17 Multi-Million Dollar Film Changes That Led The Studio To Go Way Over The Budget
Fortunately, for most of them, it was all worth it!
An outstanding piece of art can never be rushed, and artists must always ensure that it lives up to their standards while conveying the right message to the viewers. First impressions truly matter, and no creator should underestimate the skill of the human eye to recognize whether hard work has been poured into a piece or not.
The same applies to movies and all the work produced in this industry. A film won't always be perfect in its initial stages, even if the script, props, costume design, and actors have been well laid out and prepared.
There will always be some changes needed along the way, whether due to the crew, the actors, or the audience's initial reactions to the early stages of the film. Needless to say, it is in the studio's best interest that the work they deliver satisfies the standards of those interested in watching it.
Sometimes, there are instances where a film requires extra days or weeks to be fully polished, and even if that's just a couple of additional days, it could still cost millions of dollars. That being said, with the sacrifices made, most movies that had to scrap a significant part of their initial production or simply went over budget ultimately achieved well-deserved success in the end.
Take a look at these movies that underwent major changes, costing the studio a lot of money, and see whether it turned out to be the best or worst decision they made:
1. Netflix and Zack Snyder spent an additional "a few million" just to add Tig Notaro to Army of the Dead. This was necessary because they had to edit out Chris D'Elia due to sexual misconduct allegations made against him.
Clay Enos / Netflix2. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were fired just a few weeks shy of the final filming of Solo: A Star Wars Story. The reshoots cost about $275 million.
Jonathan Olley / LucasFilm / Everett Collection3. Waterworld had to rebuild the "multimillion-dollar" set after a hurricane destroyed it. However, it didn't achieve much success.
Universal / Everett Collection
4. Michael J. Fox replaced Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly in Back to the Future. They had to redo all of Stoltz's scenes, which added an additional $3 million to their budget.
Universal / Everett Collection
5. Christopher Plummer replaced Kevin Spacey in All the Money in the World, courtesy of Ridley Scott. This occurred after sexual misconduct allegations were made against Spacey.
This studio reportedly spent $10 million on reshoots.
TriStar Pictures / Everett Collection
6. Toy Story 2 underwent numerous changes before its final release, resulting in a budget that added up to $90 million. This was primarily due to the need to reanimate most of the scenes from the first cut.
Disney / Everett Collection
7. After a series of backlash from the first looks, Director Jeff Fowler and Paramount redesigned Sonic in Sonic the Hedgehog just before the movie was completed. The redesigns cost less than $5 million, but at least people were more satisfied and less disturbed by Sonic's more properly proportioned eyes.
"It went on to top the box office with a $58 million debut over the three-day weekend and $70 million over the four, breaking Detective Pikachu's record for the biggest opening weekend by a video game-based film."
Paramount Pictures / Everett Collection
8. Stephen King's The Dark Tower had to spend an additional $6 million on reshoots to fill in some backstories for the Man in Black.
Columbia Pictures / Everett Collection
9. Suicide Squad had to redo many scenes and added even more action sequences, leading Warner Bros. to pay an additional "tens of millions" of dollars.
Warner Bros / Everett Collection
10. The Lone Ranger had to cut some action sequences and special effects because the budget was already surpassing $200 million.
Disney / Everett Collection
11. An additional 22 days of filming were added to the production of Titanic, causing the budget to skyrocket to $200 million. The money was spent not only for the extra days of filming but also to ensure that the visual effects were up to par.
20th Century Fox / Everett Collection
12. Cleopatra nearly led 20th Century Fox to bankruptcy in 1963 when the film's budget shot up to $42 million due to the necessary reshoots.
20th Century Fox / Everett Collection
13. Screenwriter Tony Gilroy was paid "north of $5 million" to make rewrites and assist with the reshoots for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
LucasFilm / Everett Collection
14. Warner Bros. spent about $25 million on the reshoots of Justice League after Zack Snyder stepped down as director and Joss Whedon was hired to complete the film.
Warner Bros / Everett Collection
15. Shrek originally featured Mike Myers's emphasized Canadian accent, but after the rough cut, he changed Shrek's dialogue to a Scottish accent. The reanimation of the scenes cost DreamWorks about "$4 million to $5 million."
DreamWorks / Everett Collection
16. When Richard Donner departed as the director of Superman II, extensive reshoots were required a couple of years after it was initially filmed. This led the budget to rise to $54 million in 1980.
Warner Bros / Everett Collection
17. The first cut of World War Z was deemed "atrocious," necessitating the reshooting of many scenes, which added about $40 million to their initial budget.
Paramount / Everett Collection
While some of these movies didn't achieve the kind of success that parallels the dedication and quality standards they ensured during production, it's still incredible to know that they strive for perfection, even if it means spending an extra million!
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