by Nathaniel R
Joe Johnston behind the scenes on Star Wars (1977) his very first movie in his mid 20s
With the long-gestating The Nutcracker and the Four Realms now in theaters (its initial shoot wrapped nearly two years ago!) it occurred to us to look at the directorial career of Joe Johnston. When the studio opted for a full month of reshoots on The Nutcracker, the original director, Lasse Hallström was unavailable so Johnston stepped in (and now there's a joint "directed by" credit). Johnston is hardly a household name but every time his name pops up we're reminded that a chunk of his filmography is actually fairly famous.
How many of his 10 theatrically-released movies have you seen? The posters are after the jump...
HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS (1989) - a surprise blockbuster
THE ROCKETEER (1991) - I was really fond of this one when I was younger but that might have been the absolutely crushing crush on Billy Campbell
THE PAGEMASTER (1994) - he directed the live-action portion of this movie.
JUMANJI (1995) - another blockbuster
OCTOBER SKY (1999)
JURASSIC PARK III (2001)
HILDAGO (2004)
THE WOLFMAN (2010)
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2011) - yet another blockbuster and our personal favorite of the "origin" portion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE FOUR REALMS (2018)
Which brings us up to date. Read Chris Feil's review here.
With Emily Blunt at the premiere of The Wolfman
Maybe it's only the gaps between films that's kept him under the radar as "name" directors go. He's already an Oscar winner, too. His first movie gig was in the visual effects department on a tiny picture called Star Wars (1977) when he was in his mid-20s and he worked on the entire original trilogy. By the age of 31 he was already an Oscar winner (Visual Effects on Raiders of the Lost Ark). He graduated to the director's chair with the surprise blockbuster Honey I Shrunk the Kids (1989) and has been their ever since, albeit with larger and larger gaps inbetween each movie.
How many have you seen and which is your favorite?