10 Directors Who Completely Ruined Their Careers With One Movie
8. Michael Cimino
The Killer Movie: Heaven's Gate The jury is probably out on Michael Cimino: one camp would suggest he was a rogue genius, who made a masterpiece in The Deer Hunter, and then was cruelly undone by the unfortunately comical failure of follow-up Heaven's Gate. The other side of the coin would say conversely that Cimino was lucky with The Deer Hunter, and that his output since that fateful film has been more reflective of his actual talent. Either way, the director has worked precious little since he attempted to follow up the huge acclaim and success of The Deer Hunter with the sprawling monster that was Heaven's Gate. Injected with confidence and way too much studio money, Cimino was given complete freedom to do as he pleased, and what he apparently wanted to do was to flirt with bankruptcy and spoil everyone else's fun. Since the ludicrously expensive Western landed with a soft, wet thud, Cimino has barely worked. Even though he'd cleverly written a contract that made him lawyer proof, even when he almost ran the studio into the ground, it's unlikely anyone else would have taken a punt on letting him ruin them. And thanks to him, everyone else in the 70s was subject to much tighter scrutiny that probably robbed us of some visionary films.
The Killer Movie: Heaven's Gate The jury is probably out on Michael Cimino: one camp would suggest he was a rogue genius, who made a masterpiece in The Deer Hunter, and then was cruelly undone by the unfortunately comical failure of follow-up Heaven's Gate. The other side of the coin would say conversely that Cimino was lucky with The Deer Hunter, and that his output since that fateful film has been more reflective of his actual talent. Either way, the director has worked precious little since he attempted to follow up the huge acclaim and success of The Deer Hunter with the sprawling monster that was Heaven's Gate. Injected with confidence and way too much studio money, Cimino was given complete freedom to do as he pleased, and what he apparently wanted to do was to flirt with bankruptcy and spoil everyone else's fun. Since the ludicrously expensive Western landed with a soft, wet thud, Cimino has barely worked. Even though he'd cleverly written a contract that made him lawyer proof, even when he almost ran the studio into the ground, it's unlikely anyone else would have taken a punt on letting him ruin them. And thanks to him, everyone else in the 70s was subject to much tighter scrutiny that probably robbed us of some visionary films.