A movie is never finished until it is released — and even then, if the movie was made by some directors (not naming names, but one of them rhymes with Schmeorge Schmucas), it could remain in a state of flux forever.
Minor tweaks happen to almost every single film over the course of production. Then there are films like the 25 on the list below, movies that were changed drastically — maybe even completely — during production. The reasons for the changes vary. In some cases, the original director or writers quit or were fired. In other cases they stayed, but studio executives demanded cuts. Occasionally, the budgets grew so large changes had to be made or the film wouldn’t be finished at all. And sometimes a certain notorious Hollywood producer who never met an art house film he couldn’t chop to pieces got involved. At that point, changes almost became inevitable.
One of the interesting things about these movies: They’re not all bad! A few are among the most famous and most respected works in the history of cinema. It just goes to show: You never know what you have until it’s out in theaters and people get a look at it. Let that be a lesson to you, Schmeorge Schmucas.
Here are 25 films that underwent massive structural, tonal, story, or creative changes in the middle of production…
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