They shouldn't have given a first-time director over $200 million

Simon Kinberg is actually Oscar-nominated as Producer for The Martian. And he has a lot of good work as producer (Logan, Deadpool 1 & 1, Star Wars Rebels, X-Men First Class)

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1334526/#producer

But he should've taken the Jordan Peele route and started small. Practice and get the hang of things. Even if the smaller movie fails, you've failed small and can bounce back and make another. For those that don't know, Jordan Peele was offered big budget comic book movies left and right, but turned it down, thinking a smaller horror film would be better for him to practice learning the ropes.

Simon Kinberg will likely have trouble in the future getting a big directing gig again with the way Dark Phoenix is likely to bomb with a budget reported to be over $200 million. To be fair, it was likely much lower but the constant delays and reshoots made it balloon fast.

I'm trying to think of an example of a first-time director with a massive budget making a commercial smash hit. Can anyone think of one? Do we have to go as far back as Kevin Costner and Dances with Wolves? The point is, though, is that it's extremely rare and not worth the risk to the studio.