10 Genre Directors Who Stepped Out Of Their Field (And Failed)
1. Supernova Was A Sci-Fi Disaster For Francis Ford Coppola, Walter Hill And Jack Sholder
Walter Hill is the only credited director on Supernova (as Thomas Lee) and even that's up for debate in the long, muddled history of the notorious flop. No director save for Jack Sholder had dealt with outer space or science fiction. Walter Hill produced the Alien franchise, but his films were more grounded, grainy action pictures like Hard Times, Southern Comfort and 48 Hrs.
The script, originally a variation on Dead Calm with a malicious stowaway in space, had been floating around Hollywood since the 80s. It wasn't until 1997 that the script had significantly changed and MGM picked it up. But the script work wasn't done yet.
It was James Spader that actively campaigned for Hill, who had toyed with the idea of doing "a science fiction thing" for years. But questions over who shot what are still left lingering. Not only did MGM slash the budget in half during filming, leaving Hill's incomplete director's cut with unfinished effects, they also held test screenings that filled the director with doubt. He quit the project.
Jack Sholder was brought into salvage the film, re-shooting and re-editing the footage with better test scores.
The third edit was under-seen by Francis Ford Coppola, but the film was largely deemed unfixable and sold by MGM.
No one who worked on Supernova likes their name associated with the project.