The stories ran rampant. Tales of poisoning on the set, of studios in conflict, of the director’s angry outbursts. Then there was the budget. Set initially at $100 million, it began to swell in the hands of a director not known for pinching pennies. The press began feasting on every morsel of gossip. When the movie was pushed from its initial July 2 release date, word began to spread of a production in trouble, of a director who couldn’t be reigned in. Nervous studios began to worry that the film might live up to its namesake, that it would hemorrhage red ink. On December 19, 2007, Titanic was unleashed upon the movie-going public, proving its critics wrong and showing that some delays, no matter how worrisome, can be beneficial to the final product.

Delays are an almost expected part of the movie-making process. Sometimes there are delays to tweak the script or shoot additional scenes. Sometimes it’s on-set accidents or an act of God. Sometimes a last-ditch effort to try to fix what is broken. Sometimes, stuff happens.

In October 2002, John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo went on a killing spree in the D.C. area, using a sniper rifle to terrorize an entire community. It was a jolt to 20th Century Fox with Phone Booth about a man held hostage in a phone booth by a sniper. Set to release November 15, those involved felt the topic hit too closely to home for a still grieving area. The opening was pushed to April 4 of the following year. Likewise, when the attacks of September 11 occurred, it put Warner Bros. into a difficult situation. With a nation’s wounds still raw, they decided to push the release of Collateral Damage to the following February -- the film showing a terrorist attack in the United States mirrored life a little too closely.

When Miramax scheduled Priest to open on Good Friday in 1995, it should have expected the backlash. A film that features a member of the clergy cruising bars for gay lovers, another who is having an affair with his housekeeper, and another who is an alcoholic would only stir up controversy when released on one of Christianity’s holiest days. By pushing the release from April 14 to April 19, Miramax reaped the rewards of the controversy the film generated while still looking responsive to Catholic concerns.

A recent example of a film delay in which cultural backlash is a concern is The Kite Runner. One of the key parts of the film is a rape scene involving two young boys. After consulting with a CIA operative about the possible ramifications of the scene, Paramount opted to delay the film’s release date to December to allow time for the boys to be removed from Afghanistan. Many feared for the safety of the boys in such a volatile area.

While reasons for a film’s delay can be many, the ultimate goal of both director and studio is to put out a successful product. Whether the delay is beneficial to this goal or not can be seen in the final result.