8 Times Movie Studios Went Too Far

3. Jennifer's Body

Megan Fox Jennifer's Body
20th Century Fox

Released in 2009, Jennifer's Body is a brilliant slice of horror that's doused in black comedy and satire. Playing just as much as a tale of female empowerment as it does an all-out supernatural horror, Karyn Kusama's picture is an underappreciated gem of the genre.

Of course, as the centre of the film as the titular Jennifer is Megan Fox. Having done Transformers two years prior, Fox was one of the hottest rising names in Hollywood by this point in time. And to jump on the actress' increasing popularity, 20th Century Fox had a genius idea about how to get the movie noticed.

That "genius idea" was to have Megan Fox featured on a porn website.

As director Karyn Kusama revealed several years after Jennifer's Body's release, the studio wanted to promote the film by having Fox take part in a live video chat on an unnamed porn site. Thankfully, Kusama immediately baulked at this idea and made sure that nobody even made mention of this to her lead actress.

Clearly missing so much of the point of Jennifer's Body's main narrative, those in the 20th Century Fox marketing department thought that the best way to sell the movie was by utilising the sex appeal of one of its main stars to lure in people looking for a quick fix on their porn sites of choice.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.