Sometimes, despite the filmmakers' best intentions, a film gets laughs instead of gasps. Sometimes a studio will just hope that people won't laugh too much and will (more importantly) keep buying tickets. In other situations, the studio will try to pretend like they always intended the movie to be funny. Like the last film of its franchise- Airport '79: The Concorde.
The film was a laughable mess. After its first week, Universal Pictures decided to take advantage of the mocking laughter and sell their "thrilling" disaster as a comedy. Its slogan was changed from Fasten your seatbelts- the thrills are terrific! to Fasten your seatbelts- the thrills are terrific... and so are the laughs!
We feel your pain, Ms. Raye
Another movie whose makers thought was a serious picture was Mommie Dearest. Originally, Paramount Pictures saw the movie as a serious drama, with Faye Dunaway thinking she would get an Oscar for her efforts. Of course, her performance was a campy, crazy, hilarious mess. The film's ads were serious at first-
Only to become ridiculous to take advantage of Faye's insane performance:
The new campaign, though it sought to make lemonade out of lemons, was despised by Faye Dunaway who quickly disavowed the film. Her performance would gain her Razzies, not Oscars.
