STAR WARS: Potential Directors

1. Gore Verbinski

Director | Rango

Gore Verbinski, one of American cinema's most inventive directors who was a punk-rock guitarist as a teenager and had to sell his guitar to buy his first camera, is now the director of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) which made the industry record for highest opening weekend of ...

2. David Fincher

Director | Se7en

David Fincher was born in 1962 in Denver, Colorado, and was raised in Marin County, California. When he was 18 years old he went to work for John Korty at Korty Films in Mill Valley. He subsequently worked at ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) from 1981-1983. Fincher left ILM to direct TV commercials...

3. George Miller

Producer | Mad Max: Fury Road

George Miller is an Australian film director, screenwriter, producer, and former medical doctor. He is best known for his Mad Max franchise, with The Road Warrior (1981) and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) being hailed as amongst the greatest action films of all time. Aside from the Mad Max films, Miller...

4. Francis Lawrence

Director | The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Francis Lawrence is an Austrian filmmaker. He started directing over sixty music videos before he directed the cult classic Keanu Reeves film Constantine, I Am Legend and Water for Elephants. He also directed The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts 1 and 2, and Red ...

5. Matt Reeves

Producer | The Batman

Matthew George "Matt" Reeves was born April 27, 1966 in Rockville Center, New York, USA and is a writer, director and producer. Reeves began making movies at age eight, directing friends and using a wind-up camera. He befriended filmmaker J.J. Abrams when both were 13 years old and a public-access ...

6. Joe Johnston

Director | Captain America: The First Avenger

Joseph Eggleston Johnston II is an American film director from Texas who is known for directing the cult classic film The Rocketeer, Jumanji, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, The Wolfman, October Sky, The Pagemaster, Jurassic Park III and Captain America: The First Avenger. He was an art director for ...

7. Rupert Sanders

Director | Snow White and the Huntsman

Rupert Sanders is a British filmmaker from Westminster, London who is known for directing Snow White and the Huntsman and the live-action film based on Ghost in the Shell. He also directed The Life, an advertising campaign for Halo 3: ODST and the pilot of the Apple TV science fiction show ...

8. Andrew Stanton

Writer | WALL·E

Andrew Stanton has been a major creative force at Pixar Animation Studios since 1990, when he became the second animator and ninth employee to join the company's elite group of computer animation pioneers. As Vice President, Creative he currently oversees all shorts and feature projects at the ...

9. Brad Bird

Writer | The Incredibles

Phillip Bradley "Brad" Bird is an American director, screenwriter, animator, producer and occasional voice actor, known for both animated and live-action films. Bird was born in Kalispell, Montana, the youngest of four children of Marjorie A. (née Cross) and Philip Cullen Bird. His father worked in...

10. Roland Emmerich

Writer | Independence Day

Roland Emmerich is a German film director and producer of blockbuster films like The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Godzilla (1998), Independence Day (1996) and The Patriot (2000). Before fame, he originally wanted to be a production designer, but decided to be a director, after watching the original ...

11. Duncan Jones

Director | Moon

Duncan Jones was born on May 30, 1971 in Bromley, Kent, England. He is a director and writer, known for Moon (2009), Source Code (2011) and Mute (2018). He has been married to Rodene Ronquillo since November 6, 2012. They have two children.

12. Joseph Kosinski

Director | Top Gun: Maverick

Joseph Kosinski is a director whose uncompromising style has quickly made a mark in the filmmaking zeitgeist. His feature film debut, "Tron: Legacy" for Walt Disney Studios, grossed over $400 million worldwide and was nominated for several awards, including an Academy Award for Sound Editing and a ...

13. David Slade

Director | Hard Candy

David Slade was born on September 26, 1969 in the UK. He is a director and producer, known for Hard Candy (2005), 30 Days of Night (2007) and Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018).

14. Sam Mendes

Producer | 1917

Samuel Alexander Mendes was born on August 1, 1965 in Reading, England, UK to parents James Peter Mendes, a retired university lecturer, and Valerie Helene Mendes, an author who writes children's books. Their marriage didn't last long, James divorced Sam's mother in 1970 when Sam was just 5-...

15. J.A. Bayona

Director | El orfanato

Juan Antonio García Bayona is a Spanish film director. He directed the 2007 horror film The Orphanage, the 2012 drama film The Impossible, and the 2016 fantasy drama film A Monster Calls. Bayona's latest film is the 2018 science fiction adventure film Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the fifth ...

16. Doug Liman

Producer | Edge of Tomorrow

Douglas Eric Liman is a Jewish-American filmmaker and producer who directed Swingers, The Bourne Identity, Chaos Walking, Jumper, Go, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Fair Game, Locked Down, Edge of Tomorrow, The Wall and American Made. He executive produced the Bourne sequels except The Bourne Legacy, The ...

17. Neill Blomkamp

Director | District 9

Neill Blomkamp is a South African-Canadian film director and screenwriter who is known for the science fiction films District 9, Elysium and Chappie. He also directed the supernatural horror film Demonic and the 2007 short film Halo: Landfall, based on the Microsoft science fiction video game ...

18. Justin Kurzel

Director | Snowtown

Known for his bold career growth, Australian director Justin Kurzel, who, after the striking debut feature The Snowtown Murders (2011), which conquered hearts of people on many festivals, has chosen a Shakespearean adaptation (Macbeth (2015)) starring famous international film actors Michael ...

19. Andrew Niccol

Writer | Gattaca

New Zealand-born screenwriter-director Andrew Niccol began his career in London, successfully directing TV commercials before moving to Los Angeles in order to make films "longer than 60 seconds." He interested high-powered producer Scott Rudin in his The Truman Show (1998) script, but Rudin was not...

20. Len Wiseman

Writer | Underworld

Filmmaker Len Wiseman's career began through his work in the art department on the blockbuster hits like Godzilla (1998), Men in Black (1997), and Independence Day (1996). His design talents soon got him behind the camera directing commercials for PlayStation, Time Warner, Oracle, Intel, and ...

21. Wolfgang Petersen

Director | Das Boot

This director seems to shine most when making movies that can best be described as part action movies/part disaster movies.

Beginning with Outbreak (1995) about the outbreak of a killer virus. This film had shades of an Irwin Allen disaster movie, The Swarm (1978), about the outbreak of killer bees....

22. Vincenzo Natali

Director | Cube

Vincenzo Natali was born on January 6, 1969 in Detroit, Michigan, USA. He is known for Cube (1997), In the Tall Grass (2019) and Cypher (2002).

23. Alex Proyas

Director | Dark City

Alex Proyas has moved effortlessly between helming TV commercials and music videos to feature films. Born to Greek parents in Egypt, Proyas relocated to Australia with his family when he was three years old. He began making films at age ten and went on to attend the Australian Film Television and ...

24. Rupert Wyatt

Director | The Escapist

Writer, Director and Producer Rupert Wyatt was born and raised in the South of England.

He is the founding member of the film collective Picture Farm that along with its prolific Commercial output has produced numerous Documentaries and Feature Films including the multi-award winning DARK DAYS (2001...

25. Wes Ball

Director | Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

Wes Ball was born on October 28, 1980 in the USA. He is known for Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015), The Maze Runner (2014) and Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018).

26. Jon Favreau

Producer | Chef

Initially an indie film favorite, actor Jon Favreau has progressed to strong mainstream visibility into the millennium and, after nearly two decades in the business, is still enjoying character stardom as well as earning notice as a writer/producer/director.

The amiable, husky-framed actor with the ...

27. Scott Derrickson

Director | Doctor Strange

Scott Derrickson is an American filmmaker who is known for directing horror films such as Deliver Us from Evil, Hellraiser: Inferno, Sinister and The Exorcism of Emily Rose. He also directed the superhero film Doctor Strange starring Benedict Cumberbatch. He decided not to direct Doctor Strange in ...

28. Martin Campbell

Director | Casino Royale

Martin Campbell knows how to entertain an audience when he steps behind the camera. When he directed The Mask of Zorro (1998), the movie earned Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations and launched the international careers of Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Next, when he helmed ...

29. Marc Webb

Director | (500) Days of Summer

Marc Webb is an American film and music video director. He directed over 100 music videos before he made his film directorial debut with 500 Days of Summer, a romantic comedy. He later directed The Amazing Spider-Man and its 2014 sequel starring Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. The box office ...

30. Stephen Sommers

Producer | G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Stephen Sommers was born on March 20, 1962 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Raised in St. Cloud, Minnesota, he attended St. John's University and the University of Seville in Spain. Afterward, Sommers spent the next four years performing as an actor in theater groups and managing rock bands throughout ...

31. Dan Trachtenberg

Director | 10 Cloverfield Lane

Dan Trachtenberg is an American filmmaker and podcast host. He directed the 2016 horror-thriller film 10 Cloverfield Lane which earned him a Directors Guild of America Award nomination for Outstanding Directing - First-Time Feature Film. Trachtenberg was one of three hosts of The Totally Rad Show ...

32. Noam Murro

Director | 300: Rise of an Empire

Noam Murro was born on August 16, 1961 in Jerusalem, Israel. He is a director and producer, known for 300: Rise of an Empire (2014), Watership Down (2018) and Smart People (2008).

33. Neil Marshall

Director | Dog Soldiers

Neil Marshall was born on May 25, 1970 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. He is a producer and director, known for Dog Soldiers (2002), The Descent (2005) and The Reckoning (2020). He was previously married to Axelle Carolyn.

34. Jaume Collet-Serra

Producer | The Shallows

Jaume Collet-Serra was born on March 23, 1974 in Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. At the age of 18, he moved to Los Angeles and attended Columbia College Hollywood, working as an editor on the side. Upon graduation, he began shooting music videos and caught the eye of several production ...

35. Sergei Bodrov

Writer | Mongol

Sergei Bodrov was born on June 28, 1948 in Khabarovsk, Khabarovskiy kray, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. He is a writer and director, known for Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan (2007), Prisoner of the Mountains (1996) and Freedom Is Paradise (1989).

36. Cary Joji Fukunaga

Producer | Beasts of No Nation

Cary Joji Fukunaga is a Japanese-American film director, screenwriter, cinematographer and producer from Oakland, California who is known for directing the James Bond film No Time to Die, Kofi, Beasts of No Nation, Jane Eyre and Sin nombre. He co-write the 2017 film adaptation of the Stephen King ...

37. Tomas Alfredson

Director | Låt den rätte komma in

Tomas Alfredson was born on April 1, 1965 in Lidingö, Stockholms län, Sweden. He is known for Let the Right One In (2008), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) and Four Shades of Brown (2004). He is married to Charlotte Alfredson. They have one child. He was previously married to Cissi Elwin.

38. Marc Forster

Producer | World War Z

Marc Forster is a German-born filmmaker and screenwriter. He is best known for directing the films Monster's Ball (2001), Finding Neverland (2004), Stay (2005), Stranger than Fiction (2006), The Kite Runner (2007), Quantum of Solace (2008), and World War Z (2013).

His breakthrough film was Monster's...

39. Timur Bekmambetov

Director | Nochnoy dozor

Timur Bekmambetov is a Kazakh-Russian film director known for vampire franchise Night Watch (2004) and Day Watch (2006).

He was born Timur Nuruakhitovich Bekmambetov on June 25, 1961, in Guryev, Soviet Union (now Atyrau, Kazakhstan). His father, Nuruakhit Bekmambetov, is a manager at Guryev Energy ...

40. Mike Newell

Director | Four Weddings and a Funeral

Attended Cambridge University. Three year training course at Granada Television, with intention of going into theatre. Graduated to directing TV plays, building strong reputation for work with David Hare, David Edgar, Hohn, John Osborne, Jack Rosenthal.

41. Michael Rymer

Director | Angel Baby

Michael Rymer was born in 1963 in Australia. He is a director and producer, known for Angel Baby (1995), Battlestar Galactica (2004) and Hannibal (2013).

42. Greg Yaitanes

Producer | House M.D.

Yaitanes is currently producing and directing the Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, for HBO. Prior to that he Executive Produced and Directed Castle Rock for J.J. Abrams and Stephen King, The Twilight Zone for Jordan Peele. Yaitanes served as Showrunner, Executive Producer, and sole ...

43. Carl Rinsch

Director | 47 Ronin

44. Chuck Russell

Director | The Blob

Graduating from the University of Illinois, Russell left Chicago to begin work in film production in Los Angeles. He worked his way up, assistant directing and production managing independent films while writing screenplays. Russell made his directorial debut in 1987 with A Nightmare on Elm Street ...

45. Bruno Aveillan

Director | Divino inferno: Et Rodin créa la Porte de l'Enfer