10 Movies Disowned By Their Screenwriters

5. Gore Vidal - Caligula

Gore Vidal had long been a respected writer by the time Penthouse magazine founder Bob Guccione agreed to finance production of Vidal's script about the infamously indulgent Roman Emperor Caligula. Guccione's intention was to make a "porn epic" with Penthouse Pet models and respected actors, including Malcolm McDowell as Caligula, Peter O'Toole, and Helen Mirren. Vidal's script contained too much homosexual content for Guccione's taste, so director Tinto Brass tossed out much of Vidal's work and had the writer removed from the set even though the film's working title was "Gore Vidal's Caligula."

Ultimately Caligula has no credited screenwriters -- its sole writing credit is "Adapted from a Screenplay by Gore Vidal," though Vidal sued to try to have his name removed entirely because it had strayed so far from his original script. Brass was also eventually kicked off the film during editing because Guccione wanted to include more sex scenes in the movie.

Though Caligula was initially successful at the box office despite outraged critical reviews, its massive budget and legal fights that stopped its release in some territories on moral grounds prevented it from making a profit.