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Steven Soderbergh - ‘Moneyball’ (2011) -

The famous director was the first man in charge of the 2011 movie starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. Soderbergh wanted ‘Moneyball’ to be a documentary-type production, but the studio disagreed with his vision. Bennett Miller was hired to replace him. 

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Bryan Singer - ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (2018) -

The biopic of Queen's Freddie Mercury was originally directed by Bryan Singer. Apparently, his behavior on set was the reason why he was dismissed and replaced with Dexter Fletcher at the end of the production. Singer still got the credit as a director of the film. 

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Paul Schrader - ‘Exorcist: The Beginning’ (2004) -

Shrader took on the role after directors Tom McLoughlin and John Frankenheimer walked out of the project. Morgan Creek Productions was not happy about the direction of the film, so they fired Shrader and replaced him with Renny Harlin.

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Stanley Kubrick - ‘One-Eyed Jacks’ (1976) -

By 1976, Stanley Kubrick already had an impressive resume, but he was nonetheless fired from his role directing Marlon Brando’s movie ‘One-Eyed Jacks.’ Disagreements between the two led the actor to dismiss the director. 

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Richard Donner - ‘Superman II’ (1980) -

Richard Donner had already directed the first movie of the series, and worked on most of the second when producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind fired him. He was replaced with Richard Lester.

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Richard Donner - ‘Superman II’ (1980) -

It's reported that Donner was fired due to disagreements and tense relations with the producers. However, the “Donner cut” of the movie was eventually released in 2006. 

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John Avildsen - ‘Saturday Night Fever’ (1977) -

The Oscar-winning director had movies such as ‘Rocky’ (1976) under his belt when he was invited to direct the famous film starring John Travolta, but arguments with the movie's producer, Robert Stigwood, got him fired. 

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John Avildsen - various films -

‘Saturday Night Fever’ (1977) was just one of the many movies Avilden was fired from. Others include ‘The Stoolie’ (1972), ‘Serpico’ (1973), ‘Kramer vs. Kramer’ (1979), ‘Space Camp’ (1986), and ‘Gone Fishing’ (1996).

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James Cameron - ‘Piranha II: The Spawning’ (1982) -

Cameron was supposed to direct the sequel to the 1978 film 'Piranha,' but creative differences with producer Ovidio Assonitis got him fired. He was still credited as the director, though. 

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John McTiernan - ‘The 13th Warrior’ -

Disney executives were not happy with the version John McTiernan presented to them, so they replaced the director with Michael Crichton, who essentially re-edited the movie. 

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Peter Godfrey - ‘Jet Pilot’ (1957) -

Howard Hughes hired Peter Godfrey to direct ‘Jet Pilot,’ but the English director was fired just a few days later for unknown reasons.

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Joseph von Sternberg - ‘Jet Pilot’ (1957) -

Howard Hughes then hired Joseph von Sternberg to replace Godfrey, but he too didn’t sit for long in the director’s chair. He was then rehired by Hughes and dismissed again.

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Anthony Mann - ‘Spartacus’ (1960) -

The famous movie starring Kirk Douglas was originally directed by Anthony Mann, best known for his Westerns and film noir. Accounts about Mann’s dismissal vary: some blame a different vision from Douglas for the film narrative, others blame studio execs, and there are also speculations that the director left voluntarily.

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Anthony Mann - ‘Spartacus’ (1960) -

Kirk Douglas’s biographer Michael Munn wrote that “The film was first and foremost Douglas’ vision,” which adds weight to the hypothesis that the actor was behind the dismissal of Mann.

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Alex Cox - ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ (1998) -

Cox was invited to direct ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ but he didn’t last long on the job. He apparently clashed with journalist Hunter S. Thompson (whose book is used as inspiration for the movie). Terry Gilliam got the gig instead. 

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Philip Kaufman - ‘The Outlaw Josey Wales’ (1976) -

In 1976, Philip Kaufman had the chance to direct Clint Eastwood, but his work didn’t seem to fit the bill, so he was fired by Eastwood himself. “It’s the hardest thing I ever did in my life,” Eastwood later said.

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Kevin Jarre - ‘Tombstone’ (1993) -

Kevin Jarre’s work on ‘Tombstone’ didn’t go well, and this was aggravated by the fact that he didn’t listen to advice from seasoned members of the cast and crew, including Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer. Jarre was eventually fired by producer Andrew Vajna.

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Richard Thorpe - ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939) -

This classic starring Judy Garland had Richard Thorpe sitting in the director’s chair for just two weeks.

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Richard Thorpe - ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939) -

Producer Mervyn LeRoy found Thorpe lacked the childlike vision to give the movie the “warmth” it needed, so he was replaced by Victor Fleming.

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Howard Hawks - ‘The Outlaw’ (1943) -

Hawks was an accomplished screenwriter, producer, and director when he was offered the directing role for ‘Outlaw.’ Howard Hughes was the man who dismissed Hawks from his duties. Apparently, Hawks paid too much attention to detail, and Hughes didn’t like that. 

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George Cukor - ‘Gone with the Wind’ (1939) -

Producer David O. Selznick fired George Cukor because Clark Gable allegedly took issue with Cukor’s sexual orientation.

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George Cukor - ‘Gone with the Wind’ (1939) -

The alleged homophobia seemed rather strange, given that Gable and Cukor worked together on 'Manhattan Melodrama’ (1934).

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Richard Stanley - ‘The Island of Dr. Moreau’ (1996) -

The adaptation of H.G. Wells' novel was a failure under the direction of Richard Stanley, who clashed with big stars such as Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer. He lasted three days on the job.

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Brenda Chapman - ‘Brave’ (2012) -

Brenda Chapman was supposed to become Pixar's first woman director, but disagreements with producer John Lasseter ended up in her splitting the credits with director Mark Andrews.

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Ted Griffin - ‘Rumor Has It’ (2005) -

Griffin wrote the screenplay and had the opportunity to direct this star-studded movie starring Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Costner, among others. His lack of experience as a director slowed down the movie, so the producers replaced him with Rob Reiner.

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Pete Travis - ‘Dredd’ (2012) -

Pete Travis worked as a director throughout the entire movie, until he was fired during the post-production phase. Creative differences were cited as the reason. 

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Phil Lord and Chris Miller - ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ (2018) -

The duo behind ‘The Lego Movie’ (2014) were initially hired by Disney to direct this film but they ended up being dismissed due to different visions of where the movie should go. Ron Howard was brought in as a replacement. 

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Martin Brest - ‘WarGames’ (1983) -

The 1983 movie starring Matthew Broderick was originally directed by Martin Brest, but creative differences got him fired. John Badham replaced Brest.

Sources: (Listverse) (Movieweb) (Screen Rant) (Far Out) (Variety)

See also: Stars who were fired from major movie and TV roles

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