Every movie holds a series of challenges from the beginning of production all the way to the day it hits theaters. We have discussed the multiple actors and actresses who have struggled in the projects they have chosen, but another problem that can seriously plague a movie would be the first cuts made to the directors of popular films. There may be creative differences between studios and filmmakers or egos too large and talent too small, stopping a movie dead in its tracks. The creators of cinema and sculptors of art are all too easily replaced by the money backing them, but at least we get another dramatic story out of the production of film.

GARY ROSS

With the major success of Catching Fire in the past week, it casts a reminder on the change of direction that Lionsgate and the original director went in after the release of The Hunger Games. Gary Ross made the first film in the franchise which was praised by both critics and audiences, yet time became the issue that tore this director from his chair. The studio wanted the next film in the franchise to immediately begin production so as to be released a mere year after the first. Ross saw this as too large a constraint on his creative needs and quietly stepped down from the movie. Both Lionsgate and Ross state the split as amicable; time was just not in agreement between the two parties.

PATTY JENKINS

The Marvel movie franchise is the largest of modern day and with that they have given names to many different directors in the phases the movies we have seen thus far. When the production of Thor: The Dark World began, the Marvel franchise had hired the first female director within their films with Patty Jenkins. The directing position for Jenkins was campaigned for by one of the stars of the film, Natalie Portman. Portman hoped to turn the coveted director’s position into a feminist triumph for the movie industry. When Jenkins parted ways with the studio because of “a lack of clarity in her choices” Portman was furious and only the contractual obligations kept her attached to the film. Marvel has yet to hire another female director after Jenkins.

BOB PETERSON

Pixar has undoubtedly changed the game when it comes to children’s movies. They can evoke emotion from both young and old with even the most unseemly of characters, like a robot in Wall-E or a toy cowboy in the Toy Story movies. Yet, with this success comes the price of creative struggle on the part of the filmmakers for most of their projects. Out of the last four Pixar films, three directors were replaced mid-production including Brenda Chapman on Brave, Brad Lewis on Cars 2, and the most recent Bob Peterson with the upcoming The Good Dinosaur. This trend speaks more of Pixar; a power that has become too large to accept any creative differences, who would rather replace directors than work with them. Yes, Pixar continues to put out movies that succeed, but will the company continue to thrive when all their talent leaves to find a place that will appreciate them and allow them to shine?