Anne Fletcher is one of the most successful female directors in Hollywood. She has directed hits such as 27 Dresses, Step Up, and The Proposal. The Proposal is probably her most famous movie (who can forget Betty White chanting in the woods and Sandra Bullock dancing to it). But she's much more than a famous Hollywood director.
She has been a part of the entertainment industry for years, but before she started directing movies, she choreographed and danced in them. She began dancing for the big screen in the late 90's. With a lot of hard work and a little help from friends in the industry, she worked her way up to where she is now. Let's take a look at all of the movies Anne has directed and what to expect from her new movie, Hocus Pocus 2.
7 Anne Fletcher Started Out As A Dancer
Anne grew up in Detroit, Michigan and started her career as a dancer. When she was a 12-year-old, she took her first dance class at Turning Pointe School of the Performing Arts and has been dancing ever since. According to StarQuest Dance, “By the age of fifteen, she was already dancing professionally. Proving herself a hard worker, she graduated from Lake Shore High School with honors in 1984. Soon after graduation, she took her talents to Los Angeles where she continued to pursue her life as a professional dancer, both on screen and on court as a Laker Girl.”
6 ‘Step Up’ Was The First Film Anne Fletcher Ever Directed
It makes sense that Anne’s directorial debut would be a dance movie. According to IMDb, Step Up is about “Tyler Gage [who] receives the opportunity of a lifetime after vandalizing a performing arts school, gaining him the chance to earn a scholarship and dance with an up and coming dancer, Nora.” Her friend, Adam Shankman, (who is also a choreographer and director) heard about the movie and asked her to direct it. She fell in love with directing after that and has directed a couple popular movies that fans still watch today.
5 Anne Fletcher Directed ‘27 Dresses’ And ‘The Proposal’
27 Dresses and The Proposal are two of the most popular rom-coms of the 21st century. Even though they were made more than a decade ago, they are still playing on TV all the time, especially The Proposal. It has an all-star cast including Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson, and Betty White. But what made the movie so funny and awesome is Anne’s directing. She has shown that she has a talent for making people laugh and she went on to direct three other comedies since then.
4 Anne Fletcher Has Directed Three Other Comedies Since Then
Since The Proposal came out in 2009, Anne directed three other comedy movies. She directed The Guilt Trip, Hot Pursuit, and Dumplin’. While The Guilt Trip and Hot Pursuit weren’t that successful, Dumplin’ ended up receiving great reviews. According to IMDb, the movie is about a “plus-size teenage daughter of a former beauty queen [who] signs up for her mom's Miss Teen Bluebonnet pageant as a protest that escalates when other contestants follow her footsteps, revolutionizing the pageant and their small Texas town.” Fans love how honest and inspiring it is.
3 Anne Fletcher Choreographed Tons Of Other Films
Before Anne became a director, she was a choreographer for a lot of feature films, including award-winning ones. She was the choreographer for Bring It On, The Wedding Planner, Catwoman, The Pacifier, Ice Princess, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Hairspray, and many others. She has danced in a lot of films as well, including The Mask, Casper, George of the Jungle, Scream 2, and even Titanic. She has proven that you can become anything no matter where you start—she struggled in her early years as a dancer, but now she’s directing movies on the big screen.
2 Anne Fletcher Has Also Directed A Few TV Show Episodes
Since Anne directed the Netflix hit, Dumplin’, in 2018, she has directed a few TV show episodes. She has directed episodes for Step Up: High Water, AJ and the Queen, Love, Victor, This Is Us, and Varsity Blues. She only directed one episode for almost all of them, except for This Is Us. She directed four episodes for the drama show and was a part of the series from 2019 to 2021.
1 ‘Hocus Pocus 2’ Will Be Anne Fletcher's Seventh Feature Film
Adam Shankman was originally going to direct the sequel to the classic film, Hocus Pocus, but he asked his friend to take over for him. He’s currently directing Disenchanted, so he’s not able to direct Hocus Pocus 2 anymore and is trusting Anne to turn it into something amazing. Adam told The Hollywood Reporter, "As heartbroken as I am that I won't be able to direct my friends Bette, Sarah Jessica and Kathy in what is sure to be nothing short of a major event for Disney+ due to scheduling conflicts, I couldn't be more pleased to be handing over the reins to Anne [Fletcher], who has brought so much laughter and joy into people's lives with her previous work.” Hocus Pocus 2 is set to come out this fall, starring the original cast, and it supposedly has a similar plot to the original movie, but hopefully it lives up to the timeless classic.