Replacing a movie’s director prior to production is a fairly common occurrence — filmmakers are courted, brought aboard a film, and drop out all the time — but to replace a director during production is a totally different manner. It’s typically done because a problem with production has reached an untenable point. The director’s vision might clash with that of their leads, producers, or studio, or a personal issue might befall the director. Whatever the case may be, replacing a director causes a huge and often costly break in the flow of production, one that producers hope to avoid. However, it’s not an uncommon situation.
Many major filmmakers have been benched while actively directing a film: the list includes Bryan Singer on “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Steven Soderbergh on “Moneyball,” Edgar Wright on “Ant-Man,” and Zach Snyder on “Justice League.” In nearly all cases, a director is replaced by another filmmaker, but in a small number of cases, one of the film’s actors steps in to complete the picture. The results have been mixed and controversial and involve huge stars being forced to take over as their own movie’s director.
Clint Eastwood – The Outlaw Josey Wales
Actor-director Clint Eastwood is perhaps the actor most associated with taking over as director of a film after the original helmer stepped down or was let go. He’s so linked with such a scenario that the Directors Guild of America (DGA) actually used his name for a ruling to address such changes. The Eastwood Rule, as it’s known, was adopted after he convinced the producers of his 1976 western “The Outlaw Josey Wales” to remove director Philip Kaufman (“The Right Stuff”).
Eastwood had grown frustrated with Kaufman’s meticulous approach and sought to take over as director, despite the protestations of the DGA. After the film was completed, the guild established the Eastwood ruling, which imposed heavy penalties on any person associated with a film that dismissed a DGA member as director and took over in that capacity. Eastwood later found out how ironclad his namesake rule was during the making of 1984’s “Tightrope.”
The actor was again displeased with the pace established by that film’s director, Richard Tuggle, who was making his directorial debut after writing “Escape from Alcatraz” for Eastwood. Though the actor couldn’t remove Tuggle because of the Eastwood Rule, he reportedly went around it and directed much of the movie while allowing Tuggle to retain his credit. Eastwood also stepped in to direct “The Bridges of Madison County” after Bruce Beresford left the project, though his departure was due to creative differences with co-producer Steven Spielberg.
Kurt Russell – Tombstone
Though the 1993 western “Tombstone” remains a well-loved addition to the genre, the production itself was an incredibly difficult one, marked by crew departures, schedule conflicts, and script issues. Its biggest problem, however, was novice director Kevin Jarre, who according to a 1993 article in Entertainment Weekly, was unable to keep up with the film’s breakneck schedule and was eventually fired by producers. According to many sources, star Kurt Russell stepped in to take the reins, reworking the script with producer James Jacks until journeyman filmmaker George P. Cosmatos (“Rambo: First Blood Part II”) could take over.
How much behind-the-scenes work Russell put into the film was never well defined, In 2017, Val Kilmer, who memorably played Doc Holliday in the film, addressed (via Entertainment Weekly) longstanding questions about “Tombstone” on his website. “I’ll be clear,” he wrote. “Kurt is solely responsible for ‘Tombstone’s’ success, no question.” According to Kilmer’s post, Hollywood Pictures, who co-produced the film, refused to give them more time to correct its many problems, forcing Russell to take over many production duties. “I watched Kurt sacrifice his own role and energy to devote himself as a storyteller, even going so far as to draw up shot lists to help our replacement director, George Cosmatos, who came in with only two days prep,” the actor wrote. While Kilmer stops short of specifically crediting Russell with directing the film, it’s clear that he rests the film’s subsequent box office and critical success on its leading man’s shoulders.