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Here's a new edition of "Directors at the Box Office", which seeks to explore the directors' trajectory at the box office and analyze their hits and bombs. I already talked about a few, and as I promised, it's Todd Phillips' turn.
Phillips attended New York University Film School, but dropped out because he could not afford to complete his first film and pay tuition simultaneously. Around that time, he worked at Kim's Video and Music. He appeared as one of the drivers in the first season of the HBO hidden camera docu-series Taxicab Confessions. He made a great impression when he made a documentary film, Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies, which received a limited release despite being a student film. While at Sundance, Phillips met Ivan Reitman, who introduced him to the film industry.
From a box office perspective, how reliable was he to deliver a box office hit?
That's the point of this post. To analyze his career.

Road Trip (2000)

"The greatest college tradition of all."
His directorial debut. The film stars Breckin Meyer, Seann William Scott, Paulo Costanzo, Amy Smart, Rachel Blanchard, Fred Ward, DJ Qualls and Tom Green, and follows four college friends who embark on an 1,800-mile road trip to retrieve an illicit tape mistakenly mailed to a girlfriend.
The film received mixed reviews from critics, but it was a box office success, earning $119 million worldwide. It cemented Phillips as a reliable comedy director. After strong DVD sales, a direct sequel was purposed but mainly failed when producers could not come up with anything "that would not easily become an American Pie." Some of the purposed creative ideas would move on to become Eurotrip.

• Budget: $16,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $68,540,777.
  
• Worldwide gross: $119,754,278.
  

Old School (2003)

"All the fun of college. None of the education."
His second film. The film stars Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell and Jeremy Piven, and follows three depressed men in their thirties who seek to relive their college days by starting a fraternity, and the tribulations they encounter in doing so.
One of Phillips' documentaries, Frat House, involved fraternities. Ivan Reitman, who had produced Animal House, saw the documentary and wanted to collaborate with Phillips to revive the frat comedy film genre. The success of Road Trip prompted Phillips and co-writer Scot Armstrong to pitch Reitman on a fraternity-themed film centered around adult men instead of the usual college-aged kids. Said Armstrong, "There's a weird brotherhood that happens when you're in college were you're kind of finding yourself, and it was funny to think of old people doing it."
Like Road Trip, it received mixed reviews. And just like that film, it was also a box office success. Phillips was unstoppable.

• Budget: $24,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $75,585,093.
  
• Worldwide gross: $87,135,520.
  

Starsky & Hutch (2004)

"They're the man."
His third film. Based on the 1970s TV series, it stars Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Juliette Lewis and Snoop Dogg. It follows two streetwise undercover cops, David Starsky and Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson, in the fictional city of Bay City, California in 1975 who bust drug criminals with the help of underworld boss Huggy Bear.
It received a generally favorable response, with Stiller and Wilson receiving praise for their chemistry. Phillips found another hit as it passed $170 million worldwide, becoming his highest grossing film.

• Budget: $60,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $88,237,754.
  
• Worldwide gross: $170,268,750.
  

School for Scoundrels (2006)

"Too nice? Too honest? Too you? Help is on the way."
His fourth film. A remake of the 1960 film, it stars Billy Bob Thornton, Jon Heder, Jacinda Barrett, Luis Guzmán, David Cross, Horatio Sanz, Sarah Silverman and Michael Clarke Duncan. It follows a young man who joins a class to increase his self-confidence to win over the girl he is smitten with, but the situation becomes complicated when his teacher has the same agenda.
The film received negative reviews from critics, unfavorably comparing it to the original. It was also a box office bomb, failing to hit its production budget. To this day, it's his lowest grossing film.

• Budget: $35,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $17,807,569.
  
• Worldwide gross: $24,470,583.
  

The Hangover (2009)

"Some guys just can't handle Las Vegas."
His fifth film. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong, and Jeffrey Tambor. It tells the story of Phil Wenneck, Stu Price, Alan Garner, and Doug Billings, who travel to Las Vegas for a bachelor party to celebrate Doug's impending marriage. However, Phil, Stu, and Alan wake up with Doug missing and no memory of the previous night's events, and must find the groom before the wedding can take place.
The plot was inspired by a real event that happened to Tripp Vinson, a producer and friend of executive producer Chris Bender. Vinson had gone missing from his own Las Vegas bachelor party, blacking out and waking up "in a strip club being threatened with a very, very large bill I was supposed to pay". Jon Lucas and Scott Moore sold a script in which three friends would lose the groom and try to find him. It was rewritten by Phillips, who added additional elements such as Mike Tyson and his tiger, the baby, and the police cruiser.
Stu's missing tooth was not created with prosthetics or visual effects, but is naturally occurring: Helms never had an adult incisor grow, and got a dental implant as a teenager, which was removed for filming. For the scene where Chow jumps naked over Phil, that wasn't on the script and was improvised with Phillips' blessing (he also had to ask his wife to appear naked).
The film surpassed the wildest expectations at the box office. It opened with $44 million in its first weekend, and didn't drop higher than 37% until its 20th weekend. The film closed with a colossal $277.3 million domestically, passing Beverly Hills Cop as the highest grossing R-rated comedy (unadjusted). Worldwide, it made $469 million worldwide, becoming 2009's tenth highest grossing film. It received a favorable response, and it even won the Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Phillips bounced back and was stronger than ever.

• Budget: $35,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $277,339,746.
  
• Worldwide gross: $469,328,922.
  

Due Date (2010)

"Leave your comfort zone."
His sixth film. It stars Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Michelle Monaghan, Juliette Lewis, and Jamie Foxx. The film follows a man who must get across the country to Los Angeles in time for the birth of his child and is forced to road-trip with an aspiring actor.
Despite mixed reviews, the audience was very interested in Phillips' follow-up to The Hangover and seeing Iron Man in a raunchy comedy. It earned $211 million worldwide, marking another success for Phillips.

• Budget: $65,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $100,539,043.
  
• Worldwide gross: $211,780,824.
  

The Hangover Part II (2011)

"The wolfpack is back."
His seventh film. The sequel to The Hangover, it stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Ken Jeong, Jeffrey Tambor, Justin Bartha, and Paul Giamatti. It tells the story of Phil, Stu, Alan, and Doug, as they travel to Thailand. After the bachelor party in Las Vegas, Stu takes no chances and opts for a safe, subdued pre-wedding brunch. Things do not go as planned, resulting in another bad hangover with no memories of the previous night.
Two months before the original opened, WB commissioned Phillips to develop a sequel after the very positive test screenings. The writers, Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, chose not to return as they felt their story was over. So Phillips co-wrote the script with Craig Mazin and Scot Armstrong. They decided to follow the same structure as the original. Mel Gibson was announced to cameo as a Bangkok tattoo artist, but this was canned by Phillips and WB when crew members opposed to his presence. Cooper then invited Liam Neeson, whom he worked with in The A-Team, to play the artist. While Neeson filmed the scene, Phillips had to reshoot the scene later on as he cut the scene that immediately followed Neeson's cameo, meaning it no longer had the information necessary to logically get the main characters to the situation in the next scene. As Neeson was unavailable, he replaced him with Nick Cassavetes.
The film broke many box office records. It earned $10 million in midnight previews, which was the highest for an R-rated film. Its opening day was $31.6 million, almost doubling the original's opening day. It opened with $85 million ($135 million over its first five days). While it was heavily anticipated, it didn't have the original's legs; it fell harder and it finished with $254 million domestically, below the original. But worldwide, the film was bigger; it made a huge $586 million worldwide, becoming the highest grossing R-rated comedy worldwide (a record it still keeps). While the original was well received, the sequel was panned, mainly for its derivative nature.

• Budget: $80,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $254,464,305.
  
• Worldwide gross: $586,764,305.
  

The Hangover Part III (2013)

"The end."
His eighth film. The third and final installment in The Hangover trilogy, it stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Ken Jeong, Jeffrey Tambor, Heather Graham, Mike Epps, Melissa McCarthy, Justin Bartha, and John Goodman. The film follows the "Wolfpack" as they try to get Alan the help he needs after facing a personal crisis, after the bachelor party in Bangkok. However, things go awry when an incident from the original film comes back to haunt them.
Before the second film opened, Phillips was already planning on a third film. Despite not having a script, he had an idea where the film would serve as the finale and it would follow a different structure. Craig Mazin returned to co-write the film with Phillips, with the setting confirmed to be in Tijuana.
The film was panned by critics, criticizing it for its unfunny script and deemed as the worst in the franchise. And it looks like the franchise hit its diminishing returns, as the film saw a big drop compared to the past films. It earned just $112 million domestically and $362 million worldwide. Profitable, but a big drop. While the stars are open in returning, Philips is not interested in another film.

• Budget: $103,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $112,200,072.
  
• Worldwide gross: $362,000,072.
  

War Dogs (2016)

"Hustling their way to the American Dream."
His ninth film. The film is based on the book Arms and the Dudes by Guy Lawson, and stars Miles Teller, Jonah Hill, Ana de Armas and Bradley Cooper. The film follows two arms dealers, Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz, who receive a U.S. Army contract to supply ammunitions for the Afghan National Army worth approximately $300 million.
The film received mixed reviews from critics for its tone and script. And the film seemed to suggest that Phillips was losing his touch, as the film failed to double its budget.

• Budget: $50,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $43,034,523.
  
• Worldwide gross: $86,434,523.
  

Joker (2019)

"Put on a happy face."
His tenth film. Loosely based on the DC Comics character, it stars Joaquin Phoenix as the title character, with supporting performances from Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz and Frances Conroy. Set in 1981, it follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and aspiring stand-up comedian whose descent into mental illness and nihilism inspires a violent countercultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying Gotham City.
For years, Phillips was offered to direct comic book films, but he always rejected them as he deemed them "loud" and because he was just not interested. However, he was interested in a grounded take on the genre. He was attracted to the Joker because he did not think there was a definitive portrayal of the character, which he knew would provide considerable creative freedom. After the poor reception to his past comedy films, he claimed that it was difficult to make comedy films in the "woke culture", throughout opposition of "30 million people on Twitter".
Phillips convinced Warner Bros. in investing in low-budget stand-alone comic book films. The idea was for a Joker film, with Martin Scorsese producing and Phillips directing from a script written by himself and Scott Silver. Scorsese considered directing the film before Phillips was chosen, though a Warner Bros. source said he only became involved because the film needed a New York City-based producer. Scorsese was scheduled to produce, although he would later say he would just executive produce, before simply leaving the project to focus on The Irishman.
WB wanted Leonardo DiCaprio for the role, but Phillips was only interested in Joaquin Phoenix. Phoenix had previously declined to act in the Marvel Cinematic Universe because he would have been required to reprise a role, such as the Hulk or Doctor Strange, in multiple films. However, he was interested if the role would be a stand-alone grounded take. Phoenix said when he learned of the film, he became excited because it was the kind he was looking to make, describing it as unique and stating it did not feel like a typical "studio movie".
The film was inspired by other films like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, Serpico, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Man Who Laughs and even Phillips' own Hangover trilogy. The film was not based or inspired by any specific comic book, but Phillips and Silver simply took some elements they liked from the character's history. Phillips said that while the script's themes may reflect modern society, the film was not intended to be political, and that the main focus was child trauma and mental illness.
While the film was undergoing scripting, DC was going through a rough phase. Batman v Superman made money but it received negative reception and earned far less than expected, and Justice League had just bombed. Walter Hamada was appointed as the head of DC and he started a restructuring. WB was reluctant to let Joker move forward and gave it a small budget in an effort to dissuade Phillips. Phillips said that Hamada did not understand what he was trying to do. After Phoenix officially signed, WB greenlit it and filming was allowed to commence, and Bradley Cooper joined the film as a producer. Despite greenlighting, Phillips decided to defer his upfront salary on the film in exchange for a greater percentage of the adjusted gross, which reportedly included between 10% and 13% on the backend.
Phillips rewrote the entire script during filming; and because Phoenix lost so much weight for the film, there would not be an opportunity for reshoots. Phillips recalled Phoenix sometimes walked off-set during filming because he lost self-control and needed to compose himself — to the confusion of other actors, who felt they had done something wrong. De Niro was one of the few Phoenix never walked out on and De Niro said he was "very intense in what he was doing, as it should be, as he should be".
The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival. In a surprising move, it won the Golden Lion, the festival's highest honor. When it premiered in theaters, it was insanely hyped by the audience and it didn't disappoint in the slightest.
It opened with a huge $96 million in its first weekend, eclipsing the October weekend record and the fourth biggest debut for an R-rated film. Comic book films were often front-loaded, yet Joker wasn't that case. It dipped just 41% and added $55.9 million. It didn't see a drop higher than 50% until its 11th weekend. Domestically, it closed with an extraordinary $335 million, becoming the fourth biggest R-rated film in the market.
But the story didn't just stop there. If it had an incredible run domestically, then what's the word to describe its even bigger performance overseas? In its first weekend, it opened with a colossal $234 million worldwide, breaking more box office records. Eventually, it passed Deadpool to become the highest grossing R-rated worldwide. And then, on November 15, it became the first R-rated to cross the $1 billion milestone. A colossal success, especially compared to its small budget. But the real winner was Phillips; through his backend deal, he earned up to $100 million for the film.
Critics were divided on the film. Some praised the screenplay, musical score, cinematography and Phoenix's performance, while others were divided on Phillips' directing, dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and lack of originality. But there was a lot of support in the industry, with many proclaiming it as a masterpiece. Phillips himself questioned his critics, "Isn't it good to have these discussions about these movies, about violence? Why is that a bad thing if the movie does lead to a discourse about it? What's outstanding to me in this discourse in this movie is how easily the far left can sound like the far right when it suits their agenda. It's really been eye-opening for me."
And its success didn't stop at the box office. Joker was a big player during awards season. It received a leading 11 nominations at the Oscars, breaking the record set by The Dark Knight for most nominations for a comic book film. These nominations included Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay, earning Phillips 3 nominations. It ended up winning two awards: Best Original Score and Best Actor for Phoenix, making the character one of the few to win two acting Oscars for different actors.
We won't say Phillips got his big break here, because he was already a massively successful director at the box office. But this was definitely his most memorable and important film to date.

• Budget: $70,000,000.
  
• Domestic gross: $335,477,657.
  
• Worldwide gross: $1,078,958,629.
  

The Future

He's currently in post-production for Joker: Folie à Deux. While originally saying he didn't want sequels to Joker, he changed his mind. Phoenix will return, and will be joined by Lady Gaga in the role of Harley Quinn. Brendan Gleeson and Catherine Keener were also cast. The film will be "a musical with up to 15 songs" and will carry a $200 million budget, far bigger than the original.

Other Projects

Phillips has produced films like All the King's Men, Project X and A Star Is Born.
He co-wrote and was scheduled to direct Borat. After filming the rodeo scene, Phillips subsequently left the film as he often clashed with Sacha Baron Cohen, and was replaced by Larry Charles. Despite that, he's still credited with a "story by" credit. This allowed him to get his first Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, losing to The Departed.

MOVIES (FROM HIGHEST GROSSING TO LEAST GROSSING)

No.	Movie	Year	Studio	Domestic Total	Overseas Total	Worldwide Total	Budget
1	Joker	2019	Warner Bros.	$335,477,657	$743,480,625	$1,078,958,629	$70M
2	The Hangover Part II	2011	Warner Bros.	$254,464,305	$332,300,000	$586,764,305	$80M
3	The Hangover	2009	Warner Bros.	$277,339,746	$191,988,333	$469,328,922	$35M
4	The Hangover Part III	2013	Warner Bros.	$112,200,072	$249,800,000	$362,000,072	$103M
5	Due Date	2010	Warner Bros.	$100,539,043	$111,241,781	$211,780,824	$65M
6	Starsky & Hutch	2004	Warner Bros. / Miramax	$88,237,754	$82,030,996	$170,268,750	$60M
7	Road Trip	2000	DreamWorks	$68,540,777	$51,213,501	$119,754,278	$16M
8	Old School	2003	DreamWorks	$75,585,093	$11,550,427	$87,135,520	$24M
9	War Dogs	2016	Warner Bros.	$43,034,523	$43,400,000	$86,434,523	$50M
10	School for Scoundrels	2006	MGM	$17,807,569	$6,663,014	$24,470,583	$35M

Across those 10 films, he has made $3,196,896,406 worldwide. That's $319,689,640 per film.

The Verdict

Insanely reliable.
When comedies were the thing at the movies, Phillips knew how to attract audiences. Some are still popular to this day. But even with the decline of comedies, he decided to make a new impression with small-scale comic book films and he left a big mark. And of course, credit has to go to him; he fought for every aspect and no one tried to make something like this on a comic book film. Even though his films can be raunchy and juvenile at times, Phillips has proved to be a very smart filmmaker. We don't know if he or Judd Apatow can resurrect the comedy genre, but he can easily evolve into something else and leave a big impression.
Hope you liked this edition. You can find this and more in the wiki for this section.
The next director will be John Carpenter. A cult filmmaker that didn't get the recognition he deserved at the time.
I asked you to choose who else should be in the run and the comment with the most upvotes would be chosen. Well, we'll later talk about... Clint Eastwood. An iconic actor and an iconic director.
This is the schedule for the following four:

Week	Director	Reasoning
April 22-28	John Carpenter	Is that really it? No more films?
April 29-May 5	Danny Boyle	It was a long wait, but 28 Years Later is finally happening.
May 6-12	Wes Craven	A horror legend.
May 13-19	Clint Eastwood	Great actor. Great director.

Who should be next after Eastwood? That's up to you.

Source: @BiggBearNews

Source: @BiggBearNews

Source: @BiggBearNews

Source: @BiggBearNews

So my daughter (21 months) developed a little rash about a month ago on her left hip that her pediatrician diagnosed as eczema. She said it could have been caused by a soap, lotion, detergent, etc.
I myself just got over a contact dermatitis rash a few weeks ago so I thought maybe she was having a similar reaction. Everything we use is super basic now.
I use homemade detergent with just a few simple ingredients (salt, baking soda, unscented Castile soap, water). I use white vinegar as a liquid laundry softener.
Her soap and shampoo are both eczema foundation approved. I apply Eucerin oatmeal lotion multiple times per day.
I stopped washing all of her cups and plates in the dishwasher in case it’s the pods getting in her system. I wash everything by hand with dawn and rinse thoroughly.
I’ve been trying to get lots of healthy foods and water in her to try and help her gut in case her microbiome is out of whack.
The rash on her hip has pretty much healed but she has these little bumps and dots all down her legs and up her back half way.
We switched diapers to Huggies sensitive last week and swapped her wipes from pampers sensitive to Huggies oat wipes with the eczema seal on them. The dots on her thighs have been there for 3 weeks or so but the ones further down her legs are about a week old.
Ive attached some pictures from this morning. I’ve only witnessed her scratch it twice and she sleeps through the night just fine (so far). I’m at a complete loss at what else to do or how to fix it. Does it actually look like eczema?
Any thoughts? I’m still working on getting her in with a dermatologist. Any advice in the mean time would be so appreciated 😫