so i am talking about all these directors that have come from relative obscurity to directing huge franchises. Chris Nolan (The Dark Knight Trilogy), Sam Raimi (Spider-Man), Peter Jackson (LotR), James Gunn (GotG), Bryan Singer (X-Men), John Favreau (Iron Man), etc...

for me:
it's a toss up bc i loved Iron Man so much and have seen it numerous times, but The Fellowship of the Rings was pure movie making majesty...

going with Peter Jackson.

Gareth Edwards directing Godzilla.

I wouldn't have considered Nolan, Raimi, or Jackson obscure before they did their bigger franchises. They weren't big names but they all had quite a few films to their credit just nothing blockbuster worthy.

/\ Yeah, no studio is going to give a franchise to a truly obscure director.

Bryan Singer had already done The Usual Suspects & Apt Pupil. John Favreau was known as an actor and had directed Made, Elf & Zathura.

Mel Gibson taking over the Schindler's List franchise was bizarre.

Yeah I just picked a few examples that I knew had a decent filmography built up that I was familiar with prior to doing something bigger. Not denying Singer or Favreau were established.

Noam Murro directing 300: Rise of an Empire.

I think he's pretty obscure, but IMO did an awesome job.

you guys know what i mean. relative obscurity or they have never directed bigger budgeted affair like they went on to do. Joss Whedon is another i would put in this category. sure he was established in tv and did Serenity, but then given the reigns of The Avengers is like a windfall for him and eventually us...

David Fincher - Alien³
Marc Webb - ASM, ASM2

I hear the studio treated him as an obscure director.

Nolan really just had Memento and Insomnia (and Following, I guess) under his belt when he signed onto Batman. Back then, I thought that was an incredible move. I expected a Richard Donner or someone like that.

And I guess Bryan Singer was the same way with X-Men. The Usual Suspects was a pillar movie for us movie dorks in the 90's.

Now, I'm kind of getting used to that method. And I like it. It feels like studios are getting away from detached, terrible choices and getting into to know and understand film culture. I'm not sure who's driving it. But it seems to be working. The culture of the 80's and 90's was all business and no interest or understanding in finding out what makes a movie good - just what can sell tickets. Now there seem to be a trend of attempting to make a "good" AND "profitable" movie.

What determines the winner? Whether we like the director, or whether we like the movie/franchise?

I wonder what music video convinced Fox to hire him.

I can't believe no one has mentioned David Yates taking over the Harry Potter franchise with Order of the Phoenix and all the remaining films. Huge franchise. He had done TV movies and miniseries almost exclusively before that. When he was given the job, everyone was asking "who?"

I think he did an amazing job with the last four movies, particularly Order of the Phoenix, which was the hardest book to adapt.

Fight to the death.

Meh I still don't agree with what you're saying. It's one thing to take someone who's done absolutely nothing and throw them into a blockbuster film versus taking someone who at least has some films to their credit and making a bigger film. All the guys you mentioned weren't huge names but they all had some credits and fairly known films. Raimi especially. Also Whedon wasn't known as a big time director but he definitely wasn't an unknown to the world of entertainment in general and had created some hugely popular shows.

Figured Rian Johnson would have been mentioned. Or does it not count since the movies arent out yet?

Gunn is/was pretty obscure.

Lexi Alexander: PUNISHER WAR ZONE

That was my thought as well, I can't wait to see what he does with Star Wars.

That's not a huge franchise. She was a great director for it though. Sad she got screwed on it but her action was solid.

Steven Spielberg being given JAWS. What the hell were they thinking?

Obscure is relative. Call me when Abbas Kiarostomi directs a superhero movie .

That's a good point. My psyche has never been able to break into the film-festival-indie-unrecognized scene. But I know there's a whole scene of people out there who dig that stuff. Most notable directors have a few credits are their IMDB that you are completely unaware of.