A movie is never finished until it’s released — and even then, if the movie was made by a few directors (I won’t name names, but one of them rhymes with Schmeorge Schmucas), it can remain in a state of flux. forever.
Small tweaks happen to almost every film throughout production. Then there are films like the 25 on the list below, films that have been changed drastically—perhaps even completely — during production. The reasons for the changes vary. In some cases, the original director or writers resigned or were fired. In other cases, they stayed on, but studio executives demanded cuts. Occasionally, budgets grew so much that changes I had to be made or the film would not be finished. And sometimes a certain notorious Hollywood producer who had never met an art film he couldn’t cut to pieces got involved. At that point, changes almost became inevitable.
One of the interesting things about these movies: they’re not all bad! Some are among the most famous and respected works in cinema history. It just goes to show: you never know what you’ve got until it’s in theaters and people see it. Let that be a lesson to you, Schmeorge Schmucas.
Here are 25 films that underwent major structural, tonal, story, or creative changes mid-production…
25 Movies That Completely Changed During Production
These films started out looking one way and ended up looking very different when they were released.
FIND OUT MORE: 10 TV Shows That Changed Their Premise Between Seasons
Blu-rays That Are Worth a Shocking Amount of Money
Here are some Blu-rays and box sets that are still fetching high prices on eBay in the streaming era.