8 Problems With Upcoming Movies (That Have Already Been Solved)

Even though we aren't privy to every tiny detail about a movie's prep, shooting, and editing, it's often easy to tell whether an upcoming project is in trouble or not.

When Lord and Miller were fired midway through directing Solo, it was clear that the film would need some significant retooling before being plonked into cinemas, and the final product suffered because of all that commotion. Similarly, the production of Dark Phoenix was reportedly a mess, with the entire third act having to be recreated from scratch in order to avoid comparisons with another superhero movie. All signs pointed to the film being bad, and the film itself was... well, it was bad.

But because movies can (and do) change so drastically over time, some projects can overcome their biggest hurdles months or years before they're due to be released.

Whether that's by bringing in a filmmaker who excels in an area that the movie needs to nail, getting rid of actors who might cause issues on set, or adding extra polish to special effects and action scenes, it's possible for certain projects to solve problems or fix potential weaknesses - even while they're still in the midst of production.

The Problem: The first film's CGI was patchy, and the sequel could've followed suit.

The Solution: Mo-cap and special effects master Andy Serkis has been hired to direct.

Considering that its trailers looked pretty iffy, it was a genuine surprise when 2018's Venom made almost $900 million worldwide - that's more than each of the Amazing Spider-Man films managed, and roughly on par with Spider-Man: Homecoming.

But the movie itself was far from problem-free. It was a lot of fun, sure, and Tom Hardy's wacky performance was a joy to behold, but it had a bland villain, a lacklustre finale, a weak romantic subplot and some questionable CGI.

Given that the film rested on the believability of its special effects-driven title character, that last problem was a major one. The actual Venom character himself looked solid, but when parts of Venom were combined with parts of Eddie Brock (for example, when Hardy's face is half-covered by Venom, or when long strands of the symbiote shoot out of his body and grab the bike), the CGI looked laughable.

Fortunately, the sequel has enlisted Andy Serkis to direct, replacing Ruben Fleischer, who helmed the first. Serkis is a master in the motion-capture field (he brought Gollum, Kong, and Caesar the ape to life), and just directed Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, which was a special effects tour-de-force. His expertise in these areas should mean that Venom 2's CGI is much cleaner than the original.