Every so often, a director surprises audiences with a film they wouldn't expect them to direct, like Martin Scorcese tackling a family movie with Hugo or conspiracy theorist Oliver Stone directing a straightforward non-agenda account of 9/11 with World Trade Center. However, there are some directors that make movies so out of left field, it's shocking.
Some of these movies prove these directors are versatile and successful at taking risks. However, others prove that they should have probably stayed in their own lane. Here are ten films from ten directors that will cause audiences to say - they directed that?
Ghost (1990) - Jerry Zucker
Ghost was the super-romantic classic starring Demi Moore as a woman who's haunted by her murdered lover's ghost, played by Patrick Swayze. The movie received five Oscars nominations including Best Picture and Whoopi Goldberg won for Best Supporting Actress.
In a big genre switch, at the helm was Jerry Zucker, who up until then was famous for movie spoofs, having previously directed Airplane, Top Secret! and produced The Naked Gun. His brother, David Zucker, would later spoof Ghost's famous pottery scene in Naked Gun 2 1/2.
Lenny (1974) - Bob Fosse
Lenny is a raw, black and white biopic of late comedian Lenny Bruce. Dustin Hoffman gives a gritty and realistic portrayal of the comedian known for pushing the limits of comedy and being persecuted for it before his kind of comedy became commonplace.
Surprisingly, legendary dance choreographer Bob Fosse directed the film. In the past, Fosse had directed musicals on Broadway, and in movies like Cabaret and Sweet Charity. Besides a scene involving Bruce's stripper girlfriend, there is no dancing in Lenny, yet Fosse delivers an uncompromising and brutally honest film.
Three Men And A Baby (1987) - Leonard Nimoy
Three Men And A Baby is a classic comedy about three bachelors whose lives get turned upside down when a baby is left for them to take care of. The movie was a big hit and a sequel followed.
The film's director was none other than Mr. Spock himself, Leonard Nimoy. This would be the first non-Star Trek film he directed after directing Star Trek III and IV. He would then direct a few more films, but none were as big a hit as Three Men and A Baby.
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011) - Brad Bird
The first three Mission Impossible movies were directed by Brian DePalma, John Woo, and J.J Abrams. However, in a major departure, Brad Bird directed the fourth installment of the action-packed franchise.
This would be Brad Bird's first live-action feature film after having previously helmed only animated movies like The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille. The results proved successful as the film was a critical and commercial success. Bird then directed the bomb Tomorrowland, before returning to animation with The Incredibles 2.
Babe/Babe: Pig In The City (1995, 1998) - George Miller
When audiences think of the Mad Max movies' apocalyptic landscape and savagery, they don't associate it with a pig who wants to become a sheep-herder. However, George Miller tackled the subject for the classic 1995 family film. Miller produced and wrote the movie and it resulted in a Best Picture Oscar nomination.
Miller would helm the sequel Babe: Pig in the City, however, unlike its predecessor, it was a critical and commercial flop. Miller continued with family films, directing the two Happy Feet movies before returning to the apocalyptic wasteland with the Best Picture nominated Mad Max: Fury Road.
Jack (1996) - Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola has had a mixed career. He's directed movies considered the greatest of all time like The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, but he's also directed his fair share of critically maligned films. One of them being the 1996 comedy Jack with Robin Williams.
The story concerns a man born with progeria, a syndrome that causes him to age four times faster than he should. However, the film presents a comedically exaggerated version of progeria to give Robin Williams the excuse to act like a child, which comes off as poor taste rather than funny. Infamously, the movie bombed and critics hated it.
Hulk (2003) - Ang Lee
Nowadays, an accomplished director of smaller films helming a superhero movie is a big career boost, but back in 2003, it was very surprising when Ang Lee directed the Hulk movie. After helming indie classics like The Ice Storm and then Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Ang Lee wouldn't be the first name audience might associate with a large green superhero.
While the movie polarized fans, it is undoubtedly an Ang Lee film. Despite being about a big green monster, the movie is slowly paced and, at times, what audiences might consider "artsy-fartsy." However, it's packed with great performances and beautiful visuals that could double as paintings. Unfortunately, while Hulk features some Zack Snyder-level action scenes, the special effects have dated the film. Ang Lee has made some more mainstream movies since with mixed results, like 2019's flop Gemini Man.
Green Book (2018) - Peter Farrelly
The Farrelly brothers have made some of the biggest comedies of all time from Dumb & Dumber to There's Something About Mary. Not only are these films comedies, but they're also gross-out comedies that rely on scatological humor, bad language, and nudity.
So, Peter Farrelly wouldn't be the first name audiences think of when it comes to touching films about race. Green Book tells the true story of the friendship between a black Jazz pianist and his Italian driver and bodyguard. The movie was a huge hit critically and commercially, with it winning the Oscar for Best Picture.
The House With The Clock In Its Walls (2018) - Eli Roth
Eli Roth has made a career making the most horrific horror movies in modern history, dealing with flesh-eating viruses in Cabin Fever, torture in Hostel, and cannibalism in The Green Inferno. So, he's not who audiences would expect to helm a light-hearted children's movie.
Produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin entertainment The House With The Clock In Its Walls is a family horror movie. It was Roth's first non-R-rated movie and it really earns its PG rating as it's a squeaky clean spookfest from the usually graphic director known for pushing the boundaries of the R rating. The movie was a financial success and proved Roth could tame his own act and be successful.
Music Of The Heart (1999) - Wes Craven
Wes Craven had wanted to branch out from the horror genre for years. Initially, he tried with 1986's Deadly Friend, which was originally called Friend until producers forced Craven into making it a horror movie. He finally got his chance to escape horror with Music of The Heart, about a music teacher played by Meryl Streep who teaches classical music to Harlem youths.
Craven used Scream's success to convince the Weinsteins to let him do it since he wanted to direct a non-horror movie and he loved classical music. The movie didn't fare well at the box-office but received Oscar nominations for Streep and for Best Song. Unfortunately, Craven would never make another non-horror movie again.