The Costliest Movie Mistakes In History
Accidents happen—they're a fact of life—but when they happen on a movie set, they can mean a pretty expensive bill to pay. Here are some of the ultimate "Oops!" moments in movie history that cost production companies a pretty penny.
One Missed Flight
When shooting The Godfather (1973), Marlon Brando was supposed to take an overnight flight from New York to LA after an eye appointment in The Big Apple. Unfortunately, he missed his overnight flight and the production team lost a full day of shooting—and $40,000 for being behind schedule.
Paramount, The Godfather (1972)
Re-Shoots Galore
When DC Comics began filming for Suicide Squad (2017), they couldn't have imagined that bringing Will Smith into the cast and popularizing Harley Quinn on-screen for the very first time would have gone over so poorly with fans. However, the movie underwent such extensive re-shooting due to competing edits, a whole new third act, new sections being included, and much more, that it was over-budget by millions of dollars.
DC Comics, Suicide Squad (2016)
Recasting Calamity
When Robert Zemeckis was making Back To The Future (1985), he almost cast Eric Stoltz instead of Michael J Fox in the lead role. But, Zemeckis didn't like that Stoltz didn't quite have the charisma and comedic persona necessary to carry off the role. Recasting and re-shooting scenes from the movie with Michael J Fox cost Universal Pictures an extra $3 million. Given the cult status of the movie now, I guess it was worth it.
Universal, Back to the Future (1985)
Don't Hire A Biker Gang As Extras
Sure, The Horror Of Party Beach (1964) was just a B-movie without much going for it—it was on a list of the 50 Worst Movies Of All Time, okay? One of its many mistakes was hiring members of the Charter Oaks Motorcycle Club. During a motorcycle-versus-car race scene, one of the bikers clipped the handlebars of one of the actors on a bike, causing him (and everyone else) to crash into each other. This set the film's budget over by $20,000.
Inzom Productions, The Horror of Party Beach (1964)
Marilyn Monroe's Lines, Or Lack Thereof
While working on Some Like It Hot (1959), Marilyn Monroe really struggled with her lines—and showing up to filming on time, or at all. One of her lines took 81 takes. All of these mistakes meant that the movie went over-budget by half a million dollars, and director Billy Wilder vowed never to work with Monroe again.
Ashton Productions, Some Like It Hot (1959)
Kurt Russell's Priceless Guitar "Prop"
While shooting The Hateful Eight (2015), Kurt Russell was handed the wrong guitar to smash in a scene. He was supposed to be handed a prop guitar, but unfortunately he was handed an authentic 1870s Martin guitar, worth about $45,000.
Visiona Romantica, The Hateful Eight (2015)
Big Actors, Big Emotions, Small Models
While filming an episode of Battlestar Galactica (2007), Edward Olmos Jones, playing Admiral Adama, was supposed to feature in a scene where he tinkered with a model ship. With cameras rolling, Jones began smashing the model ship to smithereens. It wasn't a prop model, it was the real thing that cost $200,000. Ouch.
NBC, Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009)
Noel Marshall's Roar
In 1981, Director Noel Marshall shot Roar, starring Marshall's two sons and his wife. Supposedly, it was an adventure-comedy about a family encountering animals in the African wilderness. It became less of a comedy and more of a slasher movie, though—as members of Marshall's family were routinely set-upon by the wild animals they were filming alongside. Bitten, clawed at, and even hospitalized with serious injuries, Marshall's movie cost $17 million, wildly over-budget.
Proud Mary's Maserati
Backing into a fire hydrant is usually not something that's catastrophic—but it is if you do it in a Maserati. In the 2018 thriller Proud Mary, Taraji P Henson drove straight into a fire hydrant, water-logging the car and herself in the process. Repairs to the Maserati cost about $12,000.
Screen Gems, Proud Mary (2018)
Destruction Of The Grand Bazaar In Istanbul
While filming Skyfall (2012), the production company had to negotiate a settlement with the 1,650 shop owners and vendors of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, along with securing expensive permits from the Turkish Government to even film there, due to the historical nature of the area. Well, after rehearsals went off without a hitch, as the cameras rolled, Bond's stuntman crashed a motorcycle through a priceless, crystal window of a 330-year-old jewelry shop.
Toilet Break
Joaquin Phoenix didn't exactly go to the bathroom during this toilet break. Instead, he broke the toilet. After improvising a scene where he faces a bitter rival while handcuffed inside an adjacent jail cell in The Master (2012), Phoenix stomps on and breaks a real toilet—one of those old porcelain ones that could now run you into the thousands of dollars to replace.
The Weinstein Company, The Master (2012)
IMAX Cameras Ain't Cheap
During filming of The Dark Knight (2008), Christian Bale broke an expensive piece of kit. In one of the most explosive segments of the movie, Batman rides his Batmobile over several cars and eventually hits an IMAX camera that's capturing the action close up. That IMAX camera cost $500,000. They're so expensive that IMAX usually just rents them out to production crews. I guess Christopher Nolan didn't have to worry about late rental fees...
Warner Bros., The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
The Poor IMAX Suffers Again
Christopher Nolan must have it in for IMAX cameras. He destroyed another one while filming The Dark Knight Rises (2012). This time, Anne Hathaway (playing Selina Kyle) rides the Batpod motorcycle down some stairs and straight into an IMAX camera. There's another $500,000. Ouch.
Warner Bros., The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Robert Downey Jr's Costly Ankle Injury
Don't hurt yourself while filming for a role, whatever you do. Robert Downey Jr injured his ankle while filming Iron Man 3 (2013), which meant he had to take six weeks off. The VFX team was able to recover the time lost by bringing in a body double and using special effects to reconstruct his face and then port it onto the body double, so as not to lose too much filming time.
Daniel Craig's Thousand-Dollar Black Eye
While filming for Quantum Of Solace (2008), Daniel Craig was accidentally hit in the face during a fight scene. This caused a huge black eye that had to be edited out of the movie, and then another round of edits had to be done for the stitches that Craig needed following the fight. It's hard to get a figure, but it probably put the movie company out by at least $1,000, if not more.
The Avengers' Studio Fire
Calm down, not that Avengers. No, this one was a spy thriller from 1998 starring Uma Thurman, Sean Connery, and Ralph Fiennes. The movie was bad—so bad that it grossed just $57 million from a $60 million budget, but that's not the worst of it. A fire broke out during filming at the legendary Pinewood Studios in London, resulting in the loss of more than 50 minutes of film and tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage to the studio.
Warner Bros., The Avengers (1998)
Burnin' Down The House
Sure, an accidental fire could break out on the set of any movie. It happens. But what happens when the fire was set intentionally? In director Andrei Tarkovsky's The Sacrifice (1986), the house was supposed to burn down, as part of the script—however, the camera jammed while the house burned, so almost nothing was captured on film. This meant the entire house had to be reconstructed in just two weeks so that they could capture the whole thing burning down for the movie. That was probably a bill of tens of thousands of dollars.
Faragó Film, The Sacrifice (1986)
Henry Cavill's Moustache
When Henry Cavill grew a moustache for Mission Impossible: Fallout (2017) and wasn't allowed to shave it off for filming of Justice League (2017), the studio had to digitally remove the moustache from every scene and re-shoot several scenes from the movie. It was another production disaster for Warner Bros, costing an astonishing $25 million.
Paramount, Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)
Sonic Redesign
One thing to not do when you're filming for a movie? Redesign an iconic character to be a different color and have human teeth. When Sonic The Hedgehog (2020) first dropped its trailer, fans were absolutely apoplectic that the hedgehog was now Blue and had human teeth. Such was the outrage and ridicule that the studio was forced to go back to the drawing board and completely redesign Sonic to look more like the original character. The cost of this? $5 million.
Paramount, Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
Sean Connery Makes Bank With Highlander
Sean Connery was paid $500,000 for three days of work on the set of Highlander (1986). While the directors were aware that they had Connery for a limited time (using body doubles for the rest), the camera crew apparently weren't. A camera malfunction meant that Connery had to stay on-set for two more days—at a cost of $500,000 per day, nearly tripling his original salary.
Highlander Productions Limited, Highlander (1986)
Killer Tomatoes Killed A Helicopter
In 1978, this horror-comedy parody about killer tomatoes (yes, really) accidentally crashed a helicopter in one of the most intense action scenes in the movie. The movie's budget was around $90,000 and the helicopter crash cost $60,000. Yet, somehow they made a 1988 sequel that starred George Clooney.
Four Square Productions, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! (1978)
Twister's Knockdown-Rebuild
If you're going to make a movie about tornadoes, things are going to get seriously torn up. Well, when Twister (1996) was being made, the summer blockbuster's production team purchased an entire small town of Wakita, Oklahoma—well, dozens of old houses in the town anyway, for $7,000 to $10,000 per house. Which they then knocked down while filming—even building 30 more to knock down. They were all then rebuilt pristinely at a likely cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Jessica Biel's Archery
While filming Blade: Trinity (2004), Jessica Biel is supposed to show off her archery skills by shooting an arrow at the camera. That camera was a $300,000 cine camera. Shooting the arrow behind plexiglass to protect everyone else, there was a two-inch by two-inch hole left for the camera lens to go through. Biel hit the camera lens right on the money in an impressive display of accuracy. Unfortunately, it was also a very expensive one.
New Line Cinema, Blade: Trinity (2004)
Buster Keaton Destroys A Locomotive
One of Hollywood's greatest stuntmen, Buster Keaton wasn't one to shy away from danger. While filming The General (1926), a silent-film, he performed the most expensive stunt in silent film history. Without SFX, Keaton crashed an actual locomotive train through a burning bridge into the river below. The cost? $62,000 for that locomotive. In today's money, that would be almost $700,000.
Buster Keaton Productions, The General (1926)
Christopher Walken's Banksy Destruction
Christopher Walken's lovable character in The Outlaws (2021) is an old-time criminal doing community service. Unfortunately for Walken, one of his final acts of community service is to paint over a genuine Banksy painting of a rat. Its cost? Approximately $12,000,000.
Furious 7's Hypercar Destruction
Fans of The Fast And The Furious will know that cars sometimes get wrecked as part of the movies. But Furious 7 (2015) decided it was going to take that to a whole other level, wrecking nine Lykan Hypersport cars—although they were stunt vehicles, a tenth one sold at auction for almost $500,000.
Michael Bay's Mansion Explosion
You'll remember the iconic scene from Bad Boys II (2003), where a whole mansion gets blown up? You might think that was a prop home. It wasn't. The property owner wanted to build three new homes on the existing land, but rather than pay for demolition himself, he gave it to Michael Bay (along with $16.5 million—the cost of the mansion) and allowed Bay to blow it up for him.
The Sands Casino Hit By A Transport Plane
In Con Air (1997), Nicholas Cage's character lands a prisoner transport cargo plane on the Los Vegas Strip, and on-screen, the aircraft careens into The Sands Casino. Surely that can't be real, right? Oh, it was. You see, the property owners wanted to knock down the casino anyway and replace it. So, for $110 million, the production crew of Con Air got to actually destroy the casino—with a cargo plane.
Tom Cruise's Expensive Ankle Break
Because Tom Cruise does most of his own stunts (if not all), he's used to the many injuries he's accrued over his years in the industry. But breaking his ankle while leaping from one building to another in Mission Impossible: Fallout (2018) wasn't just two weeks on the shelf in recovery for Mr Cruise—it cost the production company nine weeks of run-time and added $70 million to the film's budget.
Paramount, Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)
A Transformers Extra Is Permanently Disabled
While few things can come close to a death on-set by accident, this particular accident from the set of Transformers: The Dark Side Of The Moon (2011), when an extra was injured, does. 24-year-old Gabrielle Cedillo was paid $25 to drive her car along a stretch of highway opposite where the stunts were being filmed. During filming, one of the safety cables from the stunt snapped, plunging through Gabrielle's windshield, nearly ending her life. Miraculously, she survived, but she was left with a broken neck and in need of 24-hour care. She received $18 million in damages from the production company.
Paramount, Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
Brandon Lee's Tragic Death
A horrible accident occurred when shooting The Crow (1994), starring Brandon Lee, Bruce Lee's son. While filming for the movie, a prop gun was supposed to be loaded with blanks, but instead was loaded with part of a dummy round. When fired at Lee by actor Michael Massee, the dummy round pierced his chest. He died in hospital later that day. It turns out that the company had let their firearms consultant go and had blew through 12-hour filming breaks mandated by the union, as the cast was partially non-unionized. You can't put a price on human life—but the studio paid out $8 million in insurance money to ensure filming was completed.
