10 Times Studios LOCKED AWAY Deleted Movie Scenes From Directors

New Line Cinema originally hoped that Northern Lights adaptation The Golden Compass would effectively fill the void left by their uber-successful The Lord of the Rings franchise: a huge-scale, multi-volume fantasy epic.

To that token, director Chris Weitz's original cut ran a hefty three hours in length, true to the sprawling scope of Peter Jackson's Rings movies.

But during post-production, antsy New Line executives got cold feet, concerned that the dark tone of Philip Pullman's source material and anti-religious themes could dent its commercial prospects.

And so, the studio forced Weitz to cleave roughly an hour of story from the film, including its more initially downbeat ending, leaving so many gaping holes in the movie that the studio then made Weitz slog his way through re-shoots to plug up the gaps.

The film ultimately ended up clocking in at just 113 minutes, and was widely pilloried by fans and critics alike for failing to capture the spirit of the source material.

Sadly The Golden Compass' commercial disappointment made any sort of Director's Cut incredibly unlikely, especially given that according to Weitz these scenes required roughly $2 million of VFX work to be completed.

Plus, in light of the recent BBC/HBO TV adaptation His Dark Materials, it's safe to say the world has moved on from this big-budget misfire. But alas, it didn't have to be this way.