From start to finish, making a feature length film takes more than just a few weeks. But what people sometimes don’t realize is that films can go through significant delays, which can either help or hurt the project in the long run.

The Kevin Hart film, “The Upside” was released at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2017, but won’t be released until January 2019. The release of the film was stalled because it was initially going to be distributed by The Weinstein Company. Following sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein, the production company collapsed, leaving a nonexistent budget to promote the film. More than a year and a half later, alternative plans were made for the distribution.

Films like “The Upside” go through development issues for a variety of reasons. This doesn’t mean that such productions will be complete failures, however. With the right team behind a project, any film can be great, no matter how long it takes to make.

One major movie that took years to develop was “Deadpool.” Ryan Reynolds initially talked about starring as the character in 2003 after learning that Deadpool described himself as looking like “a cross between a Shar-Pei and Ryan Reynolds” in the comics. Due to legal issues with Fox and Reynold’s failures in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and the “Green Lantern,” the film was delayed. But “Deadpool” may never have been released if it weren’t for these failures. It wasn’t until the test footage from the movie was released in 2014, and reactions to it were positive, that talks of releasing it unfolded.

So in some cases, delays can benefit a film. “Jaws” famously went over budget during production due to the high costs of filming at sea, rewrites of the script on set and technical issues with the shark. Strong producers were willing to back the project, though, which allowed director Steven Spielberg to finish one of the greatest films ever made.

But other cases were not successful. The animated film “Foodfight!” was initially set for release in 2003 before the film’s animation hard drives were stolen in 2004. Then after missing several deadlines, the movie’s debtors made an ad in the Hollywood Reporter selling the rights for auction. “Foodfight!” bombed, both critically and commercially, over the course of its small release. This was a film that really never should have been made, as there was little backing behind the project to keep the film afloat, unlike “Deadpool.”

A more recent disappointment is “Passengers.” Jon Spaihts (“Doctor Strange,” “Prometheus”) originally wrote the screenplay in 2007. The screenplay was included as a part of the Black List, an annual survey of Hollywood’s most desired unproduced screenplays. Keanu Reeves was attached to the project at one point. Ultimately, the final product, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, was a disappointment, failing to launch a successful awards season run.

Whether “The Upside” is on the level of “Foodfight!” or “Jaws” remains to be seen. But there’s still a possibility that the film is great, as long as the team behind it put in the effort to elevate a troubled production.

Patrick Gunn is a sophomore broadcast journalism major. His column appears weekly in Pulp. You can email Patrick at pagunn@syr.edu.

Published on November 12, 2018 at 9:20 pm

Contact Patrick: pagunn@syr.edu