10 Terrible Films That The Wrong Person Got Blamed For

2. M. Night Shyamalan - After Earth

Who Else Was To Blame: Will Smith

Figuring out who took the brunt of the blame for After Earth is a tricky task. The film, a hodgepodge of poorly thought out ideas presented in an illogical manner, all brought to life by rote acting, had two key players who were equally as culpable for bringing it to the screen. But as we've discovered, people want one person at fault, so was it M. Night Shyamalan's direction or Will Smith's general managing of the project that sunk the film? Ultimately, it was M. Night who got it worse of it.

In decline to the point where his career is more of a joke than Nicolas frickin' Cage, Columbia Pictures were smart enough to keep him completely absent from the marketing; after The Last Airbender his name was marked by even the most forgiving cinema-goer. When you've got that sort of form, it's not hard to imagine that he'd produce another dud. But if you trace the big problems with the film back through the production, it's Smith, not Shyamalan who is at fault.

Turning a nice, low-budget idea into overblown sci-fi? Smith. All that pseudo-science mumbo-jumbo? Smith (and writer Gary Whitta). Casting his untalented son as the lead? Smith. Heck, even hiring Shyamalan was Smith's idea.

Thankfully, even though the extent of his involvement isn't as widespread knowledge as it should, the whole After Earth ordeal has a dint on both Smith's popularity and ego, so he didn't get away scott free.