14 Directors Who Did Complete 180s Between Movies

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Consecutive movies: King Kong (2005); The Lovely Bones (2009)

The differences: A three-hour epic adventure about a giant ape captured and brought to New York wasn't far off from a certain fantasy trilogy Jackson made right before it, involving elves and Hobbits. But when he followed up King Kong with The Lovely Bones—a somber, contemplative, real-world drama about a murdered young girl—we could hardly believe it was the same guy.

Anything in common? Both movies feature unorthodox relationships between a human female and a monster.

Consecutive movies: When Harry Met Sally… (1989); Misery (1990)

The differences: One's a sunny romantic comedy (perhaps the quintessential romantic comedy) starring America's sweethearts Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. The other one's a dark, tense, psychological horror film about an insane Kathy Bates torturing her favorite writer, James Caan.

Anything in common? Both are about a relationship between a man and a woman, and the relationship has some painful moments.

Consecutive movies: The Avengers (2012); Much Ado About Nothing (2013)

The differences: The man who gave us Buffy the Vampire Slayer brought The Avengers to the big screen in an action-packed CGI orgy. Immediately after that, he made a small adaptation of a Shakespearean romantic comedy, shot in black-and-white, in his own house.

Anything in common? Clark Gregg is in both. Oh, and they both have a lot of talking, and too many characters to keep track of.

Consecutive movies: Scream 2 (1997); Music of the Heart (1999)

The differences: Craven is an icon of modern horror, having brought us The Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes, and A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Then, after poking fun at his own work with the first two Scream movies, he made a movie that was really shocking: Music of the Heart, a tender drama starring Meryl Streep as an inspiring inner-city music teacher.

Anything in common? Not unless you pronounce “violence” as “violins.”

Consecutive movies: Porky's II (1983); A Christmas Story (1983)

The differences: Clark worked in a lot of genres over the course of his career, but the about-face between these two—released five months apart in 1983—was probably the most whiplash-inducing. The Porky's films were unapologetically raunchy teen comedies; A Christmas Story was, well, a Christmas story.

Anything in common? Both are nostalgia pieces. Porky's II is set in 1954; A Christmas Story, in 1939.

Consecutive movies: Lost Highway (1997); The Straight Story (1999)

The differences: You know David Lynch: surreal, bizarre, enigmatic, violent, sexual, terrifying. That's Lost Highway, a film that can be hard to understand. Then there's The Straight Story, as straightforward as can be, a simple G-rated tale about an old man taking his riding lawnmower on a road trip to see his brother.

Anything in common? One has “highway” in the title, and the other is about a guy on a road trip. It's a stretch, I know.

Consecutive movies: A Christmas Carol (2009); Flight (2012)

The differences: First Zemeckis solved the problem of no previous Scrooge stories having been depicted in 3D motion-capture animation, with a glossy new adaptation starring Jim Carrey in several roles. Then he did an about-face, cranking out a gritty, R-rated drama about a substance-abusing airline pilot who cavorts nudely with stewardesses and flies while high.

Anything in common? Both stories are about deeply flawed men finding redemption.

Consecutive movies: Hulk (2003); Brokeback Mountain (2005)

The differences: Ang Lee's foray into the comic book world got a mixed reaction from audiences and critics, and was later overshadowed by a reboot directed by Louis Leterrier. His follow-up project was the acclaimed drama about cowboys who didn't know how to quit each other.

Anything in common? Both movies are about men struggling with how (and whether) to control their passions, and in both cases those passions may involve torn clothing.

Consecutive movies: American Graffiti (1973); Star Wars (1977)

The differences: Lucas moved from a wholesome 1950s nostalgia piece about American teenagers cruising in cars, to a big-budget space opera about an alien teenager fighting an evil empire. American Graffiti turned out to be the anomaly in Lucas' career, of course. But if you watched these two films back to back, you'd be hard-pressed to figure out which direction he was going to go.

Anything in common? Harrison Ford, baby.

Consecutive movies: 28 Days Later… (2002); Millions (2004)

The differences: After giving the zombie genre fresh new gory energy with his Cillian Murphy-starring post-apocalyptic horror film, Boyle made a warm, uplifting, PG-rated family flick about two boys who find a bag of money. Not a single person is torn apart by ravenous monsters in the entire film!

Anything in common? Both deal with how you maintain personal ethics under anomalous circumstances. Both are also in English and in color.

Consecutive movies: Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992); Jack (1996)

The differences: The man who gave us the Godfathers went from a bloody, sexual incarnation of a classic horror story to a sentimental tale about a boy who ages too fast and dies as a teenager (and is played by Robin Williams).

Anything in common? The title characters in both films have unusual mortality issues. Both are also horrific spectacles to watch, though for different reasons.

Consecutive movies: Jurassic Park (1993); Schindler's List (1993)

The differences: Spielberg has made a few serious movies now, but when Schindler's List came out, it was new territory for him. Adding to the WTF-ness was the fact that it came out six months after the fun-and-games Jurassic Park. Hold onto your butts!

Anything in common? Not really, and all the jokes we can think of are offensive.

Consecutive movies: Equus (1977); The Wiz (1978)

The differences: One is a psychological drama about a shrink trying to figure out why a disturbed young man blinded six horses. The other is The Wizard of Oz, but set in New York with an African American cast.

Anything in common? Both were adaptations of Broadway shows; both feature characters who have unusual relationships with animals.

Consecutive movies: The Ring (2002); Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

The differences: Viewers soiled themselves in terror during Verbinski's remake of the Japanese film about a deadly videotape. Nine months later, many of those same viewers watched a swashbuckling adventure based on a kid-friendly Disneyland ride.

Anything in common? The Ring is about an unstoppable menace that won't go away; the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is an unstoppable menace that won't go away.