10 Movies Actually Improved By Studio Interference

The story of director Tony Kaye and lead actor Edward Norton's on-set disputes during the filming of 1998's neo-Nazi crime thriller American History X have become something of a Hollywood legend. However, the true extent of these disagreements, that followed the pair all the way to the cutting room, are often overlooked.

Following the completion of filming, Kaye took over a year to deliver his first 90-minute-long cut which executives at New Line swiftly rejected for being far too short. His second attempt proved to be just as unsuccessful leading the studio to totally lock Kaye out of the editing process.

They instead allowed Norton, with the assistance of editor Jerry Greenberg, to produce the final 40-minute longer theatrical cut, which Kaye alleges existed purely to increase Norton's own screen time.

As a result of losing creative control, Kaye attempted to disown the film and his bizarre actions have since become iconic in their own right. Whether it was attempting to legally change his name to 'Humpty Dumpty', or attending a meeting of studio executives accompanied by a priest, a rabbi and a Tibetan monk, his efforts were impressive to say the least.

Unfortunately for Kaye, these efforts were not appreciated by Hollywood who effectively blacklisted him from ever working again. It wasn't until 2006 that he would resurface with his documentary, Lake of Fire.

The finished film on the other hand was received with much critical acclaim and Norton was rewarded with both an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and an enormous career boost for the hand he played in saving the film from almost certain failure.