8 Times Movie Studios Went Too Far

5. The Insanity Of The Abyss

Megan Fox Jennifer's Body
Fox

Can all of the blame for The Abyss' insane shoot be placed at the door of 20th Century Fox? Absolutely not. But the studio could have stepped in to stop the ridiculous measures that director James Cameron put in place during production on that 1989 film.

Cameron is a director known for taking things to the extreme, and that's certainly what he did when filming The Abyss.

For this shoot, the cast and crew of The Abyss were submerged 50 ft underwater for six months' worth of six-day, 70-hour weeks. Things even got to a point where the filmmaker refused comfort breaks for those involved with the picture - instead encouraging his cast and crew to relieve themselves in their wetsuits.

Throw in power cuts that left the shoot in pitch-black darkness in the depths of the ocean, and you could understand why the headlining duo of Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio have refused to ever discuss the movie since the day they stopped filming.

Those at 20th Century Fox were fully aware what James Cameron was doing to the cast and crew involved in The Abyss, and by not intervening in this insanity they are complicit in what went on during production of the movie.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.