Biggest box office directorial debut?

[PopcornTreeCt]

What director's first movie has made the most bank at the box office? Anyone have any good guesses?

[Elldubtoo]

The hack who directed Charlie's Angels (2000), probably.

[RogueScribner]

Well, if you're talking strictly features, probably John Lasseter for Toy Story ($192 million domestic). He did work on some short films prior to that, though. Not counting animated features, probably Kevin Costner for Dances With Wolves ($184 million domestic).

L8r

[naitram]

Shucks, I wanted it to be Michael Bay, we haven't talked about him in awhile. :D

[joeydaninja]

Yeah, I was also thinking Bad Boys :D

[RogueScribner]

Bad Boys only grossed $66 million. Sorry, there's been stronger debuts than that. :)

L8r

[Count Dooku]

What was the name of that guy who directed JAWS?

[Matthew Chmiel]

What was the name of that guy who directed JAWS?
What was the name of that guy who directed THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS first?

[RogueScribner]

What was the name of that guy who directed JAWS?What was the name of that guy who directed THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS first?

:lol: :rimshot: :lol:

I guess after Costner, it would be Peter Faiman for Crocodile Dundee ($175 million) and Rob Marshall for Chicago ($171 million).

L8r

[Drexl]

Roger Allers/Rob Minkoff: The Lion King ($328 million)

[Count Dooku]

Fine... but what was his name??

[RogueScribner]

Fine... but what was his name??
Steven Spielberg.

Are we counting animated features? Somehow, I don't think it's appropriate, since they are practically made by committee anyway. The producer would have more to do with how it turns out than the director, IMO.

L8r

[Mondo Kane]

Blair Witch is up there, right?

[RogueScribner]

Blair Witch is up there, right?

It's up there, but it's still outdone by every other debut I've mentioned thus far, plus John Pasquin for The Santa Clause ($145 million). A lot of these guys transitioned from television.

L8r

[BiMonSciFiCon]

Shrek earned over 265 million and I think had first time directors @ the helm

[RogueScribner]

Again, I don't really think animated features should count. Call me crazy.

L8r

[Flynn]

How about Brett Ratner? Wasn't his first movie "Rush Hour" - that made a bundle, did it not?

[PopcornTreeCt]

Brett Ratner's first movie was Money Talks.

[Count Dooku]

RogueScribner is correct.

If you eliminate animated films from the competition, the answer is Kevin Costner's DANCES WITH WOLVES

With $184 million domestic box office and $424 million world-wide, Dances With Wolves is the highest grossing, non-animated film made by a first-time director.

[scott1598]

M. Night Shyamalan's "The Sixth Sense"...what do i win?

[Superboy]

M. Night Shyamalan's "The Sixth Sense"...what do i win?

Nope, he made two movies before 6th sense.

[Nick Danger]

Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider? That has to be huge in adjusted dollars.

[Nick Danger]

I was wrong. Easy Rider made $60m by 1972. According to this site (http://oregonstate.edu/dept/pol_sci/fac/sahr/sahr.htm#_Conversion_Factor_Tables) that comes out to $277m in 2005 dollars. Big, but Dennis Hopper can't beat Costner.

[Jay G.]

Are we counting animated features? Somehow, I don't think it's appropriate, since they are practically made by committee anyway. The producer would have more to do with how it turns out than the director, IMO.

Brad Bird wants you to lean closer so he can bitch-slap you.

[RogueScribner]

Brad Bird also wrote what he directed. The same cannot be said for the directors of Shrek and The Lion King, The only other big comparison I can think of is for John Lasseter with Toy Story, since he has a story credit, and Andrew Stanton for Finding Nemo. But one only has to look at the writing credits for Toy Story to see the half dozen people credited with developing the story and writing the screenplay. Animated films, by their very nature, are made by committee. Why do you think so many animated films have multiple directors listed? It's because they farm out the work to make sure the movie gets done on time. Disney had an incredible run with animation in the late '80s and early '90s. Who do you think was more responsible: Jeffrey Katzenberg/Howard Ashman or the directors of those films?

Brad Bird is the exception to the rule, not the rule. And since his first film didn't do too hot at the box office, he isn't apropos for this discussion.

L8r

[scott shelton]

M. Night Shyamalan's "The Sixth Sense"...what do i win?


The title: "Not to be taken seriously"

[Mano]

The title: "Not to be taken seriously"

:rimshot:

Zing!

[PopcornTreeCt]

Kevin Costner is the winner then. He should have stopped making movies after Dances With Wolves, he would've been remembered as a legend.

[scott1598]

Nope, he made two movies before 6th sense.
i know, but i didn't really count those.

[Joe Molotov]

i know, but i didn't really count those.

Well in that case, let's count Star Wars, Jaws, and Lord of the Rings too.

[Bugg]

GREASE is the word.

Randal Kleiser's feature film directorial debut, he had worked a lot in television and made a few short films earlier, but his first theatrical film was GREASE, which adjusted for inflation has a box-office take of $480 million!!

It was followed by such prodigious crowd pleasers as The Blue Lagoon, Summer Lovers, Grandview, U.S.A., Flight of the Navigator, and Big Top Pee-wee. Non-ironically he later helmed a 3-D thing titled "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience"

[Matthew Chmiel]

i know, but i didn't really count those.
Rosie O'Donnell wants you to lean closer so he can bitch-slap you.

[scott shelton]

Well in that case, let's count Star Wars, Jaws, and Lord of the Rings too.


Then clearly the answer is James Cameron's TITANIC.

[The Bus]

I'd agree with whoever didn't want to count animated features -- for the most part they are done by commitee and there's never a true singular vision (Miyazaki and Brad Bird are exceptions).

But it seems Bugg has the upper hand.

OK, let me revise the question. What is the biggest box office directorial debut by someone who had never worked in any way inside the studio system? This would disqualify M. Night, but not Darren Aronofsky, who's two earlier movies were studnet films. Pi. eventhough it was not made by a studio, was released and promoted by one, so we have that one at $3.2m -- Dances with Wolves is disqualified since Kevin Costner was already well-known at that point.

[Jay G.]

Brad Bird also wrote what he directed. The same cannot be said for the directors of Shrek and The Lion King, The only other big comparison I can think of is for John Lasseter with Toy Story, since he has a story credit, and Andrew Stanton for Finding Nemo.
No love for Peter Docter (Monsters, Inc.)? Lots of directors don't write what they direct. Half the names given here would be disqualified if that were a requirement, including Kevin Costner for Dances with Wolves. Luckily, this wasn't a "writer/director wtih biggest debut film" thread.

But one only has to look at the writing credits for Toy Story to see the half dozen people credited with developing the story and writing the screenplay.
Again, we were talking about directors in this thread, not writers.

Animated films, by their very nature, are made by committee.
All films, by their very nature, are made by committee. There's thousands of people involved in a film, each making their contribution, suggesting ideas, adding their unique viewpoint. A cinematographer has a much bigger influence on how a film will look than a director. Look at the behind-the-scenes on LOTR. Peter Jackson wasn't even on set for many of the scenes shot, which were done by other units. He wasn't even in the editing room for an important scene in FOTR. Yet he's still the director, because he gave direction to all those people, before they did their job and after in the form of feedback. A director doesn't do everything on a film set, he's just responsible for everything.

Why do you think so many animated films have multiple directors listed? It's because they farm out the work to make sure the movie gets done on time.
But if the director is unimportant, why would they need more of them? There are live-action films that have multiple directors as well, should they be disqualified? "Oh, you had a co-director. Sorry, neither of you count."

Disney had an incredible run with animation in the late '80s and early '90s. Who do you think was more responsible: Jeffrey Katzenberg/Howard Ashman or the directors of those films?
Katzenberg was also responsible for the lat 90s decline, including approving the final blow to Disney's 2D animation unit: Treasure Planet. Unless you're speaking from experience within the animation industry, I don't see how you can know who was more responsible for each individual film.

Brad Bird is the exception to the rule, not the rule. And since his first film didn't do too hot at the box office, he isn't apropos for this discussion.

The simple fact that there is such an easily acknoledgable exception to your generalization proves the folly of overgeneralizations.

[RogueScribner]

Lots of directors don't write what they direct. Half the names given here would be disqualified if that were a requirement, including Kevin Costner for Dances with Wolves. Luckily, this wasn't a "writer/director wtih biggest debut film" thread.

I'm making the distinction between animated and live action films. You'll find more auteurs within live action features than animated. The point I was making is that the person with the strongest creative influence over an animated film is rarely the director or directors. Brad Bird is an exception. Peter Jackson was the biggest creative influence over the LOTR trilogy. Kevin Costner was the biggest creative influence over Dances With Wolves.

In television, people are known more for writing than directing. Writers and producers are credited a lot with the success or failure of a series. Not directors. The same holds true for animated features. The producers are ultimately held accountable, for better or for worse, not the directors. Live action films is the only medium I'm aware of where the reverse it true for the most part.

L8r

[Jay G.]

I'm making the distinction between animated and live action films. You'll find more auteurs within live action features than animated.
Ah, but we're not talking about auteurs, just directors. This thread isn't called "Biggest box office auteurial debut?" after all.

Jerry Bruckheimer is arguably the auteur of the films he produces. Does that mean that David McNally, Michael Bay, and Simon West don't count in this thread?

[Hokeyboy]

Biggest Box Office Debut for An Auteur Writer/Director in a Non-Animated Feature Film

Congratulations.

[pdinosaur]

Animated films, by their very nature, are made by committee. Why do you think so many animated films have multiple directors listed? It's because they farm out the work to make sure the movie gets done on time.

dont lots of live action movies do this too, but instead of being codirected there's first and second units, first and secon directors, blah blah? only diff. is they dont get the cred.?

[Cameron]

Nope, he made two movies before 6th sense.

Wide Awake (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120510/) and it has Dennis Leary and Rosie O'Donnell...he is so dark and Mysterious...HAHAHA

Praying with Anger (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105162/)

[Matthew Chmiel]

Ah, but we're not talking about auteurs, just directors. This thread isn't called "Biggest box office auteurial debut?" after all.

Jerry Bruckheimer is arguably the auteur of the films he produces. Does that mean that David McNally, Michael Bay, and Simon West don't count in this thread?
David McNally did Kangaroo Jack simply because Bruckheimer told him to, so let's not throw the term of "director" around loosely for that schmuck.

[RogueScribner]

dont lots of live action movies do this too, but instead of being codirected there's first and second units, first and secon directors, blah blah? only diff. is they dont get the cred.?

Typically all a 1st or 2nd AD does is handle the more mundane aspects of directing: handling the extras, shooting establishing or insert shots, maybe an action scene without actors. They're not affecting the creative through line of the production, merely fulfilling the tasks they are assigned. Obviously, there are exceptions, like in the LOTR trilogy, but that's a rare case. ADs are hired hands. They help organize and execute the job, but they don't determine what the job is. The director does.

L8r

[chowderhead]

I would say based on cost vs. BO returns, El Mariachi by Robert Rodriguez. It was supposed to have been made for $7,000 and went on to gross 2 million dollars. That was his second movie though I am not sure his first movie was ever released.

[Joe Molotov]

I would say based on cost vs. BO returns, El Mariachi by Robert Rodriguez. It was supposed to have been made for $7,000 and went on to gross 2 million dollars. That was his second movie though I am not sure his first movie was ever released.

If you don't count Blair Witch Project costing $60,000 and making back $140 Million.

[Bugg]

Being a non-studio film in the 60's means there are no reliable figures on the number of tickets sold, but I would guess that George Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD may be the biggest success for a first time director who had little or no past experience working in the industry.