{"id":8695,"date":"2018-03-13T14:36:32","date_gmt":"2018-03-13T14:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/?p=8695"},"modified":"2020-02-12T15:43:40","modified_gmt":"2020-02-12T15:43:40","slug":"12-movies-almost-ruined-by-studio-interference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/2018\/03\/13\/12-movies-almost-ruined-by-studio-interference\/","title":{"rendered":"12 movies (almost) ruined by studio interference"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We have spoken about it before and now Alex Garland\u2019s follow-up to 2015\u2019s Ex-Machina, an adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer\u2019s <em>Annihilation<\/em> (the first book in the <em>Southern Reach<\/em> trilogy), is upon us. However, recently, it hasn\u2019t been an easy road for Garland and the folks behind the film, with test screenings bringing about an attempt to meddle with the film\u2019s intended vision, until producer Scott Rudin stepped in.<\/p>\n<p>This is not the first time something like this has happened. Studio interference has been around since the beginning of cinema but has been becoming more prominent in the last four or so decades, after projects such as <em>Sorcerer<\/em>, <em>Heaven\u2019s Gate<\/em> and <em>One from the Heart<\/em> led to the collapse of New Hollywood. Sometimes it\u2019s for the good, but other times it is not. So for this post, we are counting down the top five (plus seven dishonourable mentions) most irritating cases of studio interference. Enjoy.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Blade Runner<\/strong><strong>\u00a0(1982)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Director: Ridley Scott<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eogpIG53Cis\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The subject of <a href=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/2017\/09\/27\/5-essential-films-to-watch-before-blade-runner-2049\/\">a previous blog post<\/a>, <em>Blade Runner<\/em> had a pretty troubled route getting to the big screen. Tensions between the British and American crews and a problematic production schedule were just the tip of the iceberg compared to what lurked beneath.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, <em>Blade Runner<\/em> and <em>Annihilation<\/em> share similar post-production conflicts, only with different outcomes. Both didn\u2019t do too well in test screenings, but whereas Rudin and Garland stood their ground against potential executive meddling, Scott was not so lucky.<\/p>\n<p>Warner Bros took the film out of Scott\u2019s hands and added in a tacked on voiceover narration and happy ending (made up of unused footage from Stanley Kubrick\u2019s <em>The Shining<\/em>). The result was a film that met with a mixed critical reception and dismal box-office returns, especially since it came out in the wake of the more uplifting <em>E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial<\/em> and alongside other sci-fi and fantasy features as <em>Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan<\/em>, <em>Conan the Barbarian<\/em> and John Carpenter\u2019s similarly fated remake of <em>The Thing<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, <em>Blade Runner<\/em> remained in obscurity until the early nineties when Scott released the director\u2019s cut and thus the film was hailed as a lost classic and received a cult following. Hopefully, the same will be said of its less-meddled sequel that was released in similar circumstances last year.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Once Upon a Time in America<\/strong><strong>\u00a0(1984)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Director: Sergio Leone<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LcpCRyNo8T8\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>After successes in the western genre and making his proper English language debut (dubs of his prior films not counting), things did not go well for Sergio Leone during the making of his passion project <em>Once Upon a Time in America<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Telling the story of two hoodlums as they grew up in New York over four decades in a non-linear manner, the film bowed at Cannes with a running time of around four hours, which is how it remained for international release (USSR excluded).<\/p>\n<p>However, stateside, Warner Bros took the film completely out of Leone\u2019s hands, gutted it of most of its story (bringing it down to two hours and nineteen minutes) and rearranged the film into chronological order. And not to mention failing to fill out the necessary paperwork which cost Ennio Morricone a chance to be Oscar nominated for the film\u2019s magnificent score.<\/p>\n<p>All of this serves as a sad end to the career of a great European auteur as Leone would pass away five years later whilst preparing a movie about the Battle of Stalingrad. But since 2001, the film has been restored to Leone\u2019s original vision and has been recognised as the landmark film that it is, allegedly with more restorations on the way (such as the one premiering at Cannes in 2012).<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Brazil (1985)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Director: Terry Gilliam<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZKPFC8DA9_8\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Yeesh, this is going to be a big case. Terry Gilliam\u2019s <em>Brazil<\/em> stands as one of the crowning achievements in the director\u2019s oeuvre. A comedic satire of George Orwell\u2019s <em>Nineteen Eighty-Four<\/em>, filled with nightmarishly surreal imagery and the Python-esque humour that made him prominent (including writing contributions from Tom Stoppard). However, it nearly didn\u2019t end up this way.<\/p>\n<p>The film had two distributors. Universal would be handling the film\u2019s American release while 20<sup>th<\/sup> Century Fox would be releasing the film overseas. The international release went without a hitch, however it was a quite a different story at Universal. Unhappy with Gilliam\u2019s original cut, Sid Sheinberg (a man who that same year demanded <em>Back to the Future<\/em> be titled <em>Spaceman from Pluto<\/em>) ordered an editor to go behind the director\u2019s back to cut the film down around an hour forty, throw in some rock music to \u201d\u02dcattract the teens\u2019 and replace the original downer ending with a more consumer-friendly one. This has come to be known as the \u201d\u02dcLove Conquers All\u2019 cut.<\/p>\n<p>However, after numerous delays, Gilliam took out a full-page ad in <em>Variety<\/em> and conducted private screenings, all the while feuding with Sheinberg (often publically). In the end, following <em>Brazil<\/em> being awarded Best Film at the LA Film Critics Awards (coincidentally on the night Universal\u2019s <em>Out of Africa<\/em> premiered in New York), Sheinberg relented and Gilliam\u2019s intended version was the one selected for release. If this passage has interested you, you can read further into this in Jack Matthews\u2019s book <em>The Battle for Brazil<\/em>.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Alien<sup>3\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong><strong>(1992)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Director: David Fincher<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ipv1y-Phi7A\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The <em>Alien<\/em> series has encountered executive meddling in the past, from producers Walter Hill and David Giler giving tweaks to Dan O\u2019Bannon and Ronald Shusett\u2019s original script to intended genitals of the newborn in <em>Alien: Resurrection<\/em> being exorcised as \u201d\u02dctoo much\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>However, this is nothing compared to the troubled history of <em>Alien<sup>3<\/sup><\/em>\u2019s arrival to the big screen, which has become the stuff of cinematic legend. After the success of <em>Aliens<\/em>, Fox blew a large amount of cash getting the script for a third installment developed. But every time a director came aboard with an idea of something, it often ended with most of them departing the project due to creative differences. Among such examples were Ridley Scott and Renny Harlin, whose idea to explore the Xenomorph\u2019s origins was shot down as too expensive (but ultimately led to <em>Prometheus<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p>In the end, the studio settled on then-newcomer director David Fincher (then a young inexperienced music video director). Original drafts of the script exorcised the character of Ellen Ripley, but she was inserted back in due to Fox\u2019s insistence, and the finished product also shoe-horned in the deaths of Hicks and Newt from the previous instalment (a move which \u201d\u02dchurt\u2019 actor Michael Biehn).<\/p>\n<p>There was also the issue of the film being shot with on-set rewrites becoming a more constant sight than 2001\u2019s <em>Town and Country<\/em>, which led to frequent clashes between Fincher and the Fox hierarchy (such as Fincher going behind the producers\u2019 backs to shoot the crucial prison understructure scene between Ripley and the alien against their wishes).<\/p>\n<p>According to actor Charles Dance: \u201cFincher had the studio on his back the whole time phoning him at all hours of the day and night \u201d\u201c not taking into account the time change.\u201d\u009d. This led to a hectic schedule, including a three month shutdown due to all the re-writes, a deliberately botched test screening that forced Fincher to return for reshoots and would eventually lock him out of the editing room during the post-production phase.<\/p>\n<p>Screenings of the rough cut led to negative reactions due to the amount of blood and gore (such as uncut death scenes and an extended version of Newt\u2019s autopsy) that nearly earned the film an NC-17 rating. Promotional and marketing was also pretty misleading, including a teaser trailer that stated the action would take place on earth rather than the prison planet in the actual film.<\/p>\n<p>The result was a film that failed to meet the expectations of its predecessors (but is improved on with the \u201d\u02dcAssembly Cut\u2019) and led to its own director disowning it. For more information on this cinematic fracas, the documentary <em>Wreckage and Rage<\/em> should provide your fix (as well as various others floating around YouTube).<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Kingdom of Heaven<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<u>(<\/u>2004<u>)<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Director: Ridley Scott<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-oO6pCRe3pM\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Poor Ridley Scott, sometimes he just can\u2019t catch a break. Also, yes, you knew we were going to cover the much-criticised period when 20<sup>th<\/sup> Century Fox was under the control of Tom Rothman at some point. And this has to be one of the most infamous cases.<\/p>\n<p>First though, a little information on the film. <em>Kingdom of Heaven<\/em> is an epic feature film telling the story of the Crusades and the events of the Battle of Hattin (specifically a fictionalised account of Bailan of Ibelin) and featured an all-star cast including Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Jeremy Irons, Liam Neeson, Edward Norton, David Thewlis, Brendan Gleeson, Michael Sheen and Alexander Siddig.<\/p>\n<p>Originally clocking in at three hours and fourteen minutes, Scott was ordered by the studio to remove large sections of the film, amounting to forty five minutes worth of story, and put a greater emphasis on the action and romantic subplot between Bloom and Green.<\/p>\n<p>They assumed that audiences would not be willing to sit through a film with an over three hour running time, despite the successes of <em>Titanic<\/em> and <em>The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King<\/em>, and this assumption played a part in the film failing both critically and commercially.<\/p>\n<p>However, like <em>Blade Runner<\/em>, Scott released a director\u2019s cut of the film restoring it to its original three hour plus running time and it has been critically reappraised.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>(Dis)Honourable Mentions<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>The Magnificent Ambersons<\/em> (Orson Welles, 1942) \u201d\u201c Though a classic, this feature really suffered from the misfortune of being released during the time when Welles\u2019s relationship with RKO was turning sour. Also, we may never see Welles\u2019s intended version since the footage that was cut was ultimately destroyed in a storage fire.<\/p>\n<p><em>All the Pretty Horses<\/em> (Billy Bob Thornton, 2001) \u201d\u201c Attempting to bring an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy\u2019s acclaimed \u201d\u02dcunfilmable\u2019 1992 novel goes awry for Billy Bob Thornton, courtesy of a petty act of revenge by an individual who, for the sake of recent events, we shall refer to as \u201d\u02dcDarth Scissorhands\u2019.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Golden Compass<\/em> (Chris Weitz, 2007) \u201d\u201c Removal of the source material\u2019s darker elements, forty five minutes worth of story and throwing in a sequel hook really proved to be New Line Cinema\u2019s undoing.<\/p>\n<p><em>Spider-Man 3<\/em> (Sam Raimi, 2007) \u201d\u201c Thanks to pressure from producers and Sony executives, the final instalment of the trilogy became a bloated mess. Similar mistakes were made with <em>The Amazing Spider-Man 2<\/em>, so let\u2019s hope the MCU takes note of this.<\/p>\n<p><em>Babylon A.D.<\/em> (Mathieu Kassovitz, 2008) \u201d\u201c Another example of Fox shaving so much runtime off, that the overall product becomes an incompressible mess.<\/p>\n<p><em>X-Men Origins: Wolverine<\/em> (Gavin Hood, 2009) \u201d\u201c Repainting the sets and sewing up Deadpool\u2019s mouth. What more could you ask for from an overzealous executive?<\/p>\n<p><em>Fantastic Four<\/em> (Josh Trank, 2015) \u201d\u201c A most recent example, filled with cut-down running times, a hot-headed director and the blame game in full-swing.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Love film? Shop from thousands of incredible films on Blu-ray and DVD on the musicMagpie Store today, all from just \u00a31.09 and with FREE delivery. Why wouldn&#8217;t you?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/store\/blu-ray?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=studio-interference\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-5210 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/SHOP-NOW.png\" alt=\"SHOP NOW\" width=\"299\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We have spoken about it before and now Alex Garland\u2019s follow-up to 2015\u2019s Ex-Machina, an adaptation of Jeff VanderMeer\u2019s Annihilation (the first book in the Southern Reach trilogy), is upon us. However, recently, it hasn\u2019t been an easy road for Garland and the folks behind the film, with test screenings &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":8537,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[1886,1574],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8695"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8695"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11394,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8695\/revisions\/11394"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}