10 Films That Embellished Who Actually Made Them

Who You Probably Thought Made It: George P. Cosmatos

Who Really Made It: Kurt Russell

It’s long been rumoured that George P. Cosmatos wasn’t really the driving force behind the 1993 western Tombstone. Maybe it was the sharp uptake in quality compared to the likes of Leviathan and Cobra that hinted something suspect was afoot, or perhaps it was his last-minute hiring after original director Kevin Jarre was fired a month into filming but either way something smelt fishy.

A year and a half after Cosmatos’ death Tombstone star Kurt Russell finally set the record straight in a 2006 interview with True West Magazine and revealed that it was really he that directed the film while Cosmatos was merely a ghost director.

For reasons unknown, Russell didn’t want to be credited as director but stated he essentially commandeered the production: “I said to George, ‘I’m going to give you a shot list every night, and that’s what’s going to be.’ I’d go to George’s room, give him the shot list for the next day, that was the deal. ‘George I don’t want any arguments. This is what it is. This is what the job is.’”

To his credit, Russell vowed not to reveal the truth until after Cosmatos died and lived up to that promise but he could of course be talking crap and it’s not like Cosmatos is here to defend himself. Nevertheless, these days it’s practically official Hollywood lore that it was Russell and not Cosmatos that directed Tombstone.