10 Movie Mistakes That Became Canon

7. Simon Skinner Breaks The Fourth Wall - Hot Fuzz

Star Wars
Universal

It's simply a matter of practicality that filmmakers can't catch every single mistake during shooting, and in the case of Hot Fuzz, director Edgar Wright didn't notice the great Timothy Dalton briefly eyeballing the camera during one scene.

When Dalton's smug villain Simon Skinner proposes a toast to the newly dead Martin (David Threlfall) and Eve (Lucy Punch), for a few fractions of a second his eyes dart into the sightline of the camera lens, ensuring he locks fleeting eyes with the audience.

On the film's DVD commentary, Wright pointed this out and added that he originally considered using visual effects to correct Dalton's gaze, but ultimately decided it'd be funnier to turn it into a meta moment instead.

And so, Wright had his sound team add the sound of a cash register clinking in the background to draw greater attention to it.

Considering that Skinner is basically outing himself as a villain throughout the scene, it's a pretty hilarious - if initially unintended - touch that he basically ends up winking at the audience for a tiny sliver of screen time.

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