldwide sensation overnight as the highest-grossing female director of all time. Before that, she made a critically acclaimed adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women in 2019. Both films made before Barbie earned her the reputation of being a feminist director, which prompted Mattel to approach her to direct Barbie.

4

Ben Stiller – Zoolander (2001)

Previously Directed Reality Bites (1994) & The Cable Guy (1996)

After his acting debut in Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun (1987), it took Ben Stiller five years to earn his own TV show spot on MTV. Within two years of doing The Ben Stiller Show (1992), Stiller directed his first movie, Reality Bites, starring Ethan Hawke and Winona Ryder. A wistful romantic drama, it follows a group of college graduates as they reconcile with the changes in their lives since leaving college. It’s tonally very distinct from his next film, The Cable Guy (1996), an action comedy featuring Jim Carrey.

Carrey’s weird performance and the satirical over-the-top vibes of The Cable Guy feels like a time capsule, serving as a look into the unhinged comedic films that Jim Carrey would star in, in the ’90s. It’s a uniquely chaotic film with one of Carrey’s weirdest performances. However, with the next film he directed, Stiller struck gold. Zoolander (2001), featuring one of the best surprise cameos in movie history, is a satire on the fashion industry and Stiller’s breakthrough film as a director.

3

Christopher Nolan – Batman Begins (2005)

Previously Directed Memento (2000) & Insomnia (2002)

One of the most famous directors today, Christopher Nolan, is an instantly recognizable name. From changing the face of superhero cinema with his Batman trilogy to creating a higher standard for visual trickery due to his refusal to use CGI, Christopher Nolan has trademarks in every movie that immediately set them apart from films directed by his contemporaries. Ever since he introduced the world to Christian Bale as Batman in Batman Begins (2005), he’s been a prominent figure in the industry.

However, he’d been making films for much longer before that. Back in ’98, he made a low-budget independent non-linear crime thriller, Following, which is technically his directorial debut. But his directorial debut for a studio was with Memento, a psychological thriller starring an amnesiac character played by Guy Ritchie. While it has a cult following today and was even remade in Bollywood as Ghajini (2008) starring Aamir Khan, his next film Insomnia remains criminally underrated. Featuring an intense dramatic performance by Robin Williams, it’s a psychological crime thriller following a detective, played by Al Pacino, who’s plagued by nightmares.

2

Chloé Zhao – Nomadland (2020)

Previously Directed Songs My Brother Taught Me (2015) & The Rider (2017)

Before joining the MCU to direct The Eternals, unfairly considered the worst MCU movie, Chloé Zhao won the Best Director Oscar in 2021 for her feature film Nomadland featuring Frances McDormand, who also won the Best Lead Actress Oscar that year for the movie, which won Best Picture. A touching movie about life during the Great Recession, it explores themes of love and loss in a slow and dramatic take on the Western genre.

The Western genre is a recurring avenue for Zhao, who set her directorial debut Songs My Brother Taught Me (2015) in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. It is a poignant family drama, exploring the bond between a girl and her brother during a trying time of their lives. It meanders at a dreamy pace and is again filled with empathy for its characters, depicting the harshness of life but without dramatizing the difficulties. Her next feature, The Rider (2017), is an even more emotionally rich drama about the bond between a retired rodeo and his horse.

1

George Lucas – Star Wars (1977)

Previously Directed THX 1138 (1971) & American Graffiti (1973)

His breakthrough film gave birth to the greatest sci-fi franchise ever, which continues to grow today, but George Lucas’ career as a sci-fi filmmaker began earlier than Star Wars (1977) with THX 1138 (1971). The latter is a dystopian sci-fi drama that remains underappreciated today. As a directorial debut, it is incredibly compelling in it sH๏τ-selection and the pace at which the narrative unfolds as it explores the idea of free will.

Lucas followed that up with a comedy set in the ’60s, following a group of high school graduates who decide to have a wacky night of misadventures before they set out on their way to college the next day. American Graffiti (1973) is a lighthearted drama that is reminiscent of that short period during the early ’60s when America wasn’t in as much political and economic turmoil. To say Lucas’ next film put him on the map would be an understatement. Star Wars has won the admiration and love of 5 generations of fans, and its franchise shows no signs of stopping.