Ron Howard’s Bold Prediction About His Directing Prime Backfired
Ron Howard once claimed his best directing years would come after 50, but his most acclaimed and successful films arrived much earlier. His recent decade, however, has been widely seen as his weakest era behind the camera.
Trying to map out your own creative peak is a risky move for any filmmaker, but Ron Howard didn’t hesitate to call his shot. He confidently declared that his greatest work was still ahead of him, but reality had other plans. Howard’s journey behind the camera started early, with encouragement from his days as Opie Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show. Even as a teenager, he was told he had a director’s mindset, though he didn’t catch the directing bug until later. By the time he was cast as Richie Cunningham on Happy Days, acting was just a stepping stone—his real ambition was to direct. That dream became a reality at just 23, when Roger Corman handed him the director’s chair for 1977’s Grand Theft Auto.
By his early twenties, Howard had already starred in two hit TV series, worked with Hollywood legends like John Wayne and Henry Fonda, and directed his first feature. It was a meteoric rise, but for Howard, it was only the beginning of his story.
Facing Setbacks and Setting Expectations
In 1994, Howard reflected on his career and the unexpected backlash to Far and Away.
“We believed we had a $100 million movie,”
he recalled.
“We always scored high at test screenings. Then we got some bad reviews I wasn’t braced for. I think some critics thought, ‘Oh, this is Ron Howard thinking he’s David Lean.’ Far and Away, because I’d wanted to make it for so long, felt like a conclusion to the first phase of my career.”
Despite being a seasoned director by then, Howard admitted he hadn’t really pushed artistic boundaries.
“I don’t think I’ve pushed any boundaries yet as a director,”
he said.
“I may be a little braver in the future.”
Spoiler alert: that boldness never quite materialized.
Still, Howard was convinced his best work would come between ages 50 and 65. He’d just turned 40 when he made that claim, and his brother Clint didn’t let it slide.
“He looked at me and said, ‘That means you’re in store for a lot of shitty movies.’”
The Reality of Howard’s Peak Years
So, did Howard’s prediction come true? The years between March 2004 and March 2014—when he was between 50 and 65—brought some notable projects. Frost/Nixon earned him Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director, and he released films like Cinderella Man, two Da Vinci Code installments, The Dilemma (which he later regretted), and Rush. But this era didn’t deliver his most celebrated or successful work.
Ironically, the decade before—when Howard was 40 to 50—turned out to be his golden age. During those years, he directed Apollo 13, widely considered his best film, and delivered his four highest-grossing movies. Ransom, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and A Beautiful Mind all crossed the $300 million mark at the box office, with the latter earning him two Academy Awards. He also released underappreciated gems like The Paper, EdTV, and The Missing, making this stretch the true highlight of his directing career.
A Decade of Decline
Howard’s creative high point arrived much earlier than he expected. Over the past ten years, his output has been widely seen as his weakest, with none of his recent films matching the acclaim or box office success of his earlier hits. Despite his early confidence, the director’s best days were behind him long before he reached the age he once thought would define his legacy.