Related
While the Covid-19 pandemic certainly extend to many delays in the movie industry , disruptive yield are nothing new , and truly hair-raising shoots stretch back to the former day of movie house .
When a picture has a destiny of problems on set , many observer ' first inherent aptitude is to foretell it will fall flat , but many of the best motion-picture show of all time had a rocky road getting to the screen . These film were plague with budget overruns , collide egos , and even deadly accidents , but still succeeded against all odds .
Jaws (1975)
Jawsmay have made Steven Spielberg a household name , and created the modernistic summer megahit , but its output wasenough to give the young director nightmare . Ironically for a celluloid based on a book , the production start without a finished hand , leaving writer Carl Gottlieb to turn in scenes the nighttime before they were due to be shot .
Many of the most severe problems come with shoot in opened pee , with the shark props frequently malfunctioning , and the gravy holder at one period sinking with the actors on board . All of this ship the movie behind schedule by more than 100 days and at more than double the original budget , meaning Paramount gushed a sigh of rest period when the movie was a lusus naturae hit .
Star Wars (1977)
George Lucas ' science - fantasy tale may have spawned a wildly successful franchise beloved by legions of fans , but there was a long lean ofthings that went wrong when filmingStar Wars , from the very beginning . From Tunisia ’s desert heat to actors not understand the material , Star Warswas a nightmare shoot that pass to Lucas appease out from directing for the sound part of two decades .
redaction was also a major headache , with the rough undercut being such a calamity that a new team of editor ( admit George ’s then - married woman , Marcia ) was convey to dramatically reconstitute much of the pic into something watchable . gratefully , Star Warsbecame the biggest hit of the ' 70s , but one can forgive Lucas for pass the reins of the next two films to other directors .
Ben-Hur (1959)
The bigger the movie , the more chance for problems , and William Wyler ’s spiritual epic , Ben - Hur , was not resistant to this rationale . This included budget overruns , urinate it the most expensive motion picture ever produced at the time at over $ 15 million , and the pace of filming was so wearisome thatmany of the cast and crew required vitamin injectionsjust to get through the day .
To make thing worse , producer Sam Zimbalist suddenly died during product , forcing Wyler to take over as de - facto co - manufacturer . It ’s a miracle that , despite the myriad obstaclesBen - Hurfaced in getting cease , it still has the grandeur that honest-to-goodness - shoal Hollywood heroic poem are known for .
Caddyshack (1980)
Proving that it ’s not just epic movies that have to deal with mountains of problems , Caddyshackis a clowning classic that was apparently no playfulness to work on . It ’s telling that , despite the movie being a commercial success and only getting more love as time has blend on , director Harold Ramis always regard it poorly .
A hurricane rolling in on the set was bad enough , but much of the trouble came from the cast , with Chevy Chase and Ted Knight , in picky , having a hard time take along with anyone . It was a pleasant surprisal to everyone involved that Chase and Bill Murray , infamously at odds onSNL , were professional enough to make their setting work .
The Blues Brothers (1980)
At $ 27.5 million , The Blues Brotherswas one of the most expensive drollery of its prison term , andknowing about its many problems might alter the way one watches it . Dan Aykroyd proved his rawness as a screenwriter when he turned in a 300 - plus page first draft , and John Belushi ’s drug role was allegedly so bad that he oft showed up to adjust deep after a night - farseeing orgy .
Universal Pictures was also worried about the rocket budget and go for to save money by replacing the movie ’s Black R&B and someone artists with younger , hipper acts . luckily , managing director John Landis fight back for them to remain , and the euphony is one of the reasonsThe Blues Brothersis often reckon asone of the bestSNL - related films .
Titanic (1997)
By the prison term James Cameron set out to his seafaring amatory drama , he ’d been well present with hellish shoots , butTitanicisarguably the one whereeverything go wrong in the spoilt ways . Cameron ’s allegedly controlling behavior was at some of its uncollectible , leading to him restrain the cast in cold water for 60 minutes and verbally maltreat crew members for the smallest misapprehension .
Also , asJawsshowed the film industry , film coif at sea tend to be incredibly expensive , and certainly enough , Cameron ’s punctilious attention to detail apace institutionalise the motion-picture show over budget . It ’s a well matter the movie was the highest - grossing of its time because its $ 200 million budget also made it the most expensive .
The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)
As a purveyor of lush , grand historical heroic poem , David Lean was frequently at the helm of troubled productions , withThe Bridge On the River Kwaisetting the trend . Lean was often at odds with the actors , in particular Alec Guinness , with the two man being completely at odds on how Colonel Nicholson should be played .
The Bridge on the River Kwaialso had to deal with political troubles , such as film writer Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson go uncredited due to the Hollywood Blacklist , and the Suez Crisis meaning that all equipment that would normally have been enthral by water had to go by air . Luckily , the plastic film was a big hit , and the difficulty of the celluloid ’s production arguably adds to its grand scale .
The Wizard Of Oz (1939)
WhileThe Wizard of Ozis a dear movie that appeals to all ages , the output was anything but child friendly . Each solar day of shooting was long and grueling , with call prison term at 4 A.M. and often continue into the nighttime , and vernal Judy Garland , in exceptional , had to put up withabuse on theOzset that would not aviate today .
Other vulgar generator of tragedy were the war paint and particular effects , with Margaret Hamilton suffering burns while shoot the Wicked Witch of the West ’s exit from Munchkinland , and Bert Lahr ’s ( Cowardly Lion ) costume limit him to a liquid dieting . Years after , Jack Haley ( Tin Man ) surely verbalize for everyone affect when he said , " Like hell it was [ fun ] ! It was piece of work ! "
Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)
David Lean ’s observe - up toTheBridge on the River Kwai , Lawrence of Arabia , was even more larger-than-life in scurf , and with that descend even greater headaches . The production hopped from Jordan and Spain to Morocco , and unwellness and injury provoke the cast and crew wherever they went , to the compass point that starPeter O’Toole was allegedly nearly shoot down when he decrease off a camel .
In addition , Lean and crew had to manage with several atomic number 59 nightmare , such as screenwriter Robert Bolt being arrested during a protest shortly after he was employ , force manufacturer Sam Spiegel to bail him out . Before the movie ’s waiver , the real T.E. Lawrence ’s brother also tried to discredit the movie , which may have give to some initial electronegative reviews .
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Francis Ford Coppola ’s ' Nam masterpiece still sustain up today as an fantabulous movie , but not even the infamously unmanageable product ofThe Godfathercould prepare him forthe bother in stock on theApocalypse Nowshoot . From a typhoon destroying most of the set and the Filipino military recalling equipment to Martin Sheen hurt a centre attack that required his absence for a prospicient period , everything that could have gone wrong , did .
Apocalypse Now ’s trouble exact a toll on everyone involved , but none more so than Coppola himself , who turn a loss over 100 pounds and allegedly attempted self-destruction due to the stress of get the movie . For more selective information on this truly legendary shoot , watcher can check out the excellent documentaryHearts of iniquity , which show the process of the shoot that was just just less intense than the factual picture show .
NEXT:10 Movies With Notoriously Extreme Shooting Locations