Thousands of movies come out every year, and while everyone talks about the films that make hundreds of millions of dollars, according to Forbes, most movies released annually actually lose money. Not every film is of The Godfather-like quality, but under a different direction, every film certainly has the potential to be.
Whether it's because the movie has a great story but isn't told well, or because the director doesn't have a good grasp on the source material, Redditors think these movies should have had a different filmmaker at the helm. According to Reddit users, in an ideal world, Martin Scorsese should have directed House of Gucci, Denis Villeneuve should have directed The Matrix Resurrections, and... Michael Bay should have directed Tenet.
Tenet (2020)
Tenet is one of the most mind-blowing movies when it comes to its action sequences, but the time travel film's biggest criticism is that it gets too bogged down in the mechanics and explanations of how time travel works. Tornado316319 agrees, noting, "Tenet would have been improved if it had been helmed by some popcorn-flick artist like Michael Bay, instead of being burdened by Christopher Nolan’s lore-heavy philosophy."
Nolan and Bay are the two biggest and most popular action directors working today, but for completely different reasons. Where Nolan uses too much exposition, Bay doesn't use enough. Where Bay infuses comedy, there's barely a laugh to be had in Nolan's movies. And the list goes on. So a Bay-directed Tenet may have leaned too much in the other direction.
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
Bohemian Rhapsody is about the formation and trajectory of the legendary rock band Queen, and it focuses on the personal troubles that lead singer Freddie Mercury struggled with at the time. Plasterboard33 argues, "Edgar Wright has always been a huge Queen fan and is so inventive as a director that I can only imagine how cool and unique his version of Bohemian Rhapsody would have been." The Redditor also believes that if Wright made the movie, it would have been a masterpiece.
Just like he does with all of his films, Wright would have brought an energy to the musical biopic unlike any other. And as the 2019 movie is burdened with so many historical accuracies and is somewhat of a fabrication of the truth about Queen, The Baby Driver director would have told a more faithful retelling of the band's history and legacy.
The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
According to Deadline, the only reason Lana Wachowski agreed to write and direct a new Matrix movie was because she knew Warner Bros. would produce a new one with or without her. The filmmaker didn't want another director getting their hands on her property.
However, it's still interesting to imagine what the fourquel would have been like in a different direction, especially as The Matrix Resurrections was so polarizing. Scarfacenahface thinks the current frontier in sci-fi movies should have steered the ship, as they wanted "Denis Villeneuve doing Matrix 4." With huge sci-fi epics like Blade Runner 2049 and Dune under his belt, Villeneuve can seemingly make any old sci-fi property relevant again.
Ant-Man (2015)
It's a testament to how great Edgar Wright is and how much of a huge fanbase he has that his name is thrown around so much, especially when naming films that should have been under a different direction. Along with Bohemian Rhapsody, Hushpolocaps69 reckons the filmmaker should have directed Ant-Man instead of Bring It On director Peyton Reed, but it's because there's some history there.
Wright was developing Ant-Man and was scheduled to direct it, but he later left after creative differences with Marvel Studios. The Redditor posits, "Could’ve been a truly unique Marvel film and something new to the superhero genre." Based on everything fans know about Wright's Ant-Man, it really could have been something special.
Elysium (2013)
Neill Blomkamp has unfortunately become a one-hit-wonder director, as he hasn't once come close to capturing the magic of his directorial debut, District 9. However, his sophomore slump, Elysium, might not have been great but it did have potential, as it's a sci-fi action movie on a huge scale that's also a social commentary on immigration, health care, the justice system, and so many other things.
That's exactly why Brainensmoothed argues that the film should have been directed by Paul Verhoeven. The Redditor jokes, "throw Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead and you’ve got a stew going." It isn't just the way Verhoeven shoots action that makes him the ideal Elysium director, but with movies like Robocop and Starship Troopers, which are also social commentaries, the 2013 movie could have been hilariously over the top and satirical too.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2011)
Beatrix_-_Kiddo wishes that Guillermo del Toro directed The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Not only that, but they argue, "The Hobbit should have been one film and Del Toro should have finished it." The Redditor is referring to the fact that the director was attached to the project before Peter Jackson.
While Jackson spearheaded the Lord of the Rings trilogy and turned in three of the greatest fantasy epics of all time, he wasn't originally at the helm of the adaption of The Hobbit. Unfortunately, del Toro left the project in 2010. It would have been an interesting and undoubtedly very different direction from the end result, especially given that del Toro is the best monster director working today.
The Snowman (2017)
The 2017 thriller The Snowman came and went, was a massive box office failure, and it was criticized by most for being completely incomprehensible. According to Cinema Blend, it was plagued with production problems and 15% of the screenplay wasn't even shot. With a production lacking that much direction, if there's one movie that needed a different filmmaker more than any other, it's The Snowman.
Grjjr9 posits, "Would've been great with David Fincher." Being set in Norway, the film is snowy and icy, and it's the perfect aesthetic for a thriller movie, but it also draws a lot of similarities to Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Even though Fincher is the best thriller working today, he might be too much of an obvious candidate and it'd be way too reminiscent of his previous work, even if it would be great.
House Of Gucci (2021)
House of Gucci is an epic and sprawling period biopic that has a sprinkle of humor and is visually stunning. That isn't exactly director Ridley Scott's MO, who tends to go for sci-fi or huge swords-and-sandals movies. But it does sound more familiar with the work of another director, Martin Scorsese.
Tornado316319 thinks that "House of Gucci had questionable pacing at times. I can’t help but feel as if Martin Scorsese would have been a better fit than Ridley Scott." The key to Scorsese's success, as well as the room for improvisation, which the Redditor has picked up on, is Thelma Schoonmaker. Schoonmaker is the gangster director's longtime editor who knows how to pace movies better than anybody else in the industry.
The Adventures Of Tintin (2011)
The Adventures of Tintin had one of the best uses of 3D, is an action-adventure spectacle, and is one of Steven Spielberg's most underrated movies. But despite all those benchmarks, Plasterboard33 still thinks it would have been better if directed by somebody else.
The Redditor admits, "I love Spielberg's version of Tintin but I would also love to see a Wes Anderson Tintin movie." Anderson's original and quirky tone lends itself well to a Tintin adaptation, especially his deadpan comedy. And his live-action movies are as close to animated as they could possibly get, often using stop-motion and miniatures that intentionally look like miniatures.
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Spielberg directed the 2000s sci-fi movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence, but it doesn't feel like one of his usual films, as it lacks that straightforward and linear but exciting storytelling that's full of sentimentality. The movie is way more ambiguous and not everything is tied up neatly like in the filmmaker's other releases. Chicken_Dinner_10191 believes, "I think Stanley Kubrick as the director would have turned in a more visually impressive film."
Just like with Edgar Wright and Ant-Man, Kubrick was developing A.I. Artificial Intelligence and was attached to direct. The film was planned to be his follow up to 1999's Eyes Wide Shut, and it was going to be his first return to science fiction since the ground-breaking masterpiece that is 2001: A Space Odyssey. Kubrick, unfortunately, passed away in the process, and there's no knowing how epic and mindblowing the film could have been.