15 acclaimed directors who took long breaks between movies

The notoriously meticulous Kubrick didn’t always take a long time between projects. Between “Spartacus” in 1960 and “The Shining” in 1980, he made seven movies, including " Spartacus " and " The Shining ". However, the gaps began to lengthen as those decades went on. Also, it turns out he was basically done making movies. “Full Metal Jacket” came out in 1987, and then his final film, “Eyes Wide Shut,” came out in 1999.

Cameron’s preoccupation with his “Avatar” project has completely overtaken his career. Big Jim has made three films since he directed “Titanic” in 1997, all of them “Avatar” movies. The first came out in 2009, and then “The Way of Water” arrived in 2022. Of course, those are also two of the highest-grossing movies in history, so Cameron’s big bet has paid off.

Malick is actually the opposite of a lot of these directors. He started his career with lengthy breaks between films. There were two decades between “Days of Heaven” and “The Thin Red Line,” a film with an infamous production story. After that, it took until 2005 for “The New World” to be released. Then, suddenly, starting with 2011’s “The Tree of Life,” Malick went on a real run. He released five films within eight years! He had made four films total up to that point!

Though Bigelow won an Oscar for “The Hurt Locker,” beating her ex-husband Jim Cameron in the process, after “Detroit” in 2017 failed to make any noise or generate any enthusiasm in 2017, she disappeared for a while. Bigelow reemerged on Netflix in 2025 with “A House of Dynamite.” Alas, not only was the movie not very good, but it definitely did not seem like a film substantive enough to explain the eight-year gap between projects.

Campion is not a commercial filmmaker, but her movies have often gotten critical acclaim and Oscar love. It’s just that people aren’t going to flock in droves to see a movie like “The Piano” as if it’s “Barbie,” you know? In the new millennium, Campion has made three films total, and the break between “Bright Star” and “The Power of the Dog” was 12 years. However, “The Power of the Dog” did win her the Best Director Oscar.

Coppola was, of course, the most-venerated director of the 1970s. The chaos of “Apocalypse Now,” though, changed his relationship to Hollywood, and after 1997’s “The Rainmaker,” the interest from major Hollywood studios dried up. He didn’t make another film until 2007’s “Youth Without Youth,” and basically all he’s directed in the 2000s are low-budget, self-funded, or both.

Costner is a different story because he’s also had an acting career to keep him going. That being said, his directorial debut, “Dances With Wolves,” won Best Picture, and he won Best Director. When that happens, your directorial career is considered in a different light. Costner has consistently taken breaks between movies, but the gap between “Open Range” and “Horizon: An American Saga (Chapter 1) was significant. The former came out in 2003, and the latter didn’t come out until 2024. Of course, “Horizon” also did so poorly that future chapters may never be seen.

As a director who started his career in the 1940s, Lean was not afforded the possibility of taking time between movies. From 1942 through 1962, he directed 13 films. The last of those two, though, were “The Bridge on the River Kwai” and “Lawrence of Arabia,” both of which won Best Picture. That allowed him to slow down a bit, but then he slowed down a lot. Between “Ryan’s Daughter” and “A Passage to India,” 14 years passed. The latter came out in 1984 and earned 11 Oscar nominations, but it would also be Lean’s last movie.

Okay, so Bong’s time between films isn’t as robust as the others on this list. Six years is notable, but it isn’t wild. However, we are including him because of the context. “Parasite” was an Oscar phenomenon in 2019, winning Best Director and Best Picture. Bong had as much Hollywood cache as he was ever going to have. People were riveted to see what Bong would do next. They had to wait until 2025 for his Best Picture follow-up…and then basically nobody saw “Mickey 17.”

Stillman got through his acclaimed trio of “Metropolitan,” “Barcelona,” and “The Last Days of Disco” within an eight-year span in the 1990s. The chronicler of talkative, socially out-of-touch Yuppies then didn’t make another film until 2011’s “Damsels in Distress,” starring a then-unknown Greta Gerwig. He directed a Jane Austen adaptation in 2016, but that has proven to be his last movie to date.

Clearly, Glazer likes to take his time with movies. He’s directed four films total, and the shortest time between projects has been four years. That was between his first two movies as well. Glazer went nine years between “Birth” and “Under the Skin,” and then he one-upped himself by waiting a full decade before directing “The Zone of Interest.”

You’d think a guy known for directing erotic thrillers might not qualify as “acclaimed,” but he was nominated for Best Director for “Fatal Attraction.” In 2002, he directed the erotic thriller “Unfaithful,” which naturally starred Richard Gere and Diane Lane. However, it would be a full 20 years until his next film. Additionally, while “Deep Water” had the hype of starring Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas, it was dropped onto Hulu with little fanfare.

Brest was a meticulous filmmaker. He’s also a reminder that they do hand out life sentences for director’s jail, which is mostly why he is here. Brest usually took four to five years between movies, including five years between his last two movies. He made “Meet Joe Black” and then…he made “Gigli.” Yes, Brest directed the infamous “Gigli,” at which point he realized his career would never be the same, and he effectively resigned himself to retirement. He was only in his fifties at the time.

Speaking of meticulous filmmakers, May has asserted she did not end up in director’s jail after 1987’s “Ishtar,” but just never got an opportunity she wanted. Perhaps because, like Brest, she hasn’t been offered the same level of control again. May has continued to threaten to make another movie, called “Crackpot,” but let’s be honest. She’s in her nineties. It’s not going to happen. On top of that, the gap between “Mikey and Nicky” and “Ishtar” was 11 years.

However, here is proof that aging directors aren’t necessarily done. Brooks came out of the gate on fire, as his first two movies were “Terms of Endearment” and “Broadcast News.” He was the King of the Dramedy. 1997’s “As Good as It Gets” is another example of that. There were then seven years until “Spanglish,” though, and then another six before the disastrous “How Do You Know.” It seemed like that would be Brooks’ last film, but then, suddenly, in 2025, we got “Ella McKay.” Okay, so 15 years isn’t “sudden,” but we didn’t expect an octogenarian with three Oscars and “Simpsons” money to direct again after so much time.