10 Movies That Did Crazy Things When They Ran Out Of Money
3. Planned Sets Were Replaced With Cardboard Cutouts - The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen
Terry Gilliam strikes again, this time not in a $400,000 Monty Python film but the $46.63 million 1988 fantasy flick The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.
Incredibly, the project was originally budgeted at just $23.5 million, which ballooned to roughly double that by the end of production, a figure which Gilliam predictably disputes.
Whatever the true price tag, plans to build a Moon city set at Pinewood Studios were scrapped because there literally wasn't the money to create them.
Gilliam, ever a man to thrive under pressure, decided instead to have the concept sketches of the city enlarged, printed, and stuck to giant plywood boards, which were then moved around by crew hands as necessary to imply movement and scale.
And so, when the Baron (John Neville) and Sally (Sarah Polley) arrive at the city, it has a surreal 2D aesthetic, which rather than suggest budgetary constraints feels totally on-brand for Gilliam's madcap vision.
Though the film was ultimately a massive commercial failure, grossing barely $8 million globally, it was at least nominated for four Oscars (including Best Art Direction and Best Visual Effects).