History ExecutiveMeddling / Film

** Much of the behind-the-scenes shenanigans stemmed from clashes between Snyder and WB over the direction of franchise. The studio wanted the DCEU to be a ModularFranchise similar to that of the rival MarvelCinematicUniverse, which would support multiple spin-offs of varying style and tone. Snyder however never intended the franchise to be a rival to the MCU and wanted the entire picture to sel, while adhering to his own close-ended to adhere specifically to his own vision and stick with a uniformly dark tone. This difference in creative difference lead to strained relationships between Snyder and the WB

* The Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse has been plagued by constant meddling by Warner Bros. with most done in response to the audience and critical backlash to ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice''.

*** Snyder's original script for ''Justice League'' was intended to have a dystopian future where most of Earth's heroes had been killed and Superman had turned evil. However, the executives vetoed this plan following the negative reception of ''Batman v Superman'' so he started over with screenwriter Chris Terrio on a different shooting script.

** Ever wonder why ''Film/BlackPanther'' and ''Film/CaptainMarvel'' were stuck in DevelopmentHell until 2014? Well you can blame Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter since he claimed that audiences wouldn't want to watch movies with non-{{White Male Lead}} heroes (a claim that rings rather hollow given the success of ''Film/TheHungerGames'' and ''Film/WonderWoman''). Perlmutter himself would only allow Marvel Studios president Creator/KevinFeige to make ''Black Panther'' and ''Captain Marvel'' on the condition that Feige would make an ''Inhumans'' movie[[note]]Feige had no interest in adapting the Inhumans in the MCU, but Perlmutter wanted the Inhumans to replace the X-Men in the MCU. That movie never did end up happening, instead being made into a [[Series/{{Inhumans}} TV series]][[/note]].

** ''Film/JusticeLeague'' suffered immensely from studio interference after the disastrous reception of ''Batman v Superman''.
*** Warner Bros. decided to keep on Creator/ZackSnyder as they feared that firing the director would be seen as a sign of weakness. However, Snyder was kept on a tighter leash with the studio mandating that the film must be lighter than ''Batman v Superman'' and have a run time of just over 2 hours.
*** When Snyder's daughter died during post-production, he stepped away from the film and left co-writer Creator/JossWhedon to finish up the project. Whedon was then ordered by Warner Bros. to write and direct several reshoots that altered the film's original tone and plot. Some changes included discarding the washed-out color palette, removing several of the serious plot points and character moments, and adding more jokes & one-liners.

** ''Film/{{Hellboy}}'': Executives felt that Hellboy should be changed from an out-and-out demon to a human who was (somehow, inexplicably) born in Hell who would turn into Hellboy when he got angry, a la the [[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]]. Del Toro vetoed all attempts to change the character and again eventually won out.

* Several Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse movies suffered from many demands imposed by Warner Bros. in response to the audience and critical backlash to ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice''.

** ''Film/JusticeLeague'' suffered immensely from studio interference following the critical backlash of ''Batman v Superman''.
*** Warner Bros. decided to keep on Creator/ZackSnyder, but he was given a tighter leash with the executives mandating that the film must be lighter than ''Batman v Superman'' and have a run time of just over 2 hours. However, after principal photography was completed, a family tragedy befell Snyder that caused him to vacate the directoral role in 2017.
*** In Snyder's place, the Warner Bros. appointed co-writer Creator/JossWhedon as the intermediary director, who wrote and directed several reshoots that changed the tone of the film. The film's original washed-out color palette was discarded, several of the serious plot points and character moments were removed, and a lot of unnecessary jokes & one-liners were added.

*** To avoid further studio interference, the DC Films division was overhauled with new management that led to producer Walter Hamada becoming president of the studio. As Hamada had previously worked with directors Creator/JamesWan and Creator/DavidFSandberg on Film/TheConjuringUniverse, neither ''Film/Aquaman2018'' nor ''Film/Shazam2019'' experienced the behind the scenes shenanigans and abrupt production changes that afflicted the other DCEU movies.

** In Snyder's place, the Warner Bros. appointed co-writer Creator/JossWhedon as the intermediary director, who wrote and directed several reshoots that changed the tone of the film. The film's original washed-out color palette was discarded, several of the serious plot points and character moments were removed, and a lot of unnecessary jokes & one-liners were added.

** Given the mid-production changes, the filmmakers wanted to delay the film so that additional time could be spend on polishing the effects and properly editing the film. However, Warner Bros. refused to change the release date and forced the studio to stick to its original November 2017 release date.
** Ultimately, the film wasn't nearly as successful as hoped, due to the mixed reception, the marketing troubles of having to exclude Superman on all advertising, and the behind-the-scenes issues. The film itself had many clear signs of interference from the inconsistent tone to the poor effects.
** To avoid further studio interference, the DC Films division was overhauled with new management that led to producer Walter Hamada becoming president of the studio. As Hamada had previously worked with directors Creator/JamesWan and Creator/DavidFSandberg on Film/TheConjuringUniverse, neither ''Film/Aquaman2018'' nor ''Film/Shazam2019'' experienced the behind the scenes shenanigans and abrupt production changes that afflicted the other DCEU movies.

* Several Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse movies suffered from abrupt mid-production changes imposed by executives in response the negative response to ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice''.

** ''Film/JusticeLeague'' suffered immensely from studio interference following the critical backlash of ''Batman v Superman''. Warner Bros. kept on Creator/ZackSnyder, the executives mandated that the final film must have a run time of just 2 hours. However, after principal photography was completed, a family tragedy befell Snyder, they hired Creator/JossWhedon to finish the film, and also write & direct extensive reshoots that changed the tone and colour grading of the film to be much lighter, cut out much of the serious plot points and character development, and added a lot of unnecessary jokes & one-liners. The film wasn't nearly as successful as they'd hoped, due to the poor reception, the marketing troubles of having to exclude Superman on all advertising, and the behind-the-scenes issues.

* ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' was the unfortunate victim of this, with the original 3 hour film being cut down to 2 1/2 hours, due to the studio apprehension about the commercial success and the potential R Rating. This ironically led to several significant scenes to be cut out of the film, partially contributing to its mixed to bad reception from critics.

* ''Film/JusticeLeague'' suffered immensely from studio interference following the critical backlash of ''Batman v Superman''. Warner Bros. kept on Creator/ZackSnyder, the executives mandated that the final film must have a run time of just 2 hours. However, after principal photography was completed, a family tragedy befell Snyder, they hired Creator/JossWhedon to finish the film, and also write & direct extensive reshoots that changed the tone and colour grading of the film to be much lighter, cut out much of the serious plot points and character development, and added a lot of unnecessary jokes & one-liners. The film wasn't nearly as successful as they'd hoped, due to the poor reception, the marketing troubles of having to exclude Superman on all advertising, and the behind-the-scenes issues.

* ''Film/SuicideSquad2016'' suffered '''big time''' from executive meddling. In a lengthy report from [[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/suicide-squads-secret-drama-rushed-916693 The Hollywood Reporter]], with insider information provides from several sources who worked closely on the film, there were ''several'' major issues before, during ''and'' after the production of the movie:
** CEO Kevin Tsujihara announced ''Suicide Squad'' in October 2014, and it was "a sprint from the start" to meet its August 2016 release date. "[Ayer] wrote the script in like, six weeks, and they just went." And pushing the release date back was not an option, since Warner Bros. already had big deals signed with companies like Samsung and other merchandise partners.
** Warner Bros. hired Creator/DavidAyer to direct the movie, even though he had no prior experience making a big, CGI-filled blockbuster. Seasoned directors are expensive, meaning studios turn to those with less experience, relying on instinct that they will be up to the job.
** Warner Bros. executives, who had been nervous about ''Suicide Squad'' since the day it was announced, grew even more nervous after the negative response to ''Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice''. "Kevin was really pissed about damage to the brand," according to one executive close to the studio.
** And then came the competing cuts. Warner Bros. felt that the movie didn’t deliver the fun, edgy tone that the “Bohemian Rhapsody” trailer captured. So while David Ayer continued to work on his version of the movie, Warner Bros. began working on another with help from Trailer Park, the company that had made the trailer. Multiple editors worked on Suicide Squad, though only John Gilroy is credited. Although, according to a source who worked on the movie, he left by the end of the process and that the final editor was Michael Tronick.
** In May, David Ayer’s darker version of the movie, and Warner Bros.’s lighter, more fun version were screened for test audiences. Ayer agreed to this, and they gathered all of the feedback and tried to reach a middle ground. In order to get the movie to that point though, millions of dollars were needed for reshoots.
** There was also a lot of “panic and ego” were involved, instead of calmly trying to address the tone issues. Things got so intense, that Ayer fired his long time agent, hired a new one, but then decided to go back to his old one just a day later. “He was under a lot — a lot — of pressure,” according to one source.

** Ever wonder why ''Film/BlackPanther'' and ''Film/CaptainMarvel'' were stuck in DevelopmentHell until 2014? Well you can blame Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter since he claimed that audiences wouldn't want to watch movies with non-{{White Male Lead}} heroes (a claim that rings rather hollow given the success of ''Film/TheHungerGames'' and ''Film/WonderWoman'').
** Much of Marvel Studios' meddling came from a Creative Committee within former parent company Marvel Entertainment as a whole. Meddlers included such notable names as Creator/JoeQuesada, Creator/BrianMichaelBendis, and the aforementioned Perlmutter. Even Marvel Studios president Creator/KevinFeige grew increasingly tired of the meddling, and eventually convinced Disney to dissolve the Committee and completely separate Marvel Studios from Marvel Entertainment (making Disney themselves the only meddler).

** Wonder why ''Film/BlackPanther'' and ''Film/CaptainMarvel'' were stuck in DevelopmentHell until 2014? Well you can blame Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter since he claimed that audiences wouldn't want to watch movies with non-{{White Male Lead}} heroes (a claim that rings rather hollow given the success of ''Film/TheHungerGames'' and ''Film/WonderWoman'').

** Much of Marvel Studios' meddling came from a Creative Committee within former parent company Marvel Entertainment as a whole. Meddlers included such notable names as Creator/JoeQuesada, Creator/BrianMichaelBendis, and CEO Ike Perlmutter. Perlmutter in particular was responsible for ''Film/BlackPanther'' and ''Film/CaptainMarvel'' getting stuck in DevelopmentHell until 2014 as he dismissed non-{{White Male Lead}} heroes as unprofitable. Even Marvel Studios president Creator/KevinFeige grew increasingly tired of the meddling, and eventually convinced Disney to dissolve the Committee and completely separate Marvel Studios from Marvel Entertainment (making Disney themselves the only meddler).

* ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2014'' was hit by executive meddling, but many of the details are not yet known. Before the movie came out it was indicated that Eric Sachs (William Finchtner's character) was going to be the Shredder. Fans of TMNT pitched a hissy fit that the Shredder wasn't going to be Japanese, and the studio forced them to do reshoots to make the Shredder a Japanese man whose face is always in shadow. As a result of these last minute changes, the Shredder's motivation and goals in the movie are pretty much non-existent, while Eric Sachs has a much clearer motivation for being a villain.

* The much mocked "Leia Poppins" scene in ''Film/TheLastJedi'' came about because the head of Creator/{{Lucasfilm}}, Kathleen Kennedy, told the director Creator/RianJohnson that she wanted to see Leia use force powers other than her mental connection to those close to her.

** Sony was eager to start production on a fourth ''Spider-Man'' film and asked Raimi to direct once again. However, while Raimi wanted to do a story revolving around Peter and Mary Jane's wedding and the Vulture as the main villain as well as Dr. Connors becoming The Lizard, the studio wanted to do a TimeSkip that involved Peter [[YourCheatingHeart cheating on her]] with Black Cat (reworked to be the Vulture's daughter) and leaving his wife and child. Raimi absolutely loathed the idea and refused to do it, with Maguire and Dunst also refusing reprise their roles unless Raimi was brought back. Since Sony had an internal deadline for the film in which the rights to their CashCowFranchise would fall back into the hands of Creator/MarvelStudios if they didn't make one, they wound up ending the Raimi trilogy and [[ContinuityReboot rebooting the film series]] with ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan''.

** ''Film/SpiderMan3'' director Creator/SamRaimi wanted to do a movie focusing on a hero with negative qualities and a villain with positive qualities, while wrapping up sub-plots involving Mary Jane and Harry "Goblin Jr." Osborn. The story was packed as it was, when producer Avi Arad insisted that fan-favorite Venom be added to the film. Raimi at first refused on the basis that he didn't understand the character of Venom that well, but eventually gave in. This left the movie with Venom ''and'' Eddie Brock shoehorned in. Gwen Stacy was also shoehorned in, filling a role that was originally just a random woman. It was commercially successful, but reviews were mixed. Raimi was dissatisfied with the final product and openly admitted in later interviews that his heart wasn't into it thanks to all the executive meddling, which Avi Arad [[https://screenrant.com/spider-man-3-venom-bad-blame-avi-arad/ apologized]] for years later.

** ''Film/SpiderMan3'' director Creator/SamRaimi wanted to do a movie focusing on a hero with negative qualities and a villain with positive qualities, while wrapping up sub-plots involving Mary Jane and Harry "Goblin Jr." Osborn. The story was packed as it was, when producer Avi Arad insisted that fan-favorite Venom be added to the film. Raimi at first refused on the basis that he didn't understand the character of Venom that well, but eventually gave in. This left the movie with Venom ''and'' Eddie Brock shoehorned in. Gwen Stacy was also shoehorned in, filling a role that was originally just a random woman. It was commercially successful, but reviews were mixed, and Raimi was dissatisfied with the final product. Avi Arad even [[https://screenrant.com/spider-man-3-venom-bad-blame-avi-arad/ apologized]] for his meddling years later.
** Sony was eager to start production on a fourth ''Spider-Man'' film and asked Raimi to direct once again. However, while Raimi wanted to do a story revolving around Peter and Mary Jane's wedding and the Vulture as the main villain as well as Dr. Connors becoming The Lizard, the studio wanted to do a TimeSkip that involved Peter [[YourCheatingHeart cheating on her]] and ultimately leaving his wife and child. Raimi absolutely loathed the idea and refused to do it, with Maguire and Dunst also refusing reprise their roles unless Raimi was brought back. Since Sony had an internal deadline for the film in which the rights to their CashCowFranchise would fall back into the hands of Creator/MarvelStudios if they didn't make one, they wound up ending the Raimi trilogy and [[ContinuityReboot rebooting the film series]] with ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan''.

** ''Film/SpiderMan3'' director Creator/SamRaimi wanted to do a movie focusing on a hero with negative qualities and a villain with positive qualities, while wrapping up sub-plots involving Mary Jane and Harry "Goblin Jr." Osborn. The story was packed as it was, when producer Avi Arad insisted that fan-favorite Venom be added to the film. Raimi disliked the character and at first refused, but eventually gave in. This left the movie with Venom ''and'' Eddie Brock shoehorned in. Gwen Stacy was also shoehorned in, filling a role that was originally just a random woman. It was commercially successful, but reviews were mixed, and Raimi was dissatisfied with the final product.
** Sony was eager to start production on a fourth ''Spider-Man'' film and asked Raimi to direct, but he didn't find a script he liked and walked away. Sony had an internal deadline for the film; if they didn't make one, their CashCowFranchise would fall back into the hands of Creator/MarvelStudios. They wound up ending the Raimi series and [[ContinuityReboot rebooting the film series]] with ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan''.
** For ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2'', the studio cut out bits that explored Peter's personal life, preferring to shoehorn in new characters and plot threads to keep the film series going and [[FollowTheLeader act as a competitor to the]] Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse. Creator/AndrewGarfield, who played Spider-Man, was not pleased and said so in [[http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/sep/11/andrew-garfield-studio-the-amazing-spider-man-2-sequel an interview]]. Sony was so unhappy that they considered replacing him with TheOtherDarrin (we know this because it was in the massive 2014 leak). The film was not successful, and Sony gave in and struck a deal allowing Spidey to migrate to the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse.

** Much of Marvel Studios' meddling came from a Creative Committee within former parent company Marvel Entertainment as a whole. Meddlers included such notable names as Creator/JoeQuesada, Creator/BrianMichaelBendis, and CEO Ike Perlmutter. Perlmutter in particular was responsible for preventing the release of movies with non-{{White Male Lead}} heroes until 2018. Even Marvel Studios president Creator/KevinFeige grew increasingly tired of the meddling, and eventually convinced Disney to dissolve the Committee and completely separate Marvel Studios from Marvel Entertainment (making Disney themselves the only meddler).

** Much of Marvel Studios' meddling came from a Creative Committee within former parent company Marvel Entertainment as a whole. Meddlers included such notable names as Creator/JoeQuesada, Creator/BrianMichaelBendis, and CEO Ike Perlmutter. Even Marvel Studios president Creator/KevinFeige grew increasingly tired of the meddling, and eventually convinced Disney to dissolve the Committee and completely separate Marvel Studios from Marvel Entertainment (making Disney themselves the only meddler).

* Director James Whale's original cut of ''The Road Back'' (1937), a sequel to ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1930), received generally favorable reviews. Charles R. Rogers, head of Universal Studios, bowed to threats from Nazi Germany and had re-edited the film, including having out-of-place comedic scenes filmed and inserted. The resulting film was a critical and commercial failure and was banned in Germany anyway.

* The original cut of ''Film/{{Cobra}}'' ran for about 120 minutes with full blown X rating. Afraid the movie would be overshadowed by the then recently released ''Film/TopGun'' though, Creator/WarnerBros told Creator/SylvesterStallone to edit it down to an R rating and shorten it to its final theatrical length of 87 minutes to allow for more screenings per day, booth in an attempt to attract a greater audience.

** Additionally, a crewmember of the movie posted just how [[http://moviepilot.com/posts/3270452 nightmarish]] the production was to everyone, including Shymalan.

* Producer/distributor [[Creator/TheWeinsteinCompany Harvey Weinstein]] is infamous for recutting films without the consent of their directors (as well as being a infamous serial rapist), to the point that he has been nicknamed "Harvey Scissorhands" and "Darth Weinstein".

* ''Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed'', the second-to-last of Creator/PeterCushing's Franchise/{{Frankenstein}} [[Film/HammerHorror movies]], has an particularly insane example that ''everyone'' except the one person who held the money hated from filming all the way to this day: the rape of Anna by Doctor Frankenstein. He had done many villainous things throughout the movie, from blackmailing the young couple to do his bidding through all the way to the murder of several innocent people -- but all these things could all be traced back to Frankenstein's [[ForScience insane and hyperfocused amoral dedication to scientific progress]]. This was what had always made Cushing's Frankenstein an interesting and complex villain. Then the rape scene was thrown in because the producer demanded "More sex!" Cushing [[MeanCharacterNiceActor is visibly shaken during the entire scene]] and took the actress Veronica Carlson out for dinner afterwards in order to talk through what they had just experienced. Carlson in turn asked her friend Creator/RogerMoore to be present on the set for moral support. And just to make it official, director Terence Fisher [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere stormed off the set in the middle of shooting the scene]] and the producer had to finish it himself.

* Producer/distributor [[Creator/TheWeinsteinCompany Harvey Weinstein]] is infamous for recutting films without the consent of their directors, to the point that he has been nicknamed "Harvey Scissorhands" and "Darth Weinstein".

* [[NeverTrustATrailer The trailer]] for the 2000 sequel to ''Film/{{Shaft}}'' had [[MissingTrailerScene a fight scene on an airport runway]] between [[Creator/SamuelLJackson Shaft]] and [[Creator/ChristianBale Wade]]. That scene was supposed to be in the movie, [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome but it didn't make the final cut]] because of Jeffrey Wright's role as drug lord Peoples Hernandez being more of the antagonistic role.