Buzz
However, did you know that initially even the creator of Star Wars was pessimistic about the film's profitability? George Lucas admitted this in 2015, during an interview at the Tribeca Film Festival. He shared that he had shown Star Wars to friends, and only one person was confident that the film would be successful, and that was Steven Spielberg. Even 20th Century Fox, as a film studio, initially doubted that Star Wars could succeed.
These factors made George Lucas so pessimistic that when Star Wars premiered, he even planned to go on vacation to Hawaii. The director only realized the popularity of his film when he was asked to turn on the TV while on vacation and saw people lining up to watch Star Wars.
2. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Could a feature-length animated film succeed? According to critics in the 1930s, no. Therefore, when Walt Disney planned to make Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, many predicted that the film would fail. They doubted that anyone would want to sit through a 90-minute animated movie.
In the end, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs became a resounding success.
3. Pirates of the Caribbean
Director Gore Verbinski once shared that when he discussed the idea for the film Pirates of the Caribbean with composer Hans Zimmer, Zimmer replied: 'You're crazy! You want to make a movie about pirates? No one wants to watch a movie about pirates.'
Earlier, in 1995, there was another pirate movie released, Cutthroat Island. The film became a massive loss and ruined the careers of director Renny Harlin and actress Geena Davis. It made Hollywood studios wary of bringing back pirate-themed movies.
But as you know, Pirates of the Caribbean eventually became a huge success.
4. Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy (GotG) was once predicted to be the first MCU film to fail. In 2014, many believed that the success of Marvel movies would come to an end. There would be plummeting box office numbers, and Guardians of the Galaxy was predicted to be among them. One reason was that the characters of GotG were relatively unknown to the public. There was also a comment that the actors of GotG were not very famous at the time.
Chris Pratt - the actor who played the lead role of Star-Lord - said he thought this movie would fail and marked the end of his career. Who would have thought that the movie would eventually reap tremendous success, and Chris Pratt would truly become a shining star in Hollywood because of it.
5. Titanic
Titanic is one of the legendary films by director James Cameron, conveying profound meanings and messages. Twenty years ago before Titanic was released to the audience, the film became a global phenomenon with the highest revenue of all time up to that point.
However, director James Cameron revealed that the production company once estimated the film would lose $100 million due to its massive production costs. Even the director himself thought that his 'brainchild' would incur losses.
6. Avatar
Although James Cameron had previously dispelled fears of 'failure' when Titanic was screened, the next brainchild - Avatar by the talented director - was also feared to fail. This was because Avatar's science fiction element and the film's duration were considered 'difficult to make successful'.
James Cameron stated that Titanic at least had a truly tragic story that could pique people's curiosity about the film, whereas Avatar lacked that. Yet, Avatar reached its peak, even surpassing Titanic's box office record.
7. Deadpool
The film studio wasn't sure if Deadpool would be successful, so the production budget for the film was cut by $7 million. This budget cut resulted in some elements of Deadpool's story being trimmed. Firstly, Deadpool's adversaries from 3 characters Sluggo, Garrison Kane, and Wire were merged into Angel Dust.
Additionally, some scenes in the film's climax were also cut. Nevertheless, the Deadpool movie then achieved success beyond imagination.
