8 'Next Big Thing' Movie Directors Who Didn't Live Up To The Hype

5. Duncan Jones

When Duncan Jones burst onto the scene in 2008 with the inventive sci-fi thriller Moon, he was praised for breathing new life into a genre that was increasingly losing its smart appeal in favour of dumbed-down big-budget bombast. Sticking with the same theme, he went on to deliver the similarly-smart Source Code a few years later, properly establishing himself as one of the most exciting filmmakers working in the genre.

He then seemingly got his big break, picked to helm the big-screen adaption of Blizzard's Warcraft gaming series. A tough job for any director, Jones couldn't quite make the premise work on screen, though the film's failure was also blamed on interfering producers. Unfortunately, Jones couldn't fall back on the same excuse when his next film, Mute, received an even worse critical kicking.

Though he was once given the benefit of the doubt, it's becoming increasingly apparent that the director's most recent movies weren't the one-off misfires many believed them to be.