Moviegoers are a fickle and unforgiving bunch. When a director wins his or her audience over with a certified hit either critically or commercially, they can develop a following, one that will wait with bated breath for director's next outing. Winning the heart of your audience can prove to be a double-edged sword because once a director has wowed us we expect him or her to deliver the goods each and every time. In the eyes of some film lovers a director is only as good as his or her last effort. If a director fails to live up to our expectations, the goodwill he or she has built over his or her career can vanish in an instant. For your consideration, I present a list of directors who made the fatal error of taking their audiences' goodwill for granted and decided to squander it on making an atypical, or, highly ambitious effort that turned out awful. Some returned to form, others never recovered and a few's careers are still up in the air.
10. Zack Snyder
Goodwill Built On: Dawn of The Dead, 300, WatchmenGoodwill Squandered On: Sucker Punch Zack Snyder announced himself as a director to watch out for with his well crafted 2004 remake of the beloved horror classic Dawn of The Dead. Snyder followed up his breakout hit with the ultraviolent comicbook adaptation 300, which made 210 million dollars at the worldwide box office. The 2009 comicbook adaptation Watchmen continued Snyder's streak of box office wins and Snyder had his audience in the palm of his hand. Suitably impressed by Snyder's box office performance, Warner Brothers granted the director's wish to bring a long-gestating passion project, 2011's Sucker Punch, to the big screen. When audiences finally got a look at Snyder's baby, the goodwill he accrued vanished in an instant. Critics widely derided Snyder's misguided and confusing vanity project and audiences stayed far away, making it a huge flop. Luckily for Snyder his next outing, this summer's megahit Man of Steel, returned some of the lustre to his tarnished name.