They Used To Be Indie Guys Too

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.

--By Richard Zoglin and Desa Philadelphia

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