Here's A Roundup Of 17 Beloved Movies That Faced So Many Issues They Almost Didn't Make It To The Big Screen

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02-05-2025

Making a movie sounds like a glamorous experience, but the reality is that it can be as tough, draining, and obstacle-ridden as any other job. Managing a group of that many people definitely doesn't come without its challenges, and some movie sets run into so many difficulties, studios lose faith in them entirely.
This is even the case for some of your favorite classic flicks. But thankfully, oftentimes a miracle will happen and something will convince the execs not to lose faith. Here's a roundup of 19 times production difficulties resulted in a huge movie not being released at all — almost.
1. Gone With the Wind
If we're starting with rocky production experiences, Gone With the Wind is definitely one to have in mind, seeing as the studio literally started filming before they had decided on a lead actress. And once they settled on Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara, leading man Clark Gable reportedly wasn't content with Vivien as his costar. The film also saw a number of disagreements about its themes and nature, and some execs even wanted to change Rhett's iconic line: 'Franky, my dear, I don't give a damn.' Thankfully, they didn't get their way.
2. Jaws
The difficulties of filming in open water were definitely a big factor in why production was such a nightmare for this movie. Budget restraints and logistical difficulties meant that Steven Spielberg had to reel back his use of special effects, and scenes were often improvised and rewritten in real time. However, the lack of special effects meant that Steven focused more on creating tension and suspense, which arguably made Jaws what it is today. Because I know it's not just my body that goes into fight or flight when I hear those menacing da-duns.
3. Toy Story 2
If you don't know about The Great Deletening (term coined by me), strap in, because the Toy Story 2 lore is wild. During production, one animator was cleaning out files on their computer and accidentally erased 90% of the film. It was completely gone. The only reason Toy Story 2 was ever recovered was because of a director called Galyn Susman, who was on maternity leave and had copied the file to her home computer. And thank god she did, because the film earned 5 times its production budget after it was released. I just know the animator who deleted the movie has nightmares about the incident every time they shut their eyes.
Despite the critical and box office success of Ridley Scott 's first Gladiator film, production was hugely challenging. They began shooting with an unfinished script, which caused a number of problems. However, one of the film's most prominent issues was that one of the cast members, Oliver Reed, who played Antonius Proximo, tragically died during filming after an incident in a bar. The film was still able to be completed even though Oliver died before his scenes were completed in filming, as they used a body double and CGI, but he was posthumously nominated for a BAFTA.
5. Iron Man
The first Iron Man was not only iconic in its own right, but it also kicked off the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it. However, there were a number of issues that took place during production, including multiple scenes being changed or filmed completely improvised. Alongside technical difficulties, the studio was worried about Robert Downey Jr.'s place as the leading man, as this movie was set to be his comeback after years of substance issues. But despite their troubles, the movie became the hit we know today.
6. The Emperor's New Groove
Kuzco my beloved. This Disney classic almost got scrapped entirely after the studio tasked producer Randy Fullmer to rework the entire concept in two weeks due to test screenings going badly. Thankfully, Randy managed the impossible task, and despite the initial production issues, the movie was released.
7. Slumdog Millionaire
I don't even want to imagine a world where we don't have Dev Patel dancing to Jai Ho. But that scene in particular was almost impossible to shoot, according to line producer Tabrez Noorani. As the shot involves hundreds of extras dancing in a train station, they had to film for ten consecutive days between 2 and 4 am, and police interference, along with filming close to the Red Light District in Mumbai meant that filming almost got shut down a number of times.
8. Rocky
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While he's known for starring in the hit, Sylvester Stallone actually also wrote the script for Rocky himself. While studios were excited by the idea, they didn't have as much faith in him as an actor, due to his lack of star power. However, Sylvester insisted that the movie be made with him as the lead, or not at all, and his fight paid off.
9. Star Wars: A New Hope
We all know and love George Lucas's series as being a rousing success, but many didn't have faith in Episode IV while it was being made. The studio threatened to pull the plug after George insisted on countless reshoots, and the actors had difficulty with their dialogue. George's vision demanded a ton of special effects that racked up the budget, but ultimately it was realized and started off one of the biggest blockbuster hit franchises of all time.
10. The Wizard of Oz
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Old Hollywood sets were definitely tricky places to be. A lack of safeguarding laws and general apathy towards the cast and crew's wellbeing meant that The Wizard of Oz, while a magical experience in theaters, was definitely not all rainbows and gumdrops behind the scenes. The film had multiple rewrites and somehow went through three directors, and had wild safety issues on set: including but not limited to Margaret Hamilton suffering burns all over her body, Buddy Ebsen being hospitalized after an allergic reaction to his silver makeup, and pretty much everything poor Judy Garland endured. Oh, and the fake snow being made from literal asbestos. You know, like, the poison.
11. Dumbo
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With a short runtime and low production costs, Dumbo was set to make money for the studio. However, the animators rightfully complained about unfair working conditions, as many were being forced to work much longer hours than their contracts stated. They went on strike after a number of layoffs, but the film ended up being completed and released, and Disney made a significant profit anyway — to no one's surprise. This is why we need unions, folks!
12. Back to the Future
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Can you believe we almost had a different Marty McFly? After five whole weeks of shooting with actor Eric Stoltz as the protagonist, the decision was made to cut the poor guy and recast Michael J. Fox as the time-travelling hero. And while Michael's performance was obviously fantastic, the late decision resulted in around $4 million worth of reshoots. Also, Doc's famous car caused significant delays in production due to the fact that it definitely wasn't a performance car.
13. Bambi
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The struggles that Disney faced with Bambi in production were actually because of the film's focus on tragedy and grief — because if you didn't bawl to this movie, you truly have a heart of stone. The studio was hesitant about how graphically they would depict the upsetting themes for kids, and the film was put on hold as a result, but thankfully, eventually released.
14. Psycho
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I know for a fact I spent ages in my film classes wondering about Alfred Hitchcock's reasoning to shoot this film in black and white, assuming that it was for some super meaningful symbolic reason. However, it's actually because he was flat broke. He made the decision to fund the film himself after Paramount thought his concept 'distasteful,' and even though Hitchcock fought for it to be made, they still only gave it a limited release.
15. Titanic
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The trouble with James Cameron's romantic tragedy was rooted in dates — for various reasons, the shoot kept having to be pushed back, and this resulted in it becoming one of the most expensive films ever made at the time. Thankfully, it all worked out, but it definitely put the crew on edge, while actors were forced to film in difficult and freezing conditions.
16. Sleeping Beauty
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While it looks like Sleeping Beauty 's fairytale narrative might have guaranteed a smash hit from the start, the creators had a hard time fleshing out Aurora's character to be different and stand out from her princess predecessors. The film also dealt with a rocky release date, as it kept getting pushed back, as well as troubles with the crew, after one director had a heart attack.
17. The Godfather
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Now, this one had difficulties, but for reasons that were pretty meta. Did you know the actual mafia involved itself in the production? They had a say in reinstating one of the film's producers after he was fired by Paramount Pictures, and some of the extras and cast members were people associated with the mafia. As reported by Collider, this includes Lenny Montana, who played Luca Brasi: Vito's bodyguard. Lenny was allegedly a real bodyguard for Andy Russo, the notorious boss of the Colombo crime family. But despite mafia meddling, the movie was not shelved and became the classic we all know and quote today.