10 Genius Times Studios Beat The Film Director

M. Night Shyamalan broke into mainstream prominence with the release of the Oscar-nominated box office smash The Sixth Sense, which also marked the director's first collaboration with Disney under their Buena Vista Pictures label.

Shyamalan's subsequent three movies were also distributed by Disney, and while failing to match the success of his Hollywood debut, Unbreakable, Signs, and The Village all turned solid profits.

Yet for his next movie, Lady in the Water, Shyamalan had a falling out with Disney after he learned that Walt Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook didn't understand the premise of the fantasy thriller.

With his creativity being questioned, Shyamalan decided to pull the plug on the project at Disney and took it instead to Warner Bros., where it was a colossal critical and commercial flop, and even netted Shyamalan dual Razzie awards for Worst Director and Worst Supporting Actor.

Shyamalan struggled with a series of big-budget duds in the years that followed as he worked with a variety of different studios, all while Disney surely counted their lucky stars that they cut ties with him just as his career fell off a cliff.

While executives failing to understand creativity often suggests a businessman that's out of touch, in this case Dick Cook was 100% on the money, because Lady in the Water was terrible, and he clearly knew in his bones it was a money pit waiting to happen.

Unsurprisingly Shyamalan and Disney haven't worked together in a major way since The Village, and it's probably for the best.