Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in a scene from the Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. Supplied 13 July 1999 to New Zealand Herald by Warners NZH 6dec01 - BOP 20Mar10 - SPLITSVILLE: Sam Me
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in a scene from the Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. Supplied 13 July 1999 to New Zealand Herald by Warners NZH 6dec01 - BOP 20Mar10 - SPLITSVILLE: Sam Me
Dominic Corry takes a look at five films that beat the bad buzz and five films that weren't so lucky.
For the longest time, the "where there's smoke, there's fire" mode of thinking has been applied to films that garnered bad buzz during their development or production.
Innumerable films have reinforced this perception (see below), but as mainstream media has become more interested in chronicling every stage of a film's existence, more of the behind the scenes processes play out publicly than ever before.
Which means it's become a lot easier for "bad" news to play a role in the life of a film. Old habits die hard, but more and more films are proving that bad buzz doesn't have to mean bad movie.
Fans the world over (this one included) cried foul when Edgar Wright and Marvel parted ways just before shooting began on Ant-Man, a project Wright had been attached to direct for a decade.
Marvel's Ant-Man managed to overcome its bad buzz.
However, the movie (now in theatres) turned out just fine. In fact, it's spectacularly awesome.
Here are five other films that were plagued by bad buzz early on, but ended being pretty great. Below them are five examples which conform to the old "smoke/fire" paradigm.
Dances With Wolves (1990)
A scene from the film Dances With Wolves.
Kevin Costner's passion project was dubbed "Kevin's Gate" by the Hollywood trade press during production, a nickname referencing the legendarily troubled 1980 film Heaven's Gate, which bankrupted its studio. K-Cost proved the doubters wrong when the elegiac Western became a commercial hit and won a bunch of Oscars. His next directorial effort, 1997's The Postman, saw Costner forfeit all the ground he had gained. Open Range (2003) is quite good though.
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in a scene from the Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. Supplied 13 July 1999 to New Zealand Herald by Warners NZH 6dec01 - BOP 20Mar10 - SPLITSVILLE: Sam Me
Opinions remain divided on Stanley Kubrick's final film, but I'm firmly on the affirmative. If you wrote it off long ago, I urge you to give it another shot, it seems to get better with every passing year. The film became famous while it was being made for its notoriously protracted shooting schedule, one so long (over a year) that Kubrick had to recast two major roles - Sydney Pollack replaced Harvey Keitel and Marie Richardson replaced Jennifer Jason Leigh. Then again, that may indeed have been Kubrick's plan all along. You never can tell with that guy.
Moneyball (2011)
A scene from the film Moneyball.
Back when he was attached to direct this baseball drama, Steven Soderbergh delivered a script revision that was so poorly received by (then) studio head Amy Pascal, she shut the project down. Stepping in to replace a double Oscar-winner is a big ask, but Bennett Miller did it with aplomb, and the film proved a critical and commercial smash, gaining six Oscar nominations.
World War Z (2013)
A scene from the film World War Z.
When word first emerged about how little this zombie epic was adhering to its source material, fans of Max Brooks' book were ready to write off the film. Then production was halted so the ending could be re-written, and a major set-piece was junked, despite being partially shot. Despite these ominous portents, the film ended up a popular hit, and a sequel is currently in the works. I wasn't a fan of the re-jiggered ending, but I liked the film overall.
Fifty Shades Of Grey (2015)
A scene from the film Fifty Shades of Grey.
Look, I'm not saying the film was awesome or anything, but things looked pretty grim when original lead Charlie Hunnam jumped ship just before shooting due to "scheduling conflicts", which nobody believed, forcing a quick scramble to replace him. I guess I was perhaps a fool to ever doubt the cultural behemoth's box office power, but I'm sure this project actually seemed like a risky proposition at some point, and a leading man who loses faith is a bad sign from any perspective. Maybe they can get Hunnam for the sequel now that the other guy wants out too.
And here are five films that were never able to outrun their bad buzz:
After director Richard Stanley was fired on Val Kilmer's request three days into the shooting of this H.G. Wells adaptation, Stanley snuck back on to the set as an extra in "dog" makeup. Which doesn't always happen. Also Marlon Brando was involved, and he'd long since stopped participating in even the basics of film-making. The film that was released lived down to the superlatively bad buzz, despite the presence of Temuera Morrison in a supporting role. The enduring fascination with what might have been resulted in a recent documentary about Stanley's unrealised vision.
The Adventures Of Pluto Nash (2002)
A scene from the film The Adventures Of Pluto Nash.
This big-budget Eddie Murphy sci-fi comedy sat on the shelf for two years after production, garnering a reputation as a barely releasable turkey. I remember reading about it at the time and thinking "Axel Foley taking on space gangsters? Can't be THAT bad." It was.
The Invasion (2007)
A scene from the film The Invasion.
Plenty of movies go back and shoot extra action scenes after principal photography to pump up the tension (all three Sam Raimi Spider-Man films for instance), but when it happened on this Nicole Kidman/Daniel Craig thriller, it emitted an air of desperation that quickly turned to the stink of bad buzz. A new director was employed for the extra scenes, which is rarely a good sign, and the whole affair spoke to the film's troubled relationship with its own status as an Invasion of the Body Snatchers remake. It was so afraid of being too "psychological", it ended up wholly forgettable, and an insult to the 1993, 1978 and 1956 versions of the story, all of which are great.
Jupiter Ascending (2015)
A scene from the film Jupiter Ascending.
I loved this nutso sci-fi epic, but I know I'm only one of about three people in the world who did. The stink first attached itself to the movie when it got bumped from its original summer release date, a sure sign that the studio lacked faith. Of course, studios are often wrong, but their ability to assess the film's commercial prospects was on point in this instance, even though the film is crazy rad. You win this round, studios.
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
The production of Terry Gilliam and Johnny Depp's comically cursed adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes' classic tome, Don Quixote, was so plagued by problems, the film never ended up getting made. But it did result in an illuminating and hilarious documentary about the insanity of film production called Lost In La Mancha. Gilliam (bless 'im) never gave up on the project, however, and has drafted in an online bookstore for a new attempt at mounting it.
• Do you give up on a film when it has bad buzz? Comment below!
