Scandals can either make or break a movie’s box office performance. Controversies can help to attract more people who want to see what all the fuss is about, or they’ll just scare everyone away. So, naturally, controversies and scandals aren’t always the right answer. You really don’t want people to associate your movie with something horrible like sexual abuse, or racism, do you? Here are the top 7 movies destroyed by saucy scandals.
1. Amityville: The Awakening (2017)
Two words: Harvey Weinstein. Even though he had nothing to do with producing this movie, it was still distributed by Dimension Films (owned by Weinstein Company), and that was all it took for people to judge. On the one hand, I understand and see where the viewers are coming from, but on the other hand, hundreds of crew members worked their butts off to bring you this film. Something-something… “the sins of our fathers”, I guess.
2. The Passion of the Christ (2004)
Who ordered a story of Jesus with an unhealthy dose of gore and side of graphic torture? Oh, it was Mel Gibson, of course… Yeah, you probably don’t want your kids to see this version of the New Testament. People can forgive historical inaccuracies, but not anti-Semitism. Especially in a movie about Jesus himself.
3. Ghost in the Shell (2017)
A Caucasian actress Scarlett Johansson is playing Motoko Kusanagi (who is Japanese). People were so pissy about this subject. Yes, Kusanagi was originally Japanese but, it’s in the title – “Ghost in the Shell”! Her consciousness can be uploaded into any body, and in manga everyone looks unnatural anyway. I feel sorry that the movie flopped, especially since they addressed the racial issue.
4. Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
During the filming of the “Twilight Zone” anthology movie, something horrible happened. Some of the pyrotechnics and a helicopter stunt went completely sideways, killing Vic Morrow and two young child actors. What’s even worse is that the 2 kids, age 6 and 7, were actually illegal workers.
5. The Interview (2014)
Wow, it’s already been 4 years? I still remember what a huge deal this was. That day when Columbia Pictures chickened out when North Korea threatened to nuke the US and some terrorists were supposed to hit the cinemas screening The Interview… Oof, it’s going to be hard to forget this one!
6. The Birth of a Nation (2016)
In 1999 Nate Parker was accused of rape, but the charges didn’t stick. 17 years later his movie “The Birth of a Nation” comes out, and it’s about a dude who’s looking for revenge after he was raped. And the story was co-written by Jean McGianni Celestin, the person who originally accused Parker.
7. All the Money in the World (2017)
The final movie on this list is “All the Money in the World”, that starred Kevin Spacey… right until the sexual abuse accusations hit the fan. Spacey’s role was recast and all the scenes reshot.
