He also worked with Danny DeVito on Throw Momma from the Train (1987) and Rob Reiner on When Harry Met Sally... (1989) and Misery (1990).

Sonnenfeld gained his first work as a director from Paramount Pictures on The Addams Family, a box-office success released in November 1991.

Its sequel, Addams Family Values (1993), was not as successful at the box office, but he received critical acclaim for his fourth directorial outing, Get Shorty (1995).

[7] Following Tim Burton and the Coen brothers, Sonnenfeld's films would tell stories about unusual and unorthodox people who are into the unexpected and the strange.

He also directed the comedy Big Trouble (2002), after which he made his most successful film sequel to that point, Men in Black II (2002).

He also co-produced (alongside his partner Barry Josephson) the 2007 film Enchanted for Walt Disney Pictures that starred Amy Adams.

Sonnenfeld returned for Men in Black 3;[8] released in 2012, the third installment received positive reviews and became the highest-grossing film in the series worldwide.

[19] Barry is also in talks with Warner Bros. to make a live action film adaptation of the DC Comics characters, The Metal Men.