10 Movies That Needed Reshoots For INSANE Reasons

8. To Turn It From A TV Episode Into A Film - Mulholland Drive

Mulholland Drive Naomi Watts Laura Harring
Universal

It's probably more accurate to say that David Lynch's Mulholland Drive wasn't so much reshot as blessed with the gift of additional photography, albeit only after its original form was firmly rejected.

Lynch's surreal mystery-noir was conceived and shot as a TV pilot for ABC, who promptly cancelled the proposed series after watching said pilot.

However, Lynch decided to rework the failed pilot into a feature film, securing $7 million from StudioCanal to ramp production back up, shooting an extra 18 pages of material.

This included adding a romantic subplot between Betty (Naomi Watts) and Rita (Laura Harring), as well as the bulk of the nightmarish third act. 

According to cinematographer Peter Deming, Lynch also ended up trimming or entirely removing subplots shot for the pilot version.

Ultimately Mulholland Drive may not have been a box office success, but almost 25 years on from its release it's still debatably the magnum opus of one of cinema's all-timer visionaries.

To think that it could've never seen the light of day without post-production intervention is just... terrifying.

 
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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.