Jurassic World: Dominion (Colin Trevorrow, 2021) Movie • Page 39

Safety Not Guaranteed was up there with one of the more enjoyable low budget indie genre movies of the 2010s. I saw it in theaters and figured the director was off to a good career. But after Colin got hired for JW, I noticed a pattern in big budget studio movies, particularly part of a well known franchise. They hire a young creative director after they had a breakout film. Studios realized if they hire up and comers, they have all the leverage and thus can underpay the director and have more creative control because it’s their IP. The director on the other hand would be thrilled at the opportunity to direct a film on a massive scale. Sometimes it works out, sometimes not.

Examples:
Colin Trevorrow: Safety Not Guaranteed (750k budget) to JW ($200M budget)
Garett Edwards: Monsters ($500k) to Godzilla ($160M)
Jordan Vogt-Roberts: Kings of Summer ($1.5M) to Kong Skull Island ($185M)
Adam Wingard: You’re Next ($1M) to Kong vs. Godzilla ($200M)
Ryan Coogler: Fruitvale Station ($900k) to Black Panther ($200M)