I can’t count how many times I’ve been asked what happened to this or that director. There are so many great filmmakers who haven’t released a film in over a decade—usually because of financing struggles or simply being burned out by the industry.
I’m still waiting on news of a new Michael Haneke project. His ambitious TV series — “Kelvin’s Book” — fell apart, due to financing, during the pandemic. The Austrian filmmaker, 81, hasn’t released anything since 2017’s “Happy End, which, if it were to be his final film, would be a fitting meta conclusion to an incredible career. Isabelle Huppert, who has starred in four Hanekes, recently said that she’s been pushing him to come back for one more film.
Unfortunately, there are far too many talented filmmakers who’ve retreated into silence. Some are inactive by choice — I wouldn’t be surprised if we never hear from Peter Weir, John Carpenter, or Frank Darabont again.
This past decade has been especially tough for directors trying to get passion projects off the ground. Hollywood has grown increasingly risk-averse, with studios showing far less interest in filmmaker-driven work. It’s all about the bottom line now, and that means IP reigns supreme.
Here are just a few filmmakers who haven’t released anything in quite some time:
Michael Haneke, Bennett Miller, Kenneth Lonergan, Peter Weir, Spike Jonze, Brian De Palma, Richard Kelly, Mark Romanek, John Carpenter, Frank Darabont, Peter Jackson, Shane Carruth, John Waters, Todd Solondz, Charles Burnett, Terry Zwigoff, Cameron Crowe, Wong Kar-Wai, Maren Ade, John McTiernan, Carl Franklin, Brad Bird, John Sayles, Vincent Gallo, Martin Brest, Lisa Cholodenko, Joe Dante.
The good news is that, former hermits, Kathryn Bigelow, Brad Bird, and Shane Black, all have films that have already been shot or are currently shooting this year.
Peter Weir claims that he’s retired. I reported that Brian De Palma can’t get insured due to health issues. Terry Zwigoff (“Ghost World”) recently made a pitch for his first film in over 18 years. These days Bennett Miller seems more into AI-generated photography. He did mention having spent the last ten years working on a documentary tackling AI, which might be the topic of his next narrative feature, which is currently being written by Charlie Kaufman.
Frank Darabont (“The Shashank Redemption”) recently “un-retired” to direct a few episodes for the last season of “Stranger Things.” Will he finally direct a new feature? He hasn’t given us anything since 2007’s “The Mist.” That “Walking Dead” lawsuit made him filthy rich, he doesn’t need the money, but we’d love for him to finally make his long-gestating U.S. civil war epic.
Meanwhile, Richard Kelly is still clinging to the belief that he can find funding for his “Southland Tales” prequel. He hasn’t directed a film since 2009’s “The Box.” Kelly is working on an assortment of other projects, but can’t seem to kickstart any of them. However, more recently, news came out that he might be shooting a new film this fall.
Spike Jonze, who hasn’t released a movie since 2013’s “Her,” was working on an ambitious sci-fi limited series for Netflix, until he suddenly dropped out. It was supposed to star Joaquin Phoenix. There was a writer’s room for the project, but Netflix might have gotten cold feet over the $200M+ budget.
Meanwhile, John Carpenter is enjoying life by playing video games morning through night. I’m not kidding. He also obsessively watching the NBA on his television set. Carpenter has mentioned the possibility of suiting up for one last feature film. He hasn’t directed anything since 2010’s “The Ward.”
We’re likely never again going to watch a new film “Upstream Color” and “Primer” director Shane Carruth. He was arrested for domestic violence in 2022, and it’s not the first time that’s happened. He was supposed to direct a film called “The Modern Ocean,” but it’s now been forever shelved — he leaked the script online. Carruth is now back to being a computer engineer in Texas.
Martin Brest has been justly scarred by “Gigli.” I wouldn’t be surprised if he still gets nightmares from that movie. Last we heard from Brest, he was still complaing about “Gigli” and refused to refer it by name (“that G-movie”).
Back in 2019, the great Charles Burnett (“Killer of Sheep,” “To Sleep With Anger”) signed on for an Amazon slavery drama. The pandemic seems to have delayed momentum on that project and now Burnett is saying that the entire thing is in “development hell.”
Peter Jackson has been exclusively making documentaries since his ‘Hobbit’ trilogy, and a few of them have been really great. Ask Andy Serkis, and he’ll tell you that Jackson is still very much directing the ‘Tintin’ sequel, which has been in development for over 13 years. We’ll believe it when we see it. Today, we learned that he’s “not retired,” and actually working on three scripts as his potential next film.
At least John Waters knows, or knew, what his next film was going to be: “Liarmouth”, based on his own novel. It was supposed to be his first film in 20 years, and Aubrey Plaza had been confirmed as the lead. The problem was that, according to Waters, financing fell through. The same thing happened to Todd Solondz, which was days away from shooting, but had its shoot canceled at the very last minute.
And so it goes, the life of many talented directors in 2025, drifting between passion projects and purgatory, caught in an industry that no longer prioritizes vision over viability. These filmmakers, many of whom once redefined cinema, now wait on the sidelines — some by choice, others by circumstance — as studios chase algorithms and franchises.
Which of these filmmakers do you desperately want to see come back? Haneke, Miller, Jonze and Lonergan are at the top of my list.