2012 is the year of the movie series.  Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight saga wraps up.  A new Spider-man series begins.  Marvel’s superheroes featured in their own movies for the last several years finally all come together in The Avengers, which is the sixth film in the series (seventh if you count Ang Lee’s Hulk as part of continuity).  We have the return of James Bond and the Men in Black while revisiting the universe of the Alien films.  Among these blockbusters are celebrated directors–the already mentioned Nolan, Joss Whedon, Barry Sonnenfeld, Sam Mendes, Mark Webb.

How much do you know about directors of major movie series?  Click the following  button and see if you can test your knowledge with the Movie Series Director Quiz:

After taking the quiz, scroll down to see more information about the questions (or cheat and skip the quiz altogether):

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Last warning for spoilers!

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1

David Fincher was a first-time feature film director when he was hired to make Alien 3.  Prior to that, he was an acclaimed music video director who worked with such musicians as Madonna, Billy Idol, the Rolling Stones, Paula Abdul, Aerosmith, and Nine Inch Nails.

Alien was Ridley Scott‘s second film.  His first was The Duelist, which he made after a long career making TV commercials.

James Cameron had directed two films before tackling Aliens—Pirhanha 2: the Spawning and The Terminator.

Jean Pierre Jeunet was already a celebrated French director when he was hired for Alien Resurrection, responsible for such films with strong, unusual visuals as Amelie, Delicatessen, and City of Lost Children.

2

Richard Donner directed all four Lethal Weapon movies.  He also worked with Weapon star Mel Gibson in Maverick and Conspiracy Theory.  Donner famously directed Superman: the Movie, but was replaced on Superman 2 after shooting 2/3 of the movie.

3

Martin Campbell introduced both Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig as James Bond in Goldeneye and Casino Royale respectively.  Terrence Young directed the first Bond film, Dr. No with Sean Connery; Peter R. Hunt introduced the world to the quickly-forgotten George Lazenby in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service; Guy Hamilton gave Roger Moore a license to kill in Live and Let Die; and John Glen gave Timothy Dalton the 007 designation in The Living Daylights.

4

Joe Alves was the production designer on both Jaws and Jaws 2 before being promoted to director for Jaws 3.  Jeannot Szwarc directed Jaws 2 and Joseph Sargent had the misfortune of directing Jaws: the Revenge.

5

Richard Lester, who had previously worked with the Salkinds on The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers, was brought in to finish Superman 2 from the fired Richard Donner.  He ended up re-shooting a good portion of the movie in order to receive credit as the director.  Afterward, he directed Superman 3

6

John McTiernan directed both Die Hard and Die Hard with a Vengeance.  Renny Harlin did Die Hard 2 (with or without the subtitle Die Harder) and Len Wiseman directed Life Free or Die Hard.  The upcoming A Good Day to Die Hard is being directed by John Moore.

7

Tim Burton spent a good deal of time in pre-production on Superman Lives, which was to star Nicolas Cage as Supes from a script by Kevin Smith.  While Burton was in Pittsburgh scouting locations, Warner Bros. unceremoniously closed in L.A. production offices, and he only found out the film was cancelled when he returned to find the doors locked.

8

Mark Steven Johnson has the distinction of directing two films using Marvel characters that were ill-received by both critics and fans: Daredevil and Ghost Rider.  Neither were part of the same continuity as The Avengers.

Tim Story directed both of the Fantastic Four films (not counting the horrible and unreleased Roger Corman-produced version).

Pitof directed the DC Catwoman.

Rob Bowman directed the Daredevil spinoff Elektra.

9

J.J. Abrams’s Star Trek has made the most money of any Trek film, making $257,730,019 domestically.  Besides that film, the highest grossing entry in the series was Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, making $109,713,132.  That was directed by Leonard Nimoy.

10

Quentin Tarrantino and John Landis were both asked to direct Men in Black, but turned the job down.  Miracle on 34th Street director Les Mayfield was considered–until the producers say Miracle on 34th Street.  Tim Burton was never considered.  Barry Sonnenfeld, thanks to his stylized The Addams Family, got the job and directed both sequels.

copyright © 2012 FilmVerse

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