10 More Movies That Drastically Changed From The Original Script - Screen Rant

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The old adage goes, movies are written three times – they’re written in screenplay form, then they’re rewritten during production, then they’re rewritten in the editing room – so most movies go through a lot of change from script to screen. But some movies change more than others.

Usually, when a movie is rewritten during filming, it maintains the same tone and genre that it had at the conception stage. But, occasionally, filmmakers realize their movie doesn’t work way into production and they completely reshape the story or change the genre or refocus on something else.

10 Con Air (1997)

Simon West’s Con Air is arguably the most Michael Bay movie not directed by Michael Bay. It has all the hallmarks of Bay's work and its producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, is the money man who made Bay’s career possible. But the original script wasn’t a big, loud, explosive actioner; it was a small-scale thriller penned by Scott Rosenberg, similar to his previous work Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead.

According to West, “The original script was much smaller than the eventual film. It was a character piece, really... But I had to make it into a big summer action movie.”

9 The Avengers (2012)

Since the whole of Phase One of the MCU built up to The Avengers, a lot of the story’s elements were already set in stone when Joss Whedon was tapped to assemble Earth’s mightiest heroes on the big screen for the first time. But Whedon had some creative freedom in the writing stage.

His early drafts gave the Wasp a major role, but Kevin Feige decided to save the Wasp’s introduction for a later phase and a lot of her scenes were instead given to Black Widow. Whedon also wanted to add a second villain on top of Loki, but eventually decided to make Loki a herald of Thanos.

8 When Harry Met Sally (1989)

Rob Reiner made the classic rom-com When Harry Met Sally after going through a divorce and re-entering the dating pool. Going into the project with a cynical view of love, Reiner decided that Harry and Sally wouldn’t end up together.

So, production began on a script that ended with Harry and Sally just staying friends. Reiner changed his mind about the ending during production as he fell in love with his next wife and decided Harry and Sally should end up together, after all.

7 Child’s Play (1988)

The final version of Child’s Play revolves around a kid’s doll that’s been possessed by the spirit of a serial killer. But the original script, titled Blood Buddy and written by Don Mancini, had a very different take on the same basic premise – it was essentially a whodunit.

In Mancini’s script, the doll is filled with fake blood that allows it to bleed when kids play with it and it comes to life when Andy mixes his own blood with the doll’s fake blood. In Mancini’s version, the doll targeted all of Andy’s enemies.

6 Live Free Or Die Hard (2007)

The original script for the fourth Die Hard movie wasn’t written as a Die Hard movie at all. It originated in the late ‘90s as an unrelated techno thriller titled WW3.com, adapted by screenwriter David Marconi from the Wired article “A Farewell to Arms.”

After the 9/11 attacks, WW3.com was shelved. Years later, when Fox executives were trying to figure out John McClane’s next adventure, they dusted off Marconi’s script and hired Mark Bomback to rewrite it as Live Free or Die Hard.

5 X-Men (1999)

Although Wesley Snipes’ Blade movie was the first to prove comic books’ potential to create blockbuster franchises, the ongoing superhero craze can really be traced back to Bryan Singer’s initial X-Men movie.

The final movie functions perfectly as an origin story for the titular mutants, but early drafts of the script revolved around Magneto trying to invade Manhattan to turn it into a safe haven for mutants.

4 Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)

Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind originated from a script titled Watch the Skies about an alien invasion in Los Angeles. Roy Neary was a cop in one draft and a spy who specializes in aliens in another draft.

He pitched the script to Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz. According to the 1997 book Steven Spielberg: A Biography, Katz said, “It had flying saucers from outer space landing on Robertson Boulevard [in West Hollywood]. I go, ‘Steve, that’s the worst idea I ever heard.’” Spielberg reworked the script and Close Encounters went on to become one of the definitive cinematic portraits of humankind making contact with extra-terrestrial life.

3 Commando (1985)

According to original screenwriter Jeph Loeb, his initial draft of the Commando script revolved around “a guy who’d been an Israeli soldier, who’d actually turned his back on violence. That’s not the movie they made.”

Although it was originally a dark character study with complex themes, Commando ended up making it to the screen as a bombastic Schwarzenegger actioner with callous one-liners and glorified bloodshed.

2 Fant4stic (2015)

Fox’s 2015 reboot of the Fantastic Four franchise – bafflingly titled Fant4stic – was originally envisioned by director Josh Trank as a Cronenberg-esque body horror pic.

However, the studio heavily reshot and reshaped the Fant4stic movie in an attempt to turn it into a more agreeable blockbuster. Since Warner Bros. caved to fan pressure and pumped $70 million into the completion of the Snyder cut, there’s been a fan campaign to get “the Trank cut” released.

1 Back To The Future (1985)

Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s final draft of Back to the Future is hailed as one of the most perfectly crafted screenplays ever written, but it went through a lot of changes to get there. Originally, the time machine was a refrigerator powered by Coca-Cola, not a DeLorean powered by the flux capacitor.

Most of the changes came at the end when Marty returned to the new 1985, which was supposed to be much more futuristic. The ending originally revealed George becoming a champion boxer after knocking out Biff.

NEXT: Batman '89: 10 Mindblowing Differences Between The Script And The Movie

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Ben Sherlock (2616 Articles Published)

Ben Sherlock is a writer, comedian, and independent filmmaker. He writes news and features for Game Rant and lists for Screen Rant and CBR, covering everything from Star Wars to Scorsese. He's currently in pre-production on his first feature film, and has been for a while because filmmaking is expensive. Previously, he wrote for Taste of Cinema and BabbleTop.