20 all-time iconic films that almost didn’t get made

People believed in Francis Ford Coppola, but he had tons of hiccups during the production of Apocalypse Now. From sets getting destroyed to the crew getting sick, it seemed as though every sign was telling Coppola to stop. But he persisted, and he was greatly rewarded. 

James Cameron faced some of the same difficulties while filming Titanic as Francis Ford Coppola did while filming Apocalypse Now. The Titanic crew got sick, executives were unhappy with Cameron, and it was kind of a mess. But Cameron also persisted, and he saw the fruits of his labors immediately upon release. 

Forget Apocalypse Now and Titanic, The Wizard of Oz was a cursed set. Things went wrong at seemingly every turn, making it nearly impossible for the cast and crew to finish the film. But thank God, they did. 

It’s hard to imagine a Quentin Tarantino film getting the ax, but Pulp Fiction almost did. Had this film not been made, we wouldn’t have one of the most iconic haircuts in all of cinema. 

Okay, it isn’t hard to imagine that Psycho almost wasn’t made. Given the time, the film was totally groundbreaking. If the executives who gave Alfred Hitchcock the green light weren’t vindicated when the film was first released, they certainly are now, as Psycho is widely considered one of the greatest horror films of all time. 

Psycho isn’t the only classic horror film that almost wasn’t made. The Exorcist, which was adapted from a book, was a tough sell because the book wasn’t selling well. A chance television interview with the book’s author gave the book the sales it needed to be greenlit for a screen adaptation. 

Studio executives wanted The Omen to get made, but supernatural forces must not have. Prior to filming, one executive said that the film set was going to be cursed, and cursed it seemed to be. Horrific things continued happening to everyone associated with the film, jeopardizing its status at nearly every turn. 

It can be difficult for visionary creatives to get others to see their vision. John Lasseter tried and tried to get Disney to fund his computer-animated film, but it wasn’t until his short film, Tin Toy, was nominated for an Oscar that executives were comfortable moving forward with the new technological venture. 

Most Disney movies are successful, so the studio has to be very selective in order to keep its track record. All sorts of issues accompanied the making of The Emperor’s New Groove, but eventually, it saw the light of day. 

A world without Star Wars is unfathomable. The franchise has its own cinematic universe that has permeated pop culture in an irrefutable way. But it took lots of convincing on George Lucas’ part for the very first film to get made. 

Iron Man and the MCU have a similar story to A New Hope and the Star Wars universe. Executives were leery of giving Iron Man his own live-action film. But thanks to Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr., the film was made, was ultra-popular, and set Marvel on a path of success, unlike any other comic book company in the 21st century.

It took years for Deadpool to finally get made. Budget cuts and poor audience reception to the character made for some of the most pressing reasons why it was almost scrapped, but ultimately, Ryan Reynolds really wanted it to get made. 

Any creatives who believe in their project should look to Bob Gale as an example. The screenwriter of Back to the Future believed in what he had written despite the script getting rejected 40 different times. 

Films can't get made unless they're financed. The film's financial backing was pulled just days before Blade Runner was set to start production. Producers had to scramble to find funding.

Jaws  almost wasn’t made for multiple reasons. Multiple actors turned down offers to star in the film. People didn’t like the sharks. There wasn’t even a script written when production began. But the film did get made, and Steven Spielberg became a legend. 

The producers of Little Miss Sunshine also had trouble finding funding. Executives struggled to see their vision, leading the producers to fund it on their own. The creatives were right in the end, earning two Oscars and even more nominations for the film. 

The things that make studios reject films are always so interesting. The studios that passed on Dumb and Dumber reportedly did so because of the title, not wanting audiences to view them as dumb. Eventually, a studio was comfortable with that descriptor, and the iconic film was produced. 

Elf went through one heck of a time getting produced. The film was initially set to be made with Chris Farley as Buddy the Elf, but the screenwriter didn’t want a big name to play the lead, so he let his contract expire and tried to find someone else more suitable for the role. 

It was most certainly a fury road that Mad Max had to take to get made. From funding issues to filming delays caused by the war in Iraq, multiple hiccups were impacting the production of this film. 

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl proved to be another film where crew members got sick from filming so much in the water. Additionally, some of the film's sets were ruined in a studio fire, and executives didn’t like Captain Jack Sparrow. Finishing production was the right choice, though; it made tons of money, and Johnny Depp earned an Oscar nomination for his work.