10 Hollywood films that nobody believed in, but they got crazy popularity

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Per aspera ad astra, or through thorns to the stars, said the ancient Roman philosopher Lucius Anneas Seneca the Younger. Maybe, of course, it was not he who said, but this saying is very actively attributed to him. The directors of the films, which will be discussed below, have felt the whole meaning of this expression, as they say, on their own skin. Ten films that have collected crazy box office receipts, which have become one of the most sold out on a variety of media … But nobody believed in them. Studios refused to shoot, and investors refused to invest.

When we watch a film, a talented director can help us take a truly immersive journey through space and time. Immerse us in a completely different world, another dimension. But it takes a lot of effort, sweat and tears. Hollywood is a giant money-making machine that has ruined more than one genius project. But we know for sure that not all great movies are necessarily profitable. Conversely, a garbage picture is not always a failure.

Since it is always interesting to have at least one eye look at how the megapopular films that we know and love were created, we will try to get behind the scenes. All these films, in which they did not believe, still saw the light, thanks to the incredible willpower of their creators, and sometimes thanks to a banal accident.

# 1. PSYCHO (1960)

The plot of the film "Psycho" was based on the 1959 novel of the same name. Alfred Hitchcock anonymously bought the rights to this book by Robert Bloch for only $ 9,000. The director then bought as many copies of the novel as he could to keep the ending a secret.

Paramount and the genius director had a contract that suggested that Hitchcock's next film would be filmed at that studio. But the management of the studio giant was against the filming of Psycho. They considered the book "too disgusting" and "impossible for a movie." Hitchcock's budget was denied. The studio even agreed to give Alfred most of the future box office, as executives were convinced the film would fail. The director sincerely believed in his project, invested his own funds in it. Due to financial savings, the film was shot in black and white. Most of the crew was from Hitchcock's crew who worked with him at Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

Today Psycho is one of Hitchcock's finest films. It is highly regarded by film critics and is a canon in its genre. One of the greatest films of all time.

# 2. STAR WARS (1977)

The three main studios, United Artists, Universal, Disney, passed on the Star Wars script to each other. None of them wanted to film this space saga. Fox eventually agreed to fund the film. Management hoped to get a promising young director (whose latest film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture) under their wing. The studio provided George Lucas with a budget of $ 8 million, and he flew to Tunisia to begin filming.

However, even the Star Wars actors were not convinced of the film's success. Harrison Ford's words, "George, you can of course print this, you don't have to tell this nonsense," largely characterize the attitude of the actors and crew members towards the film before its release. Another words spoken about Star Wars by Alec Guinness: “Every day they bring me a new dialogue on some pink pieces of paper - and nothing written makes my perception of this rubbish more clear or bearable. I just think about my salary and that alone makes me keep doing it until next April."

Before the release of the film, George Lucas showed a rough draft of the tape to his friends. One of them called it "the worst movie of all time." Lucas was firmly convinced of the failure of the film. In order not to observe his fiasco, he did not even go to the premiere. Instead, he went to rest.

# 3. TITANIC (1997)

The filming of Titanic was so intense that no one doubted that the film would be a complete failure. James Cameron, while working on the tape, earned himself a reputation as "the scariest man in Hollywood." Firstly, the filming took two whole months. Secondly, many of the cast members, including Kate Winslet, fell ill. Some have a cold, some have the flu or a kidney infection. All this is due to the long hours spent in cold water. Three stuntmen broke their bones. Some of the crew just fled. Kate Winslet recalls how she begged James Cameron to give her the role of Rose. After finishing work on Titanic, she's not sure if she ever wants to work with him again.

On the set, another simply egregious incident happened. Someone (it is still not known for certain who) poured a narcotic substance into the soup. People were just going crazy. 50 people were hospitalized with serious poisoning. Naturally, after such a difficult job, when James Cameron heard that the studio executives wanted to cut the film because it was "too long", he just lost his temper. "Do you want to cut my film? You have to fire me! You want to fire me? You have to kill me then!" - Cameron shouted so that the walls trembled.

They did not dare to fire Cameron. “Titanic” is the way the director wanted it to be. Maybe the tape is not a cinematic masterpiece, but the infinitely beautiful tragic love story set out in the film will not leave anyone indifferent.

# 4. BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985)

Back to the Future is a sci-fi comedy directed by Robert Zemeckis. The film became the highest grossing film in 1985. However, in 1981, Back to the Future was rejected more than 40 times by all film studios. When the script was proposed to Disney, its executives were shocked by "a mother in love with her own son" and said they would never invest in such a mess. Ultimately, Universal Pictures made the film. This happened after they witnessed the success of another film by Robert Zemeckis "Romance with a Stone".

# 5. TOY STORY (1995)

John Lasseter, now a retired Disney animator, got the idea for an all-computer cartoon. He suggested this to his bosses. However, the studio was not interested in the proposal. John left Disney and co-founded Pixar. The first computer animated short film Tin Toy he created won an Academy Award. This made Disney very bitterly regret their decision.

Disney commissioned Pixar to create another such film, but a full-length one. The script was approved and production began. Lasseter presented a progress report every two weeks. At each presentation, the leaders spread all the works to smithereens. As a result of numerous changes and rewritings, Woody was deprived of "almost all of his charm." Tom Hanks, who voiced the character, even called Woody a jerk, and work on the tape was stopped after a Disney executive said it was bullshit. John Lasseter managed to persuade the studio to give him another chance. We wrote a new script and resumed filming. The picture was enthusiastically received by both critics and spectators.

# 6. WIZARD FROM OZ COUNTRY (1939)

This timeless piece has gone through so much trouble that it seems like a miracle that it hit the screens. The film went through four different producers and three directors.

The film's first director, Richard Thorpe, was fired. It happened after Buddy Epsen got sick from the Tin Woodman make-up. The actor was replaced and directed by George Cukor. He later left the film to work on Gone With the Wind. After that, Victor Fleming took his place, but not for long. Rumor has it that Clark Gable found out that Cukor was gay. He was fired and returned to The Wizard of Oz.

Speaking of work nightmares, it's not just Buddy Epsen who has poisoned himself with his makeup. The Scarecrow costume left actor Ray Bolger with serious scars. Margaret Hamilton (Wicked Witch of the West) was badly burned. Judy Garland is addicted to drugs. For filming, the girl had to be small and thin. In order to make Judy one like that, she was given various drugs. To which she is addicted. Which was, ultimately, the cause of her death in 1969. She died of an overdose.

# 7 BLADE RUNNER (1982)

The filming of the film immediately began with problems. After working in the UK, Ridley found it very difficult to get used to other manufacturing methods in Los Angeles. Worse, the director's comments were given to a British newspaper - he was more interested in working with British actors, which he told the journalist. The director said that the British respond to every request with "Yes, boss" (Yes gov'nor). Ridley Scott probably didn't even realize the depth of the hurt he inflicted. Later, when he came to the set, he found that the entire film crew was wearing T-shirts with the words "Yes gov'nor my ass!" (this is an allusion to the phrase "kiss my ass", where instead of "kiss" they put "yes, boss"). Ridley responded by appearing some time later wearing a Xenophobia Sucks T-shirt.

In addition, the filming was very delayed. Scott was well over his original budget, and the script was rewritten many times by different people before, after, and during filming. The studio also disliked the original Blade Runner ending and forced the director to change it to a happy ending. The most famous conflict associated with Blade Runner was the voiceover. When Harrison Ford signed the contract, he asked for a few extra scenes to be filmed so that there was no voiceover. But before the film was released, the studio decided that a voiceover was needed to clarify the incomprehensible scenes and insisted that Ford do the voice acting.

Although at first the film did not cause stormy enthusiasm, but over time it was able to conquer the audience. It is considered one of the best science fiction films today.

# 8. CRIMINAL READING (1994)

“This is the worst thing ever written. It does not make sense. Someone is dead, and then suddenly alive. It's too long, cruel and incomprehensible. It all spoke of the cult classic of the genre, Pulp Fiction, when co-writers Roger Avary and Quentin Tarantino submitted the script to TriStar. The script was called, without hesitation, delusional. The studio executives hated this ragged storytelling style, but that's what ultimately made the film so memorable.

If not for the intervention of the infamous Harvey Weinstein and the help of his brother Bob from Miramax, Pulp Fiction would never have seen the light of day. Tarantino has been given complete freedom in everything he does. And they were not mistaken.

# 9. Dumb and Dumber (1994)

Not a single Hollywood studio wanted to take on the film. The script was wrapped up endlessly, no one wanted to be associated with that name. First, the Farrelly brothers' story was renamed so that studio executives would at least read it altogether.

New Line's Mike De Luca liked the script and agreed to film it. Bob Shane, the CEO, was not happy, but after much deliberation, he also gave his consent. It was only necessary to comply with one condition: directors must provide two leading actors from the list provided by the studio. All 25 actors from the studio's roster declined one by one.

Then one of the film's producers invited Jim Carrey, a promising rookie comedian, to read the script. Kerry loved the script, the filmmakers loved Kerry. The film was a huge success. Jim became the first actor to star in three of the most popular films of the year at the same time: Ace Ventura: Pet Tracking, The Mask, and Dumb and Dumber. The studio executives who ditched the film, one hundred percent, now feel exactly like the title of the film.

# 10. APOCALYPSE TODAY (1979)

Francis Ford Coppola, director of Apocalypse Now, once said of the film: “We were in the jungle. We had too much money. We had too much equipment. And little by little we went crazy."

There were many troubles that interfered with filming. The filming was incredibly delayed. The film crew suffered from various tropical diseases. Martin Sheen had a heart attack. Francis Ford Coppola had several nervous breakdowns during filming. Among other things, Martin Sheen was an alcoholic, he had mental problems, he was not at all sure that he could finish work on the film.

The legendary Marlon Brando, who was invited to appear, has never seen the script. Moreover, the gallant soldier was not supposed to be as fat as Marlon at the time. While Brando was losing weight, all the work stood. Chaos of all of the above was complemented by the fact that the helicopters were constantly taken away from the film crew. They were provided for filming by the government of the Philippines. The local dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, needed them for use in the fight against the rebels.

There was something else out of the ordinary on the set. One of the workers dug up graves and dragged real dead bodies to the shooting. When this was discovered, everyone was just beside themselves with shock and horror. I had to call the police. All passports were taken away for the duration of the investigation. Filming continued after the culprit was found and arrested.

In general, despite all the troubles and difficulties, the film became the most ambitious picture about the Vietnam War.

If you are interested in cinematography, read our article frankly ridiculous films in which cult actors starred.