Having a keen interest in filmmaking, Patrick Hughes began making short films when he was quite young. Taking his passion to the next level, he soon joined a film school as well. After spending three years at the film school, Hughes made several high profile commercials and short films - The Director and The Lighter. However, his attempts to sell a western-action script went unsuccessful and so he decided to direct the movie himself with a low budget. Eventually, the movie went on to become Red Hill starring Ryan Kwanten, Tom E. Lewis, and Steve Bisley.

It was the movie Red Hill and several other commercials by Hughes that caught the attention of Sylvester Stallone, who offered him to directed the third part of the Expendables series, The Expendables 3 (2014). In 2017, Hughes directed the movie The Hitman`s Bodyguard starring Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman and Salma Hayek.