Top 10 Hollywood Gambles That Paid off Big Time
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for movie production decisions that were risky on a logistical, creative or financial level - but which ended up with critical and/or monetary success. Spoiler Alert! Which of these gambles would you have put your money on? Let us know in the comments.
#10: John Travolta
Top 10 John Travolta Performances
“Pulp Fiction” (1994)
Prior to his appearance in “Pulp Fiction,” John Travolta had a hugely successful movie career in the ‘70s in particular, gaining wide recognition and fame in films like “Saturday Night Fever” and “Grease”. However, as the 1990s rolled around, Travolta’s star had begun to fade and there were probably very few who would’ve ever thought of casting him as Vincent Vega. Lucky for him one of those people wasn’t Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino had written the role for Michael Madsen, but Tarantino had Travolta as a “strong, strong, strong second choice.” And while Madsen might’ve been good, Travolta was great. He killed the role (and Marvin), was nominated for an Oscar and saw a complete rejuvenation of his career.
#9: “The Blair Witch Project” (1999)
Top 5 Scariest Blair Witch Project Moments (Director Explains)
With the “Paranormal Activity” and “Cloverfield” series of films, for example, the ‘found footage’ niche is alive and well and a bankable part of the horror genre. But back in 1999 that wasn’t quite the case. In fact, when “The Blair Witch Project” hit theaters at the end of the previous century, the genre was so new, there were actual debates online about whether or not the footage was real and the movie was a documentary. Doing something new is often a gamble and in this case the fresh creative path taken with “The Blair Witch Project” paid off to the tune of a $250 million box office against a total production budget between $200,000 and $750,000.
#8: Daniel Craig as James Bond
Daniel Craig is BACK as James Bond in Next 007 Movie – The CineFiles Ep. 31
Following the end of Daniel Craig’s successful and acclaimed 5-film run, it might surprise some newer fans to learn how controversial his casting as 007 was at the time — although, if you were around in the mid-aughts it would’ve been hard to miss. Following the end of Pierce Brosnan’s reign as Bond with “Die Another Day” in 2002 the search began for a new super spy. And Craig’s casting was met with anything but universal approval from fans, with two major complaints being his height (Craig is about 5 feet and 10 inches tall) and his blonde hair. Bond had always been taller and darker-haired…but the complaints about his physical appearance sure stopped after he walked out of the ocean.
#7: Releasing “Top Gun: Maverick” Exclusively in Theaters
“Top Gun: Maverick” was originally set to be released in June 2020. And had the pandemic never happened, it would’ve been. But the pandemic did happen and that changed everything - but not for Tom Cruise. While Covid led to studios putting many previously theater-bound films onto various streaming platforms - or at least releasing them day-and-date online - that was never an option for Cruise. Despite pressure from the studio and others, he refused. As he told Jimmy Kimmel, “I would’ve held out for 10 years” — and when you’re Tom Cruise you have that kind of power. In the end it ended up being two years - not 10 - and a whopping almost one and a half billion dollar box office.
#6: Heath Ledger Cast as the Joker
Best Joker: Heath Ledger vs. Joaquin Phoenix
With all due respect to Jack Nicholson, Joaquin Phoenix and others, many fans think Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker in “The Dark Knight” is the greatest performance of said villain in the history of both film and television. However, while Christopher Nolan was convinced from the beginning that Ledger was the man for the job, many others weren’t as sure. And it wasn’t just fans either. The studio, as well as Nolan’s own brother - and co-writer of the film - were equally skeptical about his choice. To say the gamble paid off would be an understatement. And the same can be said for another Batman casting decision almost 20 years earlier, when comedic actor Michael Keaton (xref) was tapped to play the caped crusader.
#5: “Titanic” (1997)
Top 10 Titanic Stars: Where Are They Now?
They say that hindsight is 20/20, and in the case of “Titanic” hindsight is 2.2 billion - which is how much money the movie made initially at the box office on its way to becoming the highest grossing film ever, at the time. But while it might seem like an obvious hit now, “Titanic” was a huge gamble back in the mid-’90s, a gamble that had executives at Fox looking for help. They got that help when they sold Paramount the American distribution rights for $65 million - a venture that paid off 10-fold for them when the movie grossed over $650 million in North America. And then, of course, there were all the Oscars.
#4: Adapting the “Harry Potter” Book Series
While the ginormous success of the “Harry Potter” books made the film’s development rather obvious, its success wasn’t always guaranteed. Especially once Steven Spielberg turned down the opportunity to direct the first film, and Chris Columbus was announced as the man who would bring the Potterverse to the big screen. Sure, “Home Alone,” for example, was a fun and a bit edgy movie, but didn’t quite have the full breadth of darkness that is part of the “Harry Potter” epic. Then there was also the fact that the child actors were pretty much all unknown newcomers. But 8 movies and almost $8 billion later… we’d say the gamble paid off!
#3: “Star Wars” (1977)
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Say what you will about the new “Star Wars” movies they’ve been putting out for the last few decades, but there’s no denying the marketing muscle behind them. When there’s a new “Star Wars” movie you definitely know about it. Now, let's go back to 1977 and the release of the first movie by 20th Century Fox, retroactively officially known as “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope” . While the film became the highest-grossing movie up to that point, those big numbers weren’t expected by the studio. So much so that they didn’t provide much promotional support other than some posters and t-shirts. Although, knowing what we know now - to paraphrase Darth Vader, we find their lack of faith disturbing.
#2: Walt Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”
Animated movies - especially Disney ones - were a huge part of our collective childhood (and remain a part of many of our adulthoods as well). But while the idea of full-length animated films makes complete sense to today’s audiences, back in the 1930s it was anything but obvious. Well, except to Mr. Disney himself, who told his animators they were going to make a full-length “Snow White” film. Up until then the studio had been making only short movies, and there were many who predicted this attempt would fail miserably. But Walt went ahead and made half the movie to show it to the President of Bank of America who, following the screening, agreed to loan him $250,000. Adjusted for inflation the movie grossed over $1 billion.
#1: The MCU
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The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a juggernaut - and since it began in 2008 has become the highest-grossing media franchise ever. But let's go back to 2008 for a moment and recognize how big a gamble the whole thing was. We all love Iron Man now, but at the time he was a somewhat lesser-known character and a not so obvious choice to launch a cinematic universe. Then there was hiring director Jon Favreau - whose previous directorial effort was “Zathura”. And let's not forget about (xref) Robert Downey Jr. A great actor for sure - but a guy whose list of personal and legal issues in the ‘90s had made him literally uninsurable. Executives weren’t sold on him, but Favreau put his foot down for RDJ.
