20 Reshoots That Actually Made the Movie Better
In theory, a test screening seems like a great idea. You lure in some randos with free tickets and the chance to say they shaped the movie-making process, and they tell you whether your film is an unhinged work of stupidity so you can fix it before it bombs with the world at large. Oftentimes, though, nervous producers put too much weight on the opinions of three guys from Cincinnati, and the result is a trite turd designed to appeal to the most people possible that therefore ends up saying nothing.
“Normally, when a movie bombs lately, it’s discussed that the movie had undergone extensive reshoots due to poor audience test screenings that clearly didn’t help,” Redditor the_dude_abides3 recently pointed out. They couldn’t think of a single movie that was actually improved by test screening, so they asked r/movies, “Are there any example(s) where a movie had poor test screenings and the extensive reshoots probably saved the movie?”
It turns out there are plenty — if only, in some cases, accidentally.
Shrek
Aliens
Independence Day
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Mortal Kombat
Payback
Spartacus
Sonic the Hedgehog
All the Money in the World
Snakes on a Plane
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Superman II
A Fish Called Wanda
World War Z
The Exorcist III
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
Back to the Future
Army of the Dead
Samurai Cop
