George Lucas worked long and hard to convince 20th Century Fox to finance Star Wars — an epic space fantasy focused on an intergalactic battle between good and evil. Up until its release, however, many considered the movie a disaster in the making.

Star Wars went from being two weeks behind schedule and millions of dollars over-budget to a completely re-edited film with cleverly hidden lo-fi effects. Production was completed in a rush to prevent studio execs from shutting down the project; Lucas split his crew into three units to meet the studio’s deadline.

Post-production, however, proved to be just as demanding. The first cut of the film was a disaster, and re-shooting became impossible after star Mark Hamill was involved in a serious car accident that disfigured his face. Lucas enlisted Paul Hirsch and Richard Chew to re-edit the film, and showed the ILM technicians dogfight footage from old war films as an example of the action sequences he wanted. He and sound designer Ben Burtt used a combination of little-known voice actors — including an up-and-comer named James Earl Jones — and low-tech equipment to flesh out the colorful characters he imagined in a galaxy far, far away.

The rest is history. Star Wars was an instant success with audiences and shattered previous sales records – garnering more than $797,900,000 to date.

It is hard to imagine that the biggest box-office draw in film history, director James Cameron’s Titanic, was almost left unfinished. Begun in September of 1995, production on the film would take two years and $200 million to complete.

The original $135 million budget was the first problem: It wasn’t easy to reconstruct a 46,328 ton ship. The entire set was mounted on hydraulic jacks so it could be tilted up to 6° intact within the tank. Most of the furnishings and décor were replicas from, or under the supervision of, the original companies used for the Titanic. In an effort to conserve costs, the number of some repeated components (such as windows) was reduced, and other parts were built at 90% scale.

When the studio became concerned about the movie running over budget, Cameron forfeited his $8 million director's salary and his percentage of the gross. The director still ended up asking Paramount Pictures to contribute an additional $65 million for going two months over schedule. Paramount agreed, but only in exchange for US distribution rights. The release was then rescheduled some six months.

Nevertheless, on December 19, 1997, the most expensive movie of the 20th century was released. At $200 million, the movie cost more than the Titanic itself. Far surpassing its astronomical budget, Titanic was #1 at US box offices for a record fifteen consecutive weeks, grossing more than $1 billion worldwide.

Unbeknownst to many, the 1979 Academy Award winner for Best Picture was a film that almost didn't make the cut.  Apocalypse Now, ranked 28th on the American Film Institute's list of the Greatest American Movies, had a legendarily troubled production period.

Based on Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness, Apocalypse Now was handed to director Francis Ford Coppola after the original director, George Lucas, bowed out. Coppola ended up financing the completion of the film from his own pocket — including Marlon Brando's then-insane asking price of $1 million.

Personal conflicts and inner demons — most famously embodied by Martin Sheen's alcoholism-induced heart attack — almost forced production to shut down, on more than one occasion. In total, seventeen months of filming, over three years of editing, and nine months of sound work were required to produce a "complete" version of the film.

It’s no surprise that Werner Herzog’s epic film about pulling a riverboat over a mountain was a challenge to complete — but its feat of engineering would be the least of Herzog’s worries. After the original star of Fitzcarraldo became seriously ill midway through the shoot, Herzog reluctantly turned to the cantankerous Klaus Kinski as a replacement. The film had to be re-shot from the beginning and, after delays caused original co-star Mick Jagger to leave the set, also re-written.

Bringing Kinski into the film caused near daily rages for the crew to deal with; meanwhile, a war was breaking out between Ecuador and Peru, where much of the shoot was taking place. With all the uncertainty on the set, the crew fought against two constants: the local weather, which proved injurious to the film's cinematographer and fatal to a member of the crew, and the jungle itself, which presented daily perils. Though Fitzcarraldo never achieved widespread success, it is considered to be one of Herzog's best films.

Raintree County seems like it should have been an easy feature for a veteran director and cast, given an almost unlimited budget and top billing by the studio. The "perfect production" abruptly ended when, midway through the shoot, star Montgomery Clift suffered a near-fatal car accident. Production stalled as the studio waited word on Clift's recovery. Though he returned to the set nine weeks later, a part of Clift's face was permanently paralyzed. Noticeable scars remained, despite extensive reconstructive surgery. The feature was still completed, and although the injury is apparent throughout, the film retains its strength. Raintree County went on to be successful both critically and at the box office.

• Fashionable Film
  GO >
• Tricks of the Trade
  GO >
• Breakaway Films
  GO >