10 INSANE Reasons Movies Were So Expensive
4. Production Took TWO YEARS - Town & Country
Though it didn't cost quite as much as How Do You Know, Peter Chelsom's 2001 rom-com Town & Country was an even bigger financial disaster.
Production began on a sensible enough budget of $44 million - with star Warren Beatty being paid $10 million upfront for his lead role - but by the time it was over, that figure had exploded to an absurd $105 million.
Shooting was intended to run from June through to October or November 1998, but was still going in April 1999 - a whole five months after the scheduled wrap.
The reasons for this were myriad, from Beatty's request for many takes per scene, to the fact that the script wasn't finished before shooting started.
As Garry Shandling and Diane Keaton had to leave to shoot other projects, filming was suspended for 10 months. In the interim, screenwriter Buck Henry was hired to pen a new draft of the script to the tune of $3 million.
Reshoots ultimately took place in the spring of 2000 and lasted two months, featuring numerous elaborate sequences which further pushed the budget skyward.
And there was no relief when Town & Country finally came out, as it was critically panned, received three Razzie nominations, and grossed a pitiful $10.4 million worldwide.