20 Movies That Would’ve Been Way Different with Their Original Directors
![20 Movies That Would’ve Been Way Different with Their Original Directors](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/5/875695_320x180.jpg)
Movies have directors. Hell yeah, that’s the quality knowledge you come to Cracked for. Movies have directors, but sometimes movies end up having different directors. Sometimes, pre-production is a mess, the studio is skeptical, directors go out of their way to be pains in the butt, and sometimes, just sometimes, actors simply usurp their role. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t. In every case, however, this leaves us with the untraversed path, with the Schrödingerian question of what could have been.
In this Pictofact, we venture into the quantum realm, while also providing a follow-up to a recent Cracked investigation. Indeed, we now theorize about movies that could have been way different had they kept their original directors. Some of these you will know, some of these you won’t, and some of these might have actually just turned out the same. But that’s the thing, we don’t really know. Like with the plot of forgotten Gwyneth Paltrow rom-coms or immediately forgotten Marvel shows, what we have here is a classic what if situation. So let’s see what might have been. Forgotten rom-coms, quantum mechanics, and original directors? Hell yeah, that’s the quality knowledge you come to Cracked for.
George Lucas -- 'Superman'
![Original Directors George Lucas' Superman Let's cut to the chase: part of Star Wars' revolution was due to Lucas and his team having to build their FX from scratch. Now, stuff like American Graffiti proves early Lucas had storytelling talent, so his Superman might have been highly competent. (Filmmaking history, however, would not have changed.) CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/5/875715.jpg)
Sources: Collider, Wikipedia
Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
Darren Aronofsky -- 'The Wolverine'
![Original Directors Darren Aronofsky's The Wolverine Aronofsky was actually super into making 2013's The Wolverine, but preferred to be near his children. Had he done the film, though, we don't really think it would've been as gritty and dark as 2017's Logan just because of its director (unless Aronofsky had managed to overrule the silly third-act CGI fight). CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/6/875716.jpg)
Source: IndieWire
Image Credit: 20th Century Studios, Marvel Studios
Kevin Smith -- 'Good Will Hunting'
![Original Directors Kevin Smith's Good Will Hunting Smith did not consider himself talented enough to make Good Will Hunting, but Chasing Amy (which also came out in 1997) hints at the path Smith's career could have taken if he had just cared about growing artistically. It wouldn't have been Gus Van Sant's classic, but perhaps the director of Dogma could have pulled off something interesting anyway. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/3/875713.jpg)
David Fincher -- 'Spider-Man'
![Original Directors David Fincher's Spider-Man Hot take: Fincher's Spider-Man would have been dark. And not only because it would've lacked Raimi's vibrant visuals, but also because Fincher didn't care about the origin story. Instead, he wanted to focus on Gwen Stacy's murder by the Green Goblin - which sounds fascinating, of course, but perhaps way ahead of the curve for 2002. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/8/875698.jpg)
Source: Screen Rant
Image Credit: Columbia Pictures
Phil Lord and Chris Miller -- 'Solo: A Star Wars Story'
![Original Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller's Solo: A Star Wars Story Disney's complete mishandling of Star Wars is legendary. The Jump Street and Lego Movie directors were fired after most of Solo was shot, because their comedic, improvisational vision did not please the suits. But that was the point: give it an actually funny, non-MCU- assembly-line personality, and the emotion and thrills might have actually worked. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/4/875714.jpg)
Source: Screen Rant, Screen Crush
Image Credit: Lucasfilm
Bryan Singer -- 'Bohemian Rhapsody'
![Original Directors Bryan Singer's Bohemian Rhapsody Singer was fired over his behavior and absences, but still, he hasn't had anything creative to say for a long time. Had he stayed, ,the movie would've turned out just as vapid and lifeless, except Singer's presence would have made the film's treatment of Mercury's sexuality even ickier. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/9/875709.jpg)
David Cronenberg -- 'Total Recall'
![Original Directors David Cronenberg's Total Recall You won't hear us diss Verhoeven's classic, but Cronenberg's version that got really close to being made in the '80s would've been fascinating. But he wanted to keep close to Philip K. Dick's story (with some heavy body horror, of course), while the studio wanted, and we quote, Raiders of the Lost Ark go to Mars. Ultimately, we just missed out. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/5/875705.jpg)
James Cameron -- 'Jurassic Park'
![Original Directors James Cameron's Jurassic Park Cameron said his take on Michael Crichton's novel would've been Aliens with dinosaurs. But would that work? Some Jurassic Park sequels have tried it, but then again, they weren't by Cameron. Still, we doubt he would have given his sci-fi action version the history- making sense of wonder Spielberg achieved. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/9/875699.jpg)
Source: James Cameron Almost Directed Jurassic Park
Image Credit: Universal Pictures
Zack Snyder -- 'Justice League'
![Original Directors Zack Snyder's Justice League We can't really consider Zack Snyder's own Justice League the movie he would've delivered, any more than we can consider the original to be entirely his, given Joss Whedon's dubious contributions. So, what would Snyder's movie have been? Well, a drag, probably. (His 242-minute cut is decent, though.) CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/0/875710.jpg)
Source: Wikipedia
Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
David Lynch -- 'Return of the Jedi'
![Original Directors David Lynch's Return ofthe Jedi Lucas offered his Star Wars sequel to Lynch, but Lynch's response was complete disinterest and a migraine. Had Lynch accepted, though, we can confidently say his film would've looked similar to the epic space opera he directed just one year later: Dune. We will deny ever saying this, but here we prefer Richard Marquand to David Lynch. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/7/875697.jpg)
Sources: hudsonunionsociety/YouTube, Screen Rant
Image Credit: Lucasfilm
Dick Richards -- 'Jaws'
![Original Directors Dick Richards' Jaws Who? Exactly. Richards' films were never panned, and some seem to be actually interesting, but he's no Spielberg. So we'll just guess the movie he was planning before getting fired would've been a decent, forgettable creature feature, instead of, you know, Jaws. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/0/875700.jpg)
Sources: Wikipedia, Screen Rant
Image Credit: Universal Pictures
Martin Scorsese -- 'The Godfather Part II'
![Original Directors Martin Scorsese's The Godfather Part II Coppola wanted Scorsese for his Godfather sequel, but the studio said no. It's not like it really mattered, though, because Scorsese was just getting started with the classics. His Godfather sequel would have still been brilliant - maybe not better than what we got, but brilliant nonetheless (and if we had to guess, probably snappier and grimier too). CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/6/875706.jpg)
Sources: The Playlist, Screen Rant
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures
Tamra Davis -- 'Bad Girls'
![Original Directors Tamra Davis' Bad Girls A film about strong women in the wild west substituted character development with action scenes, in the most predictable studio move ever. Truly a shame, because Davis has directed some iconic films, and had she added some explosions instead of, you know, being fired, her Bad Girls could have become a real cult classic for the riot grrrl era. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/2/875702.jpg)
Source: Screen Rant, Wikipedia
Image Credit: 20th Century Studios
John Carpenter -- 'Firestarter'
![Original Directors John Carpenter's Firestarter After The Thing flopped in theaters, Universal fired Carpenter and hired Mark L. Lester, a decision that should e gotten people blacklisted. The Thing would soon become a respected cult classic, and Carpenter himself was in the middle of his brilliant '80s streak - so yeah, it's safe to assume his Firestarter would have been great. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/4/875704.jpg)
Source: WhatCulture/YouTube
Image Credit: Universal Pictures
Paul Schrader -- 'The Exorcist' prequel
![Original Directors Paul Schrader's The Exorcist prequel We actually know how Schrader's Exorcist prequel would have been, as his Dominion cut came out right after Renny Harlin's Exorcist: The Beginning. Both were panned, but Dominion just a bit less. Still, we wonder what it would've been without the backstage drama (that is, had Schrader reined in his artsy sensibilities and added just a bit more fireworks). CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/8/875708.jpg)
Source: CBR, Screen Rant
Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
Alejandro Jodorowsky -- 'Dune'
![Original Directors Alejandro Jodorowsky's Dune Jodorowsky's mid-'70s Dune would've been either a failure or a masterpiece, no middle ground. Не assembled Giger, Moebius, and Dalí, but also Orson Welles, Mick Jagger, and even Pink Floyd. Still, the truly far-fetched idea was getting major studios to back the project. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/1/875711.jpg)
Source: Documentary on YouTube
Image Credit: Universal Pictures
Christopher Nolan -- 'The Aviator'
![Original Directors Christopher Nolan's The Aviator In a parallel universe, Nolan's big Hollywood break wasn't Batman Begins, but the Howard Hughes biopic he considered his best script (and was supposed to star Jim Carrey). Scorsese beat him to the punch, but that seems like a win-win situation. We don't really envy that parallel universe, but Nolan's version might have easily become a masterpiece. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/3/875703.jpg)
Source: /Film
Image Credit: Miramax Films, Warner Bros. Pictures
Edgar Wright -- 'Ant-Man'
![Original Directors Edgar Wright's Ant-Man Peyton Reed hasn't shown true vision since Bring It On, so his Ant-Man is just bland. Conversely, Wright shows too much vision, as proven by his obnoxious latest films. By 2015, however, Scott Pilgrim had been brilliant and the Cornetto trilogy had just concluded, so he was ripe to take the zaniness to the next level. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/7/875707.jpg)
Source: CBR, Screen Rant
Image Credit: Marvel Studios
Colin Trevorrow -- 'Star Wars: Episode IX'
![Original Directors Colin Trevorrow's Star Wars: Episode IX Creative differences turned Trevorrow's Duel of the Fates into J. J. Abrams' Somehow, Abrams Returned. Trevorrow's leaked script is risky and imperfect, and therefore actually interesting. Trevorrow's Jurassic World work is certainly average, but his conclusion to the three trilogies might have been worthwhile. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/2/875712.jpg)
Source: Wikipedia
Image Credit: Lucasfilm
Vincent Ward -- 'Alien 3'
![Original Directors Vincent Ward's Alien 3 If you cannot possibly make better horror than Alien or better action than Aliens, then embrace it and get an artsy visionary from Australia. And if he wants to put monks trying exorcisms in the middle of a wooden monastery floating in space and a tense chase scene with a Xenomorph through a maze-like library, give him all the money. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/1/875701.jpg)
Sources: 6 Baffling First Drafts Of Famous Movies, Wikipedia
Image Credit: 20th Century Studios