10 Movies That Were Nearly Lost Completely

Monarch, a British period drama about the life of Henry VIII with T.P. McKenna in the leading role, is the most recent film to be considered lost before being found again. The film revolves around one night of Henry VIII’s life as he becomes increasingly paranoid about his assassination. An independent affair, it was produced in 2000 using 35mm Kodak film stock and Arriflex cameras, and was filmed in the very place that Henry VIII was born: Greenwich.

Monarch was thought lost very shortly after its release at the Mill Valley Film Festival. It didn’t enjoy the greatest of receptions upon original release and was quickly forgotten. It wasn’t until 2014 that it would be picked up again for distribution. The original negative was discovered 14 years after being lost, and the 52 cans of film reel were sent to Premier to be restored for redistribution. Every frame was scanned in high definition, and more than 10,000 particles were removed by hand for the film’s restoration.

Whilst this movie originally earned poor reviews in 2000, the 2014 re-release in 2014 was met with a much warmer reception, with critics now praising its cast and pace.