Making a film is often a labor of love, a long tedious journey from pre-production to a hopeful release which can take years, even a decade to finish (as in Avatar: The Way of Water, Boyhood, and several other titles). Getting from A to B has been quite literally hell for lots of filmmakers, and they don’t always find a happy ending. There are countless stories of unfinished projects that have haunted directors for their whole lives. Some filmmakers have even managed to wrap up production, only to find their entire effort and devotion to their craft brought down by the industry.
Studios, especially the larger ones, have historically interfered with the final version of several films, in many cases generating huge conflicts with the directors due to creative differences or rushing a release date. This has led to long legal battles that have taken the creative control from the directors, resulting in a lot of them actually disowning their work. The dark footnotes of film history is filled with a lot of these cases, and here some of the most notorious.
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Highball – Noah Baumbach
Shoreline Entertainment
Highball, director Noah Baumbach’s third film was shot in six days with an insignificant budget. When released, his name is nowhere to be seen in the credits; after a falling-out with the producer, the film’s editing was an extremely dissatisfying process for the Frances Ha director. The script was not completed, and in his eyes, the film is forever incomplete.
Death of a Gunfighter – Robert Totten
Universal Pictures
As revisionist westerns rose to popularity, Robert Totten (who had directed several episodes of Bonanza) was hired to direct Death Of A Gunfighter, a film about the conflict between an aging marshal who kills a man in self-defense and a Texas town trying to modernize. The lead, Richard Widmark asked for the removal of Totten, who was then fired 25 days into production.
The renowned Don Siegel (Dirty Harry) to come in and finish the film. After 10 days, Siegel, had as much material shot as Totten, and neither wanted directing credit. The DGA agreed that the film did not represent them, so they came up with the pseudonym “Alan Smithee,” one that would be used for generations of filmmakers disowning their films to come. Funny thing is, the fictional director actually got praised for the film.
Woman Wanted – Kiefer Sutherland
Acteurs Auteurs Associés
Kiefer Sutherland wanted to transition to directing in the ’90s; this did not go well. His second film, Woman Wanted, left him with so much disappointment that he never directed again. The film has been forgotten, as it really has nothing going for itself. Sutherland hated it so much that he took his name off it and used the infamous Alan Smithee pseudonym.
Accidental Love – David O. Russell
Millennium Entertainment
David O. Russell started work on a romantic comedy set in the American political world in 2008, with Nailed as its working title. What came after is a total mess. Production was halted in several occasions due to cast and crew not being paid. Key scenes managed to be filmed, but soon after Russell quit.
A few years later, the director’s films (such as The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook, and American Hustle) caught attention and Academy Awards buzz, which made the studio interested in the abandoned film. Without Russell’s involvement, they continued to work on Nailed, retitling it Accidental Love and subsequently releasing it in 2015. The director’s name is changed to Stephen Greene, and as one could expect, it’s a terribly messy picture that was hated by critics, and almost immediately released on VOD to soon be forgotten by whoever saw it.
Fear And Desire – Stanley Kubrick
Joseph Burstyn
Stanley Kubrick’s nearly perfect filmography was nearly derailed near due to a smudge called Fear and Desire. His debut feature is one that, as his career grew, he found himself more and more displeased with. The story of four soldiers trapped behind enemy lines is clumsy and odd, and Kubrick allegedly tried to burn the original negative print in the ’60s.
American History X – Tony Kaye
New Line Cinema
One of the most ludicrous disputes in film history took place between Tony Kaye and New Line Cinemas over American History X. In the quarrel, Kaye threatened to quit if he was not given control over the final cut, which New Line wouldn’t allow, causing him to storm out, leaving Edward Norton and editor Jerry Greenberg to the supervision of the film’s ending.
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Kaye then attempted to have his name taken out of the film, which was denied by the DGA; this was followed by suing the guild for $200 million and making himself an enemy of the industry by ranting against basically everyone. His name is to this day associated with the film, which he now deems is overall “good” even though bitterness remains.
Babylon A.D. – Matthieu Kassovitz
20th Century Fox
La Haine director Matthieu Kassovitz had been developing Babylon A.D. for about six years before getting into production in 2007. Quarreling with the studio over the cut weeks before the release, Kassovitz was already attacking his own film by saying he could only film one scene the way he wanted. Between stating that the script was disrespected and the producers were terrible, he was ready to go to war with Fox.
The studio then fired back, saying Kassovitz had breakdowns on set, delaying the production and casuing budget issues, which he then denied. Needless to say, the French director has not returned to Hollywood.
Dying of the Light – Paul Schrader
Lionsgate
On October 16th, 2014, Paul Schrader wrote on his Facebook page the following words: “We lost the battle. Dying of the Light, a film I wrote and directed, was taken away from me, reedited, scored, and mixed without my input." Producer Gary Hirsch said that after seeing the first cut, they suggested edits to the director, which he refused to do.
Schrader claims he was fired along with the editor leaving the producers with the footage. In the same mentioned Facebook post, a wonderful photo is shown of Schrader with his stars, Nicolas Cage, Anton Yelchin, and originally attached director Nicholas Winding Refn, wearing shirts printed with the non-disparagement clause from their contracts.
Dune – David Lynch
Before Villeneuve, and after Jodorowsky, David Lynch had his shot at making the so-called impossible film adaptation of Dune. After his success directing The Elephant Man, Lynch chose to do Dune over Return of the Jedi.
The Eraserhead director had a long and conscious preparation towards the film, yet as filming went on, he started realizing he didn’t actually want to make Dune, and the feelings only accentuated towards editing and release. The director’s theatrical cut was never to his liking, and subsequent versions edited by the producers were not approved by Lynch, who also used the classic pseudonym Alan Smithee in all future editions.
An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn – Arthur Hiller
Buena Vista Pictures
This meta mess of a project is terribly complicated to explain. Maybe the place to begin with this film is its notoriety, as it’s the one that killed the Alan Smithee pseudonym. One of the most accomplished screenwriters of the ’90s, Joe Eszterhas, felt slighted by the industry due to what he felt was a lack of recognition, for which he decided to strike back. An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn is a mockumentary film in which Eric Idle (of Monty Python fame) stars as a director who makes a $200 million film.
After studio interference, the director tries to take his name out of it, but can’t do so because his name literally is Alan Smithee. Eszterhas’ success granted the financing of his screenplay, and he even got veteran director Arthur Hiller to direct it. Then madness ensued: Eszterhas tried to get control of the editing room, allegedly shutting Hiller out, causing him to literally use the Alan Smithee pseudonym for his directing credit. The film was subsequently torn apart by critics, made less than $60,000 at the box office off its $10 million budget, and brought Eszhertas’ career to its demise. The film damaged the use of the pseudonym to a point of no return, causing the DGA to retire it forever.
