12 Things That Almost Completely Changed 2016’s Biggest Movies
3. It Was A Standalone Thriller Called "Valencia" - 10 Cloverfield Lane
The Original Plan: Initially written as a spec screenplay called The Cellar, the film's title was changed to Valencia when Paramount bought it, at which point the concept was still simply a claustrophobic thriller without any alien shenanigans.
It in fact simply ended with Michelle shooting John Goodman's Howard in the kneecap, leaving him alive before departing to find Chicago decimated, proving his paranoia was right.
What Happened?: During production, J.J. Abrams and company realised how easily Valencia could be slotted into the Cloverfield universe, and decided to re-tool the third act to have Michelle face off against a Clover-like monster after leaving Howard.
Did It Work?: Though some argue that that the final 15 minutes feel tacked on, and they're not wrong, it was still a thrilling expansion of the original 2008 movie, and proves the huge potential of creating more sci-fi tangentially related to that film.