5 Famous Movies That Almost Had A Completely Different Director

Spartacus was supposed to be Anthony Mann's — he was fired after a week

After David Lean turned the project down, Anthony Mann was hired to direct Spartacus but was fired after only the first week of filming. Star and producer Kirk Douglas said Mann seemed "scared of the scope of the picture," and brought in a 30-year-old Stanley Kubrick to finish it.

Superman II was 75% finished by Richard Donner before he got fired

Richard Donner, who directed the original Superman, had already shot roughly 75% of its sequel when tension with producer Pierre Spengler got him removed from the project. Richard Lester was brought in to finish the film, and had to reshoot enough footage to qualify for sole directing credit.

WarGames' original director was fired 12 days into filming

Martin Brest was directing WarGames but was let go after just 12 days of filming due to clashes with the producers. John Badham took over and steered the film toward the more crowd-pleasing thriller that became a hit.

The Island of Dr. Moreau's director was fired 3 days into production

It was a passion project for director Richard Stanley, but New Line Cinema removed him just three days into shooting, reportedly over his inability to manage star Val Kilmer on set. A new director finished the notoriously troubled production.

Moneyball changed directors days before filming even started

Sony shut down Moneyball's original version just days before principal photography was set to begin. Bennett Miller stepped in to direct the film that was eventually made, which went on to earn six Academy Award nominations.