A lot can happen to a movie between the time a script is written and a premiere is held, and in some cases, a whole lot of bad can happen. Over the years, Best Picture winners, some of the greatest horror movies of all time, and cult classics have experienced nightmarish productions, with some being far worse than anyone could have ever imagined.
Come with us as we go through the history of Hollywood and break down 32 movies with disastrous productions that have since become the stuff of legend. And while we will be avoiding spoilers, some details are not for the faint of heart.
Twilight Zone: The Movie (1982)
Arguably the most infamous disastrous production, Twilight Zone: The Movie is mostly remembered for the on-set deaths of Vic Morrow and child actors Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen, who were all killed in a freak accident involving a helicopter. Slate would later write extensively about the accident, what led to it, and how the segment’s director, John Landis, dealt with the ramifications.
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Though known as one of the best war movies ever made, Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 Vietnam War epic is more times than not remembered for being one of the most intense, grueling, and disastrous productions. An overweight and ill-prepared Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen’s heart attack, and several other issues have since been well-documented in documentaries like Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse.
The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)
The Island of Dr. Moreau is one of those movies that so many people wanted to work on, but it just wasn’t in the cards. The early dismissal of original director Richard Stanley (he was replaced by John Frankenheimer less than a week into shooting), Marlon Brando’s odd behavior, and Val Kilmer stepping in when Bruce Willis left shortly before production began all contributed to the madness on set.
Rust (Unreleased)
Who knows if the world will ever get to see Rust, as Joel Souza’s Western film has been wrapped up in all kinds of investigations, criminal trials, and litigation ever since a freak accident on set claimed the life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021. According to the Los Angeles Times, star Alec Baldwin was practicing a shooting scene when his gun fired a live round, killing Hutchins and injuring Souza. Production has been suspended ever since.
Fitzcarraldo (1982)
Werner Herzog’s 1982 epic Fitzcarraldo tells the story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald (Klaus Kinski) as he attempts to transport a steamship through rivers and over a steep hill to find his fame and fortune. Herzog, not one to take the easy way out, decided that he and his crew would drag an actual 320-ton ship up a hill, as seen in the must-watch Les Blank documentary, Burden of Dreams.
The Shining (1980)
In addition to having some great improvised movie moments, Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of The Shining also has a reputation for being a movie where the tyrannical director pushed and pushed and pushed his cast to their breaking point. Kubrick’s primary target, Shelley Duvall, had an especially hard time on set, according to The Mirror, and was left in poor health because of the intense and chaotic shoot.
Jaws (1975)
Steven Spielberg’s 1975 summer blockbuster, Jaws, had everything you’d want in a big movie: legendary acting performances, an all-time great John Williams score, and one of the scariest monsters captured on screen. As the director remembered in Spielberg: The First Ten Years (via Vanity Fair), a boat began to sink with the actors (and sound equipment) aboard, the shark didn’t work half the time, and the whole project went over budget. Still, it’s one of the greatest of all time.
Back To The Future (1984)
Back to the Future is remembered today as one of the best ‘80s movies and an iconic sci-fi flick that helped turn Michael J. Fox into the biggest actor on the planet. But before the Family Ties star came into the picture and brought Marty McFly to life, Eric Stoltz was famously cast and then fired weeks into the production. Though all of the McFly scenes were reshot, there’s still a single shot of Stoltz in the final cut.
The Revenant (2015)
The Revenant, which earned Leonardo DiCaprio his first Oscar, experienced one of the most grueling and difficult productions in recent memory. Director Alejandro G. Inarritu insisted on shooting the film in order, which caused a myriad of issues along the way, including going over budget by the tune of $7 million, subjecting the cast and crew to extreme weather conditions, and having to move everything to a different continent to find cold enough weather.
The Wizard Of Oz (1939)
The Wizard of Oz is a movie that should get its own biographical drama series because so much drama happened on the set of the landmark 1939 film. From the production using asbestos to make fake snow to the alleged abuse and harassment on set to recastings and new directors, a lot went wrong in the process of making one of the most influential films of all time.
Star Wars (1977)
Star Wars (later retitled Episode IV – A New Hope) launched one of the biggest franchises of all time back in May 1977, but it wasn’t all peas and carrots on the set of the game-changing sci-fi epic. George Lucas and company battled all kinds of issues during the disastrous production including shooting in the deserts of Tunisia and Death Valley, budget problems, and droids that just wouldn’t work led to a series of headaches for all involved parties.
Cleopatra (1963)
Described by the A.V. Club as both an unmitigated disaster and runaway smash hit, Cleopatra is one of the most well-known movies of all time. Production of the epic starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton was stalled by unexploded World War II landmines, medical emergencies, and a ballooning budget.
Waterworld (1995)
A bad movie with a great plot, Kevin Costner’s Waterworld has a reputation for being one of the worst and most expensive box office failures of the ‘90s. According to Yahoo! Entertainment, Costner’s choice to ignore Steven Spielberg’s advice about shooting on open water was largely to blame for the movie’s massive budget and a plethora of issues experienced by the cast and crew on the set.
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
On top of being a wildly inaccurate biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody is also a film that was marred by on-set issues. A lot of the issues were connected to original director Bryan Singer, who was fired partway through production after numerous run-ins with the cast and outbursts on set. But the problems didn’t stop there, as the screenwriter later sued the film’s producers.
Titanic (1997)
James Cameron’s Titanic is one of the biggest movies of all time, as well as one that experienced one of the strangest incidents during production. As later covered by outlets like Variety, someone spiked the cast and crew’s clam chowder with PCP, which resulted in dozens of people flooding a local hospital suffering from all kinds of psychedelic and physical effects.
Blade Runner (1982)
Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner is a top-tier sci-fi classic, but the director’s techno-noir film wasn’t without its fair share of incidents. From rewrites to missing deadlines to an insistence on adding narration by Harrison Ford, there was a lot that went wrong before the movie hit the big screen.
Heaven's Gate (1980)
Heaven’s Gate, the 1980 Michael Cimino movie and not the cult from the ‘90s, is often regarded as one of the worst and most disastrous movies of all time. Released a few years after Cimino’s iconic The Deer Hunter, the Western epic ended up coming in $30+ million over budget, many days late, and according to IndieWire, was so bad United Artists decided to shelve the film not long into its run.
The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)
The Bridge on the River Kwai, Davide Lean’s 1957 war epic is often regarded as one of the best World War II films, but it too, had its share of production issues. Among them were problems director David Lean had with the British actors and the botched filming of the iconic bridge explosion caused by a cameraman not getting out of the way in time.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Regarded as one of the best action movies of all time, Mad Max: Fury Road took the genre to new heights with its story about Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) and Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron). However, as reported by Vanity Fair, the two stars hated one another, which made things difficult on set.
Tombstone (1993)
One of the best Westerns ever made, Tombstone is one of those movies you just have to watch whenever it's on TV. But we’re lucky the movie was even made, as its production was the stuff of nightmares (at least for Hollywood). Kevin Jarre, the screenwriter and original director, was fired early in production and there have long been rumors that star Kurt Russell was his replacement, not George P. Cosmatos, who’s credited as the director.
The Crow (1994)
The Crow, which would go on to become one of the biggest cult classics of the ‘90s, will forever be known as the movie in which star Brandon Lee was tragically shot and killed during production.
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
Terry Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, was long believed to be a movie that would never see the light of day. Over the course of nearly 30 years, multiple attempts, and countless casting replacements, Gilliam finally released the movie in 2018
Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
One of the most shocking movies of all time, Cannibal Holocaust has become a rite of passage in some circles due to its gratuitous violence and pure depravity. The found footage horror film, which features the decapitations of animals among other things, ended up getting its director, Ruggero Deodato, sent to court after people thought it was a real documentary.
Sorcerer (1977)
Riding high on the success of The French Connection and The Exorcist, William Friedkin took on one of his most ambitious projects: Sorcerer. The box office dud is mostly remembered all these years later for being the movie that sent at least 50 crew members to the hospital with ailments like gangrene and malaria, per Collider.
The Abyss (1989)
Though not the best James Cameron movie, The Abyss is still a great addition to the sci-fi genre and a wonderful alien movie. But know what wasn’t great? The film’s production. Cameron pushed things way too far for the cast, crew, and himself to the dangerous limits throughout the shoot, and, according to SyFy, he almost died on set.
Deliverance (1972)
Few movies capture a sense of dread and danger better than Deliverance, and it sounds like what happened behind the scenes was just as terrifying as anything featured in the 1972 thriller. Between Jon Voight almost dying performing a stunt, fistfights on set, and run-ins with the locals, a lot went wrong.
Alien 3 (1992)
David Fincher is one of the best directors in Hollywood, but the man behind Seven, Fight Club, and The Social Network had a bad start in the business thanks to the disastrous Alien 3. Fincher has been vocal about the production woes in the past, which could be attributed to a revolving door of creatives and a studio not knowing what it wanted.
World War Z (2013)
Have you ever watched World War Z and wondered why the final act of the 2013 Brad Pitt zombie movie feels like it has nothing in common with everything that led to that point? Well, that’s because the final third of the movie was completely rewritten and reshot.
Roar (1981)
Watch the Roar trailer and it shouldn’t take long to figure out why this 1981 cult classic is on the list. During the production of this wild creature feature, 70 crew members were injured by real-life lions, with some getting gangrene and puncture wounds.
American History X (1998)
It wasn’t so much the production of American History X that was the disaster as it was the post-production work. According to The Independent, director Tony Kaye, who was upset with New Line Cinema for making him recut and lengthen the film, ended up punching a wall and breaking his hand during the editing before going on a crusade to bad-mouth his film and having his name removed from the credits.
Tootsie (1982)
Going off an excerpt from David McGiffert’s The Best Seat in the House (via The Wrap), it sounds like Dustin Hoffman was just as difficult to work with as his character in Tootsie. In his book, the assistant director goes into great detail about the confrontations between Hoffman and director Sydney Pollack, which really adds to their characters’ scenes together.
Suicide Squad (2016)
Before all the Justice League brouhaha in the years that followed, the DCEU gave the world Suicide Squad, a movie pieced together by so many different parties it’s unnecessarily complex and hard to follow. Years later, director David Ayer still gets crap for the movie.
Some of these movies are cinematic masterpieces, while others have been largely forgotten to the sands of time. However, they all have something in common: they all had disastrous productions.
