https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JncS9luK2lE Steven Spielberg's fantasy-adventure movie E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial was never sold on its stars, but on its special effects, and its core tale of an American schoolboy forming a bond with an intergalactic turd-creature. This film was always about the story, not the names. Which is perhaps why Spielberg found it so easy to cut his Indiana Jones collaborator, Harrison Ford, from the movie. Originally, Ford was to have featured as Elliot's headmaster, cloaked in shadow as he gives out life advice, but Spielberg deemed the scene superfluous and made the trim. For the 20th anniversary release of E.T., Spielberg let it be known that he wouldn't re-insert the scene for fear it would be distracting. It's clear, then, why he removed the scene in the first place: the likes of Dee Wallace and Henry Thomas would have been dwarfed by the sudden appearance of one of the biggest actors around. Which other films cut their biggest stars out the picture? Let us know in the comments below.
Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1