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

3. M Night. Shyamalan

A few months after the release of Signs in 2002, M. Night Shyamalan was being talked about as one of the hottest new talents in filmmaking. His first film The Sixth Sense, though widely parodied, was considered something of a modern classic, and when his followup Unbreakable drew similar praise his next move was entirely his own to make.

Instead of upping the ante or going off in a new direction to showcase his range, he tried to make another suspenseful and atmospheric thriller in The Village that served only to expose how reliant on plot-twists his entire style was. The Village was as dreary as it was ridiculous, and his career since has lurched from the ludicrous The Happening to the unbearably formulaic After Earth.

So toxic had his name become that nowhere in the After Earth posters, trailers, TV spots or website was there a mention of him. Shyamalan's already proved that he's neither able to recreate his early success or step up to bigger productions, but with his next outing set to be a modestly budgeted and humbly cast horror-comedy called The Visit, there's still scope for him to pull it back.