20 Worst Film Directors of the 21st Century (So Far)
Recently, we looked at the best directors of the 21st century so far. Now, it's time for the flipside: our list of the century's worst filmmakers, ranked by their average Metascores.
To be included, a director must have four or more eligible films. Such films have seven or more reviews from professional critics and were first released (in any country) on or after January 1, 2000, and must have been released (including as a straight-to-Netflix streaming release) at some point in the USA. Multi-director anthology films are excluded, as are theatrical re-releases of older films. Averages were calculated using Metascores from July 12, 2017, and include films released through July 7, 2017.
#14
Renny Harlin
A five-time Razzie nominee for worst director, Harlin has been directing bad films for three decades. "Highlights" for the Finnish director to date include the 1990 Andrew Dice Clay flop The Adventures of Ford Fairlaine and 1995's Cutthroat Island (which set records at the time as the biggest box office flop in movie history).
Once tasked with helming high-profile (and somewhat high-grossing) films like 1990's Die Hard 2, Harlin hasn't been getting many calls from Hollywood studios in recent years, leaving him with projects such as the upcoming Chinese videogame adaptation Legend of the Ancient Sword.
Note that Harlin's barely released 2008 film Cleaner does not have enough reviews to be included in his average.
| Films directed, 2000-2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| ▣ | The Covenant | 2006 |
| ▣ | The Legend of Hercules | 2014 |
| ▣ | Driven | 2001 |
| ▣ | Exorcist: The Beginning | 2004 |
| ▣ | 5 Days of War | 2011 |
| ▣ | Mindhunters | 2004 |
| ▣ | 12 Rounds | 2009 |
| ▣ | Devil's Pass | 2013 |
| ▣ | Skiptrace | 2016 |