Hollywood's New Wave of Directors: Nepo Babies' Movies Underperform at Box Office
In Hollywood, a wave of nepotism-fueled directors faced criticism for their underwhelming performances at the box office in the year 2024.
Ishana Night Shyamalan
In her first foray into directing, Ishana Night Shyamalan introduced audiences to the chilling world of "The Watchers," a supernatural horror movie.
It stars Dakota Fanning and dives into the harrowing tale of a young artist who finds herself lost in a massive, unexplored forest in the remote corners of western Ireland.
Following its debut during the summer season, the movie managed to generate a mere $33 million in global box office earnings and was met with a disappointing C- CinemaScore rating.
On Reddit, the movie had mixed reviews.
According to one user, "Pretty nonsensical but it's not awful. Still has some stylistic flourishes. If you have Regal Unlimited, it's what that is made for."
Another said, "I thought it was pretty decent! The first 3/4 I enjoyed and felt more like a horror movie, the ending was a little silly and felt like the movie lost its edge but not bad!"
Jake Kasdan
Another individual also worth mentioning is Jake Kasdan, the son of Lawrence Kasdan, a four-time Oscar nominee.
His recent project, "Red One," a holiday-themed action-comedy movie, made its debut in theaters just last month.
His dad Lawrence has penned scripts for several blockbuster movies, such as four "Star Wars" installments.
Despite his notable achievements, this year saw Jake coming up slightly shy in financial terms compared to his father's well-known reputation.
Specifically, he fell short by approximately $75 million of the substantial budget allocated for his latest cinematic endeavor.
He even featured the dynamic duo of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Chris Evans in leading roles but the global box office earnings for "Red One" have amounted to just $175 million thus far.
With a whopping $250 million budget, he went on creating a film that dived into the peculiar tale of a kidnapping and daring rescue mission involving Old Saint Nick.
Critics didn't hold back in their reviews, with one user on Reddit saying, "If you've made some bad decisions in your life, at least you didn't spend $250 million to make this! That's got to count for something!"
"I can't believe we're going to miss out on the Red One cinematic universe. What next? A murder mystery about who killed the Easter Bunny?" another quipped.
It's also worth noting Jake has proven his directorial prowess beyond "Red One." He directed a total of eight feature movies, his work has amassed $2.25 billion in global revenue.
Zelda Williams
Robin Williams's daughter Zelda Williams released her debut movie "Lisa Frankenstein."
The fell just $3 million shy of breaking even with its budget, grossing only $10 million at the box office and falling short of expectations.
The horror-comedy movie is about the unconventional tale of unexpected romance where a young girl finds herself drawn to an unlikely love interest - a corpse.
When a series of tragic events leads to his resurrection, they set off on a quest to discover love, joy, and the pieces that complete them.
Despite the promising story, the movie had mixed reviews.
One Redditor said of the movie, "I don't see it becoming a surprise hit, but I feel like the teen audience it's aimed at will probably like it well enough."
"Better reviews than Jennifers Body, which is a classic. So yeah im pumped," another referred to Megan Fox's 2010s movie.
