The making of these films was so stormy, they almost didn’t make it to the big screen (Picture: AP/REX)
The treatment of cast and crew on film sets has been in the public eye once more as Blake Lively sues Justin Baldoni following their time shooting It Ends With Us.
Based on the Colleen Hoover book of the same name, the film was released in August and saw Lively, 37, face intense criticism after claims the two leading stars were embroiled in a bitter feud.
Lively has gone on to sue Baldoni, 40, for sexual harassment, while Baldoni has promised to countersue the actor and made claims of his own about their relationship while filming and premiering It Ends With Us.
Since Lively’s complaint, texts have reportedly emerged between Baldoni and his PR crisis management team, discussing a social media smear campaign against her.
Over the decades, several films have been marred with clashes behind the scenes between actors, directors, and wider members of the crew.
Here, we look at 13 films with explosive backstage drama that threatened to derail the entire production.
Hook (1991)
It was far from a fairytale behind the scenes (Picture: Tristar/Amblin/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
Steven Spielberg’s Peter Pan adaptation Hook remains a beloved childhood classic for many, but behind the scenes, things weren’t so magical.
A feud was brewing between the director and Hollywood icon Julia Roberts, who starred as Tinker Bell alongside Robin Williams as Peter Pan.
During filming, a 23-year-old Roberts endured a very public breakup with Kiefer Sutherland after he reportedly cheated on her not long before the two were due to marry.
Her home life drama spilt onto the set, earning her the nickname ‘Tinker Hell’ from the cast and crew.
Spielberg went on to admit he would be hesitant to work with the star again, and Roberts clapped back that it was ‘difficult’ to hear these comments from the director.
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
The rocky history of Queen played out during their biopic in more ways than one (Picture: AP)
Retelling the tumultuous history of rock icons Queen, the set of Bohemian Rhapsody was no more smooth.
Bryan Singer was originally on board to direct the film but never returned to set following a Thanksgiving break.
It was rumoured that his exit was due to clashing with Rami Malek, who starred as Freddie Mercury in the biopic.
Reports later revealed that Singer was fired from Bohemian Rhapsody on December 14, 2017.
Tom Hollander, who played Queen’s manager and lawyer Jim “Miami” Beach, left the film due to issues with Singer but was eventually convinced to return once he had been fired.
Dexter Fletcher went on to direct the film, which became an instant hit upon its release.
The Fate of The Furious (2017)
The Fast and Furious drama came to a head during the eighth film (Picture: Universal/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson’s feud has been well-documented across the Fast and Furious franchise.
But in 2017, during filming for the eighth movie in the franchise, tensions were really dialled up to 11.
It was reported that the pair clashed so much that they had to film scenes separately, and ones that featured them both were edited together.
After the release of The Fate of The Furious, Johnson left the main franchise altogether until the release of Fast X, where he featured in a cameo.
Addressing the feud at the time, Diesel said: ‘It’s not always easy being an alpha. And it’s two alphas.’
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
This iconic franchise was almost derailed before it began (Picture: Lucasfilm/Fox/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
The Star Wars franchise has become one of the biggest of all time, but for George Lucas, the first film was a daunting task.
An inexperienced director at the time, he reportedly clashed with cinematographer Gilbert Guinness, who called Lucas ‘controlling and demanding.’
Lucas also fell behind the production schedule and consistently went over budget, leading to clashes with the studio.
The filmmaker became so stressed during the making of A New Hope that he was diagnosed with hypertension and exhaustion and was warned by doctors to lower his stress levels.
Terminator Salvation (2009)
The backlash to this drama was so harsh the lead star was forced to apologise
(Picture: Halcyon Company The/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
One of the most infamous onset clashes occurred during the production of 2009’s Terminator Salvation.
An argument captured on set between star Christian Bale and cinematographer Shane Hurlbut sent shockwaves through the world of cinema when audio was leaked to the press.
The tirade saw the Batman star hurl insults at Hurlbut, calling him a ‘f*****g amateur’ as well as telling him ‘You and me are done professionally.’
Backlash against Bale was so fierce that he issued a public apology to his fellow cast and crew.
‘I was out of order beyond belief. I make no excuses for it,’ he said at the time.
The Wizard Of Oz (1939)
Many of the cast and crew may have wanted to tap their heels to transport home while making this film (Picture: MGM/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
The making of the landmark 30s production The Wizard of Oz was so tumultuous it was rumoured to be cursed.
Many of the cast were injured or fell ill during production, including original Tin Man actor Buddy Ebsen who was poisoned by the silver paint used for his character.
Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch of The West, was severely burned during the Munchkin Land scene in which she disappeared in a plume of smoke and flames.
Judy Garland, who played the iconic Dorothy role, was only 16 years old at the time of filming and was given drugs to stay awake by producers who forced her to work long hours with no breaks.
Cop Out (2010)
This comedy film soon turned into a horror behind the scenes (Picture: Warner Bros/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
Kevin Smith must have thought all of his Christmases had come at once when he cast Bruce Willis in his 2010 film Cop Out.
He had been a longtime fan of Willis, but reports from the set claim that Willis was so difficult to work with and relationships between the cast and crew soon soured.
In a release party statement, Smith took aim at Willis: ‘I want to thank everybody who worked on this film. Except Bruce Willis, who is a f*****g d**k.’
He elaborated on his comments a year later, telling Marc Maron’s podcast, ‘It was f*****g soul-crushing’ working with Willis.
Smith went as far as saying that if it wasn’t for Paul Hodges actor Morgan Tracy, he ‘might have killed either himself or someone else in the making of f*****g Cop Out.’
Kramer vs Kramer (1979)
The film’s lead actors came to blows while filming (Picture: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock)
Before Hook, Dustin Hoffman was part of another fractious set when making 1979’s Kramer vs Kramer.
In the film, Hoffman and Meryl Streep play a couple going through a difficult divorce.
At the same time, Hoffman was going through his actual divorce and cited this as a reason he was often difficult to work with during filming.
His behaviour became so extreme that during a scene in which he has an argument with Streep, he slapped her around the face in real life.
She told The New York Times: ‘This was my first movie, and it was my first take in my first movie, and he just slapped me. And you see it in the movie. It was overstepping.’
Streep also claimed that Hoffman ‘groped her breast’ when the pair first met, though this has been refuted by a representative of hers.
The Shining (1980)
Stanley Kubrick became renowned as a difficult director to work with (Picture: Warner Bros/Hawk Films/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
Stanley Kubrick was an intense director, garnering a reputation as a difficult creative to work with (and this is not the only time he appears on this list).
In the pursuit of perfection, while adapting Stephen King’s novel The Shining, Kubrick often made cast members reshoot scenes an inordinate amount of times.
Shelley DuVall, who stars as Wendy Torrance in the film, received the brunt of Kubrick’s behaviour, opening up on the atmosphere on set years later.
She said: ‘That film was hell to be a part of…If he hadn’t [directed] the way he did, if he hadn’t done everything with force and cruelty, then I guess it wouldn’t have turned out to be as it was.’
In Stanley Kubrick: A Life In Pictures (per The Express), she continues: ‘He can do some pretty cruel things when you’re filming, because it seemed to me at times, that the end justified the means. […] I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. Why? Because of Stanley. And it was a fascinating, learning experience. It was such intense work that I think it makes you smarter but I wouldn’t want to go through it again
American Hustle (2013)
American Hustle’s director reduced one of his stars to tears several times on set (Picture: Atlas Entertainment/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
Despite the issues he created during Terminator Salvation, Bale was forced to intervene in drama during the making of the 2013 film American Hustle.
Tensions between director George O’Russell and lead star Amy Adams became so fiery, that Bale ordered him to ‘stop acting like an a** hole’ toward her.
In a 2016 GQ interview, Adams said O’Russell would scream instructions at the cast, and admitted he made her cry numerous times during filming.
‘He was hard on me, that’s for sure. It was a lot,’ she said. ‘I was really just devastated on set.’
Eye’s Wide Shut (1999)
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman’s marriage was put to the test filming this psychological thriller (Picture: Warner Bros)
Kubrick rears his head once more, this time for the treatment of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman on the set of the hit 1999 drama Eyes Wide Shut.
The actors – who were married at the time of filming – were forced into cult-like secrecy during the whopping 15-month shoot.
Kubrick insisted his stars immerse themselves in their characters, intentionally blurring the line between reality and fiction, forcing them to shoot upwards of 50 takes of each scene and sleep in their characters’ bedrooms at night.
According to Vanity Fair, Cruise developed a stomach ulcer while filming and then sought to keep this from Kubrick.
Don’t Worry Darling (2022)
This backstage drama took the internet by storm (Picture: Warner Bros/Everett/REX/Shutterstock)
The internet was in pandemonium when the backstage drama on Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling was thrust into the spotlight.
Wilde and her husband Jason Sudeikis split while filming was underway, with Wilde then dating the film’s lead star Harry Styles.
Styles replaced Shia Labeouf in the film, who was reportedly sacked by Wilde.
However, LaBeouf refuted these claims, sharing alleged messages between the pair and claiming he quit the film because the cast ‘couldn’t find time to rehearse.’
In a video obtained by Variety, it is claimed Wilde alluded to a fallout between Florence Pugh and Labeouf, with her taking the latter’s side.
Rumours then began of a rift between Wilde and Pugh, which intensified when Pugh did not take part in the film’s press tour.
The Birds (1963)
This film was horrifying for more than one reason (Picture: Universal/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)
Alfred Hitchcock created some of the most terrifying films of our time, but The Birds was horrifying for more reasons than one.
In The Birds’ attack scenes mechanical birds were instead replaced with 25,000 real birds were used across filming, which became a nightmare in itself for the cast and crew.
Animal trainer Ray Berwick once told Cinefantastique: ‘We had about 12 or 13 crew members in the hospital in one day from bites and scratches.
‘The seagulls would deliberately go for your eyes. I got bitten in the eye region at least three times, and Tippi got a pretty nasty gash when one of the birds hit her right above the eye.’
The birds spread lice to the cast and crew, adding another layer of issues with the creatures on set.
Lead star Tippi Hedren accused Hitchcock of abuse and harassment during filming, accusing him of turning shooting into ‘a mental prison.’
She claimed he would stare at her ‘relentlessly’, writing in her memoir: ‘Every time I’d be laughing and talking with a male member of the cast or crew, my next exchange with Hitchcock would be icy and a bit petulant.’
Hedren accused Hitchcock of assault, claiming he forcibly tried to kiss her one night after filming when the two were alone in his limousine.
The actor was also put through hell filming The Birds’ iconic phone box scene when a mechanical bird crashed into the set piece and the glass shattered.
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