10 Great Directors Who Haven't Made Anything Good For Years

2. Paul WS Anderson

There was a time, not so long ago, when Paul WS Anderson was the man studios would turn to when they were about to embark on an adaptation of a video game, or a risky sci-fi outing. Wether there were question marks over the direction, the production, or the script, Anderson was able to jump in and steer it toward being a box office success, if not a critical one.

Mortal Kombat, Event Horizon, Resident Evil and Alien vs Predator all making up the bulk of an impressive CV prior to 2004. Not films that were ever likely to earn him any sort of awards haul, but all still regularly replayed by TV channels and almost impossible to skip past on a weekday evening. Despite setting a delightfully trashy bar, the last 10 years have seen Anderson routed in progressively worsening Resident Evil sequels (the 6th instalment he's been attached to comes out this year) and the occasional ill-fated attempt to reboot an old story - Death Race and The Three Musketeers both best watched through your hands.

Anderson's steadily gone from being a director who made great "bad films" to one who just makes bad films, all in less than a decade. There's a genuine lack of the former at the moment, and if Anderson can pick the right next project he could easily get back into the groove of making the next generation's guilty pleasures.