10 Doomed Movies SAVED By Last-Minute Reshoots
8. World War Z
World War Z's production was plagued with problems, and there was a point where it didn't look like it would never see the light of day. Production delays and constant problems on set almost killed the whole movie, but it was saved at the 11th hour, thanks to some reshoots.
The film's first cut was garbage, and the studio executives who saw it weren't impressed. The film's star and executive producer, Brad Pitt, called it "atrocious," and the only thing they could do was order some reshoots.
The reshoots went for seven weeks, which pushed back the scheduled release date. After that, the third act was completely rewritten, so more reshoots followed. By the time they were finished re-shooting the movie, the production budget had ballooned beyond $200 million!
That's an insane amount for reshoots, but they effectively reshot much of the movie. Nearly every scene that comes after Pitt's character boards a plane was changed from the original cut. He originally landed in Russia, and his wife was forced into becoming a sex-slave to protect herself and her daughter.
The film concluded before he could make it back to reunite with his family, which would have set it up for a sequel. Fortunately, they changed everything about the movie, which holds the record for being the highest-grossing zombie movie ever made, so the changes were probably for the best.