Saturday, November 9, 2024

Films That Ended Before They Started

Joaquin Phoenix’s stunning departure days before he was set to shoot his gay romance drama with Todd Haynes brings up a nasty history of sudden cancellations. While the details have not come out yet over this production, other issues which have shut down projects are either understandable or just selfish. Lawsuits get put up, friendships ended, reputations are soiled, and the stories of what caused these breakdowns get told as part of Hollywood lore. Some overcome these false starts while others never get up. Here are some of these down-and-out productions. 

Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno (1964)

With the universal acclaim of The Wages of Fear and Les Diaboliques, Clouzot was given a big budget by Columbia Pictures to shoot a psychological thriller with Romy Schneider and Serge Reggani. Filmed in his native France, problems from the start doomed the shoot. Record heat on location caused various health issues with cast and crew with Reggani departing from the film. The lake underneath a bridge which was to play a major part of the film was quickly losing water, causing continuity issues, and the actors began fighting with Clouzot over the numerous takes he was asking. Before Reggani’s replacement could be cast, Clouzot suffered a serious heart attack and the plug was pulled three weeks after shooting started. 

The Two Jakes (1990)

The sequel to Chinatown was something that was struggling to get everything lined up until it seemed all was put together in 1985. The late Robert Towne would direct and write the film, Jack Nicholson was back as Jake Gettes, and Robert Evans would be producing again. Evans would also play a major character in the film as a client of Gettes with the same first name. He had acted before but it had been decades since he put his face on the screen. The screen tests were awful, but only days before shooting did Towne tell Evans he was going to be replaced. As Evans was the main financier, he left the entire project and the filming was canceled. 

The Two Jakes would get made with Evans back as producer while Harvey Keitel playing the second Jake and Nicholson as director, but the three partners were estranged as Evans slowly faxed his script from Bora Bora. Clearly, the bitterness of years earlier was still being held and they would not speak to each other for many years. Not surprisingly, the film failed critically and commerically, and we’re left with the stories of the behind-the-scenes drama. 

The Double (1996)

Based on the novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, director Roman Polanski would’ve had John Travolta and Isabelle Adjani playing dopplegangers of each other. The set was made and everyone was signed up and ready to go. But the changes of the script during the rehearsals caused major arguments between Travolta and Polanski and Travolta stormed out, went to his private jet, and flew back home. They tried to cover the departure by saying Travolta had a family emergency, but the details leaked out and nothing else was explained except creative differences.

Broadway Brawler (1997)

Bruce Willis had a streak in Disney films with Armageddon, The Sixth Sense, and The Kid which were successful from 1998 to 2000. This is because of what happened in 1997 after his behavior shut down the whole production about a retired hockey player and his new relationship with a character played by Maura Tierney. Willis was also the producer, and after three weeks, he fired several members of the crew, including director Lee Grant. With half the budget spent, Disney shut it all down and put the blame on Willis. After settling out of court with all who were supposed to be paid in full, Willis settled with Disney to take a much-reduced salary for the name films to make up the loss of about $20 million. 

Wake (2015)

Bruce Willis, Ben Kingsley, Piper Perabo, and Ellen Burstyn signed up to star in this thriller about a man returning to his estranged home which began shooting in February 2015. Ten days into principal photography, the financing suddenly fell apart, forcing a delay and a scramble for the funding. However, due to Willis’ busy schedule (this is not his fault) and the conflict about one of the producers who wouldn’t leave the project due to the failure on their part to bring in the financing as promised, Willis and director John Pogue left the project and it was never restarted. 

Follow me on Twitter: @brian_cine (Cine-A-Man)

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