While atroubled movie productionoften signals that the final product will be less than stellar, some releases have managed to overcome this reputation and have come out as genuinely compelling releases. It seems overcoming great challenges can work in a film’s favor, and directors who have persevered through difficult shoots have come out the other end with a movie that stands the test of time. This was the case for some ofthe greatest directors of all time, whose ambition and perfectionism meant actors didn’t always have the easiest time on set.
Some ofthe best movies of all timehave had haphazard, over-budget, andmajor setbacks plagued the productionand come out the other side as agenuine timeless classic. This was a testament to the commitment of actors, directors, and writers who all pulled together even when times were tough to ensure the end result was something they could be proud of. It’s not easy to work under stressful conditions, but all these films proved that just because the production process was bad, that doesn’t mean the movie has to be.
10Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Directed by Gareth Edwards
TheStar Warsfranchise has had a long history of troubled productions, and nothing ever seems to be straightforward when it comes to this galaxy far, far away. While the original film suffered from rewrites, delays, and budget overruns, even the more recent movies in the Disney era have had their fair share of bad luck, setbacks, and complications. The anthology filmRogue One, in particular, had several production issues that led screenwriter Tony Gilroy (viaEW) to say the movie was in “terrible, terrible trouble” at one point.
A History Of Troubled Star Wars Productions
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story stirred up controversy due to its highly-publicized reshoots. But troubled productions are nothing new for the franchise.
Many felt concerned forRogue Onewhen several weeks of reshoots were announced after the initial filming had already wrapped, and Gilroy then even acted as a second-unit director under Gareth Edwards. Gilroy described the situation as “a mess” and “such a swamp,” although the final result was one of the very bestStar Warsmovies out there. By getting away from the mythos of the Skywalkers and focusing on the sacrifice of a band of rebels stealing plans of the Death Star,Rogue Oneexpanded upon an often discussed but never depicted on-screen side ofStar Warslore.
9Tombstone (1993)
Directed by George P. Cosmatos
The modern Western classicTombstonewas almost a total disasteras it was plagued by production issues. As one of the best depictions of Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) and Doc Holliday ever committed to screen,Tombstonewas a loose retelling of the historical gunfight at the O.K. Corral. With a story of friendship at the center of its narrative,Tombstonehad a sleek sense of style that means it has not lost any of its appeal in the more than three decades since it was released.
WhileTombstoneoriginally started production with its writer Kevin Jarre directing, the first-time filmmaker was in over his head, and after a month, he was fired and replaced with George P. Cosmatos. Even the stars have since spoken about how chaotic the shoot was, with Russell revealing in an interview withGQthat problems were “a constant on Tombstone.” While Cosmatos may have been brought on to solve some of these problems, he also rubbed plenty of people the wrong way. Whileit’s a miracleTombstoneeven got made, Western fans can count themselves lucky for this classic film.
8Fitzcarraldo (1982)
Directed by Werner Herzog
The production history ofFitzcarraldowas so wild it served as the basis for the documentaryBurden of Dreams, a film just as enthralling as the actual movie. As a highly ambitious epic adventure about an Irishman determined to transport a steamship over the Andes mountains to access a rubber territory in the Amazon, one major issue with this film stemmed from directorWerner Herzog actually attempting to get the crew to manually haul the 320-ton steamship up a steep hill. Add to this the wild antics of its star Klaus Kinski, and the result is a truly chaotic film set.
Fitzcarraldowas one of the most difficult productions in movie history, as Herzog’s determination to genuinely transport the ship led to several injuries among crew members. Kinski’s erratic behavior also meant he was consistently fighting with Herzog and the rest of the crew. While the results were an astounding movie,Fitzcarraldohas dark undertones, as several indigenous extras hired for the movie died, with plane crashes and snake bites leading to fatalities and amputations.
7Heaven’s Gate (1980)
Directed by Michael Cimino
WhileHeaven’s Gatewas initially deemed a total failure and gained a reputation as one of the worst movies ever made, after being re-edited, the film has since been reappraised as a genuine masterpiece. This harsh reputation stemmed from the numerous setbacks that saw significant retakes, overruling costs, and bad press related to Michael Cimino’s directing style. As a filmmaker who proved himself a major new voice in Hollywood withThe Deer Huntertwo years earlier,Heaven’s Gatewas envisioned as an epic Western and Cimino’s magnum opus.
Notorious legends aroundHeaven’s Gateclaim that by the sixth day of production, the film was already five days behind (viaThe Times), and Cimino eventually went four times over budget, with the movie bombing at the box office. With an obsessive need for perfection,Cimino pushed things so far thatHeaven’s Gateis often referenced as the end of the New Hollywood eraand the point where studios decided to shift their focus from director-driven films toward crowd-pleasing blockbusters.
6Poltergeist (1982)
Directed by Tobe Hooper
WhilePoltergeisthas been recognized as a classic of 1980s horror, its unnerving production history adds to its notorious reputation. In total, four people related to the production died either during or shortly after, two of whom were under mysterious and puzzling circumstances. Dominique Dunne, who played the original older sister, Dana Freeling, was the first to meet an untimely end when she was murdered by her partner (viaBiography). The secondPoltergeistfatality was six-year-old Heather O’Rourke, who played the blonde daughter Carol Anne and suffered from cardiac arrest after wrongly being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.
Cast member deaths weren’t the only unusual happenings associated withPoltergeist,as JoBeth Williams said that producer Steven Spielberg insisted on using actual skeletons as props to save money, although this has never been verified. As if all this wasn’t enough, a genuine exorcism also reportedly occurred after the shooting had wrapped one night. Taken all together,Poltergeistappears like a truly haunted production.
Directed by George Miller
The troubled production ofMad Max: Fury Roadgoes back decades, as George Miller first came up with the idea back in 1987, and it took him nearly 40 years to actually get it made. With continuous delays and issues related to September 11th, the Iraq War, and its planned star Mel Gibson’s litany of controversies, Miller eventually moved on to the more family-friendlyHappy Feetseries. Gibson had already starred as Max Rockatansky in threeMad Maxmovies, but when Miller finally returned to it in the 2010s, he felt no choice but to recast him with Tom Hardy.
With such a haphazard history, it was astounding thatMad Max: Fury Roadwas actually the best entry in the entire franchise, as Miller’s stylish direction and action-packed narrative added depth and intrigue to the series. However, that didn’t mean it was all smooth sailing once filming started, as co-star Charlize Theron felt “scared sh**less” on set (viaVanity Fair), she clashed with Hardy, and a lack of clarity made the film’s production difficult. While Theron’s character got a prequel spin-off story withFuriosa: A Mad Max Saga, it’s not surprising the actress didn’t return.
4Jaws (1975)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
The scariest thing about the great white shark in Steven Spielberg’s all-time classicJawswas that it was a mostly unseen figure. The most frightening thing will always be what viewers can picture in their imagination, and this made the way that sight of the shark was limited to very infrequent appearances a major reason the movie was such an overwhelming box office success. However, this was actually due toJaws’troubled production history, as the only reason the shark’s appearance was so limited was because the crew couldn’t get the mechanical shark to work properly.
Jaws: How A Malfunctioning Shark Created A Classic Horror Movie Technique
Jaws is famously known for hiding its terror underwater, but this highly influential filmmaking choice was because the shark wouldn’t work right.
This was just one in a long list of problems that plaguedJaws’production, as actor Richard Dreyfuss aptly summed it up with the statement, “We started the film without a script, without a cast and without a shark.” (viaBBC.) As the first major motion picture to be shot in the ocean,Jawstook plenty of risks and went massively over budgetas its costs ballooned from $4 million to $9 million. The results were, of course, a huge success and the breakthrough film of Spielberg, perhaps the defining American filmmaker of the 20th century.
3Titanic (1997)
Directed by James Cameron
James Cameron quickly earned forgiveness for the haphazard production ofTitanicwhen it became the highest-grossing movie of all time until it was finally surpassed by the director’s next film,Avatar. Whilethe financial success ofTitanichas overwhelmed the conversation around its legacy, the truth was the movie went over budget, the filming schedule went on longer than expected, and much of the crew came down with colds, flu, or kidney infections after spending hours in cold water, including Kate Winslet (viaIndependent.)
There were plenty of crazy stories from the set ofTitanic, such as the infamous incident when somebody spiked the seafood chowder with PCP, causing practically the entire crew to feel the effects of the drug, with many going to the hospital. From broken bones to a ballooning budget, the $200 million production became the most expensive movie ever made at the time. Despite all of this,Titanicwas an indisputable success that solidified Cameron’s status as a master of box-office hits.
2The Shining (1980)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Few filmmakers have more of a reputation for demanding perfection than Stanley Kubrick, whose 1980 adaptation of Stephen King’sThe Shiningstands as one of the greatest horror movies ever made. While the story ofThe Shiningtold of a recovering alcoholic and aspiring novelist (Jack Nicholson) spiraling into madness at the potentially supernatural Overlook Hotel, the truth was one co-star suffered genuine trauma on set. This was because Kubrick was notoriously hard on Shelley Duvall, and he pushed her to her absolute limit in her portrayal of Jack Torrance’s long-suffering wife, Wendy.
Duvall’s performance was a vital aspect of the success ofThe Shining, but it was also a troubling one, considering the fear and terror she exhibited was coming from genuine fright and exhaustion (viaFar Out.) From being forced to cry for 12 hours a day for months on end to filming a scene 127 times before Kubrick was happy, Duvall described her time in the movie as “almost unbearable.” As one of the most underappreciated actresses of the 20th century, Duvall deserves praise for giving such an astounding performance in the face of such torment.
1Apocalypse Now (1979)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
It’s incredible to think that after makingThe GodfatherandThe Godfather Part II, director Francis Ford Coppola would put it all on the line for the even more ambitious and wildly chaoticApocalypse Now. The near-deadly true story of this film set was almost too wild to believe asCoppola sought to adapt Joseph Conrad’s classic novelHeart of Darknessinto a Vietnam War movie. With a massive 238-day shoot characterized by catastrophic typhoons, the production was so intense it caused its star, Martin Sheen, to have a heart attack (viaCollider.)
With a skyrocketing budget, Coppola’s desire for digital technology that did not yet exist, and complex constructed sets in the Philippines jungle,Apocalypse Nowpushed 1970s filmmaking to its absolute limit. Add to this the volatile personalities of co-stars like Dennis Hopper and Marlon Brando, and the result is a hotbed of pure carnage. With over 1,000,000 feet of film used, the result was one of the greatest war movies of all time and another masterpiece from Coppola.
