History OvershadowedByControversy / LiveActionFilms

* ''Film/TheCrow'' is often remembered for the tragic death of its star Creator/BrandonLee during filming as the result of injuries sustained from a malfunctioning prop gun. Although it was a critical and financial success, most still remember it as the final film in his career that Lee never lived to see finished. And when Michael Massee, who played [[TheDragon Funboy]], passed away in 2016, [[NeverLiveItDown the one thing every obituary mentioned about him was that he fired that fatal shot]], even though he was so horrified by it that he kept a low profile for years afterward. The only other thing that the film tends to be remembered for nowadays is being the inspiration for the DarkerAndEdgier persona used by pro wrestler Wrestling/{{Sting}} from the late-90s onward.

** Rowling's increasingly controversial posts vilifying transgender women ignited further controversy related to ''Film/FantasticBeastsTheSecretsOfDumbledore'', with fear of people boycotting the film due to her involvement. This became more heated after the film's trailer was released, as it significantly downplayed Rowling's involvement in the film with her name being barely visible. The film itself also contains dialogue that some saw as an attempt to defend her comments (with one line stating that all views should be heard even if some find them repugnant). This is seen as a factor in the film's below-average performance at the box office (being the lowest-grossing film in the Harry Potter franchise) which led to the apparent cancellation of the rest of the series.

* ''Film/TheCurse'' is a low-budget horror movie that ended up failing both critically and financially before falling into obscurity. Nowadays, anyone that remembers it likely does so for Creator/WilWheaton's recollections of how much of a nightmare filming it was for him ([[StageMom his parents]] forced him to do it despite his protests and he and his sister were regularly endangered and abused on set), to the point it ended up giving him PTSD.

* Most public discussion about ''Film/TheGreenInferno'' is arguments over director Creator/EliRoth's publicity campaign at the time of its eventual release, which was seen by many as a direct appeal to [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic the alt-right]] that can be summed up as: "Come and enjoy [[SoapboxSadie social justice warriors]] like the ones you hate getting sexually assaulted and horribly butchered by the evil indigenous cannibal tribes who they thought needed defending!".

* Most public discussion about ''Film/TheGreenInferno'' is arguments over director Creator/EliRoth's publicity campaign at the time of its eventual release, which was seen by many as a direct appeal to [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic the alt-right]] that can be summed up as "Come and watch Social Justice Warriors like the ones you hate get horribly butchered by the evil indigenous cannibal tribes who they thought needed defending!".

* The 1937 film adaptation of ''Literature/TheGoodEarth'' is one of the most notorious cases of whitewashing in film history, with the largely Asian cast of characters mostly played by white actors in yellowface. Adding insult to injury was not just the fact that Luise Rainer won an Oscar for a role in the film originally intended for the genuinely Chinese Anna May Wong, but that the studio even offered Wong the villain role after turning her down.

* The Creator/{{Toho}} film, ''Film/HalfHuman'' (notable for being the first monster movie they produced after ''Film/Godzilla1954'') has never been officially released on home video outside of the 1958 American dub (and even then, only on VHS). It's strongly believed that the film was removed from circulation in Japan for its offensive depiction of "buraku" (a term associated with the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burakumin Burakumin]] Japanese ethnic minority group, which were considered the absolute lowest social class in Japan for centuries) villagers as violent and deformed inbreds; discrimination against Burakumin began to be increasingly frowned upon after the film's initial theatrical release, leading to Toho [[OldShame shunning the film]]. To this day, the only way to see the original Japanese cut is via bootlegs.

* The Japanese disaster film ''Film/PropheciesOfNostradamus'' became infamous for its gruesome depiction of mutated human beings, which was considered so disturbing that the studio was forced to withdraw the original uncut version from circulation. In addition, survivors of the UsefulNotes/AtomicBombingsOfHiroshimaAndNagasaki were appalled by the film's depiction of radiation victims as vicious, mindless monsters, believing such a portrayal would only serve to perpetuate discrimination against those affected by radiation exposure in real life.

* It's nearly impossible to talk about ''Film/{{Ishtar}}'' without mentioning its TroubledProduction, a vortex of protracted delays, ballooning costs, and on-set feuds between cast and crew members. Inevitably for a shoot that made headlines for all the wrong reasons, the finished film was labelled a disappointment by contemporary critics and became a notorious BoxOfficeBomb (recouping less than a third of its $51 million budget) and a punchline of "bad movie" jokes for a quarter of a century after its release;[[note]] Gary Larson drew a strip for ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' entitled "Hell's video store" in which said establishment is entirely stocked with copies of ''Ishtar'', inspired purely by the film's bad reputation. When he later saw and enjoyed it, he publicly apologised for the joke.[[/note]] director Creator/ElaineMay later snarked that if everyone who professed to hate the film had paid to see it, she "would be a rich woman". The film's reputation has improved since the early 2010s, but discussion surrounding it remains dominated by the production chaos.

* It's nearly impossible to talk about ''Film/{{Ishtar}}'' without mentioning its budget-destroying TroubledProduction, a vortex of on-set feuds between cast and crew members. It was labelled a disappointment by contemporary critics and became a notorious BoxOfficeBomb (recouping less than a third of its $51 million budget) and a punchline of "bad movie" jokes for a quarter of a century after its release;[[note]] Gary Larson drew a strip for ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' entitled "Hell's video store" in which said establishment is entirely stock with copies of ''Ishtar'', inspired purely by the film's bad reputation. When he later saw and enjoyed it, he publicly apologised for the joke.[[/note]] director Creator/ElaineMay later snarked that if everyone who professed to hate the film had paid to see it, she "would be a rich woman". The film's reputation has improved since the early 2010s, but discussion surrounding it remains dominated by the production chaos.

* Most public discussion about ''Film/TheGreenInferno'' is arguments over director Creator/EliRoth's publicity campaign at the time of its eventual release, which was seen by many as a direct appeal to the alt-right that can be summed up as "watch Social Justice Warriors get horribly killed by the evil indigenous people who they thought needed defending!".

* Every creative person in Hollywood with longstanding connections to Creator/MiramaxFilms and its successor Creator/TheWeinsteinCompany have come under fire after the Harvey Weinstein (co-founder of both studios) [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Weinstein_sexual_abuse_allegations sexual abuse scandals]] (covered more in-depth on the Real Life page), particularly since his behavior was apparently an open secret within the entire film industry.

* ''Film/SoundOfFreedom'', a film about Tim Ballard's efforts to stop child sex trafficking, was dogged with controversies upon its unexpected box office success. Chief among them were star [[Creator/JimCaviezel Jim Caviezel's]] support of the [=QAnon=] movement [[note]]A conspiracy theory that believes that high-ranking Democratic politicians and celebrities are part of a [[SatanicPanic satanic cabal]] that abducts and sexually abuses children. The movement has been noted for several domestic terror incidents, notably the January 6 Capitol riots.[[/note]], including accusations that the film endorses said movement (the film's director, Alejandro Monteverde, has denied this claim), and for the studio's "pay-it-forward" campaign to buy an extra ticket for others to see the film being accused of being an [[AstroTurf AstroTurfing]] campaign.

* ''Film/Music2021'', directed by pop singer Music/{{Sia}}, quickly became controversial even before its release for Sia's decision to have a neurotypical actress (Creator/MaddieZiegler) play the role of the titular non-verbal autistic girl. The casting was [[QuestionableCasting harshly criticized]] by the autistic community, which was not helped at all by Sia's [[DearNegativeReader reaction to the criticism]] where she insulted people who opposed the casting choice, and the fact that Ziegler [[ProductionPosse had spent many years as Sia’s main backup dancer as well as appearing in many of her music videos]], so the decision to cast her was seen as a blatant act of cronyism. After release, the movie gained backlash for its portrayal of autism. Music's body language and behavior was accused of resembling an offensive caricature of a mentally handicapped person, [[note]]Reportedly, Ziegler recognized the potential for offense and broke down in tears during filming[[/note]] and a scene depicted her being subjected to a dangerous prone restraint.[[note]]Sia claimed that the scene would be removed from later editions of the film, and that a disclaimer against the use of such restraints would be added, [[LyingCreator but these changes were never made]][[/note]] All of these problems were made even worse by Sia approving support from Autism Speaks, a highly controversial charity with messaging that some have called eugenicist, around the time of the film's release.

* ''Film/Music2021'', directed by pop singer Music/{{Sia}}, quickly became controversial even before its release for Sia's decision to have a neurotypical actress (Creator/MaddieZiegler) play the role of the titular non-verbal autistic girl. The casting was [[QuestionableCasting harshly criticized]] by the autistic community, which was not helped at all by Sia's [[DearNegativeReader reaction to the criticism]] where she insulted people who opposed the casting choice, and the fact that Ziegler [[ProductionPosse had spent many years as Sia’s main backup dancer]], so the decision to cast her was seen as a blatant act of cronyism. After release, the movie gained backlash for its portrayal of autism. Music's body language and behavior was accused of resembling an offensive caricature of a mentally handicapped person, [[note]]Reportedly, Ziegler recognized the potential for offense and broke down in tears during filming[[/note]] and a scene depicted her being subjected to a dangerous prone restraint.[[note]]Sia claimed that the scene would be removed from later editions of the film, and that a disclaimer against the use of such restraints would be added, [[LyingCreator but these changes were never made]][[/note]] All of these problems were made even worse by Sia approving support from Autism Speaks, a highly controversial charity with messaging that some have called eugenicist, around the time of the film's release.

* ''Film/TheFlash2023'' is known less for being an adaptation of ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'' featuring Creator/MichaelKeaton's return as [[Film/Batman1989 his iteration]] [[Film/BatmanReturns of Batman]] and more for it's notoriously TroubledProduction after spending ''years'' in DevelopmentHell, the multiple behind-the-scenes changes [[ExecutiveMeddling made by the studio]], a planned spinoff film involving ''Batgirl'' being cancelled due to tax write-offs by Warner Brothers Discovery's president David Zazlav, and ''especially'' the numerous legal scandals involving the film's lead actor Creator/EzraMiller. All this led the film to be one of the biggest {{Box Office Bomb}}s of all time, and any discussion regarding the film will always circle back to Miller's many troubles and how it significantly hurt the movie's chances.

* ''Film/TheLastAirbender'' became infamous prior to its release for [[RaceLift changing the races]] of several characters (most infamously Katara and Sokka, who were dark-skinned in [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender the show]], being played by white actors in the film, as well as the villainous Fire Nation, who were pale-skinned in the show, being played by actors of Indian and Middle-Eastern descent), which garnered [[https://io9.gizmodo.com/avatar-casting-makes-fans-see-white-5111680 accusations of racism]] and led to the coining of the term "Racebending".