# Movies shot a long time before they were released **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 21, 2013, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shot-a-long-time-before-they-were-released/650925 "2013-02-21T00:22:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2019, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shot-a-long-time-before-they-were-released/650925/81 "2019-11-18T17:30:26Z")
_The Man Who Saved the Empire_, about British PM David Lloyd George, was finished in 1918 but got tied up in litigation (among other things Lloyd George decided he didn’t want it shown). It was thought to have been destroyed for years, but in 1996 was rediscovered, retitled _The Life Story of David Lloyd George_ and screened publicly for the first time. Ballyhooed as a lost silent classic (I saw it, and it’s a big snooze). ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shot-a-long-time-before-they-were-released/650925/82 "2019-11-22T00:25:11Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Movies that sat for a long time on the shelf: > > [Not coming soon: 16 movies released after long stays on the shelf](http://www.avclub.com/article/not-coming-soon-16-movies-released-after-long-stay-52080) Thanks to this site, I remembered that I actually paid to see _Slapstick_ in the theater. Dear Og. * * * This is one I could be wrong about, as I only have one shot to support my hypothesis: _Lethal Weapon_ The First, released 1987, contains a line of dialogue stating that Riggs’ wife was “recently” killed in a car crash. At the end of the movie, Riggs (Mel Gibson) is visiting his wife’s grave. The date of her death says “1984.” Somehow I don’t see three years as “recently”. Now, various explanations for this are possible, but the one that has always stuck in my mind was that this movie was put on the shelf for a couple of years, then released as Mel Gibson got more famous. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shot-a-long-time-before-they-were-released/650925/83 "2019-11-22T00:40:00Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > This is one I could be wrong about, as I only have one shot to support my hypothesis: > > _Lethal Weapon_ The First, released 1987, contains a line of dialogue stating that Riggs’ wife was “recently” killed in a car crash. At the end of the movie, Riggs (Mel Gibson) is visiting his wife’s grave. The date of her death says “1984.” Somehow I don’t see three years as “recently”. Now, various explanations for this are possible, but the one that has always stuck in my mind was that this movie was put on the shelf for a couple of years, then released as Mel Gibson got more famous. YMMV. [The film’s Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lethal_Weapon#Development) indicates that the script was written in “mid-1985,” and that Gibson and Glover had been signed to their roles in “early spring 1986,” and that Gibson did two months of physical training before shooting started. So, probably shot in the summer or fall of '86, it seems like. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shot-a-long-time-before-they-were-released/650925/84 "2019-11-22T17:38:43Z")
> [@dean0](#): > > Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) > > Filmed in later 1985, not released until 1990. I’m a little late replying to this one… There was a “psychotronic” video store in the DC area–I think it was Video Vault–that offered this as a VHS rental in '88 or '89, but had to pull it from circulation almost immediately, and then it was released theatrically in 1990. My guess is someone decided it was unscreenable, but changed his mind. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2019, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shot-a-long-time-before-they-were-released/650925/85 "2019-11-22T19:57:33Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > Thanks to this site, I remembered that I actually paid to see _Slapstick_ in the theater. Dear Og. I was interested in seeing _O.C. and Stiggs_ because I had read the original stories and wondered what Altman would do with them. The two were basically an amoral pair of nihilistic teens and it would be a challenge to make them work in a movie. It’s such a bizarre combination and I’m not surprised that Altman failed and wondered why he decided on the project. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shot-a-long-time-before-they-were-released/650925/86 "2019-11-23T01:46:42Z")
I was a fan of 8 Simple Rules during its run from 2002 to 2005, and then was very excited for Kaley Cuoco’s new sitcom The Big Bang Theory in 2007. Early on in the run of TBBT I started looking for Kaley Cuoco movies, and found one with a stellar cast I was super excited for: [Lucky 13](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0222167/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_33). Starring Lauren Graham, with Kaley Cuoco and Debra Jo Rupp? Supporting roles by Harland Williams, Jenna Fischer, Sasha Alexander? How did I miss this movie in 2005?! Turns out it was a straight-to-video release in 2005, after having been filmed in 1999. I was watching this movie mainly for Kaley Cuoco, but she was only 13 years old playing the little sister. Blech. Aside from age weirdness – a 13-year-old Kaley Cuoco in a 2005 movie was very jarring – Lucky 13 may be the least watchable trainwreck of a movie I’ve ever seen in my life. Truly horrid. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shot-a-long-time-before-they-were-released/650925/87 "2019-11-23T03:01:40Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I was interested in seeing _O.C. and Stiggs_ because I had read the original stories and wondered what Altman would do with them. The two were basically an amoral pair of nihilistic teens and it would be a challenge to make them work in a movie. It’s such a bizarre combination and I’m not surprised that Altman failed and wondered why he decided on the project. Aside from the lifeless tone of the film, it departed from the source material on one important point: It tried to justify the main characters’ bullying of the Schwab family. The original stories just had them as, like you say, nihilistic teenagers. The movie had a setup where Schwab senior had cancelled an insurance policy on O.C.'s grandfather, who had severe dementia, so all the bullying behavior was recast as a fight for justice, which just didn’t fly. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shot-a-long-time-before-they-were-released/650925/88 "2019-11-23T15:20:24Z")
The Rolling Stones Rock & Roll Circus Filmed in 1968…finally released in 1996 > **[Why the Rolling Stones Shelved Their 'Rock and Roll Circus'](https://ultimateclassicrock.com/rolling-stones-rock-and-roll-circus-concert/)** > > 'The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus' was filmed on Dec. 11, 1968, but went unreleased for 28 years. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shot-a-long-time-before-they-were-released/650925/89 "2019-11-23T17:58:28Z")
A movie I just mentioned in another thread; [Shortcut to Happiness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortcut_to_Happiness). Shot in 2001, theatrical release in 2007, home release in 2019. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shot-a-long-time-before-they-were-released/650925/90 "2019-11-23T19:40:00Z")
The Rolling Stones commissioned a documentary back in 1972 called Cocksucker Blues. It showed lots of drug use and other things the band thought they could get in trouble for. The Stone went to court to stop it from being released. A verdict was reached that said the movie could only be shown if the director was physically present. It’s coming up on 50 years without a legit release. I assume that if it does get released they would at least change the name. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shot-a-long-time-before-they-were-released/650925/91 "2019-11-24T16:10:54Z")
_Man in the Mirror_ (2008) > **[Man in the Mirror (2008) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2240010/?ref_=tttr_tr_tt)** > > Man in the Mirror: Directed by Frank Weston. With Martin Sheen, Johnny Brown, Dan Priest, Patch Mackenzie. A group of people, living on the edge of society, try to survive on the streets of New York City in the shadow of the World Trade center in the... From IMDB: “According to the DVD commentary, the first shot was filmed in 1970, while the last shot was filmed in October of 2006. This is because advances in film restoration made it possible to finish the film, so director Frank Weston added new footage to complete it.” ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shot-a-long-time-before-they-were-released/650925/92 "2019-11-24T22:00:36Z")
I was going to mention [Clifford](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_(film)), starring Martin Short and Charles Grodin, but looking back through the older posts, someone actually did it already. I also didn’t initially realize how old this thread is - it began in 2013. _Clifford_ is a movie that I absolutely adore, although my opinion seems to be in a very small minority. I think it’s a great example of a surreal “chaos comedy” and that Short and Grodin are both fucking hilarious in it, but the majority of moviegoers seem to have despised it when it was released. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2019, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shot-a-long-time-before-they-were-released/650925/93 "2019-11-24T22:11:23Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Yes, the footage for the film was shot during WWI, but it was only colorized and assembled into a film by Peter Jackson in the past few years. So it doesn’t really meet the criteria for this thread, since it wasn’t a completed film that was shelved. Oh. I guess _Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid_ doesn’t work, then, either. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2019, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shot-a-long-time-before-they-were-released/650925/94 "2019-11-25T00:18:17Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > I was going to mention [Clifford](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifford_(film)), starring Martin Short and Charles Grodin, but looking back through the older posts, someone actually did it already. I also didn’t initially realize how old this thread is - it began in 2013. Not just someone - me! ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shot-a-long-time-before-they-were-released/650925/95 "2019-11-29T15:52:05Z")
> [@GrandWino](#): > > The Anna Paquin film, [Margaret](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_(2011_film)), was filmed in 2006 or 2007 and was released in 2011, held up due to lawsuits. It was actually shot in early 2005 and originally scheduled to be released later that year. But Kenneth Lonergan wanted it to be three hours long and the studio wasn’t keen on that (reminiscent of Orson Welles and _The Magnificent Ambersons_ many decades earlier, although at least in this case they didn’t burn the negative). I have seen the 150-minute version and would call it a masterpiece, although I wish he got to release his full version. It really seems like it should have been a limited series for HBO or something. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2019, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shot-a-long-time-before-they-were-released/650925/96 "2019-11-30T05:37:09Z")
I’ll go with _Limelight_. Made in 1952 but not really released in America until 1972 and incidentally winning Charlie Chaplin his only Academy Award. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2019, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shot-a-long-time-before-they-were-released/650925/97 "2019-11-30T21:01:10Z")
Production on [_Game of Death_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_of_Death) began in 1973, and was halted when Bruce Lee left to film _Enter the Dragon_. Lee died that same year before completing GoD, which was eventually finished using stand-ins, and released in 1978. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2019, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shot-a-long-time-before-they-were-released/650925/98 "2019-12-01T04:49:50Z")
Stories are coming out about upcoming blockbuster \* Chaos Walking\*. It is such a mess that it’s supposedly unreleasable. Let’s see how long it takes to come out. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shot-a-long-time-before-they-were-released/650925/99 "2019-12-09T07:53:08Z")
_The New Mutants_ released posters and trailers way back in 2017 but has no firm release date as of yet. The studio was bought by Disney in the interim, so maybe it will just end up on their streaming service. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-shot-a-long-time-before-they-were-released/650925.md?page=4)