They Used To Be Indie Guys Too

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The just-wrapped Sundance Film Festival will be coming soon to a cineplex near you. Among the independent films that got big distribution deals: Garden State (a comedy, set in New Jersey), Napoleon Dynamite (ditto, set in Idaho) and Open Water (a couple pursued by sharks). Hollywood will be paying close attention. A surprising number of directors have gone from quirky little Sundance successes to big-budget Hollywood blockbusters.

Robert Rodriguez
SUNDANCE FAVE
EL MARIACHI No-budget South of the Border crime thriller was a hot film at the '92 festival

HOLLYWOOD HIT
SPY KIDS Now he's the king of his own blockbuster franchise; 3D earned $111 million

Mark S. Waters
SUNDANCE FAVE
HOUSE OF YES Loopy family comedy won a special jury award for star Parker Posey in '97

HOLLYWOOD HIT
FREAKY FRIDAY The loopiness was more generic in this remake of the 1977 Disney hit

Bryan Singer
SUNDANCE FAVE
PUBLIC ACCESS Cable-access TV show exposes small-town skeletons in his '93 award winner

HOLLYWOOD HIT
X-MEN Now he's exposing Hugh Jackman's fingernails in the cartoon-superhero movies

Christopher Nolan
SUNDANCE FAVE
MEMENTO His backward-running thriller startled audiences at the 2000 festival

HOLLYWOOD HIT
BATMAN: INTIMIDATION Moving forward in time, he has been tapped for the Caped One's comeback

David O. Russell
SUNDANCE FAVE
SPANKING THE MONKEY Edgy, star-free incest drama won an audience award at the '94 fest

HOLLYWOOD HIT
I [love] HUCKABEE'S His upcoming comedy stars Jude Law, Naomi Watts and Dustin Hoffman