10 Directors Who Should Never Be Trusted With Giant Budgets

5. Michael Cimino

In one fell swoop Michael Cimino managed to kill his credibility as a film-maker, derail his entire career, almost bankrupt a studio and deliver one of the biggest box office bombs of all time, and almost 35 years on, the debacle of Heaven's Gate remains a shining example of Hollywood excess at its worst. Breaking through with 1974's Thunderbolt And Lightfoot, a prototypical buddy movie starring Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges that earned $25m against a $4m budget, Cimino really hit the big time with The Deer Hunter. A critical and commercial success, the movie won five Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director, and is rightly regarded as one of the greatest movies ever made. With his clout at an all-time high, Cimino resurrected a project he had been developing since 1971. An iron-clad contract gave the director complete autonomy on the project, which turned out to be a disastrous move. Originally given a budget of $11m, Heaven's Gate ended up costing over four times as much, which is over $125m when adjusted for inflation. The tales of excess during the production have become Hollywood legend, and when the movie was finally released in November 1980 it tanked horribly and earned less than $4m at the domestic box office. The fallout saw United Artists sold to MGM, and ultimately led studios away from original director-driven fare to the easily marketable blockbusters that would begin to dominate theaters. With his reputation damaged beyond repair, it was five years before Cimino released another movie. Between 1985 and 1990, the director's three theatrical releases were all commercial failures and his final effort, 1996s Sunchaser, ended its brief run with less than $30,000 in box office takings. The ridiculously over-indulgent production of Heaven's Gate began the sad decline of a talented director that had let his ego get the better of him.