The most expensive things ever destroyed while filming

Accidents happen, and the same is true on movie sets. Though sometimes these incidents can be disastrously expensive—and we mean multimillion-dollar levels of expensive! But not everything is destroyed due to an accident. In fact, many items and even buildings got destroyed because they are supposed to—the destruction was actually part of the script!

Curious to know what got destroyed and how much it was worth? Then click on!




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‘The Hateful Eight’ (2015): a 145-year-old Martin guitar

Kurt Russell smashed a 1870s Martin guitar in one of the scenes. They had a replica prop, but didn’t swap it for that scene. Jennifer Jason Leigh was heartbroken, as she learned how to play on that guitar and was thinking of buying it after the movie ended.




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‘The Hateful Eight’ (2015): a 145-year-old Martin guitar

How it happened wasn’t revealed to museum director D i c k Boak until the movie came out. “All this about the guitar being smashed being written into the script and that somebody just didn’t tell the actor, this is all new information to us. We didn’t know anything about the script or Kurt Russell not being told that it was a priceless, irreplaceable artifact from the Martin Museum.” He added that the museum “will no longer loan guitars to movies under any circumstances.”




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‘Skyfall’ (2012): a centenary Bazaar shop

A scene where Bond pursues the villain Patrice culminates in a motorcycle crashing through a window in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. But then the stuntman lost control…




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‘Skyfall’ (2012): a centenary Bazaar shop

…and crashed into the window of a 330-year-old jewelry shop. According to the shop owner, the repairs were difficult and expensive.




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‘The Dark Knight’ (2008): an IMAX camera

The scene involved Batman in an exciting high-speed sequence, which was of course captured on camera…until the movements proved too violent for the camera and it got destroyed.




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‘The Dark Knight’ (2008): an IMAX camera

It’s just a camera, right? Wrong. The IMAX camera was worth a whopping US$500,000! And not only was the camera ridiculously expensive, it was also extremely rare: one of only four in the world at the time.




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‘The Dark Knight Rises’ (2012): another IMAX camera

If one destroyed US$500,000 IMAX camera wasn’t a heavy-enough burden for Christopher Nolan to carry, then destroying yet another one certainly is.




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‘The Dark Knight Rises’ (2012): another IMAX camera 2

The accident happened in a scene where Catwoman rode her Batpod motorcycle out of a building, straight into the cameraman, who got the expensive IMAX camera knocked out of his hand.




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‘Con Air’ (1997): the Sands Casino

One of the movie’s most famous scenes features a plane crashing into the Las Vegas Strip and destroying the iconic Sands Casino. It turns out they did destroy the real thing!




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‘Con Air’ (1997): the Sands Casino

But the casino had already been partly demolished by the new owners, as the idea was to build a new one. The film producers managed to convince the owners to hold the demolition a few weeks so that they could film the lobby destruction scene. Technically, they destroyed a US$110 million building.




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‘Bad Boys II’ (2003): a mansion

We’ve all seen cool houses being blown up in movies, but Michael Bay managed to blow up a real one!




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‘Bad Boys II’ (2003): a mansion

The owner of the US$16.5 million mansion was meant to demolish it, to make way for another development. Still, it’s pretty cool!




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‘Furious 7’ (2015): nine Lykan Hypersport cars

Though by this installment of the movie they had already destroyed nearly 1,500 cars (mostly replicas), ‘Furious 7’ broke a new record when nine Lykan Hypersport cars worth millions got destroyed.




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‘Furious 7’ (2015): nine Lykan Hypersport cars

Nine out of the 10 stunt cars made for the movie were destroyed.




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‘The Outlaws’ (2021): a Banksy

Christopher Walken actually destroys a Banksy painting on the BBC show. His character, whose job it to  clean up a vandalized community center, ends up painting over it.




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‘The Outlaws’ (2021): a Banksy

It turns out it was a genuine work of art, made by Banksy specifically to be destroyed during the show. Still, it was valued at over US$12 million.




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‘The Master’ (2012): a historic toilet

Joaquin Phoenix is known for his intensity in some movies. So much so that in one scene in a prison cell, he got so into the character that he shattered a toilet in a rage attack.




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‘The Master’ (2012): a historic toilet

Though this was not your average jail toilet. Nor was it a cheap prop. It was actually a historic porcelain toilet. The actor said he “didn’t intend to break the thing,” and that he “didn’t know that was possible.”




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‘Twister’ (1996): blocks of the town of Wakita

Parts of the tornado classic were filmed in Wakita, Oklahoma. After being hit by the twister, we can see dozens of houses destroyed. This actually happened!




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‘Twister’ (1996): blocks of the town of Wakita

Producers brought a number of houses to the town and then destroyed them. Two year prior, a severe hailstorm destroyed the downtown, so the producers paid for the damaged houses to destroy them as well. In the end, they rebuilt a lot of the town, which was great for residents.




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‘The Fugitive’ (1993): a train and a bus

The movie’s stunt crash will go down in film history, not only for being spectacular, but also for being real.




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‘The Fugitive’ (1993): a train and a bus

Yes, a real train and bus were used to film the crash scene. The value of the train wreck? An estimated US$1.5 million.




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‘Blade: Trinity’ (2004): a US$300,000 camera

Jessica Biel’s archery skills were put to the test in one scene where she had to shoot straight at a camera. It turns out, she was pretty good with the bow and arrow.




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‘Blade: Trinity’ (2004): a US$300,000 camera

So good, in fact, that the actress hit her target perfectly and destroyed a US$300,000 camera!




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‘The Sacrifice’ (1986) : a whole house

Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1986 movie sees a whole house being burned down to the ground. And although the house was supposed to go up in flames, the cameras were also supposed to capture it properly. But they didn’t.




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‘The Sacrifice’ (1986) : a whole house

A behind-the-scenes video revealed the director’s frustration. “The last thing I expected was for the camera crew to screw up,” he says. The house was then rebuilt and burned down again. So yes, not a cheap mistake!




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‘The General’ (1923): a locomotive

Buster Keaton actually destroyed a locomotive in this silent movie. The epic scene involved a train hitting a burning bridge and crashing into the river below. Except, back then, there were no special effects.




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‘The General’ (1923): a locomotive





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