Deleted scenes are a natural part of the film-making process. After all, film-makers have to capture a lot more footage than what is shown on the screen for them to be able to create the story that they want to tell, though it is interesting to note that there have been rare and unusual exceptions to this rule. Regardless, while some deleted scenes have been relatively inexpensive in the grand scheme of things, others have been pivotal scenes on which entire movies turn, which in turn, means that they came with production costs of corresponding size.
Here are some examples of the most expensive deleted scenes ever filmed:
Cleopatra
Cleopatra remains infamous for being the one movie to lead the box office in its year of release but still fail to make a profit. This was because of its enormous production as well as promotion costs, which were not helped by a succession of complications with the production process. Although no single scene stands out, three hours out of the six hours that were planned for the initial release had to be cut, which adds up to more than $150 million in production costs once the sums have been adjusted for inflation since 1963.
Little Shop of Horrors
Alternate endings are not particularly uncommon in horror movies, but sometimes, as in the case of Little Shop of Horrors, they can be expensive and time-consuming. In brief, the original ending to the movie saw the plant eating both the protagonist and his love interest before successfully taking over the world, which fell flat for test audiences who loved the rest of the movie. As a result, a fifth of the movie’s $30 million budget was wasted when the entire ending had to be redone, which meant more work from the puppeteers as well as other people working in visual effects.
Superman Returns
Initially, Superman Returns had a six-minute introduction that explained Superman’s background without the use of any dialogue whatsoever. As a result, it was cut for the actual release, not least because Superman’s background wasn’t exactly uncommon knowledge by that point in time. Regardless, fans of the Superman franchise did get to see the scene in the Superman Anthology that was released in 2011. Reportedly, the cut introduction cost the studio more than $12 million in production costs.
X-Men: Days of Future Past
X-Men: Days of Future Past was packed full of characters, so much so that the film-makers decided that it would be better to remove a sub-plot involving the character called Rogue for a better narrative flow. Of course, the actress Anna Paquinn was still paid $2.8 million for her work, while the adjustments to the movie meant that the cast and crew had to do another two weeks’ worth of filming. Considering that the entire movie was filmed over the course of four months on a $200 million budget, it should come as no surprise to learn that the decision turned out to have been pretty expensive.
World War Z
The original version of World War Z had a much, much darker third act, with examples ranging from conscription to forced prostitution. Unsurprisingly, the studios moved in to change that to something more positive, with the result that the entire third act had to be done by the cast and crew. In total, this process cost $25 million, thus making it the single most expensive example of a deleted scene according to some of the people out there.
Follow Us
