10 Times Movies Panicked And CHANGED THE ENDING Just Before Release

8. Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween

Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania
Sony

Production on Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween sure was a weird one, because after the first film was a modest commercial success, it made sense to just... do the same thing again, right?

It was widely expected that Jack Black would return to reprise the role of Goosebumps author R.L. Stine, yet even less than a year before the film's October 2018 release, several versions of the script were being written in case Black's schedule wouldn't permit his involvement.

By most accounts Goosebumps 2's production was a frantic, messy sprint, with shooting starting just eight months before its release - a majorly risky move for an effects-heavy production.

And to make matters worse, Sony proved strangely coy about confirming Jack Black's presence in the film's marketing.

This unsurprisingly put a significant dent in the movie's box office projections, and so fans were shocked when a trailer released on September 24, literally two weeks before its premiere, revealed that Black would indeed appear in the film.

But Black, who went uncredited for his appearance, shows up for just a few short scenes in the movie's third act, namely a cliffhanger ending which sets up a third film.

Though Sony hasn't ever confirmed this, it's blatantly obvious that the movie was shot without Black, and realising they had a box office bust on their hands, the studio rushed to work out a last-minute role for him which they hurriedly plugged into the film.

It didn't help all that much, though, as while Goosebumps 2 turned a modest profit, it still made significantly less than the first and likely killed any interest in the planned threequel.

Contributor
Contributor

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.