10 Insane Reasons Movies Were Nearly Shut Down

10. Cutthroat Island - Sets Were Destroyed & Everyone Got Sick

Cutthroat Island was one of those movies that should have been a massive hit, but the reality of the production and its final product fell far from expectations. The movie was directed by Renny Harlin, and the studio gave him a ton of freedom to realize his vision.

The production was plagued with serious problems, many of which cost millions of dollars to overcome. The pirate ships that were constructed for the sets came in at $1 million each, and when one of them caught fire, they needed to build another one. Other sets required rebuilding because Harlin didn't like them, and the costs kept rising.

The biggest problem that nearly got the whole production shut down was an ongoing infection of tropical diseases and food-borne illnesses that kept most of the crew sick during production. Essentially, everything that could go wrong did go wrong, and it nearly killed the movie.

The thing about Cutthroat Island's production that makes it different from the other movies on this list is, it really should have been shut down. It is one of the biggest disasters in film history, and when its losses are adjusted for inflation, the movie ended up losing $147 million, resulting in the demise of Carolco Pictures.