Movies canceled because of an idiot mistake
It’s a miracle any movies ever get made, let alone the dozens Hollywood
produces each year. Hundreds of people are involved, not to mention
millions of dollars, dangerous equipment, and tons of other variables
that can and will go wrong. Sometimes, something will go so wrong on a
movie in production that filmmakers just call the whole thing off — all
because of some dumb thing that somebody did. These movies never saw the
light of day due to poor decisions or human error.
Star Trek was canceled after three seasons in 1969, but its
popularity exploded in syndicated reruns. Creator Gene Roddenberry was
in discussions with Paramount as early as 1972 about a movie, and after a
movie called Star Trek: The God Thing fell apart in pre-production (the
plot involved the Enterprise crew squaring off against God, who was
determined to destroy Earth), they got started planning a brand new Star
Trek screenplay called Planet of the Titans. Roddenberry had looked at a
number of story ideas and treatments and decided on one by
screenwriters Chris Bryant and Alan Scott in which the Enterprise
investigates the disappearance of another ship, which leads to the
disappearance of Captain Kirk and then the discovery of a planet that’s
home to the Titans of ancient Greek mythology. It was set to begin
filming in 1977 with a budget of $10 million.
But then, just before filming was set to start, Paramount president Barry Diller called the whole thing off. Why? He thought the script was too pretentious and not very good. But according to the movie’s hired director, Philip Kaufman, it was because another science fiction epic with “Star” in its title was released in 1977: Star Wars. Reportedly, executives didn’t think there were enough sci-fi fans out there to support two big space movies in the same year. Good job, guys, way to really understand the industry.
10.Star Trek: Planet of the Titans
But then, just before filming was set to start, Paramount president Barry Diller called the whole thing off. Why? He thought the script was too pretentious and not very good. But according to the movie’s hired director, Philip Kaufman, it was because another science fiction epic with “Star” in its title was released in 1977: Star Wars. Reportedly, executives didn’t think there were enough sci-fi fans out there to support two big space movies in the same year. Good job, guys, way to really understand the industry.
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