6 Regrets Filmmakers Had Over Their Oscar Winning Movies

"Was it the best film of the year? I don't think so."

by Ewan Paterson

Winning an Oscar is the highest honour that can be bestowed upon a filmmaker; ask them to reflect on an Oscar-winning film they directed, wrote or starred in, and a typical response should be one of pride in their creation.

Everyone knows that the Academy Awards are never that simple though. With 89 ceremonies to go by, there've been a fair few controversies each and every year, with snubs, presenting mishaps and undeserving winners exemplifying awards season's premiere event almost every year. That means regret, and as filmmakers take the time to ruminate on their past successes and failures, quite a few have come out and stated what they feel went wrong with their projects - even if they were bestowed with Hollywood's highest honour.

It’s an odd situation no matter how you look at it, and with filmmakers regretting everything from specific sequences to behind the scenes drama, it proves that a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears goes into these productions.

Some, in rare occasions, bemoan the fact their project won where others should have.

With snubs, flubs, and controversy galore, the following films prove that, even if you win an Oscar, the story is far from over.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.