10 Ways 9/11 Completely Changed Movies

9. Upcoming Movies Were Edited

The September 11 attacks shook the world and in the days, weeks and months following 9/11 a lot of effort was put into making sure the arts didn't step too far. In an attempt to keep things as inoffensive as possible, the movie industry at large went about adjusting upcoming films to play down these elements. On top of the removal of the WTC from most (but not all) New York set films, many plots and sequences had to be played with. The Bourne Identity was originally going to lean strongly on a terrorist plot, which was removed in editing, while Lilo And Stitch was going to end in the titular alien hijacking a Boeing 747 (which goes to highlight how unexpected the attacks were). The biggest casualty was Spider-Man. On top of featuring the Twin Towers prominently in the movie itself, the marketing leaned heavily on the World Trade Center's iconic part of the New York skyline. Posters featured the Towers reflected in Spidey's eyes and a teaser trailer climaxed with bank robbers escaping in a helicopter getting caught in a web spun between them. It wasn't all negative for the film though; it gave the scene of New Yorkers ganging up on the Green Goblin an added sense of poignancy.
Contributor
Contributor

Film Editor (2014-2016). Loves The Usual Suspects. Hates Transformers 2. Everything else lies somewhere in the middle. Once met the Chuckle Brothers.