Having covered both The Wizard of Oz and Apocalypse Now, here are two more films that were incredibly difficult to make, verging on the point of collapse throughout the course of production, but at least still went on to be box office and critical successes.
Great Films that Almost Never Got Made: Part 2
The Endings That Could Have Been
The ending is almost the most important element to a film, potentially making or breaking a film. A really good film could have a poor ending which can entirely change the perception of that film. On the other hand, a really good and fitting ending can really cement a film’s place in Hollywood’s finest. The ending is so important that many writers and directors are even undecided when production actually begins, deciding on how the film should end in post-production after filming has wrapped. So what films would have a had a vastly different ending from the one that the audience sees?
The Best of Surf Cinema
With the impending release of Point Break, the reboot of the classic action film from 1991, has sent shockwaves across the internet. The original, starring Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves, went on to become a cult classic.
When it was announced that Point Break was getting a remake, it didn’t take long for a backlash from fans of the original, saying that a reboot is entirely unnecessary, and it could never compare to the classic original. So we decided to take a look at the best films that have attempted to capture the ‘sport of kings’, the ancient art of wave sliding.
The Black List – The Best Unmade Films in Hollywood
Every year since 2004, a list is compiled by Franklin Leonard, a studio executive in Hollywood, of 250 of the ‘most liked’ un-produced scripts of the year. These scripts aren’t necessarily the best scripts around, but are voted by over 250 studio and production company executives for the ones that are liked the most by those who read them. At the end of the year, the best unmade scripts are released in the form of a list and sent to all production companies, where the scripts get another chance of being seen and hopefully sent into production.
The Best Film Adaptations of Classic Books
One of the fiercest debates that rage frequently in the film industry is how Hollywood tackles source material; the book. Fans of the book are rarely pleased with how their paperback is transformed for the silver screen, but for every The Hobbit there is Lord of the Rings. But the biggest problem in attempting to translate a novel into film format is of course the length, books are designed to to engage the reader much longer than a feature film. So imagine trying to faithfully recreate an entire book into a film, which would equate to roughly 10 hours of film, which is simply not going to work.
Trailers That Completely Ruin Films
Trailers are an integral part of the film industry, nothing gets people into seats at a movie theatre better than giving the audience a glimpse into what the film is going to involve. Whether its hilarious comedy or mind-blowing action sequences, the trailer is integral to how the film will perform at the box office.
Every announcement of a film leads to the inevitable waiting with baited breath for the trailer to drop, whether its JJ Abram’s heavily anticipated Star Wars Episode VII, or another Christopher Nolan film, the countdown to the trailer is almost as important as the film’s actual release. Movie studios want to make sure the anticipation level is sky high for when a film eventually is released, so the art of the film trailer is as important as the film itself. So why do so many trailers have to ruin the film’s plot in order to maximise ticket sales?
