10 TV Shows That Were Saved By One Genius Tweak
7. Spending $10 Million To Reshoot The Terrible Pilot Episode - Game Of Thrones
Though it quickly became a global phenomenon, Game of Thrones very nearly faltered before it even got going. HBO originally commissioned a pilot episode to be shot in 2009, which during an initial preview screening was poorly received by the cast, crew, and executives in attendance.
Series co-creator D. B. Weiss called watching the pilot "a deeply humiliating, painful experience," after which HBO waited four months to decide the show's fate.
Ultimately they agreed to greenlight an entire season's worth of episodes, but only if the pilot was re-shot, resulting in some changes in the cast and crew.
Factoring in the reshoots, HBO ended up spending an estimated, eye-watering $10 million on the first episode alone, accounting for approximately 20% of the first season's budget.
The unaired pilot has since taken on a mythic status in Thrones fandom, while franchise creator George R.R. Martin has joked that he's "under penalty of death" if he ever shows it to anyone.
Given that Game of Thrones' pilot was pivotal in the show's future success and the creation of a wider media empire, HBO were smart to invest more money in getting things right straight away, rather than hoping they could smooth the pilot's problems out in subsequent episodes.
First impressions count for a lot, after all.