10 Directors Who Sabotaged Their Own Movies

1. James L. Brooks - How Do You Know

Don't feel bad if you don't remember this 2010 rom-com starring Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson, and Jack Nicholson, because despite its all-star cast, barely anybody actually turned up for it.

Oscar-winning director James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment) wrote and directed this star-studded romp, and somehow managed to swing a mind-boggling $120 million budget in the bargain.

It didn't help that the four main stars' salaries totalled $40 million - Reese Witherspoon ($15 million), Jack Nicholson ($12 million), Owen Wilson ($10 million) and Paul Rudd ($3 million) - while Brooks himself received $10 million plus a cut of the backend profits.

Making matters even worse (and costly) was Brooks' methodical approach to shooting and editing, including re-shooting the beginning and end of the film at considerable cost.

Brooks' filming style was somehow slow enough to make general production balloon up to $120 million, which for comparison is slightly more expensive than the Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz action vehicle released the same year, Knight and Day.

Take your time and get great results, sure, but when things get this out of hand and the studio doesn't even intervene, it starts to sound suspiciously like "Hollywood accounting" at play.

How Do You Know ended up grossing $48.7 million worldwide, which with a sensible budget probably wouldn't have been so bad.