10 Movies That Made Subtle Character Changes At The Last Minute
9. The Protagonist's Name Was Changed From "Eve" To "Ava" - Ava
You couldn't be blamed for forgetting last year's action-thriller Ava, which thoroughly wasted Jessica Chastain in the role of the titular globe-trotting assassin.
The film's production was less than smooth, with writer-director Matthew Newton being kicked out of the director's chair for a number of abuse allegations levelled against him, ultimately being replaced with Tate Taylor.
Less troublingly, the film was actually shot under the title "Eve," but for reasons that haven't ever been fully confirmed, the title was changed to Ava in late 2019, almost a year after principal photography wrapped.
The title change of course meant that Chastain's protagonist's name also had to be altered, seemingly achieved primarily through ADR dubbing given the lack of online reports about reshoots.
It's been speculated, quite believably, that the film was renamed after the critical success of the BBC spy thriller series Killing Eve, which aired shortly before this film began shooting and became an awards darling while it was in post-production.
Sensibly, the filmmakers chose a replacement name with almost identical mouth movements, making re-dubbing far less of a headache than it otherwise would've been.
Still a terrible movie, though.