He later went on to direct more mainstream Hollywood fare, such as Barfly (1987) starring Mickey Rourke, Single White Female (1992), and Reversal of Fortune (1990), for which Jeremy Irons as Claus von Bülow received an Academy Award.

Despite his many commercially successful films, Schroeder continues to be interested in making smaller films with a more limited audience, such as the adaptation of Colombian writer Fernando Vallejo's controversial novel La virgen de los sicarios (2000) or the 1974 documentary General Idi Amin Dada, about the titular Ugandan dictator and "Terror's advocate"[(2007)] about terrorism in the last 50 years seen trough the eyes of a lawyer,Jacques Verges, and it's clients.

Schroeder has also made some acting appearances, such as his cameo as the President of France in Mars Attacks! (1996).