Making a movie is already an expensive process. When a production goes wrong, however, the costs can become enormous.

A delayed shoot, a destroyed set, a major rewrite or a decision to film an entire sequence again can add millions of dollars to a movie’s budget.

Some of Hollywood’s most expensive production problems have become legendary. From massive sets destroyed by weather to movies that needed extensive reshoots, these stories show just how quickly a film can become more expensive than anyone originally expected.

Here are some of the most expensive and fascinating movie production mistakes and setbacks ever documented.

Waterworld and the Set That Became a Financial Nightmare

Few movies are as closely associated with production problems as Waterworld.

The 1995 Kevin Costner movie was originally planned with a production budget of around $100 million. As filming continued, however, the costs increased dramatically, eventually reaching an estimated $175 million.

One of the biggest problems was the decision to build enormous structures in the ocean.

The production faced difficult weather conditions, including strong winds and a hurricane that damaged a major set. The movie also went through rewrites and other production setbacks.

The result was a production that became one of Hollywood’s most famous examples of a movie going far beyond its original budget.

Interestingly, Waterworld eventually earned more money worldwide than its production cost, so calling it simply a financial failure doesn’t tell the entire story.

Cleopatra Had to Start Over

If there is one classic example of a production spiraling out of control, it is Cleopatra.

The 1963 historical epic starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton suffered from delays, changes in cast and production problems.

The original director was replaced, filming moved from England to Rome and major sets had to be rebuilt.

Taylor also became seriously ill during production, requiring an emergency tracheotomy and causing additional delays.

Perhaps the most astonishing detail is how much material was filmed.

According to the Los Angeles Times, director Joseph Mankiewicz wrote and revised the movie during production and ended up with an enormous amount of footage. The final movie was eventually released with a runtime of more than three and a half hours.

The production cost around $40 million at the time, an extraordinary amount for 1963.

Adjusted for inflation, that figure becomes even more remarkable.

Titanic Nearly Became Hollywood’s Biggest Disaster

Today, Titanic is remembered as one of the most successful movies ever made.

Before its release, however, the production was widely viewed as a major financial risk.

The budget reportedly grew from around $110 million to approximately $200 million during production.

The filmmakers constructed a huge replica of the ship, built a new studio in Mexico and created enormous water tanks for the production.

The ship replica alone was approximately 90% the length of the original vessel.

The movie also took significantly longer to shoot than originally planned.

At the time, the growing budget generated serious concern within the industry.

But unlike many troubled productions, Titanic ultimately transformed its enormous costs into an extraordinary box-office success.

The lesson was unusual: sometimes spending more does not destroy a movie—if the finished film delivers something audiences have never seen before.

World War Z Had to Rethink Its Ending

World War Z had a different kind of problem.

The production reportedly discovered that a significant portion of the movie’s ending wasn’t working.

Instead of simply accepting the existing version, the filmmakers rewrote and reshot approximately 40 minutes of material.

That was an enormous undertaking.

Large sections of the production had already been completed, meaning the studio had to spend additional money to create a new conclusion.

The changes, combined with other production expenses, pushed the movie’s budget to around $200 million according to contemporary reporting.

It is a good example of how an apparently small creative problem—an ending that doesn’t work—can become one of the most expensive problems on an entire production.

Justice League and the Cost of Reshoots

Justice League is another famous example of how expensive additional filming can become.

The movie underwent extensive reshoots after Joss Whedon took over from Zack Snyder during post-production.

Reports at the time estimated that the reshoots cost approximately $25 million, considerably more than a typical round of additional filming. The movie’s overall budget was reported to have reached around $300 million.

The production also faced complicated scheduling problems because its actors were working on other projects.

One particularly famous issue involved Henry Cavill.

While filming additional Justice League scenes, Cavill was also working on Mission: Impossible – Fallout, where he had a mustache. Paramount did not allow him to shave it, meaning the mustache had to be digitally removed from his Justice League scenes.

What might sound like a tiny detail became part of a much larger and very expensive production problem.

When a Movie Becomes Too Big to Control

These productions reveal an important truth about filmmaking.

A movie isn’t just a camera, actors and a script.

Large productions involve thousands of people, enormous sets, locations, transportation, special effects, schedules and contracts.

One problem can create another.

A delayed actor can delay an entire scene.

A damaged set can require reconstruction.

A rewritten script can require new locations.

And reshooting finished material means paying for many of those elements again.

That is why movie budgets can grow so quickly.

The Most Expensive Mistake Isn’t Always an Actual Mistake

There is also an important distinction between a mistake and a production decision that simply doesn’t work as planned.

Building the massive sets for Titanic wasn’t necessarily a mistake.

The decision produced some of the movie’s most memorable visuals.

Likewise, the enormous ocean sets in Waterworld were part of the movie’s ambition.

The problem is that filmmakers often have to make huge financial commitments before they know exactly how everything will turn out.

Sometimes those decisions pay off.

Sometimes they become extremely expensive lessons.

Why Hollywood Keeps Taking These Risks

Despite the famous disasters, major studios continue making enormous productions.

The reason is simple: successful movies can generate huge returns.

A movie that costs hundreds of millions of dollars can also become a global franchise, sell home entertainment, attract streaming audiences and create merchandise opportunities.

That makes filmmaking an unusual business.

Studios are constantly balancing enormous risks against the possibility of enormous rewards.

Final Thoughts

Some of Hollywood’s most expensive movie mistakes weren’t caused by one person making one bad decision.

They were the result of productions becoming increasingly complicated.

Waterworld battled weather and massive sets. Cleopatra faced illness, delays and major production changes. Titanic became far more expensive than initially expected. World War Z needed a substantially reworked ending, while Justice League faced costly reshoots and scheduling problems.

The fascinating part is that not every expensive production problem leads to a bad movie.

Sometimes, the additional money produces something audiences remember for decades.

Other times, it becomes a cautionary tale about how quickly Hollywood’s biggest productions can get out of control.