Not Every Movie Is Made By Nice People – Here Are 7 Films That Were Lowkey Sabotaged By Their Controversial Makers

Before he was accused of predatory rape, assault, and emotional abuse, Armie's star was on the rise. Death on the Nile, the highly anticipated sequel to Murder on the Orient Express, was to be the latest feather in his cap. However, the film was soon dragged into a huge controversy when Armie was hit with multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, abuse, and even cannibalism.

Suddenly, he was missing from press events and junkets for the 2022 mystery film, with publicists even commenting at the time that they had no idea how to promote the movie. It would end up being his final film before the actor disappeared from the spotlight, having been dropped by multiple projects and his agency.

Around the time of the movie's much anticipated release in 2020, the Chinese-born naturalised-American actor made comments in support of the brutal police crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. "I support the Hong Kong police; you can beat me up now", she wrote on Weibo, a social media platform similar to Twitter in China.

A call to boycott the movie began circulating on social media, with #BoycottMulan trending on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, but Disney chief creative officer Alan Horn only had this to say to The Hollywood Reporter: "It's not hard to offend somebody somewhere". The movie was eventually released on Disney+ on, with many still calling for a boycott. It ultimately bombed, earning $70 million from its $200 million budget.

Mel Gibson's anti-Semitism is well known lore at this point, despite the actor's protestations. Actor Winona Ryder has claimed several times in interviews that he made anti-Semitic remarks to her at a party in 1996, but probably the chief reason for this in his infamous 2004 biblical epic, The Passion of the Christ.

Many deemed the film to be anti-Semitic before it was even released, with New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind leading a rally against it at the Fox News offices back in 2003. Consequently, 20th Century Fox dropped out of distributing the film. The film was certainly a charged and divisive hit, which went on to become the fifth highest-grossing film of 2004, internationally. However, many felt the movie "included many frankly anti-Semitic details missing from the Gospels", with Roger Ebert calling it, "the most violent film I have ever seen".

J.K. Rowling's stance on the transgender community has been well publicised over the last few years. The Harry Potter author has been steadfast about the "material difference" between trans women and women, and even created a cis male serial killer character in her book Troubled Blood who dresses as a woman in order to hunt and murder cis women. Resultantly, fans have turned away from J.K., who many deem a TERF — trans-exclusionary radical feminist.

This outcry seems to have taken its toll at the box office. The most recent Fantastic Beasts movie – released in 2022 – grossed only $407 million worldwide, making it the lowest-grossing film in the Wizarding World franchise. Futhermore, it has since been reported that, at present, there will be no more instalments in the Fantastic Beasts franchise, despite fans initially being told that five films would be made.

One of the most exciting releases of 2021 was Steven Spielberg's remake of West Side Story, starring Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, and Rita Moreno. Unfortunately for musical fans, the movie was considerably marred by its association with Ansel Elgort. In 2020, the actor – who played the lead of Tony – was accused of sexual assault, which he vehemently denied. After that, several more women came forward to say they had received "predatory" messages from the actor.

He would go on to attend the New York premiere in November, appear on The Late Late Show, and take part in limited promotion for the film, but he did not appear at the 2022 Oscars. The film received a disappointing theatrical release, which some put down to a "challenging marketplace for both adult-driven releases and musicals".

It was actually during the press tour for Cold Pursuit in 2019 that Liam Neeson made controversial comments about wanting to kill a Black man. The Irish actor told The Independent that after he found out a friend had been raped by a Black person, "I went up and down areas with a cosh... hoping some [uses air quotes with fingers] 'black bastard' would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him."

The film was due to premiere in New York the day after the publication of the interview. Though the premiere went ahead, the red carpet component was suddenly cancelled with just two hours' notice due to the backlash against Liam's comments. The film ultimately flopped, earning only $10.8 million in movie theatres for its opening weekend.

The Flash opens in cinemas tomorrow, but reception for the movie so far has been more than divisive. Since 2020, Ezra has faced numerous accusations and a string of arrests, ranging from disorderly conduct to harassment, burglary, and grooming of minors. Despite this, they continue to promote the film, even appearing at last week's Los Angeles premiere where they walked the red carpet and posed with fans.

Many fans have called out both Ezra and Warner Bros. for ignoring the actor's actions and choosing to go ahead with the film. Writer and actor Issa Rae told Elle Magazine that the incident is a "microcosm of Hollywood", and warned of a "constant pattern of abuse that'll only persist if Hollywood continues to insist on being this way".