By Jack Dunn, Pat Saperstein
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Hollywood is a business of people. Yesterday, the industry got a reminder of that when Warner Bros. and DC Studios announced that Steven Soderbergh will help director Matt Reeves finish production on “The Batman Part II” while Reeves deals with a family matter.
“Just to be clear, I am not leaving ‘The Batman Part II,'” Reeves wrote on X shortly after the news broke. “I am profoundly grateful to Steven for coming to my aid during this challenging time to help me finish principal photography. Thank you to all for your concern and well wishes.”
This, of course, is not the first time in the history of popular cinema that an outside director stepped in to take a project over the finish line. However, few of the other switches were done with friendship, collaboration and support, as is the case with Soderbergh and Reeves. Whether it was ballooning budgets, off-camera scandal, or personal differences, Hollywood has no shortage of studios scrambling to replace their director when disaster struck.
Here is a list of seven instances in movie history where a film had to be finished by a second director.
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Spartacus (1960) – Anthony Mann Replaced by Stanley Kubrick
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection Star Kirk Douglas, whose company, Bryna Films was producing “Spartacus,” was the one calling the shots on this classic gladiator movie, as far as the director was concerned. After two weeks of shooting, Douglas got the approval of the studio to replace Anthony Mann, an experienced director of Westerns, saying Mann had lost control and was letting co-star Peter Ustinov direct his own scenes.
Douglas brought in Stanley Kubrick, who had directed him in “Paths of Glory,” and the film ended up winning four Oscars as well as the Golden Globe for best drama. “Spartacus” was Universal Pictures’ highest-grossing film until “Airport” 10 years later.
