10 Movies That Were Saved By One Genius Tweak

These movies could've been doomed had the following small changes not been made!

Rogue Nation
Paramount Pictures

Bringing a big screen adventure into existence isn't as simple as just shooting a ton of exciting footage showcasing a talented cast doing what they do best, chopping said film into a digestible two-hour tale, and ultimately pumping it out into theatres and watching the acclaim and dollar bills roll in.

More often than not, there's a ton of fine tuning and chopping and changing that tends to go down in the months leading up to its eventual release, with everything from hit-and-miss test screenings to real-life drama forcing an alteration before a feature lands on screens the world over.

And in the following cases, though the entire project wasn't what you'd class as an unmitigated disaster by the time the folks behind the camera had pieced together their beloved project in the editing suite, one little adjustment based on negative feedback or an inspired last-minute addition managed to ensure the movie in question stood a better chance of becoming an instant hit.

From iconic one-liners being infused via ingenious pick-up, to clunky conclusions being polished via some Tom Cruise tinkering, sometimes it only takes one small switch to erase what could've potentially been a movie-killing problem.

10. Not Sticking The Landing Forces A New Scene - Legally Blonde

Rogue Nation
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

The difference between a good slice of big-screen fun and an instant classic of a feature can often come down to how a movie draws to a close.

And in the case of eventual smash hit 2001 comedy Legally Blonde, a test screening for the flick seemed to suggest that the initially proposed ending for the film's leading light Elle Woods simply wasn't enough to satisfy those who had been taking in her compelling journey to becoming a successful lawyer.

So, instead of unleashing that first ending, which saw Elle taking part in a pretty traditional rom-com finale involving her kissing the guy and eventually handing out Blonde Legal Defense Fund pamphlets a year on from her triumphant trial victory, the folks behind the picture forged a swift new finish to the film.

Roping in Reese Witherspoon and dumping her in a blonde wig for a quick reshoot in London, due to the star filming The Importance of Being Earnest at the time and cutting her hair off, the satsifying graduation conclusion was brought into being, with fans reacting much better to the visual of Elle getting her cap and gown at Harvard than simply getting the guy and riding off into the sunset.

Contributor
Contributor

Lifts rubber and metal. Watches people flip in spandex and pretends to be other individuals from time to time...