Could you imagine a world where Terry Gilliam’s Brazil doesn’t exist? It’s a dark territory, I know. Would you believe Universal almost shelved the filmmaker’s dystopian sci-fi drama in America before one of its stars, Robert De Niro, rescued the film from cancelation? According to Gilliam, the brilliant director behind films like The Fisher King and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Universal balked at the film and demanded significant changes before it could open in theaters. After an exhausting back and forth between Gilliam and then-Universal chief Sid Sheinberg, De Niro used his connections to push the film’s fate in a more positive direction.

Speaking on The Hollywood Reporter‘s It Happened in Hollywood podcast, Gilliam said, “The studio did not like the movie at all.” Gilliam says he was on pins and needles during a screening where Universal executives looked pensive and distraught about Brazil.