Movies which were "ghost" directed
 

Poltergeist is obviously the big one here. It was officially credited to Tobe Hooper but a majority of the actors have said that Spielberg was on set almost everyday and ran the show. Spielberg still credits Hooper and Hooper says it was his film but the cast says otherwise.

Tombstone is another one. Kurt Russell has said that he basically directed the picture after the original director was fired and that George P. Cosmatos(who received credit) basically just acted like an on site producer.

Any others come to mind?

Re: Movies which were "ghost" directed
 

Return of the Jedi

Re: Movies which were "ghost" directed
 

Waterworld?

Re: Movies which were "ghost" directed
 

During this little making-of documentary, there are several moments of Spielberg directing technicians and crew members. It really looks like the movie is a representation of his vision, he just wasn't the one calling "Action" and "Cut" when the cameras were rolling.


I don't know if he did any ghost directing, but I read Paul Thomas Anderson was shadowing Robert Altman every day on the set of Prairie Home Companion should Altman be unable to continue.

Re: Movies which were "ghost" directed
 

Spielberg himself got the whole ball rolling on the "Hooper didn't direct Poltergeist story". While being interviewed, Spielberg was quoted as saying Hoopers wasn't "very hands-on" as a director, and that he, Spielberg, did a lot of the work. This got Spielberg an angry rebuke from the director's guild, and Spielberg had to publish a real kiss-ass, apology letter to Hooper.

http://i.imgur.com/0PySJdd.jpg


It is also worth noting, that Spielberg later hired Hooper to direct and episode of Amazing Stories.

Re: Movies which were "ghost" directed
 

Didn't Spielberg do a lot of directing for Goonies as well, to the point where he was basically a co-director with Donner?

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Supposedly Howard Hawks directed most (or a lot) of the original The Thing From Another World from 1951, although Christian Nyby was officially credited.

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Director Nancy Walker didn't get along with female lead Valerie Perrine on the set of Can't Stop the Music (1980), so all scenes involving Perrine were directed by the director of cinematography Bill Butler.
Which was about 50% of the movie.

Re: Movies which were "ghost" directed
 

To my knowledge he shot second unit and did some reshoots that were ultimately unused. I've seen an awful outtake where the group administers "the Goonie Oath". Spielberg is calling action. It's a lame scene.

Re: Movies which were "ghost" directed
 

This is true. I went to a 50th anniversary screening and Robert Cornwaithe was there taking questions from audience. According to him, Hawks was on set every day and present for all filming. He would tell Nyby what to do and Nyby would then parrot it along to the actors and cameramen.

Re: Movies which were "ghost" directed
 

Paul Thomas Anderson working on Prairie Home Companion.

I miss seeing new Robert Altman movies.

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The Wizard of Oz

King Vidor, Richard Thorpe, George Cukor, Mervyn Leroy and Norman Taurog (uncredited)

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Poltergeist sure feels like an early 80s Spielberg movie.

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Paul Thomas Anderson was a huge, HUGE fan of Altman. I'm sure he assisted Altman when ever asked (and he definitely was the backup if Altman died), but there's no way he would butt in while his idol was directing.

Re: Movies which were "ghost" directed
 

And the same year, with the same credited director, there's Gone with the Wind. Cukor and Sam Wood both directed large parts of the movie, and even the stuff Fleming was in charge of, Selznick was micromanaging him.

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Saul Bass revealed he directed the shower scene in Psycho.

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The Terror (1963) was directed by Roger Corman. With additional directing credits going to Francis Ford Coppola, Jack Nicholson, Monte Hellman, Jack Hill, Dennis Jakob, Jack Hale.

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BLACK MAGIC (1949) was credited to Gregory Ratoff, but it's widely believed that Orson Welles, who starred in the film as Cagliostro, directed a lot of it. And there are numerous scenes where you just think, "Welles must have done this."

HE WALKED BY NIGHT (1949) is credited to Alfred Werker, but it's widely believed Anthony Mann directed portions of it. It certainly looks and feels like an Anthony Mann film noir.

Sergio Leone has a couple of different credits on MY NAME IS NOBODY (1974) but the direction is credited to Tonino Valerii. I've seen other Valerii films and while I liked them, they don't play anything like the way NOBODY plays, so there's been some speculation that Leone had a hand in the direction. I don't know if that's ever been confirmed or debunked. Certainly, the Morricone score sounds as good as if it were for a Leone film.

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I read once that any film that lists Mario Bava as Director of Photography he actually directed. Also he used several aliases and nobody is quite sure of everything he directed.

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Didn't Reynolds walk away at some point and leave Costner to clean up the mess?

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Yea, I personally like a lot of Tobe Hooper's work from that time frame but no way was he responsible for Poltergeist.

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Ethan Coen on several films before the DGA loosened their rules.

Not sure if Joss Whedon will be credited for Justice League.

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Guarantee he won't be. In fact, at best he'll get a special thanks at the very end of the end credits.

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While it's not exactly "ghost directing", a lot of Superman II was directed by Richard Donner , and after seeing the Richard Donner cut it is apparent a lot of his material was kept. Any scene with Gene Hackman is apparently the work of Donner in the theatrical version.

Regarding Joss Whedon on Justice League and just getting a special thanks in the credits, I recall reading that most of Jurassic Park's post production was actually overseen by George Lucas as Spielberg as deep into Schindler's List at the time. Hence the special thanks for him in the credits.
I also recall reading that The Invasion with Nicole Kidman was basically re-shot by James McTeague with close consultation by The Wachowskis. It's also pretty obvious that the Wachowskis had a lot more input on V For Vendetta aside from screenplay.

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Hellraiser 4 ?