5 Directors Who Are Worse Than Todd Phillips, The Director Of ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’

If you hated Joker: Folie à Deux, just know that it could always be worse.

If you’re even remotely online, then you’ve probably learned of the utter, overwhelming failure of Joker: Folie à Deux at the box office. If anything, that has translated into mild schadenfreude; it’s hard, after all, to feel bad for faceless studio executives. And anyway, they’ll be fine: They’ll just lay off 3,000 employees by email during their next ayahuasca trip.

However, what’s most fascinating about the Folie à Deux Disaster of 2024 is the blame game that it has inspired. There appears to be at least one clear culprit: Director Todd Phillips. In realizing his creative vision for Folie à Deux, Phillips essentially went rogue, repeatedly ignoring input from DC Studios. On top of that, Phillips dissolved his production partnership with Bradley Cooper, whose commercial instincts helped the first Joker become such a crowd-pleaser. Thus, Phillips and DC were left with the pretentious, tedious, joyless final product that has begun draining $150 million to $200 million from Warner Bros.’ coffers. Sad!

Of course, whether you truly believe Todd Phillips is an egotistical hack is up to you. It’s totally possible, after all, that DC Studios planted all those sources that are now blaming Phillips for this Deux-aster. On the other hand, this whole debacle might have reminded you of some male directors who are definitely egomaniacs.

David O. Russell

He may have directed Jennifer Lawrence to a Best Actress Oscar in Silver Linings Playbook, but David O. Russell is not a chill hang. He was such a rizzless tumor during the filming of Three Kings that he actually choked George Clooney on set – and not in a fun way! Then, on the set of I Heart Huckabees, he called Grace and Frankie star Lily Tomlin a b*tch and a c*nt. And then, on the set of American Hustle, he verbally berated Amy Adams to the point that Christian Bale had to step in on her behalf. If Famous A**hole Christian Bale is telling you that you have no chill, then it’s time to reflect on your choices—or at least refill your Xanax.

James Cameron

We’re all thankful that Titanic and Avatar exist, but are they so essential to human life that they justified their director James Cameron being a dick? According to reports, the man destroyed every cell phone that went off during filming with a nail gun. Cameron also inflicted “influenza, extreme chill from being exposed to cold water, a chipped bone, deep bruises, and a near death experience” on Kate Winslet while filming Titanic. Oh, and he almost caused Westworld star Ed Harris to drown during the filming of The Abyss. AND he doesn’t let his employees have Casual Fridays.

David Fincher

When someone compares your film set to a “gulag,” you’re probably due for a meeting with HR. Actually, if someone’s calling your film set a gulag, then you probably don’t even have an HR. Case in point: Jake Gyllenhaal had to leave bottles of pee around the set of Zodiac because the director David Fincher didn’t allow bathroom breaks. It’s no wonder Robert Downey Jr. called the set a “gulag!” Also, Fincher forced Gyllenhaal to retake a scene around seventy times only to delete the footage, apparently just to make Gyllenhaal cry. (NGL, I wish I could have seen that.)

Lars von Trier

Even if you’ve never watched a Lars von Trier movie, you’ve probably heard about his antics. During the filming of Dancer in the Dark, he mistreated Björk so badly that she had a psychological break and started eating her sweater. Björk would then go on to claim that von Trier ate women’s souls. Is Lars von Trier the reason that Björk is Björk?

Oliver Stone

Oliver Stone is not the first director who has been called a “fascist,” a “Nazi,” or “Hitler” — but he is the worst. Stone, who hasn’t had a good movie in years, was such a domineering dickhead on the set of Savages that Blake Lively made everyone on the set a shirt that said, “I survived working with Oliver Stone.” I mean, if Blake Lively thinks you’re difficult … That’s probably a sign.