When Women’s History Month rolls around, I become even more appreciative of the female creators in the entertainment industry whom I admire the most. One of my top favorite female artists in Hollywood is Bryce Dallas Howard, whom most people know for her strong, scene-stealing performances in movies like 2011’s The Help or as the lead of one of the best Black Mirror episodes, “Nosedive.” However, in my opinion, there are not enough people who praise her as a director.
The actor has followed in the footsteps of her father, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard, numerous times before — mostly with television work, but also on some short films, a few music videos, and a feature-length documentary released exclusively with an Apple TV+ subscription called Dads. Her first dramatic feature-length effort — a remake of Disney’s 1986 sci-fi adventure classic Flight of the Navigator — is currently in the works, but I am already excited for what else she might contribute to cinema from behind the camera next. In fact, I have a few ideas listed below for what sort of genres and styles might be right up her alley, starting with her most recent blockbuster.
A Suspenseful Spy Flick
While Henry Cavill may star in the title role of this thriller, the Argylle cast is actually led by Bryce Dallas Howard as Elly Conway — the author who created the eponymous, suave secret agent and discovers that her hit book series is a bit more accurate to the state of espionage in the real world than she realized. Coming from director Matthew Vaughn of the Kingsman movies fame, the 2024 film is an intriguingly meta and extremely silly farce that proves Howard’s worth as an action star. Maybe she could one day prove her worth as an action director, too.
In addition to a few interesting twists on the genre, Argylle incorporates many of the most distinct and definitive elements from the likes of the James Bond franchise and other great spy movies from yesteryear. Thus, from her experience with said flick, Howard would likely have a great handle on how to put her own espionage thriller together, but my hope would not be to see her make her own Matthew Vaughn movie. I’d love to see her try her hand at something more earnest and grittier — perhaps even a 007 installment!
An Adventurous Creature Feature
It has been nearly a decade since Howard joined the Jurassic Park universe and, to this day, 2015’s Jurassic World remains her most commercially successful acting credit, with the follow-ups — Fallen Kingdom and Dominion — trailing right behind it, according to The Numbers. Having now starred in movies that see her outrunning prehistoric beasts (and, quite impressively, in heels) as Claire Dearing, I’d say it is time that she try directing a similar type of adventure story.
Now, I am not suggesting that she should helm the next installment of the Jurassic Park movies (a job already given to The Creator director Gareth Edwards), nor do I even want to see her make a dinosaur flick, necessarily. I am merely suggesting that her experience with those kinds of films would lead her to make a dynamite creature feature. Whether that means something scary, adventurous, or even more family friendly, like her Pete’s Dragon remake from 2016, is up to her.
A Touching Psychological Drama
Technically, the first movie that Howard directed was Call Me Crazy: A Five Film — an anthology of shorts directed by women that served as follow-up to 2011’s Five and first aired on Lifetime in 2013. Each of the five stories explores a different topic related to mental health and Howard’s segment, “Lucy,” stars Brittany Snow as a law student diagnosed with schizophrenia.
“Lucy” would turn out to be one of the more acclaimed segments from Call Me Crazy, with The Hollywood Reporter noting how well Howard captured the “pervasive and claustrophobic sadness of mental institutions.” For that reason, I would love it if she, one day, returned to the world of mental health and helmed a story with similar subject matter, but in a feature-length format this time. It might be best that she pick a topic other than schizophrenia this time, since her father already went down that road, too — and to Oscar-winning glory — with A Beautiful Mind.
A Sci-Fi Coming-Of-Age Romance
To some, a “sci-fi coming-of-age romance” story sounds almost too niche to be a suggestion for Bryce Dallas Howard’s directorial career. However, those confused souls might not realize that she has already mastered this genre combination before, and in the same year that Call Me Crazy: A Five Film premiered, with the video for M83’s “Claudia Lewis.”
The short — which Howard told EW was inspired by David Bowie in The Man Who Fell To Earth and John Hughes-era high school movies — stars Lily Collins as a young extra-terrestrial who falls for a human teen (Israel Broussard) during a visit to Earth. It is visually amusing and surprisingly moving, Romeo & Juliet-style spectacle that makes me almost desperate to see her revisit this unique combination of genres again someday. Hell, I would be down to see her tackle a feature-length adaptation of the “Claudia Lewis” video, which M83 could score!
Her Own Star Wars Movie
Of course, the kind of sci-fi flick that Howard has the better chance of directing in the future is her own installment to one of the most successful and widely celebrated franchises of all time: the Star Wars movies. It would not be her first visit to the galaxy far, far away, having helmed three classic episodes of Disney+’s The Mandalorian and one of the most acclaimed episodes of The Book of Boba Fett (which was, essentially, just another episode of The Mandalorian).
Ever since, fans have been eager for the chance to see Howard direct a feature-length installment of the iconic saga — an idea that Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has said she has considered. With other upcoming Star Wars movies on the horizon and, likely, more where those came from, I am sure it is only a matter of time before Howard joins the club inhabited by George Lucas, J.J. Abrams, and… her father (the director of Solo: A Star Wars Story).
Having worked with some of the most talented filmmakers in the business throughout her career — and, not to mention, growing up in the same house as a filmmaking legend — Bryce Dallas Howard has shown that she has what it takes to be one of Hollywood’s next great directors, regardless of gender.
