10 Woefully Troubled Film Shoots That Derailed Major Movies
9. American Graffiti's Production Had To Be Completely Moved After Two Days
American Graffiti is a much-praised film that launched George Lucas career to heady new heights. The world probably wouldnt have Star Wars if it werent for the success of this fifties throwback. Youd be forgiven then for thinking that everything probably went swimmingly on the set of such a beloved film. Youd be wrong, though. The production of American Graffiti was plagued with problems. The films shooting permits were revoked after just one day and night due to noise complaints from local California businesses, meaning that production had to up sticks by twenty miles to a different town after only 48 hours. And things only got worse from there Harrison Ford was involved in a bar fight and subsequently got arrested, Lucas hotel room was set alight, Richard Dreyfuss got a gash on his head after being thrown into a swimming pool (before filming his close ups), and a mishap during the famous drag race scene endangered the lives of two camera men, who were very nearly run over. American Graffiti goes a long way to proving that production woes arent always the death of a movie. All these issues would have derailed and doomed lesser films, but somehow the young George Lucas held it together. If only he'd retained this magic touch long enough to save the Star Wars prequels.
