10 Directors Who Survived Huge Movie Failures
3. Martin Scorsese (New York, New York)
Immediately after the release of Taxi Driver in 1976, Martin Scorsese was on top of the world. The movie was a success in every sense of the word, and as is the case with any breakout hit, everybody was eagerly anticipating what the director would do next.
Disappointingly, his follow-up project was New York, New York, a musical drama about the troubled relationship between a jazz musician and a singer. The movie reunited Scorsese with Robert De Niro, but the pair just weren't able to cook up some more of that Taxi Driver magic sauce.
The film did poorly financially and received a lukewarm critical response, and Scorsese was so burnt by this negative reaction that he reportedly grew furious, spiralling into an angry depression. Just like with Spielberg and 1941's placement in his filmography, New York, New York's faults were amplified by the fact that it followed the success of Taxi Driver, and this unfortunate timing made the movie - and Scorsese himself - look even worse by comparison.
Nonetheless, winning usually fixes everything, and once the director had curbed his unhealthy drug habit, he decided to re-team with De Niro to make 1980's Raging Bull.
While Scorsese had previously shot down the idea of making a boxing drama - he found the sport dull - the explosive energy he brought to the piece was mesmerising, a far cry from the plodding pace of his previous effort. Raging Bull also earned eight Oscar nods, a cinema classic that cemented Scorsese's filmmaking talent and washed away the bitter taste that New York, New York had left three years previously.