The 2000 film Cast Away takes place over roughly four years and it nearly took as long to film it. The film's shooting occurred between 1998 and 2000, but was not shot consecutively as Hanks gained 50 pounds (23 kg) during pre-production for scenes of his character before he gets stranded. The purpose of this weight gain was to make the eventual weight loss in the film seem more dramatic. So, after a majority of the film was shot, production was halted for a year so that Hanks could then lose the weight and grow his hair and beard to look like he had been living on the island for years. Another four-month production halt preceded the filming of the final return scenes and, during the year-long hiatus, director Robert Zemeckis used the same film crew to make his 2000 film What Lies Beneath.
Perhaps Zemeckis last great movie...before he started that live animation shit and went downhill