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[GreyHorace]

We've all heard of directors who got their start doing genre work like horror (Peter Jackson, Sam Raimi), scifi (Steven Spielberg) and even action films (George Miller), who then move on to do more serious dramatic work later in their career.

But what about the other way around? What about those directors who got their start doing dramas and then dip their creative fingers into a genre film?

The most prominent example I can think of is Ang Lee. He got his start doing critically acclaimed films in his native Taiwan like Eat Drink Man Woman and The Wedding Banquet before finding success stateside with his award winning adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. Then in 2000, he dives headlong into the martial arts genre by making what is IMO the best wuxia film, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Since then he's only made one other genre film, 2003's Hulk, which was a misfire, but later this year he's coming out with the scifi action film Gemini Man starring Will Smith.

Another example that comes to my mind is Kenneth Branagh. He's more well known for his Shakespeare film adaptations but in 1994 he adapted Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and then in 2011 he directed Thor for the MCU.

 

[Porcile]

I think the question you should be asking is who are the modern serious directors making studio films for buckets of cash?

Serious directors used to make genre films all the time. Stanley Kubrick for example.

 

[yeahokaywhatever]

David Gordon Green. I was really surprised to see him go from his early films to stuff like Pineapple Express.

 

[AV]

Denis Villeneuve has transitioned from making serious drama/thriller movies (Incendies, Prisoners, Sicario) with heavy political undertones to making sci-fi movies (Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, Dune). That's the biggest recent example that springs to mind.