15 Movies You Thought Were Doomed (But Weren't)

12. World War Z

World War Z is one of the most infamously troubled big-budget productions of recent times, with director Marc Forster clashing with original screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski to the extent that he was eventually replaced with Michael Carnahan.

Even mere weeks before shooting was set to start, Forster hadn't settled on the design of the zombies, and things only got worse from there.

When shooting started, the movie had to contend with a fast-bloating budget due to having two film crews working simultaneously and unexpected delays in filming, while Forster would routinely argue with both star Brad Pitt and other crew members.

By the time the movie's third act was being shot in Hungary, Paramount started to panic and reduced the remaining budget, causing many planned scenes to be abandoned, while a Hungarian anti-terror squad raided the set after the production accidentally obtained real firearms.

In mid-2012, seven weeks of reshoots took place in Hungary without original cinematographer Robert Richardson (who had an awful time on the original shoot), reportedly constituting approximately one-third of the entire movie. Forster and Pitt apparently didn't speak during reshoots, and would only communicate through a third party.

Lost's Damon Lindelof and Drew Goddard were meanwhile brought in to heavily rewrite the third act, with the original planned climax being scrapped entirely and a more generic, less-political finale instead being conceived.

Expectations were through the floor when the movie hit cinemas, having been delayed six months from its original December 2012 date, and though few would call it a great movie, it's nevertheless pretty decent as far as PG-13 zombie movies go.

Critics gave it broadly positive notices and the film shocked most analysts by grossing $540 million worldwide, vindicating the exorbitant $190 million that was ultimately spent on getting it right.