7 Famous Movie Scenes That Only Existed To Save Money

Money is the lifeblood of cinema. Without it, movies simply cannot be made and the amount they recoup is always the yardstick used to measure success or failure.

What filmmakers can and can't do is determined almost entirely by the size of their budget. For the latest blockbuster releases, this is less of a concern, but those working with shoestring funding often have tough creative decisions to make.

There are ways around budgetary constraints, from casting unknown actors to swapping a special effects-heavy scene for a more humble one, and filmmakers like John Carpenter and David Lynch have always been the masters of this.

But it isn't just indie directors who have had to contend with the problem of monetary restrictions. Some of the biggest names in the film industry, from George Lucas to Steven Spielberg, have been forced to make studio-enforced cuts, concessions and changes to some of their biggest projects to balance the books.

In fact, there are iconic movie scenes that only made the grade for this reason.

Hearts were in mouths when Jurassic Park's intense jeep chase sequence first played in cinemas around the world, but this dino-tastic set piece was only included because a famous scene from the book was deemed too expensive to adapt.

In Michael Crichton's novel, there's a chapter where Rexy is in hot pursuit of Alan Grant, Tim and Lex while they raft along a river. The dino takes to the water before being stalled by a falling tree, giving Robert Muldoon the chance to tranquillise her.

This is a fan-favourite scene that was scripted and storyboarded for the movie, but never filmed because Steven Spielberg had invested his budget elsewhere.

To appease Jurassic fans who wanted the river chase, Spielberg upped the ante in the jeep scene instead. The original plans was to have the vehicle speed off when Rexy's footsteps were heard, but it became an epic chase sequence instead.