Editing David Cronenberg (section)

=== 1981–1988: Breakthrough and acclaim ===
In 1981, Cronenberg directed the [[science-fiction]] [[horror film]] ''[[Scanners]]'' (1981). In it, "scanners" are [[psychic]]s with unusual [[telepathy|telepathic]] and [[psychokinesis|telekinetic]] powers. The film has since become a [[cult classic]]. He followed it with another science-fiction horror film ''[[Videodrome]]'' (1983) starring [[James Woods]]. The film was distributed by [[Universal Pictures]]. [[Janet Maslin]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' remarked on the film's "innovativeness", and praised Woods' performance as having a "sharply authentic edge".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D0CE6D9103BF937A35751C0A965948260|title='VIDEODROME,' LURID FANTASIES OF THE TUBE|author=Janet Maslin|date=February 4, 1983|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 11, 2018}}</ref> That same year he directed ''[[The Dead Zone (film)|The Dead Zone]]'' (1983), based on [[Stephen King]]'s [[The Dead Zone (novel)| novel of the same name]], starring [[Christopher Walken]].

Cronenberg directed ''[[The Fly (1986 film)|The Fly]]'' (1986), starring [[Jeff Goldblum]] and [[Geena Davis]]. The film is loosely based on [[George Langelaan]]'s 1957 [[The Fly (Langelaan)|short story of the same name]] and [[The Fly (1958 film)|the 1958 film of the same name]]. It was distributed by [[20th Century Fox]] and was a box office hit, making $60 million. Cronenberg has not generally worked within the world of big-budget, mainstream Hollywood filmmaking, although he has had occasional near misses. At one stage he was considered by [[George Lucas]] as a possible director for ''[[Return of the Jedi]]'' (1983) but turned down the offer. [[Peter Suschitzky]] was the director of photography for ''[[The Empire Strikes Back]]'' (1980), and Cronenberg remarked that Suschitzky's work in that film "was the only one of those movies that actually looked good",<ref>{{cite web |title=David Cronenberg Re-Examines David Cronenberg |publisher=Film Freak Central |url=http://www.filmfreakcentral.net/notes/dcronenbergretrointerview.htm |date=March 9, 2003 |access-date=March 9, 2003 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030401142610/http://filmfreakcentral.net/notes/dcronenbergretrointerview.htm |archive-date=April 1, 2003  }}</ref> which was a motivating factor to work with him on ''[[Dead Ringers (film)| Dead Ringers]]'' (1988).

Since ''Dead Ringers'', Cronenberg has worked with Suschitzky on each of his films (see [[List of film director and cinematographer collaborations]]). Cronenberg has collaborated with composer [[Howard Shore]] on all of his films since ''The Brood'' (1979), (see [[List of film director and composer collaborations]]) with the exception of ''The Dead Zone'' (1983), which was scored by [[Michael Kamen]]. Other regular collaborators include actor [[Robert A. Silverman]], [[art director]] [[Carol Spier]] (also his sister) [[Sound editor (filmmaking)|sound editor]] Bryan Day, film editor Ronald Sanders, his sister, [[costume designer]] [[Denise Cronenberg]], and, from 1979 until 1988, [[cinematographer]] Mark Irwin. In 2008, Cronenberg directed Shore's first opera, ''[[The Fly (opera)|The Fly]]''.