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'Star Wars' (1977) -

Though the world of 'Star Wars' seems nothing but bankable today, back in the '70s the "epic space opera" was a hard sell, especially since it's said George Lucas' earlier versions weren't so great. United Artists, Universal, and Disney all rejected him.

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'Star Wars' (1977) -

Even when 20th Century Fox eventually financed the project, it was less for the idea and more of an investment in Lucas, since they were reportedly hoping he had another film like 'American Graffiti' in him and thought he'd give them first look rights if they helped him out with this project.

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'Dumb and Dumber' (1994) -

This cult-favorite comedy has legions of fans, but it was a very tough sell because even agents thought the title was, ironically, too stupid. The Farrelly brothers reportedly changed the name to 'A Power Tool is Not a Toy' just to get people to look at it!

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'Dumb and Dumber' (1994) -

Even after they eventually found a buyer in New Line Cinema, the film still struggled to go into production because the CEO wanted the stars to be two comedic actors from a list of 25 provided by the studio, but all the actors declined. Fortunately, the Farrellys found Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels instead.

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'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial' (1982) -

Steven Spielberg's smash hit about the little alien with the glowing finger, then called 'E.T. and Me,' had Columbia Pictures on board at first, but then they passed after calling the film “a wimpy Walt Disney movie,” and they allowed Universal to bid on the script instead.

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'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial' (1982) -

Of course, the film was a huge success and remains a jewel in Spielberg's career, but Columbia still made money off it anyway, since their deal with Universal gave them 5% of the net profits from the film. It's said that the little 5% stake made Columbia more money than any of the movies they released themselves that year!

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'Back to the Future' (1985) -

Among the reported 40+ rejections the film received, Columbia supposedly passed on the film for not being "sexual enough," but then Disney reportedly rejected it on the grounds that it was too sexually perverse. Co-writer Bob Gale said, "They told us that a mother falling in love with her son was not appropriate for a family film under the Disney banner."

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'Back to the Future' (1985) -

Universal made some great choices in the '80s, as they eventually picked up the film after its director/co-writer Robert Zemeckis earned some success with 1984's 'Romancing the Stone.' Of course, 'Back to the Future' was a hit and became the highest-grossing film of the year.

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'Home Alone' (1990) -

The iconic Christmas film has spawned an entire franchise—though the original will always be the best—and yet it almost never made it to screen. Warner Bros. had originally intended to finance and distribute the film, but when director Chris Columbus wanted to expand the budget, they shut the project down just three weeks before production started.

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'Home Alone' (1990) -

Warner also put the rights up for sale, which were then bought by 20th Century Fox. The budget of the film ended up being US$18 million, and the film wound up grossing a worldwide total of US$476.7 million.

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'Little Miss Sunshine' (2006) -

Though this quirky film about a dysfunctional family has become a lasting favorite among audiences, the fact that it was two first-time directors who'd bought the script from Matthew Broderick's former assistant and had zero star power were hurdles in getting it picked up. Various studios passed, and though Focus Features (then USA Films) showed interest, they also eventually passed.

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'Little Miss Sunshine' (2006) -

Only when one of the producers decided to self-finance out of sheer belief in the story did it enter production. The film turned out to be a massive success and studios entered a bidding war over it after its premiere, with Fox Searchlight ultimately winning. The film earned the Oscars for Best Supporting Actor (for Alan Arkin) and Best Original Screenplay, and was nominated for Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress (for Abigail Breslin).

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'Pulp Fiction' (1994) -

'Pulp Fiction' co-writer Roger Avary said that had it not been for Harvey and Bob Weinstein, the script would have died in the hands of TriStar Pictures. "We turned it in and they said 'this is the worst screenplay that this film company has ever been handed. This is awful. It's not funny. It makes no sense," he said.

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'Pulp Fiction' (1994) -

The Weinsteins picked it up and gave Tarantino the power to make the script as it was with Miramax. "Not a single thing was really changed. Some things were removed, there were a couple of scenes that were taken out in editing, but truth be told, Quentin was given complete and total command to make that movie exactly as he sees it in his head." It won the Palme d'Or and became a cult favorite film.

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'Psycho' (1960) -

Alfred Hitchcock's crown jewel was once treated like a lowly pebble by Paramount, who had an existing contract promising that the director's next film would be made by them. But Paramount did not like "anything about it at all" and found the book upon which it's based "too repulsive" and "impossible for films."

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'Psycho' (1960) -

Paramount virtually left Hitchcock to make it on his own, denying him his usual budget and instead signing over 60% of the movie's gross—fully believing the film would be a flop. Now, of course, the pioneering slasher flick is highly regarded as one of the greatest films of all time.

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'Boogie Nights' (1997) -

A document made public from Fox actually explains why they rejected Paul Thomas Anderson's epic '70s-based film, including that they considered the concept and storyline to be "POOR," while the characterization and dialogue rated only "FAIR."

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'Boogie Nights' (1997) -

The rights to 'Boogie Nights' were then eventually bought by New Line Cinema, and the film soon became a huge critical success.

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'Toy Story' (1995) -

The beloved animated tale had quite a rocky history before it became a critically acclaimed hit. Former Disney animator John Lasseter pitched the idea of a fully computer-animated film to Disney but they rejected it, so he went on and co-founded Pixar and made a short film that got Disney's attention.

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'Toy Story' (1995) -

Disney then approached Pixar to create a feature-length computer-animated film, and the first script for 'Toy Story' was approved in 1993. However, after production started, executives still rejected storyboards and requested re-writes, and even Tom Hanks noted that Woody's character was terrible. After the first half of the movie was done, a Disney executive stopped the whole production.

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'Toy Story' (1995) -

But Lasseter wasn't ready to give up. He reportedly asked the studio's head for one more chance, which he eventually agreed to. Three months of hard work later, the Pixar team presented a new script and the film was back in production 1994.

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'Twilight' (2008) -

This wildly successful franchise, adapted from the wildly successful books, surprisingly had a bumpy road to production. The rights were first sold to MTV, then to Paramount. But after they'd drafted a script, Paramount put it in turnaround, meaning they could sell the rights to another studio.

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'Twilight' (2008) -

"We went shopping to every studio around, but everyone passed. Every studio passed," producer Mark Morgan said. Of course, it eventually found its home at Summit Entertainment, and no matter what anyone says about the quality of this film franchise, it brought in huge amounts of money and launched people's careers.

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'The Exorcist' (1973) -

Perhaps it's unsurprising that no one wanted to touch the script for the controversial film at first. "I could paper the walls of my bathroom with rejection slips," said William Peter Blatty, author of the screenplay and the novel upon which it was based. But then he had a stroke of luck...

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'The Exorcist' (1973) -

When a scheduled guest dropped out from 'The D i c k Cavett Show,' Blatty stepped in and his appearance on the show made the novel really take off. After it became a bestseller, Warner Bros. took notice.

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'Being John Malkovich' (1999) -

Charlie Kaufman's films are now regarded as cinematic works of art, but his script for this off-beat dramedy was rejected by numerous executives of various studios. Kaufman didn't give up, and he sent the script to Francis Ford Coppola, who passed it on to his then-son-in-law Spike Jonze, who agreed to direct.

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'Being John Malkovich' (1999) -

Jonze even got producers attached, but studios still rejected it, including New Line Cinema, whose chairman Robert Shaye reportedly asked: "Why the f— can't it be 'Being Tom Cruise'?" Even John Malkovich had his reservations, since his name would be associated with either the flop or the fictionalized version of himself. But eventually the film was finished and distributed by USA Films, and of course it was a huge success with three Oscar nominations, including Best Original Screenplay.

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'American Graffiti' (1973) -

George Lucas had a lot of experience with rejection even before 'Star Wars.' He penned a screenplay based on his teen years, but United Artists, who'd made his debut feature, rejected it because they didn't see potential and didn't want to license all the vintage pop songs he envisioned.

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'American Graffiti' (1973) -

Lucas reportedly then shopped it around to other studios like Fox, MGM, Columbia, and Paramount, but they all rejected it. Finally Universal picked it up, but on the condition that he made it on a very tight budget. That may have made the film harder to produce, but it ended up being one of the most profitable films in history.

Sources: (Mental Floss) (Bored Panda) (ScreenCrush) (The Top Tens)

See also: Successful TV shows that were rejected before becoming smash hits

© NL Beeld