While directors often develop a unique style in their work, there are some directors who are willing to go against their type, and create something that might be unlike anything they have done before. Discussions about actors being typecast abound in the film industry, but there isn’t enough attention paid to how this can also happen to directors. The creatives who helm a film and take it from the point of the script, all the way to distribution.

Yet, directors have been known to develop their own styles, making it possible to recognize their films just by genre, themes, visuals, and other distinct signature elements. However, just like the actors who wind up being typecast, there are several notable directors who broke the mold and did something unexpected in their careers. Whether that was moving into a more political arena with a film, or going from adult films to comedies or children’s films, there have been a lot of incredible directors who excelled in multiple areas.

10

Jonathan Demme – The Silence of the Lambs

Jonathan Demme was one of the most well-regarded directors in cinema throughout the 1970s and 1980s with a long list of тιтles under his belt. However, a common note about his work was the way they appeared casual, and generally didn’t dig deeper than exploring romance and other straightforward or simple relationships. But when he directed The Silence of the Lambs in 1991, it was completely the opposite.

Starring Anthony Hopkins, The Silence of the Lambs is a psychological thriller that sees a young detective, played by Jodie Foster, seek out the help and advice of a serial killer. The film is tense, full of psychological exploration, and completely gripping from start to finish. While this was a break from his other body of work, Demme proved that he was not just capable of making such a film, but he excelled, creating a film that would endure and inspire for decades to come.

9

Todd Phillips – Joker

Todd Phillips did a stunning job with Joker in 2019. The film explores the deep psychological damage suffered by its protagonist, Arthur Fleck, and how this led to the man becoming an icon of anarchy. The film is tense, gritty, and dark, with profound insights into the psyche of a man who is utterly broken. However, this was a complete shift from anything that came before in Phillips’ career.

Up to that point, Phillips was best known for directing the hit comedy trilogy, The Hangover. Prior to that, Phillips enjoyed success when he directed Starsky & Hutch, a movie based on the popular TV series, with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson tackling the central roles. But none of these movies adequately prepared audiences for what to expect when Joker came out and completely shattered box office records for an R-rated film.

8

Martin Scorsese – Shutter Island

Martin Scorsese has long been one of the most popular filmmakers in Hollywood, delivering gritty dark crime films that make no attempt to hide their gritty, gripping action. Movies like Taxi Driver and GoodFellas made him stand out as an incredible storyteller, with Gangs of New York, The Aviator, and more, further establishing his ability to take a story and make it powerful and punchy.

However, Scorsese was met with rare criticism when he released Shutter Island in 2010. The film starred Leonardo DiCaprio, a frequent collaborator of Scorsese’s, and the trailer revealed a dark, gritty story akin to many of the other entries in his repertoire. However, when the film was revealed to have a huge central mystery, and surprising twists, it came as a shock due to the director’s tendency to lay everything out in clear terms.

7

David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin ʙuттon

On a nearly opposite note, David Fincher has become renowned for his epic twists. Movies like Fight Club, Seven, and Zodiac all delivered compelling criminal drama, with huge twist endings. These films reveled in mystery and grounded storytelling delivered with dramatic notes and exciting changes in pace. And yet, when The Curious Case of Benjamin ʙuттon came out, based on the popular short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it surprised audiences in a different way.

This dark romance story steeped in fantasy revolved around a supernatural plot. In previous films, Fincher always based the stories in reality, and he played with expectations in order to create satisfying twists. But Benjamin ʙuттon’s bizarre aging backwards left viewers baffled. The story is intriguing, and perhaps in different hands, it would have been a bigger hit, but Fincher’s audience had come to have certain expectations around the unexpected.

6

Christopher Nolan – Batman Begins

Christopher Nolan’s biggest hits and financial successes have all come after he released Batman Begins in 2005. However, from the earliest projects that Nolan worked on, he had a distinctive style and voice in his films that continues to be seen today. Nolan’s clever approach to storytelling, and his obsession with telling stories in non-linear patterns can be seen in early projects like Following, Memento, and Insomnia, but Batman Begins broke the mold.

Nolan’s contributions to superhero films cannot be overstated, having delivered some of the most beloved Batman stories of all time. However, these movies don’t really resemble anything else in his body of work. Nolan gravitates towards dramatic, historical, and alternative reality storytelling. And approaching time in unique patterns. But Batman Begins and the rest of the trilogy appear to stand out in many ways from Nolan’s other works.

5

Stanley Kubrick – 2001: A Space Odyssey

Stanley Kubrick is also a director who had an enormous pᴀssion for creating movies about war, history, and epic settings. Many of his earliest successes came in the form of war movies, and this continued throughout his career. And while he is often celebrated as being one of the greatest sci-fi directors of all-time, his first real contribution in that realm is also his most highly praised, 2001: A Space Odyssey.

This sci-fi epic couldn’t be further away from the projects that Kubrick had directed up to that point. A story set in deep space, with AI as the villain, and incredible visuals in rocket ships and with celestial objects. The movie certainly didn’t feel like anything else Kubrick did before or since, but it remains one of the most influential films in its genre.

4

Steven Spielberg – E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Steven Spielberg is well known for creating wonderful sci-fi movies that spark the imaginations of adults and kids alike today due to his incredible success with films like Jurᴀssic Park and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, but that was not the niche he started out in. Spielberg has been making feature-length movies since 1964. And while he went on to make fun action films, and space-bound sci-fi, his movies were usually not aimed at kids.

In fact, in Spielberg’s original plans for making E.T., the film was set to include slightly more adult themes, and a potential romance between the alien and Elliot’s mother. But, thanks to some notes from others and a willingness to adapt, Spielberg leaned into the family-friendly route and made one of the most timeless sci-fi films of all time. Evidently, Spielberg enjoyed making family films, and this influenced later projects like Jurᴀssic Park too, which is based on a novel that is not aimed at kids.

3

Guillermo del Toro – Pinocchio

Guillermo del Toro has made a career out of making horror and fantasy films. Huge hits like Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water, and Hellboy all follow common threads of dark mystery, fantasy, and intrigue. So, when the director was attached to directing an animated reimagining of the Pinocchio story, theories abounded as to what the movie could look like.

And while the final result was a dark and spooky movie, it was still suitable for all audiences. The movie has an eerie feel that is reminiscent of James and the Giant Peach, or Coraline, but it remains true to the source material, and a stunningly beautiful work of animation. In fact, the film even won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature, revealing how impressive GdT’s efforts were in creating this unique film among his other hits.

2

Bryan Singer – Bohemian Rhapsody

Bryan Singer was perhaps best known for directing the incredible mystery film The Usual Suspects. Then, Singer moved into an area where he had a deep pᴀssion for superhero movies as he directed two of the three X-Men films from the 2000s, and Superman Returns. He continued to work on various projects, with several more entries in the superhero genre, but his 2018 film, Bohemian Rhapsody, was a departure from the norm.

This musical biopic not only focused on a real-life music icon, but it featured music and singing as a core element of the film. In all ways, it was a unique project for Singer, but that did not stop him from creating what has been lauded as one of the greatest entries in this genre to date. His ability to turn his star, Rami Malek, into Freddie Mercury was astounding, and the emotion and depth of the film lift it far beyond expectations.

1

Sam Raimi – Spider-Man

Finally, Sam Raimi made his big break into Hollywood with low-budget horror films like The Evil ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. However, his creativity and imagination made these movies a resounding success, and afforded Raimi the opportunity to tackle bigger projects with larger budgets. In 1990, Raimi made his first entry into the world of supehero films with an original story called Darkman, but this film was largely a horror first with supernatural hero elements.

In 2002, Raimi was given the chance to direct one of the biggest superheros of all time when he was handed the reins to Spider-Man by Sony. While the trilogy he directed features stunning camera work that is influenced by his early work, Spider-Man trades out the dark despair of horror for a hopeful and bright story. The film is one of the best superhero movies ever made, and another clear indication that directors don’t need to stick to one style to find success.