7 Russian directors who worked in Hollywood

1. Sergei Eisenstein

The director received his first offer to work in America a year after the release of ‘Battleship Potemkin’. Silent film stars Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Piсkford offered him to make a movie for film production company United Artists. Two years later, its director Joseph Schenk confirmed his willingness to work with Eisenstein. And, in 1929, the Soviet director finally received official permission to travel to the United States. Due to the financial crisis in the U.S., the trip was almost derailed, but, in Spring 1930, Eisenstein received a new offer from Paramount Pictures president Joseph Lasky.

In Los Angeles, he wrote two scripts, but the studio was not satisfied and then Paramount offered Eisenstein to work on the screen adaptation of Theodore Dreiser's ‘An American Tragedy’. But, even here, too, failure awaited him – this time due to anti-communist sentiments. 

And yet, the director was in no hurry to return home. He managed to get funding for a movie about Mexico and went to the location of future filming. Work on the script, however, did not go quickly and, after the deadline was missed, the producer demanded that the project be completed as soon as possible. But, the work only stopped when a telegram from Joseph Stalin arrived from the USSR stating that the director “had lost confidence”. Funding was frozen and his residence permit was canceled. Eisenstein returned to Moscow in 1932.

2. Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko

The co-founder of the Moscow Art Theater described his work in Hollywood as the most difficult time in his life. In 1925, the Moscow Art Theater went on a tour of Europe and America. After its completion, Nemirovich-Danchenko spent another year and a half in Hollywood – under a contract with United Artists, he was obligated to write scripts, act in movies and meet with actors.

The movie studio was particularly interested in a big screen adaptation of his play ‘Pugachevshchina’. Nemirovich-Danchenko wrote a script based on the play by Konstantin Trenyev and Pushkin's ‘Captain's Daughter’. As contemporaries recalled, the synopsis was approved by the directorate with only one edit: they were so frightened by the terrible execution of the hero that they proposed to change the ending to… the wedding of Pugachev and Catherine II.

Returning to the USSR, Nemirovich-Danchenko sadly summarized: “Advertising and speculation of talent are the pulse of life in cinema-America… As in all other areas of spiritual culture, we are ideologically ahead in cinema.” And he was sure: “You can only create in Russia, sell in America and relax in Europe.”

3. Sergei Bodrov Sr.

This director’s affair with Hollywood began in the early 1990s. In collaboration with Alexander Rockwell, he co-wrote the script for the movie ‘To Love Someone’. Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, Anthony Quinn all starred in this melodrama, while Quentin Tarantino had a cameo as a bartender. In 2014, Bodrov Sr. made his directorial debut in Hollywood – the fantasy ‘Seventh Son’ starring Ben Barnes, Julianne Moore and Jeff Bridges. And a year later, Terrence Malick's ‘Knight of Cups’ was released, in which Bodrov himself appeared in a scene.

4. Andrei Konchalovsky

The director began working in Hollywood in the 1980s. His first movie there was a short film titled ‘Broken Cherry Tree’, based on the story of Jesse Stuart. In 1983, it was nominated for an Oscar. That same year, his first full-length Hollywood movie was released – the drama ‘Mary's Lovers’ starring Nastassja Kinski, based on Andrei Platonov's story ‘The River Potudan’.

The director's American filmography also includes ‘Runaway Train’ with Jon Voight and Eric Roberts, ‘Tango & Cash’ with Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell. ‘The Odyssey’ miniseries, meanwhile, gathered a stellar cast: Isabella Rossellini, Armand Assante, Greta Scacchi and Vanessa Williams. And, as a result, it received a Golden Globe nomination and two Emmy Awards, including for directing.

Konchalovsky's last movie shot in the U.S. came out in 2003 – the main roles in ‘The Lion in Winter’ were performed by Glenn Close and Patrick Stewart.

5. Timur Bekmambetov

In Hollywood, this director and producer played his trump card – he made the action movie ‘Wanted’ (2008) with Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy. Then, there was more: the fantasy ‘Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’ (2012) and a large-scale remake of ‘Ben-Hur’ (2016). His directorial work was followed by production work in the screenlife genre, when the action takes place on a phone screen, as well as the drama ‘The Current War’ (2017) about the confrontation between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Shannon.

6. Ilya Naishuller

The director's first full-length feature, the sci-fi action movie ‘Hardcore’ (2015), starring Tim Roth, Sharlto Copley and Danila Kozlovsky. Six years later, in 2021, his first Hollywood project titled ‘Nobody’ was released. Bob Odenkerk played the main role, while the aforementioned Timur Bekmambetov was the producer. According to the box office receipts from its opening weekend, the movie became the first motion picture in U.S. history, shot by a Russian director, to top the U.S. box office. 

7. Egor Baranov

This 35-year-old director is just entering Hollywood: His first debut movie there – the dystopian ‘The Resurrected’ about a future world, where the Vatican has learned to resurrect people – was released in Spring 2023. The movie, which did not receive very favorable reviews from critics, was also produced by Timur Bekmambetov. 

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