Many viewers have the impression that Hollywood he has less and less desire to surprise. American commercial cinema, the one that prevails in almost the entire world, clings to already known formulas to earn money and retain viewers in the cinemas.
But in a world where people are less and less likely to leave the house to watch a movie, being able to watch a Netflix series at home, settling for business as usual no longer works.
We selected film directors and directors that they have put innovation first… and have shown that you can take risks with a film and succeed.
For this list, we have selected directors who often work with big Hollywood producers or distributorsthus excluding independent film directors such as the Daniels, directors of the most daring and creative film of recent years, All at once and everywhere.
Hollywood directors who risk the most
Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro He is one of the few directors who has managed to make the fantastic and horror film genre, something traditionally niche, respected and prestigious among critics and awards.
In his career of more than 25 years has never abandoned a personal stamp by which he is identified: modern fairy tales, magical realism that add new dimensions to real rather than hackneyed themes and conflicts, often World War II and the Spanish Civil War.
And of course, great use of gorgeous special effects, makeup, art direction, and music.
Every del Toro film is special for one reason or another, and all have received great success and interest. His latest film, Pinocchio, is the best example of this: Del Toro spent 15 years trying to get this animated film off the ground. stop motiona passion project that he never gave up on, and with which he also seeks to claim that animation is a technique, not a genre.
Greta Gerwig
Greta Gerwig is one of the youngest directors on this list, but she’s made a name for herself in the industry thanks to a handful of excellent movies like Lady Bird in 2017, a “coming of age” that knew how to connect with the modern and feminist generations in a similar way to Olivia Wilde’s Supernerds.
His next achievement was to add his own voice to the best adaptation to date of Little Women, in 2019. Hence his signing by a large studio like Warner to produce a large-budget adaptation of Barbie It has raised expectations through the roof.
The Barbie movie (with Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, based on the Mattel dolls) is one of the most anticipated of 2023… and in 2024 Snow White will be released, the umpteenth live action remake for Disney that this time we are interested in, because has signed the script (although it is directed by Marc Webb).
Wes Anderson
The movies of Wes Anderson they are unmistakable. Hardly any director can afford so many visual eccentricities and narratives in all his films without having to make concessions to commercial cinema and less personal projects (as has happened with Tim BurtonFor example).
In fact, Wes Anderson’s films, such as The Grand Budapest Hotel o Moonrise KingdomThey have always had important distributors behind them and have performed well at the box office.
In his next film, Anderson came to Spain, specifically to the town of Chinchón, to shoot Asteroid City, whose plot is shrouded in mystery, but will feature Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Margot Robbie, Bill Murray…
Christopher Nolan
Nolan He is one of the most celebrated film directors, the highest grossing in history… and also the most divisive. All of his films have been enormously popular and have been able to connect with the public and excite the majority of critics.
While many aren’t fans of Christopher Nolan’s style, there’s no denying that he’s settled in. Each of his films, although they share hallmarks and a unique directing style, have opted for new and very sophisticated stories (such as Tenet and Interstellar) or failing that (such as Dunkirk), stunning visual spectacles who reject the use of digital effects.
George Miller
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George Miller breaks this rule a bit, because it is true that his last film, Three thousand years waiting for youwith Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton… hardly anyone saw her.
Released in September 2022, Three thousand years waiting for you is a labyrinthine, non-linear and very little commercial fantasy: it has failed at the box office and has not had an iota of the impact that its most celebrated film Mad Max Fury Road had.
But Miller, without neglecting sequels like Furiosa, which is already filming and opens in 2024, has not wanted to put aside his more experimental vein. The same spirit that makes him film a saga as violent and savage as Mad Max and also two family film franchises with a message such as Babe y Happy Feet… and achieve excellence no matter what you do.
M. Night Shyamalan
M. Night Shyamalan He is a restless director, who does not stop and shoots films at an almost exhausting pace. Despite the fact that his career promised to be excellent with two films as The Protected y The sixth Sensethen he signed other much more controversial films such as The Last Airbender, La Joven del Agua, Señales, El Incidente or After Earth.
But even its most divisive movies (with perhaps the exception of the Avatar anime adaptation, which no one liked) have always had ardent supporters.
It may be that none of his latest films, such as Time (Old) or Glass, have had the same impact, but he hasn’t needed it: going to see a new Shyamalan is a guaranteed dose of twisted, haunting psychological terror, with a more conventional direction, but always with extravagant and highly original ideas. Precisely, in February 2023, a knock on the door, Never Change!
Joel y Ethan Coen
Brothers Joel y Ethan Coen They are very chameleonic: they have made all kinds of films: dramas, comedy, romances, thrillers, contemporary or historical, character studies or choral casts.
And despite everything, his films are always unmistakable, perhaps because they do not adhere to a single genre at a time, but put everything in a blender from which such disparate films as Death Among the Flowers, Fargo, The Big Lebowski have emerged. , Intolerable Cruelty, Inside Lewyn Davis or the most recent, The Tragedy of Macbeth… some more or less round, but all tremendously interesting.
Edgar Wright
yes we all know that Edgar Wright is British… and also, with a series of comedies (the Cornetto trilogy) that displays a lot of English humour. But she has also made several leaps into Hollywood.
Among them, the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He wrote the script for Ant-Manand was going to direct it… but ended up leaving the project due to creative differences.
And although (as far as we know) it was an amicable split, with Wright maintaining credit as producer, the Zombies Party director didn’t want to give up his style, which has many fa… but is clearly not as palatable to mainstream audiences.
As proof, his next two films after the Ant-Man stumble were an action thriller (Baby Driver) and a psychological horror (Last Night in Soho) loaded with his personal style in directing, editing and set design that drove his audiences crazy. fans.
