15 Movies You Thought Were Doomed (But Weren't)
5. Titanic
James Cameron has a firm reputation as one of Hollywood's most strong-headed, fiercest perfectionists, but back in 1997, there wasn't a ton of confidence that he'd be able to make liquid gold out of Titanic's roughshod production.
The issues, as heavily documented by the press at the time, were numerous: Kate Winslet was terrified of drowning in a tank of water during shooting, a disgruntled crew member laced the cast's soup with PCP and sent over 50 people to hospital, the shoot going three weeks over schedule caused great illness among the crew, countless people quit the shoot mid-production and Cameron ended up forfeiting his upfront director's fee when the budget began to soar (in exchange for back-end profit participation).
Fox also argued with Cameron about the three-plus-hour length of the movie, but he insisted he'd rather be fired than cut the film by up to an hour per their recommendations. As the movie's release approached, the general sentiment was rather grim, that Cameron would become Hollywood's latest victim of directorial hubris and deliver his own Heaven's Gate to audiences.
Cameron, however, ended up having the last laugh, with the movie opening to strong reviews, winning a record-tying 11 Oscars (including Best Picture and Best Director), and becoming the highest-grossing film of all time, a title it'd hold for over a decade (until Cameron one-upped himself with Avatar).
If Titanic taught people anything, it's that you never bet against James Cameron.