Hollywood's Greatest One-Hit Wonder Movie Directors

Hit Movie: Rookie of the Year

Non-Hit Movies: N/A

Daniel Stern was a well-established movie star by the time he got to direct Rookie of the Year thanks to his work in the Home Alone and City Slickers franchises. Stern used that newfound industry clout to direct a family film, the baseball fantasy Rookie of the Year. The film was a minor hit that became one of numerous kids baseball films (Little Big League, Angels in the Outfield, The Sandlot) of that era to become a cult favorite with millennials.

Stern even resurrected his pitching coach character, Phil Brickma, to inspire the Chicago Cubs team that won the World Series in 2016. But Stern never directed another movie in his long career.

Hit Movie: American History X

Non-Hit Movie: Detachment

American History X, a hard-edge drama about a reformed racist, earned an Oscar nomination for star Edward Norton in 1998. That might have launched director Tony Kaye into the upper echelons of the movie business. Instead, Kaye disappeared, thanks to the turbulent nature of the film's production. Kaye and the studio, New Line Cinema, squabbled over the editing of the movie. Kaye's original cut was rejected in favor of a studio-assembled edit. Kaye was so disgusted by New Line's version of American History X that he lobbied, unsuccessfully, to have his name removed from the movie's credits. Kaye wouldn't direct another narrative feature until 2011. He has been tapped to direct the upcoming movie Civil.

Hit Movie: The Sandlot

Non-Hit Movies: Beethoven's 3rd, Beethoven's 4th, First Kid, The Sandlot 2

Sometimes, a hit movie can define a career so much that it's impossible to shake the reputation associated with it. Such is the case with David Mickey Evans, who rose to prominence as the director of The Sandlot, a popular 1993 baseball movie for kids. The Sandlot is a seminal film for millennials and baseball fans alike. But Evans's career is filled with movies chasing that success. He's mostly done children's movies, even going back to direct a sequel to The Sandlot that went straight to video.

Hit Movie: V for Vendetta

Non-Hit Movies: Ninja Assassin, The Raven, Survivor

For James McTeigue, an accomplished assistant director, his big Hollywood break came through a longtime association with the Wachowskis, the directors behind the Matrix trilogy. McTeigue was the first AD for both Matrix sequels, which made him a natural choice to direct an adaptation of Alan Moore's classic graphic novel V for Vendetta when the Wachowskis purchased the film rights to the book. 

V for Vendetta was a solid box office hit when it came out in 2005, but almost immediately, rumors spread that McTeigue didn't direct the film at all and was used as a front to allow the Wachowskis to helm the film without any pressure. That rumor persists, because McTeigue hasn't directed a successful or critically appreciated film since.

Hit Movie: The Blair Witch Project

Non-Hit Movies: Seventh Moon, Believers, Solstice

The Blair Witch Project cost only $60,000 to make. Released in 1999, the film earned a whopping $248.6 million in box office receipts. Part of the success of the found-footage faux-documentary is the attention to detail Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez brought to the elaborate viral marketing campaign that rolled out on the early internet. That detail allowed the studio to position Blair Witch as though it were actually real. Novelty and mystery fueled the massive revenues for the movie, but it could never be replicated. Sanchez and Myrick went their separate ways, directing low-budget movies. They never got back to the heights of fame and fortune they had found in 1999.

Hit Movie: Risky Business

Non-Hit Movies: Men Don't Leave

Paul Brickman helped create the legacy of Tom Cruise by directing his pantless dancing scene in Risky Business. Brickman likely could have made just about anything after that movie's stunning success in 1983. Instead, he disappeared from Hollywood. Brickman told Salon:

The success of Risky Business was strange because I had Hollywood coming at me full throttle. I found it very uncomfortable. I moved out of LA immediately. Studio heads sent me wine goblets and food baskets. And people threw material at me right and left, and lined up to meet me. It gets uncomfortable. Some people like the visibility. I don’t. I’m more from the J.D. Salinger school.

In the same interview, Brickman revealed he was offered movies like Rain Man and Forrest Gump, which both went on to be major hits and Oscar winners. Seven years after Risky Business, Brickman returned to direct the drama Men Don't Leave, but that movie flopped, leaving him with a lot of what-ifs. Brickman has subsequently said he "squandered a really good career" by avoiding the spotlight after Risky Business.