Chaos on the Set

Hollywood doesn’t run itself like other businesses. In most cases, think of how you would want your operation run — chances are good that, in the movie business, things are done the opposite way.

Large sums of money are at stake. Big stars are involved. And yet, chaotic movie shoots are so often simply the nature of the beast — especially with blockbusters, which means gambling with hundreds of millions of dollars.

While Hollywood may not be like other businesses, it is still all about the bottom line, even when chaos becomes the norm.

The media and audiences love to gobble up gossipy stories of the behind-the-scenes drama of their favorite movies, and there are plenty of those to go around. “Suicide Squad” is the one of the latest victims of production-trouble rumors.

The Hollywood Reporter detailed some of those supposed dramas in a piece entitled, “Suicide Squad’s Secret Drama: Rushed Production, Competing Cuts, High Anxiety.” It chronicled a production ravaged by an inexperienced director, wasted money, studio interference, and a looming release date set in stone.

Whether the “Squad” rumors are true or not, it speaks to a larger truth. While Hollywood may not be like other businesses, it is still all about the bottom line, even when chaos becomes the norm.

With release dates for films set years in advance and millions being spent, a set in turmoil often winds up the end result from sheer pressure alone. While it’s not a model that typically should work, it can pay off big for producers. “Squad,” for instance, opened to a record-shattering August debut, pulling in over $135 million.

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And “Squad” is not the only big-budget franchise film making headlines for rumored behind-the-scenes drama.

Speculation is in the air over personality clashes on the set of “Fast 8,” the upcoming “Fast and Furious” sequel. In an Instagram rant, The Rock blasted unnamed co-stars for making his shooting experience unpleasant.

“My female co-stars are always amazing,” he wrote. “My male co-stars, however, are a different story. Some conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals, while others don’t. The ones that don’t are too chicken sh*t to do anything about it anyway.”

So why do big Hollywood productions defy the odds and succeed — and others crumble — while having troubled shoots?

“The larger the budget the greater the challenges. One thing remains constant with big budget movies: The need for strong leadership,” actor Brian Mahoney (“The Boondock Saints,” “Furious 7”) tells LifeZette.

“Sometimes it’s a producer, sometimes the star, but most often the buck usually stops with one name, one leader, and that is usually the director.”

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Leadership in blockbusters is sometimes needed just to cross the finish line. Studios often invest hundreds of millions without even a solid script. They will green-light a movie with a “working script,” which is then rewritten during shooting.

Add to that testy talent, moody artists, and thousands of people working in every department to realize a vision, and strong leadership becomes the difference between life and death.

“Waterworld,” released in 1997, was such a fiasco during production that director Kevin Reynolds actually left at one point. Star Kevin Costner, who was rumored to be spending millions in digital effects to fix his receding hairline, was forced to take the reins of a movie suffering from sinking sets, on-set rewrites, and a prolonged production that had cast and crew working over 150 days — most of that away from home.

As for “Squad,” the director and studio deny the production was any more troubled than usual.

“Every film moment, every scene matters. Yet I have been on big-budget sets where the director absolutely does not care about the smaller roles because he is so overwhelmed by the stars,” says Mahoney. “I once had a director tell me: ‘OK, just do what you’re going to do,’ and moved away to discuss a more ‘important’ scene coming up.”

Even classics such as “Apocalypse Now” suffered chaotic film productions. Director Francis Ford Coppola went bankrupt while filming, Marlon Brando proved a difficult actor unwilling to learn lines or get along with fellow actors, the set was destroyed by a typhoon, and many of the cast spent their days in an inebriated state. Production delays and budget troubles were so common that the strange journey was chronicled in a documentary, “Hearts of Darkness.”

As for “Squad,” the director and studio deny the production was any more troubled than usual.

Mahoney, who worked on “Squad,” says, “This summer’s blockbuster, ‘Suicide Squad,’ would be the opposite example. Twice I have had the good fortune of working with director David Ayer, performing additional dialogue recording or ‘voice-over’ work in the editing room. He is constantly present in that room and oversees all aspects of his films down to the smallest details.”

Adds Mahoney, “As a former U.S. Army gun pilot, I was one of several vets, experts in our fields including actual Navy SEALS, who were all brought in to strengthen and perform precise military dialogue for the movie ‘Fury’ and ‘Suicide Squad.’ That kind of attention to detail shows in the final product.”