10 Movies Actually Improved By Studio Interference

After starting life as a 40-page play written by Matt Damon for a class at Harvard University, Good Will Hunting became a huge success upon its release in 1997 and launched the careers of both Damon and his childhood best friend and co-writer Ben Affleck.

However, if it wasn't for the intervention of studio executives during pre-production, the plot and cast of the film would have been virtually unrecognisable.

Damon had originally intended for the film to be an action thriller in which a similarly brilliantly-minded Will Hunting would be attempting to evade capture by the government with a minor a sub-plot between Hunting and a therapist. After reading the script, Rob Reiner of Castle Rock Entertainment encouraged Damon to pursue this therapist-patient relationship in favour of the film's action aspects.

There was also the added issue of the film's casting as studio executives favoured Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio instead of Damon and Affleck. This led to Castle Rock giving the pair 30 days to find another buyer or face losing their rights to the project.

After numerous rejections, Affleck passed the script to his Mallrats co-star Kevin Smith who delivered it to then-head of Mirimax Harvey Weinstein who immediately bought the film rights from Castle Rock.

This move allowed Damon and Affleck to star in the film's lead roles and eventually led them to winning the 1998 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.