The
Director's Guild has very strict rules about film directors using the pseudonymn "Alan Smithee." If a director suddenly has an
epiphany and realizes that his film really does
suck more nuts than a squirrel with wet-dry vac and it's all his fault,
tough luck; he still has to put his name on it. If, however, in
post-production the editors/producers/studio execs royally screw up the movie or change it from the way the director wants it (see what almost happened to
Terry Gilliam's
Brazil, for example), then the director has the right to disown the film and have the director credited as "Alan Smithee." Only a few films have been approved as Alan Smithee films by the Guild.
After
An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn, the Director's Guild is no longer permitting use of the pseudonym as it has become too well-known. According to
IMDb,
Supernova is the first such post-Smithee film; I wouldn't want my name in the credits of
Supernova either.