Top 10 Times Studios Sabotaged Their Own Movies

The first “Iron Man” movie was so popular that fans were chomping at the bit for a second installment. But things got dicey about this sequel from the jump. Terrence Howard, who played James Rhodes in the first movie, decided not to return because of failed salary negotiations with Marvel Studios. Since the company also pushed filming to start without a finished screenplay, the writers had to scramble to keep up with the production schedule. But the biggest snafu had to do with Mickey Rourke’s villain Whiplash. Rourke claimed some of his character’s beats were cut out of the film because the studio wanted a straightforward bad guy. When things are this messy behind the scenes, it’s no surprise the resulting film is a letdown.

Will Smith playing a swashbuckling superhero with a drinking problem? Sounds great! Sign us up. But strangely enough, 2008’s “Hancock” was received less than enthusiastically. A lot of that had to do with the film’s messy 12-year production. In 1996, an original draft for the film was deemed too long and dark. If script troubles weren’t enough, Michael Mann, Jonathan Mostow, and Gabriele Muccino each passed on the chance to direct due to schedule conflicts or creative differences with the studio. Eventually, Peter Berg was brought on to helm the project. As a final blow, an anxious Sony was worried about the film being R-rated. So the studio had the movie cut down to make it PG-13.

You know a production got bad when courts had to get involved. While “Margaret” was originally slated for a 2005 release, director Kenneth Lonergan only delivered his final cut in 2007. However, producer Gary Gilbert decided to create his own, shorter cut, and refused to contribute his part of the budget for Lonergan’s. This resulted in Searchlight Pictures suing Gilbert and the film being delayed for release. When all was said and done, the production process involved six years of lawsuits, countersuits, and multiple edits. At one point Martin Scorsese even tried to cut a version of the film! Although the suits finally wrapped up in 2014, the film will always be remembered for its post-production woes.

The first two Alien movies are near masterpieces. So it goes without saying that there was a lot of anticipation for the third installment. Although several big names were attached to the film at some point, most of them left due to creative disputes with the studio. Enter a young upstart named David Fincher – ever heard of him? Unfortunately, despite his talents, he still had to deal with an unfinished script and ballooning budget. Even after they got through filming, Fincher didn’t like how the studio edited the film. The director hasn’t been shy about his dislike for “Alien 3’s” messy production. But if this disastrous process had to be the starting block for the rest of his movies, we’re happy it exists.

Production woes for the Man of Steel started way earlier than you might think. Both the first film and second were shot simultaneously over a grueling 19 month period. During this lengthy production, director Richard Donner clashed frequently with producers. When the studio cut Marlon Brando out of the second film without Donner’s approval, the director took to the press. Donner’s comments eventually got him fired. In response, members of the cast and crew left as a show of solidarity. This included Gene Hackman, who played Lex Luthor. Shooting his remaining scenes required a body double and voice dub. Somehow, “Superman II” overcame its troubles and became a hit - but if you’ve seen the Richard Donner cut, you know what could have been!

This period drama had the potential to be Orson Welles’ most beloved project. And to many film fans, it’s a great movie. But Welles himself thought it could have been a lot better. His original cut of the film was lengthy and featured a bleak ending. After a few test audiences received it poorly, he tried to cut it down. But before production began, Welles gave up his control over the final version of the film in contract negotiations. This gave RKO the freedom to re-edit the film without the director and change the ending to something rosier. Welles had no choice but to sit back and let the studio cut it how they liked.

If a studio tries to rush a production along, it can’t expect the resulting movie to be great. But that’s exactly what happened with 2016’s “Suicide Squad.” Right from the get-go, this villainous movie was plagued by production issues. David Ayer, who had never directed a superhero movie before, was barely given any time to finish the script. And when “Batman v. Superman” premiered to lackluster reviews, Warner Bros. execs grew more worried. They found Ayer’s version of “Suicide Squad” too dark. So they decided to add levity by reshooting scenes and re-editing the film. The result was a movie with an uneven tone that was lambasted by critics and met with mixed responses from fans.

Sometimes, less is more. That’s definitely the case with “Spider-Man 3”. After Sam Raimi directed two successful Spider-man films, this third one seemed poised to be a hit. But, too many cooks in the kitchen, or rather, too many villains in the movie, were its downfall. Originally, Raimi wanted Sandman to be the film’s primary villain. The new antagonist’s storyline would tie into Harry Osborn’s evolution into the Green Goblin. The Vulture would have also served as a side villain. However, studio producers convinced Raimi to include Venom while giving the villain a much larger role. What was the result? Too many storylines and not enough development. We won’t even get into the emo Spidey dance. That … happened?

This might be one of the infamous cases of studios changing a film as it travels overseas. The original cut of Terry Gilliam’s dystopian, satirical science-fiction film ran for 142 minutes and had a dark ending. This version of the film was shown in Europe. But there were some issues bringing this version to the U.S. Since executives found the ending too bleak, they edited the film to have a happier finale. They originally planned to test both versions with audiences. But when Gilliam found out, he took matters into his own hands and screened his version for critics without studio approval. It was so well-received that Universal decided to let Gilliam supervise a slightly shorter edit - averting the full consequences of their sabotage!

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

“54” (1998)
The Studio Requested Substantial Cuts

“Event Horizon” (1997)
Paramount Wanted Less Violence & a Shorter Film

“All The Pretty Horses” (2000)
After Studio Cuts, Star Matt Damon Became Unhappy with the Movie

“The Golden Compass” (2007)
The Studio Changed the Ending & Shortened The Film

The level of drama behind the scenes of “Blade Runner” is nothing if not well documented. There were multiple rewrites of the script, the film was severely over budget, and director Ridley Scott didn’t always get along with star Harrison Ford. But it was the studio who did the real damage to the US theatrical cut. Believing that the movie was confusing and slow, they had Ford record a voiceover narration for the film that explained the plot. Worse, they tacked on a happy ending that didn’t fit the tone. Thank goodness that, a decade later, a director’s cut was released, without the narration or happy ending. The belated release gave us one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time.