Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was disowned by director Michael Bay, even though the film grossed over $400 million. The screenplay was written during the Writers Guild of America strike in 2007 and 2008, resulting in the film being criticised heavily for its lack of script. Because of the strike, Bay only had a few pages of script with which to produce an entire feature film.
Even some of the world’s most influential directors can’t escape being haunted by bad movies. Alfred Hitchcock, the famous master of suspense, directed the film Rope (1948), which is based on the 1929 play of the same name. As shown in the more recent movie, Birdman, Hitchcock aimed to make a movie which appeared to be one single shot. In the end, Hitchcock described the film as “an experiment gone wrong” and tried to buy all the rights to the movie to ensure it would never be seen.
American History X, starring Edward Norton, was one of the last films to be directed by the notorious Allen Smithee before the name’s discontinuation in 2000. The film was actually directed by Tony Kaye, who disowned the movie after he lost control over which cuts made it into the film. The studio and Norton both made changes that Kaye disagreed with, leading him to disown the movie. However, by his own admission and by accounts of those who worked with him, he was terribly difficult to work with and may have been a bit rash in his decision.
Illustration: Faith Honey
