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The real story is BEHIND the camera! Join us as we explore the devastating accidents and tragedies that occurred behind the scenes of famous productions. From deadly helicopter crashes to radioactive film locations, these shocking incidents remind us of the dangers lurking behind movie magic. Which of these on-set disasters surprised you the most?
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00:00It shows you the lengths to which we'll go to bring this kind of intense experience to the
00:06viewer. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at devastating incidents that happened
00:12on film sets. The filmmakers knew about the town's troubling distinction before they got there.
00:18Wayne would even take his sons out with a Geiger counter for surveys,
00:21but they were assured that the location was very safe to shoot in.
00:25Extra Trouble, Transformers Dark of the Moon
00:29We love gripping action scenes, but what some don't realize is that behind all that magic are
00:36sometimes real people in real danger. Gabriela Cedillo's case is particularly sad because she
00:43wasn't even a stunt performer, just a background extra. Filming Transformers Dark of the Moon,
00:53a steel cable holding a car snapped and crashed into her vehicle, damaging her skull.
00:59She suffered a traumatic brain injury, leaving her paralyzed on her left side.
01:0324-year-old Gabriela Cedillo is the extra we have learned from Chicago who was injured on
01:08the set at Indiana, the Transformers 3 set last night.
01:11Production was temporarily suspended, of course. Her family sued Paramount and was eventually
01:16awarded an $18 million settlement. But Cedillo's life was not the same again.
01:21The power of the Christ. The passion of the Christ. Playing the Christ is no easy feat,
01:27especially when you're committed to full realism. Just ask Jim Caviezel.
01:31What I've noticed is Jesus, if you're close to him, he doesn't prevent you from suffering,
01:39that his closest friends are going to suffer with him.
01:42While filming Mel Gibson's biblical drama, he endured a level of physical suffering that blurred
01:46the line between acting and actual torment. At one point, he was literally struck by lightning
01:52while hanging on the cross. You heard that right. Lightning.
01:56The passion, while I was electric, struck by lightning on the last shot of the movie.
02:02That wasn't even all. During the flagellation scene, the lash tore into his flesh. He dislocated
02:08his shoulder while carrying the cross, caught pneumonia, developed a lung infection,
02:12and racked up a list of other injuries. Still, Caviezel was okay with bearing it all to portray
02:26the truth as real and raw as possible. Now that's true dedication. Making history.
02:33Titanic. For a disaster movie like Titanic, there's bound to be some sort of disaster,
02:38not just on screen. One of its wildest backstage incidents was a mass poisoning. One night,
02:46over 50 people on set, including James Cameron himself, were sent to the hospital after someone
02:51laced their soup with PCP. To this day, no one knows who did it or why. Not only that,
02:57the production was infamously grueling, pushing cast and crew to their limits.
03:01Come on. Here. Keep swimming.
03:06Kate Winslet nearly drowned during one underwater scene. Got injuries and pneumonia. She even said
03:12she'd never work with Cameron, though they eventually did. Other cast members weren't
03:17spared either. Broken bones, flu, kidney infection, you name it. Is this what it takes to make history?
03:23Dylan O'Brien's fall. Maze Runner. The death cure.
03:27Some accidents don't just leave physical scars. They make you question everything.
03:32Take it slow. Go around. You'll be fine.
03:35That was very much the case for Dylan O'Brien, who suffered a traumatic injury during the production
03:41of this 2018 dystopian film. During his stunt, the motorcycle he was driving fell into a slide,
03:49leaving him with a facial fracture, brain trauma, and a concussion. The injuries were so severe,
03:54production was shut down for a year. The impact wasn't just physical for O'Brien. It shook him
04:00to his core. It was horrible. It was a very scary thing. But it's, we came back, you know,
04:05all got together again a year later. He even thought of quitting acting altogether. After his
04:10return to acting, he became very apprehensive about performing stunts, the sacrifices people make for
04:17thrilling shots. A deadly fall. The return of the Musketeers.
04:22In Richard Lester's 1989 epic film, Roy Kinnear plays Planchette, the loyal and often comedic servant
04:29to the Musketeers.
04:31Yeah, it's an ambush.
04:33No, for us, I'm afraid.
04:34Unfortunately, this marked not only the end of his career, but his very life. While filming a scene in
04:40Toledo, Kinnear fell from his horse and broke his pelvis. As if that wasn't devastating enough,
04:46he went into cardiac arrest at the hospital and died shortly after. A body double was brought in
04:52to finish off his scenes. While his wife got entangled in a six-year legal battle,
04:57she was eventually awarded 650,000 euros from the production company, with the hospital ordered to
05:04pay 60%. Still, his death cast a long shadow over the film's legacy. Sonya Davis' death.
05:11Vampire in Brooklyn
05:13One of Wes Craven's more forgettable movies, this one stars Eddie Murphy as a vampire on the hunt
05:18in Brooklyn for a woman who could save his bloodline.
05:22There's a killer on the loose.
05:24You don't say.
05:26While the film blends comedy and horror, it's marked by a real-life incident which is anything
05:31but funny. Angela Bassett's stunt double, Sonya Davis, died during a fall from a building.
05:36It's unbelievable. Thank God you were here.
05:40She was supposed to land on an airbag, but the fall went terribly wrong, and she landed
05:45on the ground. To make things worse, her family witnessed it all. Davis spent 11 days in a coma
05:50before she eventually died. Her devastated family sued the production for negligence.
05:55The outcome is still unclear, but it raises questions about stunt safety in Hollywood.
06:00The Fatal Crash, XXX. Sometimes, even the most experienced professionals can't escape the
06:07dangers of a high-risk job like stunt work.
06:10We had 500 stuntmen involved with this picture. 499 didn't get a scratch.
06:16That's heartbreakingly true on the set of this Vin Diesel-led film. A stunt double for Diesel,
06:22Harry O'Connor was a retired Navy SEAL-turned-stuntman and well-experienced at the job,
06:27while performing a paragliding stunt. Tragedy struck as O'Connor crashed into a bridge and was killed
06:33instantly. What makes it even more painful? He had nailed the stunt in the first take. It was
06:38during the second take that he lost his life. Out of respect for him, this first successful one was
06:44eventually used in the final cut. Fall from the Sky, Catch-22. Maybe John Jordan was already used to the
06:51job or never thought it could lead to his death. Whatever the case may be, during the filming of
06:57Catch-22, this second unit director met a tragic end. While filming an aerial sequence aboard a B-25
07:03bomber, Jordan allegedly chose not to wear a safety harness, despite the obvious risks and the open
07:10hatch of the aircraft. Jordan made the decision to not wear a safety harness. His role involved
07:16coordinating and capturing complex aerial sequences, which necessitated him being in precarious
07:21positions within the aircraft. Tragically, Jordan, whose mobility was likely compromised by a prosthetic
07:27leg, lost his footing and was pulled from the plane during turbulence. He fell thousands of feet into
07:32the Pacific Ocean to his death. Unfortunately, during this maneuver, he lost his grip and fell from the
07:38aircraft. It was a heartbreaking loss, one that underscores how dangerous filmmaking can be,
07:44especially when perfect shots are chased over safety. Controlled Explosion. The Expendables 2.
07:51This action flick brings together big names like Jason Statham, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris,
07:56and more. It's basically an all-star action dream. Behind the explosions and high-octane thrills
08:07lies a real-life tragedy most fans don't know about. During the filming of an intense explosion scene,
08:13stuntman Kun Lu was seriously injured and later died from his wounds. Using real explosions? They
08:19should have known better, right? According to producers, the stuntman was killed during a scene
08:24involving an explosion on an inflatable boat on Thursday. Another stuntman was also seriously injured,
08:31but Lu's loss was the most painful. His parents later filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the
08:36production and stunt coordinator. Though the film honors Lu's memory, it's a sobering reminder of
08:42the real-life risk behind movie magic, possible cancer. The Conqueror. Dick Powell's The Conqueror
08:48was released decades ago, but it's still remembered and not for good reasons.
08:52Besides its reputation as one of the worst films ever made, it became infamous for a real-life health
09:10hazard. The film was shot in Utah, just downwind from a US government nuclear testing site. Cast and
09:16crew spent many weeks there. Tons of radioactive waste were even shipped back for reshoots.
09:23For six weeks, horses kicked up dust, actors tussled in the sand. After location shooting was
09:29completed, one of the producers would have 120,000 kilograms of that same Utah Earth shipped to
09:36soundstages in California for reshoots. Years later, over 90 people developed cancer, with many,
09:42including John Wayne, Susan Hayward, and Powell himself, dying from it. While it's never been
09:47officially confirmed that the radiation caused the illness, the numbers are haunting. So,
09:52when people call The Conqueror the movie that killed its cast, we can't actually argue with that.
09:57Vehicular Accidents. Resident Evil, The Final Chapter
10:02Sadly, there were multiple accidents that happened on the set of this movie.
10:06The antivirus is airborne, spread by the winds. It could take years for it to reach every corner of
10:12the Earth. Olivia Jackson worked as a stunt double for lead Mia Jovovich, a job that would forever
10:19change her life. While filming in South Africa in September of 2015, Jackson was riding a motorcycle
10:25as it collided with a camera crane. She suffered major injuries, was put into a medically induced coma,
10:32and had to have one of her arms amputated. She would later sue for negligence and rightfully win,
10:38though her career in stunts was clearly finished.
10:41When I came out of the coma, I wasn't exactly sure of all my injuries. I don't think anybody had
10:45the heart to tell me that there was no chance of making it better.
10:49Crew member Ricardo Cornelius wasn't quite as fortunate. In December of that same year,
10:55he was crushed by a Hummer after the platform it was sitting on,
10:58tilted, dying hours later, in the hospital.
11:07Motorcycle accident. Deadpool 2.
11:17Motorcyclist Joy Harris made a name for herself in the professional racing scene.
11:22However, her first job as a stunt performer would be her last.
11:26Harris, seen here in a competition in 2015, was a professional motorcycle racer from Brooklyn.
11:31While filming in Vancouver on Deadpool 2 in August 2017, Harris was doubling for domino actor Zazie
11:39Beetz. Although she was an accomplished racer and she had practiced the stunt several times,
11:45Harris lost control of her bike and crashed. She hadn't been wearing a helmet, as the character
11:50wasn't, and died on the scene moments later. While the film was dedicated to her memory,
11:56many professional stunt workers questioned using Harris over someone better trained. In fact,
12:01a more experienced stunt performer was available and willing. But Harris was chosen since her skin
12:07tone matched beats better. While the message behind this comedy is great, it sounds like the five-year-long
12:23shoot was an absolute nightmare. Roar follows a man living on a nature reserve with big cats.
12:36Hilarity ensues when his family comes for a visit. However, what was no laughing matter was the fact
12:43that most of the animals used weren't trained. It's impossible to single out just one disaster or
12:49accident as more than half of the crew and cast received serious injuries from their animal co-stars.
12:55A lion-scalped cinematographer Jan de Bontz, an injury that required 220 sutures.
13:01He was back filming two weeks later. Lead actor Tippi Hedren broke an ankle when an elephant picked
13:07her up with its trunk and contracted gangrene soon after. Naturally, there was a high crew turnover rate.
13:248. EXPLOSION ACCIDENT – HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 1
13:40David Holmes took on the stunts Daniel Radcliffe couldn't, beginning with 2001's Harry Potter
13:46and the Philosopher's Stone. But shortly after production began on the first Deathly Hallows in early 2009,
13:53tragedy struck. While filming a flight sequence in a harness, what was meant to be a controlled
14:03explosion sent Holmes falling through the air. Though he was conscious when he landed,
14:08he told those around him he couldn't feel his legs. Sadly, the spinal injury was too
14:13severe to repair and he would never walk again. The silver lining is in the fact that it hasn't
14:28stopped him from pursuing his passions. He co-founded his own production company, Ripple Productions, in
14:342013. A life-ending crash. The Dark Knight. Clearly, some of the biggest on-set disasters can happen from
14:43stunts going wrong. Having worked on stunts for Batman Begins, Conway Wickliffe returned for the sequel.
14:57While shooting at a special effects facility in England, he and the rest of the team planned and
15:01tested a sequence for Batman's tumbler. He was only meant to follow in a car behind, hanging out the
15:12window to film the stunt with his camera. But when the driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed
15:17into a tree, Wickliffe's positioning ensured his fate. He died at the scene. The film was dedicated to his
15:24memory, along with Heath Ledgers, who tragically passed from an accidental overdose during editing.
15:32All you care about is money. This town deserves a better class of criminal. And I'm going to give
15:39it to him. An accidental shooting. Rust. The accidental shooting on the set of Rust is
15:45only the latest example of an on-set disaster. The Sheriff's Department tells ET, quote,
15:50this investigation remains open and active. No charges have been filed in regard to this incident.
15:56Witnesses continue to be interviewed by detectives. In October of 2021, Alec Baldwin was handling a prop
16:03gun that discharged, shooting both director Joel Souza and cinematographer Helena Hutchins with a live
16:10round. While Souza was only injured, Hutchins died from the gunshot. Baldwin has denied pulling the
16:17trigger on the gun which killed Hutchins and says he doesn't know how live rounds came to be on the set.
16:22A widespread investigation into on-set safety was issued. Reports of the first assistant director
16:28David Hall's history of disregarding safety surfaced, and he would later plead guilty to negligence.
16:34While the film premiered in 2024, Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed were charged with
16:41involuntary manslaughter. Baldwin was acquitted, but Gutierrez-Reed was convicted before being released
16:48on parole. The district attorney's bombshell announcement means if convicted on all charges,
16:54the famed actor could face up to six and a half years in prison. Plunge into the sea. Top Gun.
17:01Top Gun is an action classic to many, with high-octane thrills, tons of quotable lines,
17:15and Tom Cruise at the beginning of his career as a superstar. Unfortunately, not everyone who worked
17:21on the movie got to see it. Pilot Art Scholl had worked on plenty of film and TV sets. His ability
17:32to capture riveting footage from inside the cockpit made him a must-have for this particular production.
17:45In September of 1985, he was practicing a technique off the southern coast of California.
17:51However, something went wrong midway, with Scholl saying over the radio that he had a real problem.
17:57Unable to recover, he crashed into the Pacific Ocean. Neither the plane nor his body were ever
18:03recovered, making the actual cause a mystery. Gun misfire. The Crow.
18:10Suddenly, I heard a tapping, as of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
18:16Brandon Lee's death is one of the most infamous on-set accidents in film history.
18:23It's funny. Little things used to mean so much to Shelly. I used to think they were kind of trivial.
18:31In March of 1993, filming on the cult comic book movie had nearly finished. In fact,
18:37Lee only had three days left before he was done. They were filming a scene in which Lee's character,
18:43Eric, is shot by Michael Massey's fun boy. Budget constraints had led to the prop crew creating
18:53their own dummy cartridges. When they were exchanged for blank rounds, the firearm's barrel wasn't
18:59cleaned and a dummy cartridge had become lodged. When Massey fired, the cartridge hit Lee in the chest
19:05and he died after six hours of surgery. The rest of his scenes were finished with a stunt double
19:10and special effects. The train incident. Midnight Rider. After this story, you may never watch a movie
19:18the same way again. Based on Greg Allman's autobiography, Midnight Rider was meant to tell
19:23the story of the rock star's life. It didn't even get through one day of filming before an on-set disaster
19:29guaranteed its cancellation. Filming began in Georgia in February 2014. While shooting a sequence
19:36on railroad tracks, the scene was interrupted when an actual train came barreling through the set.
19:41As we'd find out, the filmmakers had failed to secure filming rights for the location.
19:46This led to several crew members getting injured and the death of assistant camera operator Sarah Jones.
19:51She was a little bit surprised that some of the people did not have the level of expertise that she expected.
19:59Those in charge of the shoot, including director Randall Miller, were all charged with involuntary manslaughter
20:04and trespassing. Miller received a 10-year sentence, though only served one with probation.
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20:27Helicopter Crash
20:28Twilight Zone The Movie
20:31Bill, you look kind of cranky this evening.
20:32You never know.
20:33Yeah, I'm pissed alright.
20:35The Twilight Zone is spooky, but an accident from the movie's set
20:39was genuinely horrifying.
20:40While here at home, a freak accident turns a war movie set into real-life disaster,
20:45killing veteran actor Vic Morrow.
20:47The film tells four stories, each helmed by a different director.
20:51John Landis was overseeing his section in July of 1982 in Valencia, California.
20:57The story followed a man jumping through time, including the Vietnam War,
21:01where he had to protect two Vietnamese children.
21:03A stunt involving a helicopter went terribly wrong, causing it to crash and injure the six
21:13people inside. However, it landed on actor Vic Morrow and child actors Renee Shin-Yi Chen and Mika
21:20Din Li. While the movie was still released, the sequence had to be reworked. The accident's ripple
21:26led to years of lawsuits and massive changes to safety regulations within the film industry.
21:31Do you know of any other disasters that happened on a film set? Let us know in the comments section!
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