The feedback loop is alive and well in this list of films changed due to feedback from the fans.
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00:00The use of studio test audiences can be really, really helpful when it comes to fine-tuning
00:05your movie. You can find out what your audiences want to see, what they don't want to see,
00:08and hopefully, in the end, put out a film that will be better reviewed, better enjoyed,
00:12and make more money. I'm sure there will be plenty of films out there that we don't even
00:16know looked totally different before the test audiences got their eyes on them.
00:19But here I have to present to you 10 films that, for better or worse,
00:23were definitely influenced by the audience's feedback. I'm Amy from WhatCulture,
00:27and here are 10 movie changes influenced by the fans' feedback.
00:3010. The Genie – Aladdin
00:32The early reactions for the teaser trailer for Aladdin were, to say the least, not flattering.
00:38Whilst Will Smith seemed as good a choice as any to take over the role made famous by Robin Williams,
00:42for someone that's meant to have blue skin, people said that he was too blue. And for some reason,
00:46because nobody has any perception of what bodies are actually meant to look like these days,
00:50people also said that he looked overweight and fat. And they really didn't like that.
00:54The negative reactions to the look of the Genie had a twofold effect,
00:58with changes made to both the marketing for the film and the aesthetics of the Genie himself.
01:02Subsequent trailers placed a greater emphasis on moments in the film when the Genie resembled
01:06Will Smith's normal, human form, hoping that you'd focus more on the Genie's character traits
01:11than his look. There was also some definite tweaking of the look, though. The CGI fine
01:15tuning made him actually look a little less blue, and whilst he still looked like a very much
01:19out-of-this-world character, the more human look they gave him was less of an eyesore.
01:23The end result was a product that was much better received than what was expected,
01:27and the box office returns managed to top the $1 billion mark.
01:30The film was also a great reminder to Hollywood execs that, given the right role,
01:34Will Smith is still one of the world's biggest and best draw cards going around.
01:389. Suicide Squad
01:41Snappier editing
01:42The first of two entries featuring Margot Robbie's interpretation of Harley Quinn,
01:46this is one example where the influence of the fans' feedback was not used for the greater good.
01:50In fact, in this case, it was the filmmakers' attempts to utilize the positive trailer
01:54reactions that proved to be the film's fatal flaw. The first two trailers for the film were
01:58snappily edited, highly stylized, and energetic, and it served as an excellent advertisement for
02:04the upcoming feature. But that's exactly the problem. It's an advertisement. The choice
02:08was made by the creative team to make the final product feel like one big, long trailer, and,
02:14unsurprisingly to any of us that have more than two brain cells to rub together,
02:17this proved to be an unmitigated disaster. Rather than keeping audiences engaged throughout the
02:22film, the final product proved to be extremely choppy, with far too many characters and a
02:27distinct lack of heart. No heart in advertising? Who would have seen that one coming? It was
02:32impossible to find any genuine connection with any of the characters, which is really a shame
02:36because a lot of the performances were solid. Will Smith and Margot Robbie were particularly
02:40strong as Deadshot and Harley, but there's so little backstory and character development due
02:45to the chaotic pacing that those performances were largely wasted. At the end of the day,
02:49the test audiences aren't really to blame for this, but I hope that Hollywood learned a very
02:52valuable lesson. An advert is an advert, and it's short and snappy for a reason. If you hadn't
02:57figured it out already, no one wants to watch a 90-minute advert.
03:028. Toning Down the Violence, Slender Man
03:05The feedback that caused alterations for this film hit a little closer to home than usual,
03:09with the main critic being an outraged father of a child involved in a hideous crime. The
03:14real-life stabbing of a 12-year-old girl, linked to the Slender Man legend, left a dark stain on
03:18the character, and this meant that any future products addressing the character were always
03:23going to be controversial. While members of the press and the general public voiced their concerns,
03:27it was the criticism leveled by the father of one of the perpetrators of the stabbing that
03:31really made the impact. Bill Ware, whose daughter Anissa was sentenced to 25 years to life in
03:36various institutions for her involvement in the stabbing crime, described the film as distasteful
03:41and campaigned for local theatres not to show it. The filmmakers' reaction to these comments was to
03:46tone down the violence and gore, so much so that the final product came out with a PG-13 rating.
03:51The film was critically panned, but managed to make a small profit. It's hard to make a final
03:56judgement as to how Sony Pictures would judge the effectiveness of the changes, but at least
04:00they were made in the interest of good taste. 7. Digital Re-Asian-ing, Ghost in the Shell
04:07Oh, Hollywood, when will you ever learn? The choice to have the whitest of American actors, MCU
04:13poster girl Scarlett Johansson play the role of Major Motoko Kusanagi, was the kind of mind-bogglingly
04:18stupid and insensitive decision that only Hollywood producers could make. Considering the wealth of
04:23amazing Asian-American actors that were literally at their fingertips, choosing Johansson was
04:28incredibly lazy and just beyond insane. With accusations of whitewashing flooding in from
04:33the very fans of the anime the producers were targeting, the decision was made to,
04:37and I s*** you not, make Scarlett Johansson look more Asian. Yes, that is correct, the producers
04:43chose to address the issue of whitewashing by making a white woman look slightly less white,
04:48instead of, you know, hiring an Asian actress. Unsurprisingly, the changes did nothing to quell
04:53the concerns of the fans of the anime, the final product proving particularly mediocre.
04:58Considering the film had strong visuals and great source material to fall back on,
05:02one can only ponder if the choice of a young, talented Japanese actress in the lead role could
05:06have allowed for a better film product. Actually, you know what, not much pondering is necessary,
05:11we all know the answer.
05:136. Patching the Cats.
05:15Cats. There isn't a lot more that can be said about the catastrophic disaster that was this
05:212019 bomb. The idea of translating the unfilmable stage musical to the big screen was in itself a
05:27significant misjudgment, and the horrifying visual design for the titular cats was just a
05:32final nail in the coffin. Director Tom Hooper and his creative team made the poor decision
05:37to largely ignore the torrid audience feedback to begin with, maintaining the overall hybrid
05:42half-cat half-human look that we were all having nightmares about for months. Hooper did, however,
05:47pick up on the criticisms of the patchy CGI for the cats, most notably the human hands popping
05:52out from the felines' bodies. In a sign of just how rushed the final product was,
05:57freshly edited final products were rushed to cinemas with added fur. The problem was that
06:01the new changes were added ridiculously late, and meant that audiences viewed different products
06:06depending on where they were and when they watched the film. In hindsight, the Cats producers needed
06:11to either take on board the initial negative feedback and make adjustments, or just ignore
06:15it completely. Trying to make last-second changes felt like reorganizing the chairs on the Titanic
06:20after the boat had already sunk.
06:225. Changing Alita's Appearance.
06:24Alita Battle Angel.
06:26The key to being a learned critic is to be able to have a good eye for picking up on things.
06:30And when the trailer for this James Cameron passion project was released,
06:34many viewers had a significant issue with one aspect of Alita's looks,
06:38her eyes. The common theme among viewer criticism was that the eyes were just too big. But,
06:43as was noted by the visual effects supervisor for the film, Eric Saindon, the issue wasn't
06:47that the eyes were too big at all. If anything, they were too small. As Saindon explained in an
06:52article for The Insider, after consulting with his creative team, including Cameron,
06:56the decision was made to enlarge the eyes' iris. The idea of making the eyes bigger
07:00was strongly considered, but the changes to the overall look of the eyes did the trick.
07:04There were subtle lighting changes that also added to the effect, but it was the changed
07:07size of the iris that proved the most effective. The final product was definitely enhanced from
07:11this modification. And, whilst it was slightly more subtle than the changes made for the Sonic
07:15the Hedgehog movie, not having the audience consumed by the lead character's weird eyes
07:20proved a major benefit.
07:214. Making the Movie.
07:24Deadpool. It's hard to fathom now, but the idea of an R-rated Deadpool movie didn't exactly have
07:29Hollywood excited when the idea was first brought up. R-rated movies regularly struggled to become
07:34box office successes, whilst the idea of having Ryan Reynolds resuming his role after the mediocre
07:39X-Men Origins Wolverine seemed a poor one. That was all turned on its head when prospective
07:43director Tim Miller secretly released test footage for a possible Reynolds-starring Deadpool.
07:48The three-minute scene was a massive smash, viewed by millions, and universally loved.
07:52In fact, it was loved in particular by fans still reeling from the character's woeful
07:56previous interpretation. The positive fan feedback for this mini-scene not only led to
08:01the film being made, but many doubts about producing a high-budget R-rated film were
08:05largely quashed. To say the film was a success would be a massive understatement, with the
08:09original film and sequel taking in over $750 million each. The film has also left a significant
08:15legacy, with its fourth-wall-breaking style and R-rated violence being replicated in many a future
08:20blockbuster. Yeah, and that's all thanks to one cheeky director who leaked some footage,
08:24and the fans who let him know that they liked what they saw.
08:273. Bringing the Horror
08:29When movie historians reflect back on the early 21st century cinema, The New Mutants will no
08:34doubt top the list for most troubled productions. The film is one of the most unlucky in history,
08:39with an abundance of issues unrelated to the product itself causing no end of problems.
08:44What makes it all the more frustrating for those involved was that the trailers were
08:48actually well-received. People were quite excited about the horror aspects of the film,
08:52which was something new. In fact, it was the audience's excitement at the trailer,
08:55and also their dislike of the apocalypse movie, that caused the filmmakers to make some changes.
09:00Reshoots for the new film were made that eliminated any references to the 80s or the
09:04wider X-Men universe, whilst also amping up the horror aspects that were received so well.
09:08Of course, just how effective these changes were is up for debate,
09:12but at least it's nice to know that we were listened to.
09:152. A Change in Title
09:18Harley Quinn Birds of Prey
09:19This entry is a little bit different, because it actually refers to something that's not materially
09:24in the film. Despite the film being well-received by critics, and having a rising star in Margot
09:28Robbie promote the film, there was a lot of confusion as to what the film was actually about,
09:33an issue largely caused by its very convoluted title. Initially called Birds of Prey and the
09:38Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, the small paragraph of a title caused more confusion
09:43than anything else. Whilst meant to be a clever reference to the comics, the title instead made
09:48the film look like it was too far up its own arse. The title was also in contrast to the advertising,
09:52which had all but promoted the film as a Harley Quinn solo act. Realising that the title was
09:56holding back the film's hopes of success, the producers made a belated, but sensible decision
10:01to change its name. The film was rebranded with the far more comprehensible name of Birds of Prey.
10:06It was unfortunately a case of too little, too late, because the box office wasn't great.
10:11But I think we can all agree that Harley Quinn Birds of Prey was clearly a much
10:15better choice for a title than what it had at the start.
10:181. Changing the Lines
10:20Snakes on a Plane
10:22Never has a fan's feedback been so well-utilised as it was for this 2006 action caper. The choice
10:27by Samuel L. Jackson to sign up to the film caught everyone by surprise, including the
10:32film's director, Ronnie Yu, and it ended up proving to be the film's biggest strength.
10:36The hype for the movie hit a crescendo when a blog entry from screenwriter Josh
10:40Friedman was released with the details of the plot. Bloggers around the world followed up by
10:44creating parodies, original artwork, songs, and a variety of fan fiction related to the film's
10:49premise. And in response to this insane hype, the production even scheduled in five additional
10:53days of filming to make sure they got everything in. Reshoots were made to add more gore and
10:58gruesome deaths, whilst also adding some memorably uncouth dialogue. The addition of the line that
11:03is now synonymous with the film was the best example of the film embracing its campy fun.
11:08I've had enough of these motherf***ing snakes on this motherf***ing plane. Now, we all know it's
11:13not exactly Shakespeare, but my god, it's pretty f***ing quotable. In addition to more gruesome
11:18deaths and more profanities, they also decided to revert back to the name Snakes on a Plane,
11:22because, you know, that's what everyone wants to see. At one point, the proposed title was
11:27Pacific Air Flight 123. So really, everyone came out of this better. And with that, we've reached
11:33the end of this list of 10 Movie Changes Influenced by Fans' Feedback. If you know of any
11:37more, let us know in the comments down below. And remember to check out WhatCulture.com for more
11:41lists and articles like this every single day. As always, I've been Amy from WhatCulture,
11:46and I'll catch you next time.