History WhatCouldHaveBeen / Film

[[quoteright:350:[[Franchise/{{Superman}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/superman_lives_1.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[WTHCastingAgency You wouldn't believe that]] [[Film/GhostRider Johnny Blaze]] tried to fly.[[note]]This was what ''Superman Lives'' was going to have if Creator/NicolasCage was attached. [[http://superman.wikia.com/wiki/Superman_Lives Seriously]].[[/note]]]]
Because of length, this page has been split.
----
!!Subpages:
[[index]]
* WhatCouldHaveBeen/TheDarkKnightTrilogy
* WhatCouldHaveBeen/DisneyAndPixar
* WhatCouldHaveBeen/DCExtendedUniverse
* WhatCouldHaveBeen/{{Godzilla}}
* WhatCouldHaveBeen/MarvelCinematicUniverse
* WhatCouldHaveBeen/SpiderMan
* WhatCouldHaveBeen/UnsortedAnimatedFilm
* WhatCouldHaveBeen/UnsortedFilm
* WhatCouldHaveBeen/XMenFilmSeries
[[/index]]
----
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:''Alien'' Series]]
* ''Film/{{Alien}}'':
** Creator/RidleyScott has been quoted as saying that he wanted a much different ending for the original ''Film/{{Alien}}''. In said ending, the xenomorph would kill Ripley, sit down in her chair and ''start reciting a distress call. In English.'' '''''In Ripley's voice.'''''
** The original script had the alien as a horrible wormlike thing with loads of tentacles and legs instead of the phallic Giger design we all know and love.
** Giger's design for the Chestburster was originally based very strongly on Francis Bacon's ''[[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/11/Three_Studies_for_Figures_at_the_Base_of_a_Crucifixion.jpg Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion]]'', depicting creatures that while quite phallic are also more birdlike, being based on the Greek Furies. Giger's doubts about his first design were confirmed when Creator/RidleyScott fell about laughing at the sight of the prototype Chestburster, describing it as "like a plucked turkey", and Roger Dicken ended up retooling it to resemble the now classic design.
** There's also a scene where Lambert gets tail-whipped by an alien... which then proceeds to shuffle across the room on all fours like a crab before attacking, despite clearly being capable of walking on its own hind legs.
* The original treatment for James Cameron's ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' would have been much different than the scenario that played out in the finished film. The plotline with Ripley's abandoned daughter would have been much bigger, and Ripley would have a disheartening videophone conversation with her. Newt's father would have been shown getting jumped by a facehugger in the Derelict, and an entire segment would have been devoted to a rescue team getting attacked by scores of facehuggers. Ripley, Newt and Hicks would ''all'' get cocooned at one point, but escape. However, the biggest change was that Bishop would have abandoned the rest of the survivors on the planet, and they would have had to escape using one of the colonist's shuttles.
* ''Film/{{Alien 3}}'':
** Although the film is not as well-liked as the first two ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' movies, it could have been much, much... well maybe not better but at least ''stranger'' (whether these ideas would have actually been better or worse than what resulted is impossible to know after all). Numerous scripts were written between 1988 and 1992, all of which would have taken the franchise down many different paths. To summarize, there were no less than ''four'' spec scripts written for the film, including:
** The famous [[http://www.awesomefilm.com/script/Alien3.txt William Gibson]] script, which starts out with a commando team boarding the Sulaco and getting attacked by facehuggers while attempting to rescue Ripley and the survivors from ''Film/{{Aliens}}''. The film would then follow Hicks and a newly-reconstructed Bishop on the Anchorpoint space station as they attempt to stop a series of biological experiments that change anyone infected by it ''into'' an alien SuperSoldier. They escape with a group of survivors. In addition, this virus then somehow makes the jump to mechanical and computer systems and ''turns an entire space station into a giant Xenomorph''. Ripley would be in a coma for most of the film (after having her cryosleep interrupted by the alien attack in the opening sequence; about the only thing this version has in common with the final film) and would be sent away on a lifeboat. Newt would go to live with her grandparents on Earth.
** Eric Red's script would have started similarly, with a commando team boarding the Sulaco, but they would have found everyone (including Ripley) dead. The rest of the film would have taken place in what appeared a small town in the U.S., where an all-out battle would rage between the townsfolk and the xenomorphs. In a plot twist later in the film, it turned out that the "town" was actually part of a biodome in space, and the rest of the storyline was pretty much a rehash of the "Alien virus" idea in Gibson's script.
** David Twohy's script featured a "prison planet" idea, but would have had the inmates being experimented on with biological agents (much like Gibson's script), and an inmate named Styles attempting to escape the planet. Twohy got to bring his prison planet to life years and years later in part of ''Film/TheChroniclesOfRiddick''.
** Finally, Vincent Ward's spec script would have had Ripley crashland on a "wooden planet", populated by a group of monks who would see her as a temptress and the alien as an incarnation of the devil. She would find Newt's tattered clothing at one point in the film, and it would climax with the final surviving monk ''giving Ripley CPR in order to drive the chestburster out of her body and into his'', sacrificing himself in the process. The whole thing was heavily inspired by the works of Hieronymus Bosch and, if the concept art seen in the special edition [=DVD=] is any indication, it would have been a perfect storm of terror.
*** As far as the version of ''Film/{{Alien 3}}'' we eventually got: The chestburster was also supposed to burst out of an ox (rather than a dog) to set up the idea the Alien takes on the traits of its host (as this Alien walks on all fours). However, the creature very obviously moves quickly like a dog, since it was played by a whippet in an alien costume. The scene was almost impossible to film from the front because the dog did ''not'' agree with having its face completely concealed with an alien mask, and it looked very silly. The 'Director's Cut' of the film included on more recent boxsets has the Alien bursting from an ox as originally intended. In either case, seeing the animal suffer makes for a very disturbing scene.
*** A whole ensemble of other barnyard animals were even planned, including an alien sheep covered in gore-matted wool.
* Early drafts of the ''Film/AlienResurrection'' script by Joss Whedon included an extended sequence where the survivors drive a jeep through the Auriga's garden complex while being attacked on all sides by xenomorphs, as well as a very different ending where Ripley and Call would battle the Newborn (a four-legged, eyeless derivative of the Alien Queen with pincers on the sides of its head) on a snowy mountain using a farm machine called the "Harvester", that was salvaged from the spaceship. Additionally, the original drafts included several more characters, and the characters who made it to the final were originally very different. Christie in the final film is a (watered-down) composite of the original Christie (tall calm black warrior guy) and a character called St. Just (hedonistic Asian fancy gunslinger). Hillard was older and tougher, and effectively became the leader of the crew of the ''Betty'' after Elgyn's death. There was also a rookie character on the ''Betty'' called Rane, and another USM soldier taken hostage with [=DiStephano=]. Vriess was more congenial, Call was less vulnerable, General Perez was ''much'' more badass and less of a ditz, and mostly significantly Ripley actually [[CharacterDevelopment became more humanlike throughout the story]] to the point that she had ''no'' connection or sympathy toward the aliens by the end, unlike the finished film. Details can be found [[http://www.cc2k.us/component/content/1801?task=view here]]
* The planned ''Franchise/AlienVsPredator'' movie in the early 90's by writer Peter Briggs, which would have been much, much closer to the comic book. The script follows Machiko (the female warrior who hunts with the Predators) as she teams up with a group of humans at a futuristic outpost to stop a xenomorph. Briggs' script (written in 1991) made him a success story in the screenwriting world, but the story was jettisoned once 20th Century Fox head Joe Roth left the company in the 90's.
* The UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame ''[[VideoGame/AlienVsPredatorCapcom Alien vs. Predator]]'' was believed to have been based on another film script in development. Considering that you take on an entire ''army'' of xenomorphs in the game, and one of the playable characters was a cyborg clone of Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger's character from the original ''Film/{{Predator}}'', this would have been a very interesting movie indeed.
* ''Film/AliensVsPredatorRequiem'' had several different scripts before the producers settled on one they wanted. Of note is an early treatment by Shane Salermo where the Predator ship crashes in Afghanistan, and a Special Forces team must stop the Predalien. Also of note is an early draft where the Predalien is killed off a few minutes into the film, Wolf would also be killed by two aliens. Another early concept for the film would have had the survivors taking on Aliens ''inside a Wal-Mart''.
** Ironically, in ''Film/AlienResurrection'' Wal-Mart has become a much more evil MegaCorp than Weyland-Yutani (which itself was bought by Wal-Mart).
* ''Film/{{Prometheus}}'':
** Sketches in the "Making of" book showcase two stronger ties to the ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' franchise. Firstly, when Fifield returns as a mindless killing machine, having died while splashing in a pool of black goo which is seemingly the origin of all life on Earth ''and'' the Xenomorphs, he was originally meant to mutate into a more Xenomorph-like creature, with atrophied eyes and an elongated head. Additionally, early paintings show the "Deacon" proto-Xenomorph that emerges from the torso of the last Engineer at the end was meant to then leave the escape capsule and purposefully stride out towards the wrecked Engineer ship. Not unlike the original ending to ''Film/{{Alien}}''.
** The 2011 script, known as ''Alien: Engineers'', ''Alien: Genesis'', ''Alien: LV-426'', or ''Alien: Origins'', was to be a more direct prequel to ''Film/{{Alien}}'', featuring regular Xenomorphs and Xenomorph variations created by the Engineers, including the Octo-Facehugger, and a "Beluga-Xenomorph" similar in appearance to the Deacon alien, but taller, that would have stalked and attacked the crew. Instead of the Deacon alien, a Xenomorph over sixteen feet tall, the Ultramorph, was supposed emerge from the Engineer. Weyland Corp was Weyland Industries, the ''Prometheus'' was called the ''Magellan'', and the setting would have been the original LV-426, instead of LV-223, leading up to the first film.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Back to the Future'' Series]]
* There's an [[http://www.scifiscripts.com/scripts/back_to_the_future_original_draft.html early script]] of ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' that includes, among other things, a refrigerator used as the time machine, powered in part by Coca-Cola, and an atomic bomb fueling the trip back. The ending had 1955 Doc discovering the time traveler's power source, and 1985 being basically what 1950s people thought of as "[[{{Zeerust}} the future]]" (foreshadowed by an earlier classroom scene in 1955). Except rock music didn't exist, so Marty had to reinvent it. And his dad was a boxer.
** The refrigerator idea got scrapped because it was too expensive to make the atomic bomb explosion and Creator/StevenSpielberg was worried that kids would try to mimic the movie and end up stuck in their own fridges.
** [[ExecutiveMeddling Sid Sheinberg]], head of Universal, thought the name ''Back to the Future'' was ridiculous and that the first film should be called ''Spaceman from Pluto'' instead, named for the scene where Marty disguises himself as an alien and convinces his father to attend the school prom - George had a comic book called "Spaceman from Pluto" next to him, with the alien on the cover resembling Marty's radiation suit. Zemeckis didn't have the clout to say no to the studio like that. But he called up then-king of the world Steven Spielberg (the film's executive producer), who thanked the exec for the "joke memo" concerning the film's title. He was too proud to correct Spielberg on his "misconception," (or perhaps he recognized that Spielberg was offering him a chance to change his mind while saving face) and so the original title stayed.
* Spielberg was always onboard to produce the film however he had produced other films with Creator/RobertZemeckis and Bob Gale before, all of which flopped. Zemeckis and Gale offered Spielberg to opt out if he wanted and protect his reputation, of course he didn't and the rest is history.
* Creator/JohnLithgow was originally intended to be cast as Doc Brown, but was unavailable. The producer of ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBuckarooBanzaiAcrossTheEighthDimension'' then suggested Creator/ChristopherLloyd (who also starred alongside Lithgow in that movie). It's also worth noting that if Lloyd declined the role, the next person in line to be asked to play the part was Creator/JeffGoldblum (who had also been in ''Buckaroo Banzai''.)
* And there's Creator/EricStoltz, who was hired to play Marty, and actually filmed scenes for a month or so before the producers reluctantly decided he just wasn't working in the role and they had to fire him. A deal was struck with the producers of ''Series/FamilyTies'', and Creator/MichaelJFox was brought in (who had been the original choice, but the show had meant he wasn't available).
** When casting Marty during Fox's unavailability, they narrowed the choices down to Stoltz and Creator/CThomasHowell. Zemeckis and Gale preferred Howell, but the studio preferred Stoltz.
** With Stoltz, Creator/ThomasFWilson was cast as Biff; J.J. Cohen was the original actor considered, but wasn't imposing enough compared to Stoltz. He ended up as Skinhead, one of Biff's goons.
** Melora Hardin was originally cast as Jennifer opposite Stoltz's Marty. When Fox replaced Stoltz, they recast Jennifer as well, as Hardin was actually taller than Fox. (Unlike Stoltz, Hardin never actually filmed a scene.)
** According to Bob Gale, Creator/JohnnyDepp and Creator/JohnCusack both auditioned to play Marty.
* Originally, the last act of ''Back to the Future Part II'', as detailed in the "Script/NumberTwo" script, would have taken place in 1967. The idea in that draft was that Marty would have had to ensure that his parents went through with his conception. It was changed to 1955 when Creator/RobertZemeckis realized how awesome it would be for it to happen concurrently with the climax of ''Part I'', and also to prevent the need for new setpieces.
** Once they went with the 1955 idea, it was considered to have Marty and the Delorean run on the same 1955 farmer again, still convinced that the car was an alien spaceship obviously, and get shot at by him. Thankfully, they discarded it for being too repetitive.
* The producers tried to get UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan (a well-known fan of the series) to play the mayor of 1885 Hill Valley in ''Part III'', but his aides turned it down even though Reagan himself later said he would have been game for it.
* A DeletedScene shows Buford Tannen killing Sheriff Strickland in front of his son. It got cut not only because it was depressing, but also because [[MoralEventHorizon it was so despicable]] that [[KarmaHoudini it wasn't right that Buford not die]], and he ''can't'' because he has to live long enough to extend the Tannen family line (though why they couldn't have resolved this by simply establishing that he had already fathered a child is unclear). This is why Tannen is arrested in the end by Strickland's deputy and not Strickland himself, with the line "You're under arrest for the murder of Marshall Strickland" redubbed to "You're under arrest for robbing the Pine City Stage".
* Had Creator/CrispinGlover signed on to the sequels, he would've played Seamus [=McFly=], Marty's great-great-grandfather in Part III. Creator/LeaThompson would've played a barmaid that falls in love with Seamus, and after Buford's defeat, Seamus would have offered him a job as a farmhand after his sentence.
* ''Back to the Future Part II'' was originally supposed to have Doc and Marty go back to the Old West (which happened in ''Part III''). However, the fans wanted to see what happened after Doc, Marty, and Jennifer traveled to the future at the end of the first film, so the filmmakers came up with the 2015 storyline.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Batman'']]
* ''Film/Batman1989'':
** The first draft of Sam Hamm's screenplay introduced Comicbook/{{Robin}} at the end of the second act. As Batman is chasing ComicBook/TheJoker and his thugs on horseback through Gotham Park, the Joker blows up a fireworks truck near where the Graysons are performing their trapeze act. John and Mary Grayson are killed, and Dick lands on the Joker's van, receives a DivingSave from Batman, and, while Batman restrains him, screams his head off: "He killed my parents!" The idea got far enough along that Irish actor Ricky Addison Reed was cast to play Dick. The idea was disliked by the production team, and was ultimately removed from the screenplay, though the pre-production storyboards for it can be seen on the official DVD set, with Creator/KevinConroy and Creator/MarkHamill from [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries the animated series]] reading the lines of their live-action counterparts.
*** Creator/KieferSutherland was also looked at to play Robin before the character was written off the screenplay.
** Jack Napier didn't kill Thomas and Martha Wayne in this first draft, but their deaths were hooked into the plot in a different way. In the scene of the EnemyMime massacre (which followed a comment from Vicki that [[EveryoneHatesMimes "all street mimes should be executed"]]), the Joker is not present (making it more plausible that his crimes would be attributed to Batman), but the terrified look on Bruce's face reminds Vicki of a prize-winning photograph of him that was taken just after his parents were murdered.
** Burton stated in an interview that he had initially wanted Creator/AdamWest and Julie Newmar, from the [[Series/Batman1966 1960s series]], to [[RemakeCameo play Thomas and Martha Wayne in the flashback]]. Audiences would recognize West and Newmar from the series and see them get shot, symbolizing the "death" of the old, lighthearted Batman and the beginning of the more gritty, DarkerAndEdgier Batman. Script rewrites caused this to be scrapped, and West later said he wasn't even offered the role (and even if he was, he wouldn't have taken it).
** The first draft had Knox and Vicki creating an improvised BatSignal by taking a Batman costume out of a shop and draping the cape over a spotlight aimed at a large white Joker balloon, only for Knox to get shot to death by the Joker's goons shortly after.
** Later drafts included a subplot in which the Joker took over a public ceremony, held Mayor Borg hostage (causing Borg to experience a HeroicBSOD), unveiled a statue of himself, and laced the Gotham City Police Department's coffee with a non-lethal poison (which would have explained why [[ThereAreNoPolice There Were No Police]] in the parade scene). The bit with the statue was retained in the {{novelization}}.
** Creator/AlecBaldwin, Creator/PierceBrosnan, Creator/DennisQuaid, Creator/TomSelleck, Creator/MelGibson, Creator/KurtRussell and even Creator/CharlieSheen were all said to have been considered for the role of Batman at one point or another, but Creator/TimBurton insisted on casting Creator/MichaelKeaton. When the film was still in a purely comedic frame, Creator/BillMurray was said to be the studio's choice for Batman.
** Had the producers been unwilling to give in to Creator/JackNicholson's excessive contractual demands, Burton's second choice for the Joker was Creator/TimCurry. Other candidates for the role included Creator/RobinWilliams, Music/DavidBowie ([[CrazyAwesome !!!]]), Creator/BradDourif, Creator/JohnLithgow and Creator/JamesWoods. Creator/WillemDafoe was also said to have been a candidate for the part of the Joker, which became HilariousInHindsight when he went on to play the Green Goblin in ''Film/SpiderMan''. Williams, meanwhile, was infuritated over not getting the part of Joker and refused to portray ComicBook/TheRiddler for ''Film/BatmanForever'' when the producers approached him for that role.
** Before playing Catwoman in ''Film/BatmanReturns'', Creator/MichellePfeiffer was the first choice to play Vicki Vale, but Keaton (who was dating Pfeiffer at the time) didn't think casting a real couple would work (and history has shown [[Film/{{Cleopatra}} before]] and [[Film/{{Gigli}} since then]] that this is true). Which worked out fine since as mentioned above she got to be Catwoman a few years later.
** Creator/SeanYoung was originally cast as Vicki, but she broke her arm after falling off a horse and had to drop out, leading to Creator/KimBasinger taking her place. Young then tried unsuccessfully to land the role of Catwoman in ''Batman Returns'', with unfortunate results for her career[[note]]Reportedly, she came to the studio offices wearing a homemade Catwoman costume demanding to be cast, at which point security escorted her out of the facilities[[/note]].
** A much earlier script draft by Tom Mankiewicz had both the Penguin and Joker as villains (with Penguin referred to as "Mr. Boniface"), Robin joining Batman, and Silver St. Cloud as the love interest instead of Vicki Vale. This draft was rejected due to its length. Silver also had a less fortunate fate than Vicki, as she'd wind up dying at the end.
*** Mankiewicz's draft was also ''fucking insane''. Due to wildly differing views on the direction of the script (Mankiewicz wanted a {{Camp}}y take, while Michael Uslan wanted a DarkerAndEdgier movie similar to the original comics), the film was a tonal mess with tons of MoodWhiplash. This included the Flying Graysons being killed after being attacked by a falcon during a show, a young Bruce Wayne being a teenage genius/billionaire/NASCAR champ who corners the stock market with the power of UsefulNotes/{{McDonalds}}, and Batman killing Rupert Thorne by knocking him into a giant pencil sharpener.
** The film was supposed to be a comedy at one point, playing off the camp and tongue-in-cheek tone of the old [[Series/Batman1966 Adam West series]]. ''Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}'' director Ivan Reitman was attached to direct, with Creator/BillMurray (as mentioned above) and Creator/EddieMurphy looked at to star as Batman and Robin.
** According to Creator/DannyElfman, when Creator/TimBurton picked him to do the score, the producers and studio weren't keen on the idea, and at one point proposed a compromise that he collaborate on the score with {{Music/Prince}}. Elfman briefly left the project over this, feeling the collaboration wouldn't work: Of course, ultimately both Elfman and Prince worked on music for the movie separately.
** Music/GeorgeMichael and Music/MichaelJackson were first considered to write and perform songs for the movie. While it's not clear why Michael declined, Jackson had prior concert commitments to fulfill.
** Creator/TheCoenBrothers, Creator/DavidCronenberg and Creator/JoeDante were looked at to direct. The Coens declined because of their desire to write the screenplay themselves. Creator/SamRaimi was also looked at but studio executives didn't think he was much of a draw.
** Music/JohnWilliams was looked at to compose the score.
** According to producer Jon Peters, the iconic "I'm Batman" line from the opening mugging scene was originally supposed to be "I'm Batman, motherfucker," but Warner made Peters remove the "motherfucker." In one draft, Batman instead said [[IAmTheNoun "I AM the night,"]] a line that took more dialogue to set up than it was worth for the movie, although it did appear in the ComicBookAdaptation.
** Peters also wanted [[ProductPlacement Nike logos]] on the Batsuit.
** The poison-filled parade balloons would have been made to look like popular cartoon characters from our own world - making for an even more blatant ShoutOut to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - rather than the generic characters (clown, baby, cat, octopus, elephant) they ended up being.
** The prostitute who comes on to the little boy in the opening scene was originally going to be depicted as a 14-year-old girl(!) and also be shown chatting casually with a couple of cops, establishing right from the start just how corrupt the Gotham City police were.
** Sam Hamm's draft had Joker use a ''tank'' to take down the Batwing, instead of one of his Joker guns. His death was also slightly different: instead of having his foot tied to a gargoyle and the weight of the sculpture causing him to fall off the helicopter ladder, the helicopter ends up awakening a swarm of bats that were resting in the rafters, which sees the Joker, still on the ladder, getting attacked by the bats and thus losing his grip in the process.
* ''Film/BatmanReturns'':
** Robin was again planned, this time with [[RaceLift Marlon Wayans]] being cast and fitted for wardrobe (and even had a prototype action figure made in his likeness) but production issues led to the character being scrapped a second time. The Robin action figure was released, but had its skintone painted to be Caucasian. Early script drafts had Robin as a juvenile delinquent who'd join Batman in the fight against Penguin, while later treatments had him as a young black garage mechanic who'd have the "R" symbol worn on his work coverall. It was Daniel Waters' decision to remove Robin, as the film would have too many characters and he felt Robin was the least worthwhile.
** Sam Hamm, the writer of the first movie, did an unproduced draft. In it, the Penguin was much closer to his comic and 60's live-action counterparts, being a master schemer and thief rather than a deformed sewer monster. Selina Kyle also would've been closer to her comic counterpart, being a prolific art thief masquerading as a museum curator rather than a secretary who is given supernatural cat powers. She also would've been something of a sex addict, deriving pleasure from violence and danger. Vicki Vale also would have returned in a sizable role, with Bruce asking her to marry him in the finale. And, as mentioned above, Robin appeared. Similarities to the finished product included the Penguin and Catwoman teaming up (though in this case, their plan was to find stolen treasure that had been hidden by the founders of Gotham), Penguin having a zoo lair, the two villains framing Batman for murder, a winter setting, and Catwoman having a [[BondageIsBad bondage-inspired costume]].
** The character of Max Schreck was originally written as Harvey Dent in the earliest drafts (Creator/BillyDeeWilliams reprising his role from the first film). The film would've ended on a cliffhanger, with the explosion that killed Schreck only scarring Dent, leading to Two-Face being the villain for the sequel.
** After Max Schreck was created for later drafts, he was initially planned to have been the long-lost brother of the Penguin.
** Music/DavidBowie was again looked at, this time to play Max Schreck, but Bowie's commitments to ''Film/TwinPeaksFireWalkWithMe'' led to Creator/ChristopherWalken getting cast.
** Creator/AnnetteBening was originally cast as Catwoman, but had to drop out of production due to her pregnancy.
** Creator/SusanSarandon, Creator/MerylStreep, Brooke Shields, Creator/SigourneyWeaver, Creator/DemiMoore, Creator/GeenaDavis, Creator/JodieFoster, Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh, Creator/LorraineBracco, Bridget Fonda, Jennifer Beals, Lena Olin, Creator/RaquelWelch, Ellen Barkin, Music/{{Cher}}, Music/{{Madonna}}, and Creator/NicoleKidman were also considered for Catwoman. Kidman would eventually get a part in the series as Chase Meridian in ''Film/BatmanForever''.
** Creator/DustinHoffman had expressed interest in playing the Penguin, but was too busy with contractual obligations to ''Film/DickTracy'' to be cast; it was Creator/JackNicholson who suggested to Burton that he cast Creator/DannyDeVito, whom Nicholson had recently worked with on ''Film/{{Hoffa}}''.
** Creator/ChristopherLloyd, Creator/ChristopherLee, Creator/JohnGoodman, Creator/MarlonBrando, Creator/JohnCandy, Creator/AlanRickman, Creator/BobHoskins, Creator/DeanMartin, Creator/DudleyMoore, Ralph Waite, Music/PhilCollins ([[WTHCastingAgency ???]]), Charles Grodin, Creator/JoePesci, Creator/RayLiotta, Creator/GabrielByrne and Alex Rocco were also considered to play the Penguin.
** The pre-Catwoman Selina was originally going to have characteristics of TheDitz, such as being more worried about the heel breaking off one of her shoes than getting tasered when the clown takes her hostage during the plaza riot.
** The film originally included a montage of the sons of Gotham's wealthiest families being kidnapped for the Penguin's mass murder plot, with one of the little boys screaming. Tim Burton, who knew that many children would be going to see the movie, decided not to take any unnecessary risks and just showed the boys ''after'' their kidnappings, being locked in the cages of a circus train.
** The Red Triangle Circus Gang was originally going to be much larger and a good deal more grotesque, with actual freaks (a bearded lady, midgets, etc.) in addition to the Penguin himself, cyberpunk thugs with metal-studded heads who probably would have [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece dated the movie a great deal]], and (in place of the Organ Grinder) a ringmaster with poison-tipped gauntlet gloves serving as TheDragon.
** There was brief idea where the Joker (once again played by Nicholson) would be [[BackFromTheDead ressurected]] following his demise in the previous film, but once Burton signed on as director he ordered the idea {{Jossed}} because he didn't want to do a direct sequel.
** The Shrecks came off as AmbiguouslyJewish in the script, with Max using [[YiddishAsASecondLanguage words such as "goniffs" and "schmuck."]] These were probably cut because the filmmakers [[ViewersAreMorons worried that moviegoers outside of New York wouldn't have a clue what Max was saying]].
** Before going after his father, Catwoman murders Chip Shreck...with quicksand kitty litter.
** Mayor Jenkins is a stereotypical narcissistic {{Jerkass}} politician in the original script, rather than the well-meaning but impotent leader he became.
** The Ice Princess came very close to being portrayed as an AlphaBitch before last-minute changes made her character [[AlasPoorScrappy (somewhat) more sympathetic]].
* ''Film/BatmanForever'':
** Creator/JoelSchumacher's original version was much more in-line with the dark tone of the first two (with plans of later treatments proving even darker!), but ExecutiveMeddling at WB saw severe cuts to make it more kid- and family-friendly. Several cut scenes show that Two-Face was a much more violent character (during the opening sequence, the Arkham doctor finds a BoundAndGagged guard, along with a message, "The Bat Must Die," scrawled in blood on the wall), longer fight sequences and a subplot where Bruce gains his memory back after entering a subsection of the Batcave and confronting a giant human-sized bat. (This may also have involved finding a missing page in his dad's journal and realising it hadn't been his idea to go to the movies that night; he'd been blaming himself for his parents' death.)
** Creator/RobinWilliams was Tim Burton's first choice to play the Riddler. However, after Burton was removed from the director's chair, the executives passed on Williams in favor of Creator/JimCarrey. [[Music/TheMonkees Micky Dolenz]], Creator/MatthewBroderick and Music/MichaelJackson had also been considered early on. That being said, Williams likely wouldn't have taken the part anyhow since, as stated above, he was still bitter with Warner Bros. for not casting him as the Joker in the first film.
** One of the ideas floated around in very early drafts (stretching back to Burton's prior involvement) was that Bruce would be searching the black market throughout the movie for pieces of the damaged Batwing from the original film, and that the sequence where Batman and Robin storm Riddler's island was intended to be the triumphant return of the aircraft.
** William Baldwin, Creator/EthanHawke, Creator/DanielDayLewis, Creator/RalphFiennes, Creator/JohnnyDepp, Creator/AlecBaldwin (again), Creator/KeanuReeves and Creator/TomHanks were all looked at to play Bruce Wayne/Batman.
** Schumacher did have discussions with Creator/MichaelKeaton in returning as Batman, but Keaton chose not to participate because he didn't like the LighterAndSofter direction of the film.
** Creator/ReneRusso was initially cast for Chase Meridian while Keaton was still attached, but Creator/NicoleKidman was cast instead after he left and Creator/ValKilmer took over. It was felt that Russo would be a little "too old" to act alongside Kilmer.
** Creator/RobinWright, Creator/LindaHamilton, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Creator/SandraBullock, and Creator/CindyCrawford were also looked at to portray Chase Meridian.
** Creator/BillyDeeWilliams was again set to play Two-Face, but was bought out of his contract and replaced with Creator/TommyLeeJones. A similar deal happened with Marlon Wayans, who was paid off so they could cast Creator/ChrisODonnell in the role.
** Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio was also in consideration to play Robin, but lost out to O'Donnell. Creator/EwanMcGregor, Creator/MarkWahlberg, Creator/TobyStephens, Creator/MattDamon, Creator/JudeLaw, Creator/CoreyFeldman, and Scott Speedman were also looked at for the role. Creator/BenAffleck, who would [[HilariousInHindsight go on to play Batman]] in several Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse films, also auditioned for it.
** There was talk of releasing Schumacher's original cut of ''Forever'' to DVD for 2005 (its tenth anniversary), but in the end only the theatrical cut was released, with only a few rough edits of deleted scenes included as extras.
** Two-Face's henchwomen were originally named "Lace" and "Leather", but at some point in production Schumacher was asked by WB executives to change their names to something more child-friendly, as [=McDonalds=] wanted to have toys of them in their Batman Happy Meal line. In the end, they were renamed "Sugar" and "Spice". You'll notice, however, that they're still wearing the underwear their respective names were to suggest.
** When Dick Grayson steals the Batmobile for a joyride, he saves the girl in the alley from only two, [[HellBentForLeather standard tough-guy biker goons]], rather than [[GangOfHats a horde of face-painted voodoo weirdoes]]. Batman does not need to rescue him, and instead of kissing the girl he just coolly walks off while the girl calls after him, "Call me!" (This version of events was depicted in the comic adaptation.)
** A cut comic-relief scene showed the Riddler and Two-Face sucking up knowledge through "The Box" and implied to have become [[GRatedDrug addicted to it]], until they start acting like stereotypical stoned hippies, with Two-Face discovering that "[[Music/TheDoors Jim Morrison]] was right...about everything."
** Creator/HRGiger was hired to design a new X-shaped Batmobile for the movie, but his creation was rejected for being too "out there". Which is probably for the best, since in the grand Giger tradition, [[http://www.cracked.com/article_23886_7-last-minute-changes-that-saved-us-from-terrible-characters_p2.html it kinda looked like a big vagina]].
** Early concepts of the final showdown on Claw Island had a huge, muscled, Riddler sitting on his throne when Batman finds him. The Riddler twists the two skulls on his armrests and the Riddler's muscled body is revealed to be a shell which splits in two, from which the real Riddler (wearing his white and green jumpsuit) steps out. This "Big Riddle" form of the Riddler was retained for the final showdown with him in the SNES and Genesis video game adaptations.
* ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'':
** When Val Kilmer walked out due to commitments to ''Film/TheSaint1997'' and tensions with Schumacher, Creator/KurtRussell, Creator/DavidDuchovny, and William Baldwin (again) were looked at to play Batman.
** Julie Madison was originally killed by Poison Ivy, explaining why Batgirl later flinches when Ivy pulls out a switchblade.
** Barbara Wilson was not actually Alfred's niece in earlier drafts, but instead the daughter of his childhood friend. She would still consider him an "uncle".
** Creator/OliviaDabo was originally looked at for Batgirl, but Schumacher considered her too old for the part and cast Creator/AliciaSilverstone instead.
** Early costume tests had the Batgirl suit with a full-head cowl, but Schumacher didn't like the look of it as Alicia Silverstone's hair wouldn't flow freely. The early costume design was used for the action figures.
** Had Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger passed on playing Mister Freeze, Schumacher's second choice was Creator/SylvesterStallone. His third choice? Wrestling/HulkHogan.
** Creator/AnthonyHopkins, Creator/PatrickStewart and Creator/EdHarris were also considered for Mr. Freeze.
** Creator/JuliaRoberts, Creator/SharonStone, and Creator/DemiMoore were considered for Poison Ivy.
** Creator/KaneHodder was looked at for Bane.
** Poison Ivy's costume would've been [[https://i.pinimg.com/736x/4c/00/83/4c0083dcb7bd93467bdca9d504c65721--poison-ivy-costumes-batman-robin.jpg more sharp]].
** And even more {{pun}}s, these actually ''more'' terrible than the ones that did make it in. Examples included Mr. Freeze's "No gun. How disarming" and Batman's "Don't sink and drive" (when a snowmobile driven by Freeze's goons plunges through an icy lake).
** There were several aborted sequel projects between ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' and ''Film/BatmanBegins'', including:
*** ''Batman Unchained'' written by Mark Protosevich (often called ''Batman Triumphant'', though Protosevich is not sure why), which would have had the duo fighting against Scarecrow (which would've starred Nicolas Cage as Joel Schumacher's first choice or Coolio, which explains his cameo in the bike race scene in Batman and Robin) and Comicbook/HarleyQuinn (who, in this script, was the Joker's ''daughter''), with Jack Nicholson returning as the Joker via Fear Toxin-induced hallucinations. Although Schumacher wanted to direct it, Creator/GeorgeClooney's remarks about never playing the character again (along with the dismal box office) resulted in the project's eventual cancellation in 1998.
*** ''[=DarKnight=]'', the second plan for a sequel to ''B&R'' that had Bruce in self-imposed seclusion while Dick attends Gotham University. The villains would have been Jonathan Crane (pre-Scarecrow) and Man-Bat with talk of Creator/JeffGoldblum and Creator/ChristopherLloyd in the respective roles. Schumacher was attached to direct, but plans were eventually scrapped.
*** A solo ''Comicbook/{{Nightwing}}'' movie starring Chris O'Donnell was planned, but the film was scrapped immediately after the negative reviews for ''Batman and Robin'' started pouring in.
* There were several plans to have a Batman-Superman crossover film, with either the both of them teaming up or going against each other. ''Film/IAmLegend'' contains a ShoutOut to this, with a large film poster bearing a Batman-Superman logo displayed in Times Square. It was [[Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice finally greenlit]] in 2013, with Creator/ZackSnyder attached as director to the project.
* A ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' live-action film was planned, with Boaz Yakin attached as director and Paul Dini having written the screenplay. It didn't get far at all.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''The Chronicles of Riddick'' Series]]
* ''Film/PitchBlack'':
** First of all, this developed from Twohy's unused idea for ''Film/{{Alien 3}}''. Had Vincent Ward not been brought and decided that the space prison idea was awful there would have not been a ''Riddick'' series.
** The film was originally titled ''Nightfall'' and about a female outlaw named Tara Krieg with tribal tattoos and enhancements from her interstellar tribe of barbarians. Imam was named Noah Toth a member of a technology-based version of Christianity and he had no pilgrims, there was no eclipse, only a two-month day and two-month night, there was no geologist's outpost, only ancient ruins and instead of aliens the villains were the ghosts of the creatures who built the ruins trying to defend their homeworld. There was no escape ship, but a distress beacon, and Tara, Carolyn Fry, Jack, Noah Toth (Imam) and Paris were all supposed to make it off the alien world, called "Hades" instead of M6-117. Johns' morphine addiction, the cannon-fodder teens, the solar orrery and the geologist's camp were added by David Twohy.
** David Twohy's original draft was different, too. [[spoiler:Riddick died at the end instead of Carolyn Fry]], There were extended scenes of the boneyard creatures, still alive, as well as them being killed and eaten by the other creatures. Paris and Johns would've survived until the third act, underground, which would've explained the planet's climate and temperature changes, the way the star-system worked, and the life-cycle of the creatures along with an entire underground ecosystem of StarfishAliens.
* Sequels:
** Numerous versions of these floated around for a while, too. The original script involved Riddick fighting the hammerheaded creatures in the underground of a city planet for entertainment. He is captured by a merc named "Big Foe" (Who turns out, in the third act, to be Jack from ''Film/PitchBlack'') and brought back to the planet only to find that the creatures were sentient and wanted revenge on Riddick as dictated by the evil god they worshiped. Akiva Goldsman's script was about Riddick and Kyra (Jack) hijacking a prison satellite and landing it on a living planet, which launched various creatures made from elements such as air, fire, wind and water at them to try and stop them before trying to kill them with a giant storm. Creator/DavidHayter wrote a prequel about Riddick, growing up and being drafted into a war where he'd get blamed for his entire platoon's death (by Johns, whose callousness was actually to blame). This would result in the huge payday on his head and the many encounters with Johns, some good, some bad, and many lost loves and lost friends that rendered him the cold, heartless monster he was at the beginning of ''Pitch Black''.
** In addition, the sequel we got -- ''Film/TheChroniclesOfRiddick'' -- could've been directed by Creator/GuillermoDelToro or Creator/DavidCronenberg, with rumors of Creator/AlexProyas, Creator/JohnLandis and Creator/PeterJackson. WOW...
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Die Hard'' Series]]
Every installment of the ''Franchise/DieHard'' franchise, except ''Film/DieHard2'' and ''Film/AGoodDayToDieHard'', began life as a completely different project and/or a standalone film that was reworked to fit the series.
* ''Film/DieHard'':
** The original film started life as ''Nothing Lasts Forever'', a sequel to ''Film/{{Commando}}'', and Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger was intended to appear as John Matrix once again. Director John [=McTiernan=] got a hold of the script and apparently thought it was a "nasty piece of work", and reworked it several times to remove overly violent elements, including the main character going around and shooting female hostages without much regret. By that time, Schwarzenegger dropped out, and the character was reworked into an "everyman" cop who's having a bad day.
** In fact, the novel "Nothing Lasts Forever" was itself a sequel, to the book ''The Detective'', which was made into a movie starring Music/FrankSinatra, and the plan was to adapt "Nothing Lasts Forver" into a movie at the time it was written, but by then Sinatra had grown tired of acting, and that project was scrapped. 20th Century Fox kept the rights, and years later, producer Joel Silver came across the story while looking for projects that the studio already owned the rights to.
* ''Film/DieHardWithAVengeance'':
** The story was adapted from a script called ''Simon Says'', which was briefly intended to be the [[Film/LethalWeapon3 third film]] in the ''Lethal Weapon'' series. According to various accounts, the script included a character that would have been played by the late Brandon Lee, and the character of Zeus was intended to be a woman.
** Two earlier (and rejected) scripts for ''Vengeance'' had [=McClane=] trying to stop terrorists who've seized control of a cruise ship (which was abandoned after ''Film/UnderSiege'' went into production) and one where terrorists try to take control of the Los Angeles subway system.
** Creator/LaurenceFishburne was originally intended to play Zeus, but backed out. He had second thoughts and tried to get the part again, but Creator/SamuelLJackson was cast by that time.
** The original ending of the film was a sequence where [=McClane=] tracks down Simon Gruber in Eastern Europe, and reveals to him that he was thrown off the NYPD because the police thought he was involved with the heist. [=McClane=] then challenges Simon to a game of Russian Roulette using a rocket launcher, which results in Simon eventually killing himself by pulling the trigger. The scene was supposed to show that [=McClane=] had gone over the edge and lost everything, but was never used in the film (it appears on most DVD copies as a deleted scene).
* ''Film/LiveFreeOrDieHard'' has the dubious honor of having the longest development time of the series. It took close to a decade to get the project off the ground:
** The first proposed script was called ''Tears of the Sun'', which the director and Willis apparently hated. Willis repurposed the name "Tears of the Sun" for another project he would eventually star in.
** There was rumors about taking the idea (specially the location) from the ''Die Hard Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas'' videogame, but instead of a prison riot having just a group of mobs trying to steal some sort of general underground safe from the main casinos, and [=McClane=] just passing by one of the casinos, thus evoking the general idea from the first movie. They also thought about taking to the screen the script from the ''Die Hard: Vendetta'' videogame, in fact the concept of [=McClane=]´s daughter Lucy and her kidnapping latter developed in the actual movie.
** In 2001, there were plans to make the project a sequel to ''Film/EnemyOfTheState'' (written by the same screenwriter, and based on a non-fiction article called "A Farewell To Arms" from Wired Magazine) called ''[=WW3.com=]'', before it was repurposed as a ''Die Hard'' film. The September 11th attacks stalled all development on that front, as Fox believed they couldn't go forward with a script about America being under attack.
** An early script treatment revolved around [=McClane=]'s son, Jack, who would have been the computer hacker John had to bring to the FBI. This was later reworked to include a new hacker character, with [=McClane=]'s child being changed to his daughter, Lucy (the idea about his son Jack was later implemented in the sequel ''A Good Day to Die Hard'')
** Music/JessicaSimpson auditioned for the role of Lucy. Music/JustinTimberlake expressed interest in the (scrapped) role of Jack. Think about that for a second.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Dirty Harry'' Series]]
* ''Film/DirtyHarry''
** Music/FrankSinatra was offered the role of Harry, but broke his wrist before filming could start and had to drop out.
** Creator/JohnWayne lobbied for the role of Harry, but the studio felt he was too old for the role.
** Creator/BurtLancaster was reportedly offered the role of Harry but turned it down because he found the script offensive and promoted a less than liberal approach to law enforcement.
** Creator/AudieMurphy was offered the role of the Scorpio Killer, but felt it would scar younger fans of his films and was considering turning it down when his plane crashed.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: ''The Godfather'' Series]]
* ''Film/TheGodfather'':
** Creator/LaurenceOlivier and Creator/ErnestBorgnine had both been suggested for Don Vito. Creator/BurtLancaster was also said to have been a candidate for Don Vito.
** Creator/RobertDeNiro tested (quite well) for Sonny, but Coppola felt his portrayal was too cold-blooded to be appealing.
** [=DeNiro=] was almost given the role of Paulie (which ended up being played by Johnny Martino). This would have put [=DeNiro=] in the first film but would have made it impossible to cast him as young Vito in the second film.
** The studio wanted Creator/RobertRedford or Ryan O'Neal as Michael. Creator/MartinSheen also tested.
** Creator/RobertEvans, the producer, initially demanded that Coppola deliver a 135 minute cut. Coppola, who'd edited the film to more-or-less the extant version, begrudgingly complied, only to be [[{{Hypocrite}} chewed out by Evans for "ruining the film."]]
* ''The Godfather Part II'':
** Richard Castellano insisted on having his girlfriend write his dialogue for ''II'', and so was written out. His participation would have meant it was ''Clemenza'' who sold Michael out to the government instead of the [[RememberTheNewGuy new character]] Frankie Pentangeli. Pentangeli was an awesome character and Michael Gazzo's Oscar nomination was well-deserved, but the revised storyline had less emotional heft.
** Some of Coppola's friends (including Creator/GeorgeLucas) told him that switching back and forth between Michael and Young Vito was too jarring, and to just stick with Michael's storyline.
* ''The Godfather Part III'':
** What if the studio and Robert Duvall had reached a salary agreement for ''III'', thus enabling Coppola's vision of Michael and Tom as adversaries?
** Creator/WinonaRyder was set to play Mary, but begged off due to exhaustion.
** Coppola and Mario Puzo wanted six months to write the film, the studio instead gave them only six weeks.
* If Mario Puzo had lived long enough, he and Coppola would've made their proposed ''Part IV,'' which would have concluded the entire saga. (After Puzo's 1999 death, Coppola lost any interest in continuing the franchise). The film as hypothesized by Coppola and Puzo with have followed two parallel plots like ''Part II'', one following Vito during the family's peak years during Prohibition and the other following Vincent involving the family in the drug trade and eventually getting killed off in a manner similar to Pablo Escobar. Andy Garcia is still interested in doing this film, which would have centered around his character.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Harry Potter'' Series]]
* Creator/WarnerBros outright refused Creator/TerryGilliam for the first ''Film/HarryPotter'' film (in person, even); he was [[http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/story/gilliam-still-upset-about-harry-potter-snub bitter about being rejected]]. But he's [[http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/sep/08/terry-gilliam-harry-potter-films since got over it]].
* Creator/StevenSpielberg was attached to direct really early on. He wanted to make the film as an AllCGICartoon with Creator/HaleyJoelOsment providing Harry's voice. Of course, Haley Joel Osment violated Rowling's stipulation that the cast be kept British and she also didn't like the idea of it being animated. Eventually, Spielberg left on his own, feeling that it would be like "shooting ducks in a barrel. It's just a slam-dunk. It's just like withdrawing a billion dollars and putting it into your personal bank accounts. There's no challenge."
* Another person asked to direct the first film? Creator/BazLuhrmann.
* As for Creator/ChrisColumbus' ''Harry Potter'', the original costume test had him dressed as he was on Mary [=GrandPre=]'s cover illustration for the first book, with a striped rugby shirt, jeans and sneakers under his robe. This looked "like a kid in a Halloween costume", hence the standard-issue modern British {{Muggle|s}} school uniforms under the robes at Hogwarts.
* Warner Bros wanted Creator/HughGrant to play Gilderoy Lockhart. Creator/KennethBranagh, who eventually did play Lockhart, was later considered as director for the third film. Had he been used, he would have directed his ex-wife Creator/EmmaThompson.
* One of Creator/AlfonsoCuaron's more bizarre ideas involved a scene with a pipe organ being played by tiny people jumping on the keyboard. Rowling rejected it, saying it wouldn't make sense in her universe.
* Creator/GuillermoDelToro was offered both ''[[Film/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban Prisoner of Azkaban]]'' (which his friend Cuarón ended up directing) and ''[[Film/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince Half-Blood Prince]]''. The ''really'' sad part? [[http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2007/10/26/guillermo-game-for-harry-potter/ He WANTED to direct them]] but felt that the movie's 'verse didn't conform to his [[DarkerAndEdgier more twisted]] vision of the books. He even expressed interest in directing ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' but was concerned Creator/WarnerBros would [[ExecutiveMeddling try to interfere too much]].
* Originally, the Trio was supposed to watch the execution of Buckbeak from a graveyard. Rowling rejected this because she envisioned the Hogwarts graveyard being in a different part of the grounds and said it would become significant in the sixth book. Therefore, the graveyard got changed to the giant sundial you see in the final film.
* After Creator/RichardHarris died, Creator/IanMcKellen was approached to play Dumbledore. He turned it down, having already filled his quota of bearded wizards from books being made into big budget films. Instead, the fans get treated to [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation somewhat different]] performances by Creator/MichaelGambon.
** By [=McKellen=]'s account, Harris had previously criticized his acting, calling him "dreadful" and "passionless." As such, [=McKellen=] feels it would have been inappropriate to take his role, and goes on to say, "Richard Harris was mainly a disappointed man because I had played Gandalf and he had to settle for Dumblewit. Or Dumblebore, I should say." He further says, when asked who would win in a fight between the two, "Gandalf, of course."
** Harris' family wanted Creator/PeterOToole to take up the role, as he was one of Harris' best friends. The studio decided against it, fearing the similarly elderly actor might also die before the series was out. [[note]]He didn't. Instead he passed away in 2013, almost 2 and a half years after the final film premiered.[[/note]]
* In the early stages of production on [[Film/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets the second film]], concept art was drawn for the Deathday Party scene. On the fourth film, concept art was drawn of Winky the Elf.
* Prior to [[Film/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone the first film]], Rosie O'Donnell campaigned for the role of Molly Weasley. Of course, she was turned down as per Rowling's insistence on an all British cast.
* Music/JarvisCocker, formerly of Music/{{Pulp}} and leader of the FakeBand from the fourth movie, [[http://www.hpana.com/news.19473.html was interested]] in making a full album with guests such as Music/FranzFerdinand and Music/IggyPop. Sadly, he gave up due to a lawsuit (in the book, the band is called Weird Sisters, prompting a Canadian folk rock band, W'''y'''rd Sisters, to sue Warner Bros., Cocker, and guitarist [[Music/{{Radiohead}} Jonny Greenwood]]).
* The character of Peeves was originally going to be included in [[Film/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone the first film]]. Creator/RikMayall was cast and apparently went as far as filming scenes before the character was cut. None of the footage - if it exists - has ever been shown. The story is rather complicated and involves two more cases of What Could Have Been. Apparently, Chris Columbus and David Heyman hated the design of Peeves and basically filmed the scene with him knowing that it wouldn't be in the theatrical release, but planning to go back and "fix" it for a future special edition to be released in 2002 or 2003. Columbus was planning to introduce an all-CGI Peeves in ''Chamber'' and presumably this would have been the Peeves he was planning to go back and insert into the first film. Then Peeves didn't make the second film either and it seems they just gave up after that.
* For [[Film/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix the fifth movie]], Helen [=McCrory=] was originally cast as Bellatrix, but dropped out because she became pregnant. They recast Creator/HelenaBonhamCarter, who chose to play her more AxCrazy than the book version, and [=McCrory=] was cast as Bellatrix' sister and Draco Malfoy's mother Narcissa in the sixth movie. Ironically, Carter became pregnant during the making of that movie, and it shows in some scenes.
* Music/JohnWilliams wanted to return for ''[[Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Deathly Hallows Part II]]'', but a scheduling conflict prevented him from doing so.
* The first script for ''[[Film/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'' did not include Kreacher, to which Rowling told the crew the character would be essential for later movies. Also, a line in ''[[Film/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince Half-Blood Prince]]'' established Dumbledore as straight; Rowling nixed the line, writing on the script "He's gay". (Mind, this was well before Rowling outed Dumbledore in an interview.)[[note]] Writer Steve Kloves clarified in a discussion with Rowling, (which can be seen on one of the [=DVDs=]) that he intended the relationship mentioned, about a woman that Dumbledore was fond of, to be platonic and that he suspected Dumbledore was gay, but removed it due to not wanting to cause confusion after Rowling made the notation.[[/note]]
* For the brief scene showing Azkaban in [[Film/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix the fifth film]], the idea came up that putting Azkaban on the edge of a giant waterfall would be a great visual. The problem is that Azkaban is meant to be in the middle of the North Sea. They tried to find some way to justify having a waterfall in the middle of the ocean, such as having a weird ocean sinkhole. Eventually, they just gave up and depicted the ocean normally.
* Creator/KateWinslet was the first choice for the Grey Lady in ''[[Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows Hallows Part II]]'', but they couldn't get through her agent. Creator/KellyMacdonald got the part instead. It's unknown whether Winslet would have said yes.
* The area at the top of Dumbledore's office contains a weird telescope, which you can see up close in the DVD tour feature. In a DVD documentary, Chris Columbus explains that they may want to use the telescope in "the third or fourth film", which obviously didn't happen, due to the switch in directors.
* The movie series could have very well featured an example of SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic by The Boss himself, Music/BruceSpringsteen, reportedly called "I'll Stand By You Always." Springsteen wrote this ballad sometime between 1998 and 2000. He was inspired when he was reading the novels to his youngest son Sam. Sometime in early 2001 Bruce made the song available to director Chris Columbus, who at the time was shooting the first of the Potter movies. A Springsteen recording of the song was filed with the US Copyright Office on 13 Jun 2001. However, the Springsteen song was ultimately rejected due to Harry Potter novelist/creator JK Rowling's contractual stipulation that no commercial songs of any type be used in the Harry Potter film series.
* When Chris Columbus saw the first cut of ''[[Film/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone Stone]]'' (before music was added), he thought the boats riding up to Hogwarts was a LeaveTheCameraRunning scene which would have to be edited down. After Columbus saw the scene with the score John Williams had written for it, he realized that they had to keep the whole thing and they did.
* Lucius Malfoy's original appearance was of a man with short blond hair and a pinstriped suit. Jason Isaacs changed it to a blond wig, velvet cloak and cane when he realized that, as a Muggle-hater, Lucius certainly wouldn't want to look like one.
* At the end of ''Half-Blood Prince'', Harry was originally supposed to take Dumbledore's wand for his own. Then ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' came out, and the importance of Dumbledore's wand in the plot meant that that idea had to be scrapped.
* Creator/EddieRedmayne auditioned for the role of Tom Riddle in the second film and was rejected. He was later cast as Newt Scamander in the spin-off film ''Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''James Bond'' Series]]
* ''Film/DrNo'': Before Joseph Wiseman was cast, Creator/ChristopherLee (also a cousin of Bond creator Creator/IanFleming) was considered to play the titular villain. Lee would play the villain Francisco Scaramanga in ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun''.
* ''Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService'' was originally going to follow ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'' in production, most certainly starring Connery if it did, but problems with a warm Swiss winter and inadequate snow cover led to Saltzman and Broccoli postponing the film again, favouring production of ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice''.
* ''Film/CasinoRoyale1967'' had big problems early on in production when star Creator/PeterSellers was bent on playing Bond straight (as early drafts of the script showed a story as gritty and down-to-earth as the later reboot, but when producer Charles Feldman couldn't cast Creator/SeanConnery, he opted to make it a farce). Sellers' continued erratic behavior had him leave in mid-production. What remained of his work had him playing an anonymous ordinary guy hired to play 007, and seeming to lose himself in the role (an interesting reflection of Sellers' own existence) and actually followed the original novel somewhat. The movie in its entirety became a stitched-together string of self-indulgent lunacy, and Sellers' career went into a steep decline, only salvaged late in his brief life.
* Creator/TimothyDalton would've played Bond sooner starting with ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'', when Creator/RogerMoore considered retiring. The opening sequence, with Bond visiting [[Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService Tracy Bond]]'s grave, was written as a way of introducing the next James Bond.
* For ''Film/AViewToAKill'', the producers wanted Music/DavidBowie to play Zorin, but Bowie turned them down after reading and disliking the script.
* Creator/PierceBrosnan would've been Bond much earlier, as they wanted him in ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'' to replace Roger Moore. Then the producers of ''Series/RemingtonSteele'' decided to extend his contract, and Timothy Dalton was brought instead.
* The third ''Film/JamesBond'' film starring Creator/TimothyDalton, titled ''The Property of a Lady''. Creator/{{MGM}} was going through many turmoils, and eventually Dalton's contract expired. Then Creator/PierceBrosnan was finally hired (the producers wanted him for the role since the mid-80's but he was tied to ''Series/RemingtonSteele'' due to contractual obligations). But even after all the legality and contract drama was solved, the movie's plot involving Hong Kong's ties to the UK was obsolete by that point, necessitating a couple more years' worth of rewrites. These rewrites eventually turned the film into ''Film/{{GoldenEye}}''. The six-year gap between ''Film/LicenceToKill'' and ''[=GoldenEye=]'' remains the largest of the series. Perhaps the most interesting facet of the original version would have been Trevelyan played by either Creator/AnthonyHopkins or Creator/AlanRickman, originally being written as a mentor to Bond.
* In TheNineties, Kevin [=McClory=] (who claimed to have co-written ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'' and ended up getting ''Film/NeverSayNeverAgain'' made because of that) wanted to launch his own separate series of Bond films, beginning with ''Warhead 2000 AD'' which could have starred Creator/LiamNeeson as Bond.
* ''Film/DieAnotherDay'' was [[PoorlyDisguisedPilot intended to kick off]] a new {{spinoff}} series of [[DistaffCounterpart Bond-style spy movies]] starring Creator/HalleBerry's character, Jinx Johnson (especially after Berry became box office gold when she won an Oscar in the midst of filming). However, after a number of similar films tanked at the box office (''Film/LaraCroftTombRaiderTheCradleOfLife'' is the most-cited culprit), and the powers that be decided to reboot the main Bond series, the spin-off was cancelled. To add insult to Berry's injury, ''Film/{{Catwoman}}'' came out two years later. Yeah, ''ouch''.
* Creator/QuentinTarantino was reportedly interested in making ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006'' with Creator/PierceBrosnan as Film/JamesBond. He never contacted EON (the 007 production company), so it was merely an idea, and Creator/DanielCraig went on to replace Brosnan with Martin Campbell directing.
* Naming all the actors once considered for Bond would take up considerable space, but a relatively complete list can be found [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_actors_considered_for_the_James_Bond_character here]].
* The Bond Girls alone have their own What Could Have Beens:
** Creator/EuniceGayson's character Sylvia Trench was meant to be a recurring character, with a RunningGag of Bond sleeping with and then leaving her behind to go on missions. She ends up only appearing in ''Film/DrNo'' and ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove''. Gayson was also offered the role of Moneypenny.
** For ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'', Creator/JulieChristie was the first choice to play Domino Derval but was not hired after producer Cubby Broccoli found her too ''petite'' to be a Bond Girl. Creator/RaquelWelch and Creator/FayeDunaway were then considered before Broccoli settled on Claudine Auger to play the part.
** Creator/LoisChiles was originally cast as Agent XXX/Major Anya Amasova in ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'', but pulled out and was replaced with Creator/BarbaraBach. Chiles would later go on to play Holly Goodhead in ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'', but this time ''she'' was a replacement for the initially cast Carole Bouquet, who also had to pull out, but was later cast as Melina Havelock in ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly''.
** Maria Grazia Cucinotta was the first choice for Elektra King in ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough'', but her English was not up to par, and so the role was given to Creator/SophieMarceau. As a consolation prize, she was given the small but memorable role of the Cigar Girl assassin.
* Some What Could Have Beens predate the film series, generally involving Creator/IanFleming himself:
** A telegram sent by Fleming in 1958 was discovered, in which he said he thought Creator/AlfredHitchcock should direct ''Literature/CasinoRoyale'' as the first Bond movie. This is referenced in a scene in ''Film/{{Hitchcock}}'' (about the making of ''Film/{{Psycho}}'') that has a studio exec pitching ''Casino Royale'' to Hitchcock, with Creator/CaryGrant as Bond. Hitchcock's response; "I already made that movie. It's called ''Film/NorthByNorthwest''."
** Had the 1954 version of ''Literature/CasinoRoyale'' not fallen into obscurity, Ian Fleming would have seen a number of other Bond TV films made, including a script for what became ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly''.
* Music:
** Before Music/TomJones' iconic theme song was chosen to lead off ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'', several other pieces of music were considered. One, a song called "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang", was tried out with both Dionne Warwick and ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'' singer Shirley Bassey, but rejected (though its melody remained in the incidental score); another song considered was a tune called "Thunderball" by, of all people, Music/JohnnyCash. And as one would expect, it sounds more like the theme for a Creator/ClintEastwood western than a ''James Bond'' movie.
** Music/AliceCooper was originally approached to perform the title theme for ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun'', but was rejected in favor of Lulu. Their song would appear in their 1973 album ''Muscle of Love''.
** Music/{{Blondie}} was originally approached to perform the theme song to ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'', but when they submitted their song it was refused in favor of one written by Music/BillConti and Michael Leeson, and the band withdrew from the project. Their song later appeared in their 1982 album ''The Hunter''.
** A completely different opening song for ''Never Say Never Again'' was recorded by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllis_Hyman Phyllis Hyman,]] but without the authorization of said film's composer, who had contractual rights to oversee the film's score, and thus it was scrapped. The recording was shelved until 2008 when it appeared on a Hyman compilation album.
** Several conflicting sources exist on whether [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEAWlUKRHHk this]] was supposed or not to be the TitleThemeTune for ''Film/QuantumOfSolace''. For those who didn't click on the link, it's sung by ''Shirley Bassey'', the singer of the ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'', ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'', and ''Film/{{Moonraker}}'' theme tunes.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Mad Max'' Series]]
* ''Film/TheRoadWarrior'', Humungus was originally supposed to be Max's partner Jim Goose. They decided against this, but left a few hints, such as horrible burns behind Humungus' goalie mask, his raider's use of police vehicles (which look more like Melbourne Police cars), and his own use of a very similar weapon to the MFP's standard sidearm. Granted, they could never explain how someone of average height and a slender build as Goose could have morphed into a muscle bound giant.
* ''Film/MadMaxBeyondThunderdome'' was originally just someone AfterTheEnd who finds a group of children living in the wreck of a plane, until someone suggested that that man be Mad Max.
* One idea considered for a new ''Mad Max'' film was to have the original Mad Max die halfway through the story and be replaced by his younger son.
* ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'':
** According to Creator/GeorgeMiller, Creator/MelGibson was intended to reprise his role as Max, but the [[TroubledProduction constant production delays]] and Gibson's interest in making ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist'' meant that it never came to pass. Miller's second pick was Creator/HeathLedger, but the latter's [[ActorExistenceFailure untimely death]] led Miller to cast Creator/TomHardy instead. Creator/MichaelBiehn was also reportedly considered for the lead at one point.
** The film was originally planned to be an {{interquel}} between [[Film/MadMax1 the original film]] and [[Film/TheRoadWarrior its sequel]], with Immortan Joe allegedly being Toecutter from the original film (although Hugh Keays-Byrne plays both roles, there is no connection between them in the final product). Rictus was also supposed to survive the pileup at the end of the film and become Lord Humungous in ''Road Warrior''.
** There were also several actors who initially joined the production, only to leave when filming became delayed for years, including two of the actresses who played the Wives. Abbey Lee (The Dag) replaced Teresa Palmer before filming started, while Courtney Eaton (Fragile) replaced Adelaide Clemens due to scheduling difficulties.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Planet of the Apes'' Series]]
* You can see most of the scripts commented below here: http://pota.goatley.com/scripts.html
* ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes1968'':
** The concept art of the first film kept true to the source novel and depicted an ape society with advanced technology. That first hunting scene? The gorillas would be riding ''helicopters'', not horses (something that hunters regularly did in the 1960s, before the ecologist movement). The huge expenses that a faithful adaptation entailed resulted in the switch to a primitive society where technological advancement is halted by [[AncientConspiracy the orangutans]].
** Creator/EdwardGRobinson was originally cast as Zaius in the first film, but his ill health didn't mix well with the makeup, and he had to remove himself from the film, after which Creator/MauriceEvans replaced him.
** Linda Harrison did makeup tests for the part of Zira, but ultimately played the mute savage Nova instead.
** The part where the orangutan judges adopt the "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" position originated as a joke between takes and was not in the script.
* ''Film/BeneathThePlanetOfTheApes'':
** There were several plans for the sequel; the first written by Pierre Boulle (who loved the first film [[EarthAllAlong except for the ending]], amusingly), titled ''Planet of the Men'', which had the apes lose their intelligence and go wild again. Another treatment had basically the same plot as the finished film, but with a different ending to the finished product, in which only the Forbidden Zone is destroyed by the cobalt bomb, and apes and humans are set to live in harmony, the final scene having an aged Taylor telling a group of human and ape children the story of how peace was attained. However, there is a SequelHook, in which a group of mutated gorillas (possibly including General Ursus) emerge from the ruins to shoot a dove in blatant symbolism, hinting that they will disturb the human/ape peace in future sequels.
** Fox wanted Creator/CharltonHeston to return as Taylor, but Heston didn't want to carry another ''Apes'' film. They eventually reached an agreement where Taylor would only appear in the end, and retooled the rest of the film around a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute astronaut played by James Franciscus (who was cast purely because he looked like Heston) that had come to look for Taylor and gone through the same time travel experience.
** Heston demanded to be killed off, so they wrote in the scene where he activates the cobalt bomb. Still suspicious that the studio might bring him again, Heston then "[[WagTheDirector suggested]]" that when the cobalt bomb exploded [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale the whole planet]] [[ArtisticLicensePhysics was destroyed]], rather than just the Forbidden Zone as first intended. It worked halfways: Heston was never bothered again, but Fox commissioned a new sequel anyway.
* ''Film/EscapeFromThePlanetOfTheApes'':
** One of the earlier scripts has the three ape-o-nauts viewing the dying Earth from their space capsule before going back in time.
** The end would have Zira and Cornelius killed by a pack of military doberman pinschers. This was deemed too gruesome and they were shot instead.
* ''Film/ConquestOfThePlanetOfTheApes'':
** The script opened with a fugitive ape being shot by the police. As they walked to it, the body would be revealed to be covered in open wounds and scars, showing the horrible living conditions of the slave apes. This was cut, again, for being too gruesome.
** An original script draft showed more of the rapid evolution of the apes from primitive to intelligent and showed the progression of apes from pets to slaves. Caesar leaving the circus, then trying to survive in the desert and being captured by a company that sold apes. Breck was a man whose wife was killed by an ape, and who mistreats Caesar, inciting his revolution. It's also interesting to note that Caesar passes himself off for parts of the film as a deformed human.
** The movie originally ended with Caesar's yell of "That day is upon you NOW!" and the apes beating Governor Breck to death despite Mr. [=MacDonald=]'s plea. Poor testing resulted in the addition of Lisa's BigNo, which was followed by ''repeated footage'' of Caesar's speech dubbed over by Creator/RoddyMcDowall to make him reconsider his decision and give the film a more hopeful tone.
* ''Film/BattleForThePlanetOfTheApes'':
** The earlier version depicting a human leader named Nimrod, an ancestor of 'Beneath's Mendez. A bomb destroys much of the city from ''Conquest'', and the humans and apes flee to another area. It still involved ape-mutant battles but had Caesar more dictatorial and militant than in the final film, partially due to the death of his wife while she was giving birth. Anger against the humans almost resulted in them all being rendered mute, but this is narrowly averted by a hidden microphone in the coffin of Caesar's wife Lisa that allows someone to whisper to him in 'her' voice. The film ends with precursors to the original, setting up the Forbidden Zone and making anti-human proclamations revealing him to be the first film's Lawgiver.
** Breck was later planned to return as the villain, but the actor wasn't interested. So he was changed to Breck's security chief, Kolp.
** Mr. [=MacDonald=] was also meant to return, but after the actor refused, the character was changed to his brother.
** A [[ContinuityNod deleted scene]] showed Kolp telling his aides, Alma and Mendez, to remain in the ruins of New York and activate the cobalt bomb from ''Beneath'' if his forces were defeated. Alma then tried to follow Kolp's orders, but was stopped by Mendez who instead turned the bomb into a worship figure. [[ContinuityNod Mendez]] is, of course, the first in the line to ''Beneath'''s Mendez XXVI.
** The group of kids in the end would include a [[NoBiochemicalBarriers hybrid]] [[HalfHumanHybrid ape-human]] [[{{Squick}} kid]], symbolizing the two species coexistence in peace. A make-up test was made before cutting it out.
* Various {{remake}} and {{reboot}} projects:
** The first attempt to reboot the series, titled ''Return to the Planet of the Apes'', was pitched by Adam Rifkin in 1988. It was an [[CanonDiscontinuity alternate sequel]] to the first film, set hundred of years after, with the apes having a Roman-esque civilization and using humans as slave labor. A descendant of Taylor (Creator/CharlieSheen and Creator/TomCruise were considered for the part) would lead the humans to revolt, basically making the film ''Film/{{Spartacus}}'' with Apes. Rick Baker was attached to the make up department and Danny Elfman was going to score, but the project was cancelled with the arrival of new Fox executives.
** Creator/PeterJackson reworked Rifkin's idea in 1992 into a Renaissance-esque setting starring an old Da Vinci-like chimpanzee inventor played by [=Roddy McDowall=], who had to hide a human-ape hybrid from the Orangutan Inquisition while the human rebellion was going on. But yet another rotation of Fox exes shut this project down as well.
** Creator/OliverStone was approached in 1993 following a rumor that he was interested in directing a ''Planet of the Apes'' remake. He wasn't. In fact, after being told of the rumor by Fox exes he went to watch the films, which he had not yet, and told the studio that they were "awful". He was, however, interested on being executive producer to a new film that would discard all the previous ''POTA'' mythos, centered instead on "[[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs the discovery of cryogenically frozen Vedic Apes who hold the secret numeric codes to the Bible that foretold the end of civilizations]]."
** Taking off Stone's idea, Terry Hayes wrote the ultra-violent and deliciously bizarre ''[[http://www.imsdb.com/Movie%20Scripts/Return%20of%20the%20Apes%20Script.html Return of the Apes]]'' script in 1994. Plagued with references to ''Music/LedZeppelin'', ''Film/AlteredStates'', ''Series/LostInSpace'' and ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', but none to ''Planet of the Apes'', ''Return'' opens with a sudden world plague of newborn [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progeria progeria]] that is threatening to destroy humanity in the near future. Disgraced scientist Robert Plant determines that it is the result of a "genetic tykebomb" in human DNA and travels to Africa 102,000 years in the past to locate the "mythocodrial Eve" and keep her away from whatever infected her. "Eve" is a child named "Aiv" (pronounced "Eve") and the whatever is a Medieval-esque civilization of gorilla-like hominids at war with humans. In the end, Plant and his pregnant colleague succeed and she gives birth to a healthy boy [[AdamAndEvePlot named Adam]]. The religious angle proposed by Stone was otherwise limited to a scene where Plant makes a prayer and an ape identifies it as his own. Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger signed to play Plant, Creator/StanWinston was doing the effects, Phillip Noyce was directing and Fox allocated $100 million to start filming immediately. But in the last moment, Fox executive [[ExecutiveVeto Dylan Sellers]] decided that the script could be "improved" with comedy, and demanded in particular that Plant saw a group of apes trying to play baseball and he taught them to do it properly. Hayes refused, Sellers fired him, Noyce quit and the project went back into DevelopmentHell.
** Creator/ChrisColumbus and Sam Hamm wrote a more comedic and kid-friendly script in 1995. The progeria plague still opened the film, but was caused by germs brought by a chimp astronaut from space. A team of scientists then used the chimp's spaceship to go to his home planet, Soror, in search for a cure, and what followed was very much like the original novel by Pierre Boulle, with technologically advanced "apes" (whose society also included intelligent gibbons and monkeys, that they called "exotics") ruled by the despotic Lord Zaius and ''two'' baseball scenes. The scientists would discover that Soror was once inhabited by intelligent humans that colonized Earth before they nuked themselves back to the stone age and that ape technology and culture was entirely stolen from these ancient humans or [[AliensStealcable TV emissions from Earth]]. They also discover the cure in a talking girl named Josie, but on their return after 74 years in hyper-sleep they find that Earth has been also overrun by apes. The film ends with [[MythologyGag a shot of the Statue of Liberty]] whose face has been carved into a smiling ape's.
** Creator/JamesCameron took the helm as producer after Columbus dropped out in 1996 and went back to the idea of making an alternate sequel to the first film, but refused to write or direct as he was too busy doing ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}''. The treatment called for the use of stock-footage showing the opening of the original ''POTA'', except this time there would be a chimpanzee research facility next to the crash site. Zira and Cornelius' time travel in ''Escape'' had changed history and resulted in an ape society dominated by chimpanzee scientists rather than orangutan priest-judges. The script then cuts to a second spaceship crashing that carried the protagonist (whom Arnold was still attached to play), and follows him as he arrives in an Ape City ruled by a [[TheCaligula Caligula]]-esque chimpanzee-gibbon hybrid descendant of Caesar, and befriends an old orangutan that directs him to the still living Taylor, now father and leader of a tribe of intelligent humans that use guns. Landon leads another human tribe, and Dodge is the one lobotomized "[[NoodleIncident with a twist]]". Creator/MichaelBay was suggested to direct before Peter Hyams signed in 1998. Fox rejected Hyams, however, and both Cameron and Schwarzenegger dropped out.
* The Creator/TimBurton ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes2001'' "re-imagining":
** Until late into production, the title was ''The Visitor''.
** Burton wanted to give a "Cornelius-like role" to his friend Creator/PaulReubens, but neither actor nor character was included in the end.
** Creator/JohnnyDepp did make-up tests for an unspecified role.
** Tiffany Smith was cast as Ari and also did make-up tests before being replaced by Creator/HelenaBonhamCarter. She has an uncredited appearance as Thade's sister in the final film.
** Ari was first planned as an "ape princess" ''and'' the romantic interest, but Fox [[ExecutiveVeto vetoed]] any kind of human-ape romance calling it "weird and unnatural". The veto stood even after Burton offered to make it platonic or just implied.
** Thade was first written as an EvilAlbino KillerGorilla, but Burton changed him to a chimpanzee after Rick Baker told him that chimps are meaner.
** Female chimpanzees weren't going to have eyebrows but they were added after the first results were deemed [[UncannyValley too unsettling.]]
** Limbo was going to have a HeelFaceTurn and become a good guy, but Burton and Giamatti agreed that it would be "kind of lame".
** The original ending was taken from Columbus' draft: Leo crashes in Yankee Stadium and sees apes playing baseball. The camera then pans out to the Statue of Liberty, that has been remodelled into a grinning ape.
** Everyone signed for a sequel that would explain the final GainaxEnding in Washington but it was cancelled after the film's poor reception by critics.
* ''Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes'':
** The first script by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver originated in 2006 as a completely unrelated project, ''Genesis'', centered around an '''evil''' genetically-engineered chimpanzee that was raised at a human home and was very smart, but spoke only in sign language. After finishing the script with the release of other engineered apes from a laboratory, Jaffa realized that he had just written a perfect prequel/reboot for ''POTA'', and pitched it to Fox as such. Over ''thirty'' rewrites followed.
** Originally, the human lead was a scientist trying to cure his wife's alzheimers.
** Creator/TobeyMaguire and Creator/ShiaLaBeouf were contacted to play Will Rodman before Creator/JamesFranco was cast.
** Will's first romantic interest was Mollie Stewart, a primatologist in Will's laboratory.
** Rocket would gain intelligence as a result of biting Caesar at the primate sanctuary, and then collaborate with him.
** Caesar's mother would survive and remain in the laboratory after her child was taken to be raised at Will's home. After gaining intelligence, Caesar and Rocket would sneak in there to free her, but this would go sour because of Koba. Koba would offer Rocket a necklace in exchange for freeing him also, and once outside Koba would murder Franklin and return to his cage, "framing" Caesar.
** After getting the ALZ-113, Caesar and Roket visited the San Francisco Zoo to [[AdaptationExplanationExtrication infect the apes there]] before Buck released them the next morning.
** After deciding that Caesar's mother would die early in the film, Caesar had a "romance" with a female chimpanzee named Cornelia at the ape sanctuary, who was taken to the [=GenSys=] lab, and freeing her was his reason to go there instead. Scenes with the two made it into [[NeverTrustATrailer some trailers]] before being finally cut (Cornelia still returns as Caesar's partner in the sequel, though).
** Koba would infect Jacobs deliberately with the ALZ-113 while still in the lab. Then he would hitch a taxi that was in turn hitched by Hunsiker, infecting him.
** Dodge, not Rodney, was the one placed on a cage by the apes and therefore survived. He in turn helped the police at the Golden Bridge (not Jacobs) and would try to shoot Caesar before Buck threw him off the bridge.
** Brandon Routh auditioned to play Dodge.
** Will died on Caesar's arms after a battle between apes and police in the woods at the end of the first cut of the film, but this was changed because of poor testing.
** Another DeletedScene in the DVD has Caesar pushing Jacobs off the bridge, not Koba.
** The original [[TheStinger stinger]] had Koba discovering an abandoned police shotgun in the woods and learning to shoot it.
** In general, the script was made less violent and complex at Fox's request.
* ''Film/DawnOfThePlanetOfTheApes'':
** Jaffa, Silver and ''Rise'''s director Rupert Wyatt signed to do the sequel, but were replaced later.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Police Academy'' Series]]
* Creator Paul Maslansky originally envisioned the franchise to have ten movies.
* According to Hugh Wilson, the original cut of the first film was around two and a half hours long.
* Creator/BillyCrystal, Creator/TomHanks, Creator/MichaelKeaton, Creator/BillMurray, Judge Reinhold, Creator/JerrySeinfeld, Creator/RobinWilliams, and Creator/BruceWillis were all considered for the role of Mahoney.
* The role of Commandant Lassard (originally named "Capt. Lewis Lassard" in an earlier draft) was originally written for Robert Conrad, who turned down the part, [[OldShame only to regret it later]], to the point that he took the part of the police chief in ''Film/MovingViolations''.
* Marion Ramsey was asked to wear a fat suit for her role as Hooks, with the idea that the boot camp training would've rendered her slim by the end of the first film. Due to time constraints, the scene showing Hooks after her weight loss was removed from the final cut. By the time work on the sequel began, the filmmakers changed their minds, opting instead to have Ramsey wearing the fat suit in order to garner audience sympathy for her character. However, a brief shot of slim Hooks remains in the film, as a close-up of Marion Ramsey without the fat suit is seen during [[spoiler: the graduates' march at the end of the film]].
* James Signorelli was originally scheduled to direct ''Their First Assignment'', but was considered "too edgy" by producer Paul Maslansky and replaced by Jerry Paris.
* Creator/BillPaxton was offered the role of Proctor in ''Their First Assignment'', but turned it down when the contract required him to also appear in future sequels.
* G.W. Bailey had hoped to reprise his role as Lt. Harris for ''Their First Assignment'', but was passed over in favor of Art Metrano in both that film and ''Back in Training''. Bailey instead took a job working with Hugh Wilson on ''Film/RustlersRhapsody''. However, on a day off, Bailey made an uncredited cameo as a guest at Tackleberry's wedding to Sgt. Kirkland at the end of the second film.
* Karen Adams, Mahoney's second love interest from ''Back in Training'', was originally called "Karen Hoover" in a earlier draft.
* The Japanese character Nogata, who appeared in both ''Back in Training'' and ''Citizens on Patrol'', was originally written as a male Indian police cadet named Ramu, which explains why in the third film, Nogata sleeps on a bed of nails that he picked up in New Delhi, and also likes to meditate with his hand over a candle flame.
* During filming of ''Back in Training'', Bobcat Goldthwait suggested to the filmmakers that the villains in the final chase scene should be the same ones who appear earlier in the film, but Goldthwait was told to just say his lines, and that the filmmakers were not paying him to write.
* Both ''Back in Training'' and ''Citizens on Patrol'' were originally meant to be filmed back-to-back, but production got held up due to the death of the third film's director Jerry Paris, so Jim Drake was brought in to direct the fourth film.
* When Jerry Paris fell ill, Gene Quintano was offered the chance to direct ''Citizens on Patrol'', but turned it down, not feeling confident enough in his abilities, while the offer went to Jim Drake, and Quintano instead wrote the script. On the day of the film's premiere, Quintano told producer Paul Maslansky that he regretted turning down the director's chair. So, Maslansky offered Quintano the job of writing and directing ''Honeymoon Academy'', which this time Quintano accepted immediately.
* Bobcat Goldthwait and Tim Kazurinsky were both brought on board at the last minute for ''Citizens on Patrol'' to replace Fackler, who was dropped from the film due to Bruce Mahler's negotiations over his pay falling apart.
* In an early draft for ''Citizens on Patrol'', Mr. Kirkland was enrolled in the Citizens on Patrol program. His son Bud Kirkland's role was originally meant to be bigger, but was cut down to only one scene after the death of Andrew Paris' father Jerry, who was originally scheduled to direct the film.
* Tackleberry's wife Kathleen was not originally intended to appear in ''Citizens on Patrol'', as Colleen Camp was unavailable for the originally planned shooting dates, which were back-to-back with those of ''Back in Training''. However, the delay resulting from having to hire a new director after the death of Jerry Paris meant that Camp ended up being available after all, and her character was given a one-scene cameo appearance in the film.
* Creator/HarveyKorman was the first choice for the role of Tony in ''Assignment Miami Beach'', but was unavailable for the filming dates.
* Creator/BobcatGoldthwait refused to reprise his role as Zed in ''Assignment Miami Beach'' due to not being able to come to a financial agreement with the filmmakers. As a result, Tim Kazurinsky ended up not being involved either because the filmmakers felt there was no point in bringing back Sweetchuck without Zed.
* If Creator/SteveGuttenberg had agreed to appear in ''Assignment Miami Beach'', Mahoney would have been [[spoiler: promoted to Lieutenant along with Hightower]] at the end of the film.
* The original plan for ''City Under Siege'' was to have Lassard and his crew travel to Moscow, Russia under the working title of ''Operation Glasnost''. However, permission to film in Russia would not be granted until five years later with ''Mission to Moscow''. Then, the sixth film's setting was moved from Russia to London, England, with Richard Curtis and Creator/BenElton being offered to write the script, and a new working title called ''The London Beat'', but was shot down by ''Assignment Miami Beach'' performing below expectations at the box office, resulting in a decreased budget for the sixth film, in comparison to the earlier films' massive budgets, as well as Curtis and Elton turning down the scriptwriting offer, thus it ended up being filmed in Los Angeles.
* After plans to film ''City Under Siege'' in England were nixed, the idea was again considered for the seventh film under the working title of ''Operation Scotland Yard''. Paul Maslanky's revisited idea was to have Steve Guttenberg, Bubba Smith, and other former cast members unite with the cast for a GrandFinale to the franchise, with tenative plans for a 1991 theatrical release. However, the final product, ''Mission to Moscow'', ended up being a very different, much lower budget, DirectToVideo release, with Guttenberg, Smith, and others declining to return.
* Bubba Smith had planned to reprise his role as Hightower in ''Mission to Moscow'', but ended up withdrawing from the film after being told by the filmmakers that they were not planning to bring back Marion Ramsey as Hooks. As a result, scenes originally written for Hightower (who would've been promoted to Captain) had to be given to some of the other characters (i.e. Tackleberry checking up on Commandant Lassard in his hotel room, Capt. Harris wearing a tutu at the Bolshoi Ballet, etc.), and G.W. Bailey was brought on board at the last minute.
* The three Russian acrobatic police painters (whose names were Brullov, Dukhov, and Repkin) who were assigned to Lassard and friends in ''Mission to Moscow'' were originally meant to have a larger role than what was shown in the final cut.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Star Trek'']]
* In early drafts of ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture'', it was Spock, not Decker, who had had the earlier relationship with Ilia, and it was he who would have merged with Ilia and Vger at the end, effectively removing the character from the series.
* ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'':
** The film went through a lot of changes. Five potential scripts were written (four by Jack B. Sowards, one by Samuel Peeples), each with a completely different storyline. When Creator/NicholasMeyer came on as director, he took the best elements of each script, put them all together into one big script and that's what they filmed. Originally, Khan, Saavik, Kirk's son, etc. were from separate scripts.
** In addition, Spock's death was to have occurred mid-way into the movie (forcing Kirk to assume command) but was placed closer to the end when the death of Spock was leaked to the fans.
** Additionally, Creator/GeneRoddenberry initially pitched a TimeTravel story in which the ''Enterprise'' crew would [[WhoShotJFK prevent JFK's assassination]] to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong. Apparently, Roddenberry continued to pitch this strange time-travel story -- which would have ended up a ShaggyDogStory as soon as Spock realized that preventing JFK's assassination would [[TemporalParadox seriously screw up history and destroy the Federation]] -- every time a new sequel was given the go-ahead. This, along with the massive cost overruns and production issues surrounding the first Star Trek movie, was a significant factor in Roddenberry being kicked upstairs to "Executive Consultant" status and the producers & directors of all subsequent Trek movies being told (unofficially, at least) that they could safely ignore Gene's "suggestions."
*** It doesn't help that a very similar story plays out in the famous TOS episode "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E28TheCityOnTheEdgeOfForever}} The City on the Edge of Forever]]".
*** The JFK premise eventually got an unusually straight, non-parody treatment on the ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "[[Recap/RedDwarfSVIIE1TikkaToRide Tikka to Ride]]".
*** Coincidentally, a ''Series/QuantumLeap'' episode featured future Enterprise captain Scott Bakula going back in time to prevent the Kennedy assassination. [[spoiler: ''Jackie'' Kennedy, not John.]]
*** Originally, the ''Reliant'' was supposed to be a differently configured ''Constitution''-refit class like the ''Enterprise''. However, a combination of both the model being too cumbersome and the fear of the audience getting confused over which one was which, led to the creation of the ''Miranda''-class. As well, the design was much different, with the two nacelles pointed upwards with torpedo launchers underneath them. However, Harve Benette looked at the original designs upside down and signed off on them that way. With no time to get in touch with him to reapprove it the right way, they redesigned it to become what became the ''Reliant''.
* ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock'':
** Creator/EdwardJamesOlmos was considered to play Commander Kruge before Creator/ChristopherLloyd was cast.
** The original idea for the movie was that the Romulans would have discovered Genesis Planet and learned the planet had an extremely rare type of dilithium, a kind that would make them more powerful than the Federation and the Klingon Empire. They would also be attacked by a mindless resurrected Spock and the ''Enterprise'' would be destroyed to keep the Romulans from getting a hold of it. The lack of a theatrical feeling to them and Leonard Nimoy requesting they not use them lead to the Klingons being used. Interestingly, they would try for years to get the Romulans in.
** The Klingon Bird of Prey was originally meant for the Romulans. When they were replaced with the Klingons, it was meant to be revealed that the Bird of Prey was actually stolen from the Romulans, but left out of the final film.
* At one point, ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome'' would have featured an eccentric professor played by none other than Creator/EddieMurphy. The character was eventually rewritten into Dr. Gillian Taylor.
* ''Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier'' begs many of these questions. What if the script writing wasn't derailed by the [[UsefulNotes/TVStrikes 1988 WGA strike]]? What if Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic hadn't been too busy to work on the film? What if they were able to get Creator/SeanConnery to play Sybok as they wanted? What if the budget had allowed the rock creatures who were supposed to chase Kirk at the end? And most of all, if any of this had worked out, would the film have actually been ''good''?
* With ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'', Harve Bennett proposed a prequel story featuring Kirk, Spock, [=McCoy=], and Scotty, recast by younger actors, [[EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether first meeting one another at Starfleet Academy]]. The story would have been about [[TheLostLenore Cadet Kirk's one true love, and her death]] — the thing which drives him towards adventure, and which never allowed him to settle down and have a family. The movie would have featured cameos from Creator/WilliamShatner and Creator/LeonardNimoy [[BookEnds at the start and end of the film]], where they visit the grave site of the girl that Captain Kirk has never allowed himself to ever forget. Paramount rejected the concept, wanting a story featuring the entire TOS cast since it was Star Trek's 25th anniversary. The Starfleet Academy prequel angle would finally be used in the 2009 reboot ''[[Film/StarTrek2009 Star Trek]]''.
** Creator/WalterKoenig wrote a script under the title ''In Flanders Field'', which would have had the entire crew save for [=McCoy=] and Spock die due to the fact that both had been seen in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' (Scotty had yet to appear in "[[{{Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E4Relics}} Relics]]" at this time)
** There was supposed to be a GettingTheBandBackTogether scene, which would have had Chekov, Scotty, Uhura and Kirk being grabbed from mundane things to return to duty.
* ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'':
** After filming ''Film/StarTrekGenerations'', ILM modified the 6-foot ''Enterprise''-D model to become the ''Enterprise''-E with the assumption that, if they needed to do something cost-saving, they could just fall back onto the original ''Galaxy'' model had the plan to make the ''Sovereign'' failed.
*** The uniforms for the movie were also planned to be quite different: the original plan for the uniforms were to be something of a combination of the normal ''TNG'' costumes and the Starfleet uniforms of the movies prior to ''Generations''. The figurines for ''Generations'' still used these designs and there was at least a prototype made for Patrick Stewart's use, but ultimately it was discarded for the mixture of ''TNG'' and ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' uniforms that disappeared for ''First Contact''.
** The deflector shield sequence in ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'' was originally intended to have ''hundreds'' of Borg swarming over the hull of the ''Enterprise''. Bad. Ass.
** Creator/TomHanks had been considered to play Zephram Cochrane, before Creator/JamesCromwell was cast. Creator/ChristopherWalken was also considered.
* ''Film/StarTrekInsurrection'':
** According to a leaked manuscript, ''Fade In: The Writing Of Film/StarTrekInsurrection'' (written by Michael Piller years before his death, and never released because of studio concerns about the content of said manuscript), initial concepts for the film were far removed from the final product. The first script treatment (called ''Star Trek: Stardust'') involved Picard and a fellow cadet named Hugh Duffy (who were friends at Starfleet Academy) meeting up after almost three decades because of different circumstances. Duffy has become a renegade who has tried to provoke a war between the Federation and the Romulan Empire, and Picard must travel to the Neutral Zone to bring him back. Picard eventually finds Duffy and risks his career to help the other officer thwart a plan by the Romulans to take over a planet housing "the fountain of youth". At the end, Picard gets arrested (and stripped of his rank) by Starfleet due to his actions during the film. The plot was similar to ''Literature/HeartOfDarkness'', and featured numerous {{Shout Out}}s and call-backs to various episodes of TNG.
* ''Film/StarTrekNemesis'':
** The final battle in ''Film/StarTrekNemesis'' was going to be an insane six-on-one battle against the ''Scimitar'', but was dropped because of cost.
** Creator/NicholasMeyer and Creator/LeVarBurton were both considered as directors. Meyer turned it down because Rick Berman wouldn't let him make any significant script alterations, and Burton was blocked when Paramount [[ExecutiveMeddling went over Berman's head and installed Stuart Baird]].
** More than a third of the film, including several character moments and a lot of exposition, were cut out.
** Aaaand to cap it off, Creator/PatrickStewart remarked after ''[[Film/StarTrekInsurrection Insurrection]]'' that he would have preferred the next TNG movie to be a continuation of the [[InsaneAdmiral "corrupt admiral"]] sideplot. Said continuation would have involved the ''Enterprise'' facing off with massive corruption in Starfleet, and given Picard's [[BerserkButton established reaction]] to [[PatrickStewartSpeech Starfleet officers who betray the ideals of the Federation]], it's hard to imagine a way for that movie not to have been awesome.
** There were also plans to use the ending to modify the Sovereign model to streamline it for the next movie, but not only was the scene for it removed, it ended up being the last movie, so it didn't go through.
* Creator/JJAbrams's first choice to play Nero in ''Film/StarTrek2009'' was Creator/RussellCrowe. Apparently Crowe wasn't totally unwilling, but they could not agree on salary.
** Creator/DanielCraig auditioned as Scotty before Creator/SimonPegg was cast.
** Creator/WilliamShatner could have appeared as Kirk. During the Starfleet award ceremony, Spock would present a pendant containing a moving holographic recording of the older Kirk. The crew of the new timeline would look in awe witnessing the recording of Kirk's future self. This eventually made it into ''Film/StarTrekBeyond'', as Spock finds a photo when going through the deceased Spock Prime's belongings showing the original cast (this was actually a promotional still from ''The Final Frontier''.)
** Paramount's original plan for a Star Trek reboot took place before the original series. The movie's protagonist was Tiberius Chase, ancestor of Kirk and a starfighter pilot in the United Earth Stellar Navym, who was raised by a family with a xenophobic 'Earth first' attitude. On an even darker note, the plot was going to involve an attack by Romulans demanding that Earth hand over any Vulcan citizens so they could destroy the Vulcan race.
* ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'':
** Casting considered tapping Creator/MichaelDorn, who played Worf in [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration TNG]], to play one of the new-look Klingons. They ultimately decided not to "mix the old with the new".
** Creator/BenecioDelToro was the filmmaker's original choice for the role of Harrison, but negotiations fell through. It's fascinating to imagine what he would have done [[spoiler: as Khan.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Star Wars'']]
Creator/GeorgeLucas envisioned a grand universe for the ''Franchise/StarWars'' franchise, but not all of his ideas made it to the big screen:

* There were plans in the 80's to have each new installment (back when Lucas said there could be as many as 12) helmed by a different director, who would be able to put their own style and ideas into the franchise. This plan was scuttled when Lucas realized how little control the approach would allow him during the filming of ''Empire''.
** Lucas considered having Frank Darabont (known for films such as ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'') write the prequels while kicking around ideas in the early 90's.
** Lucas originally planned for Vader and Boba Fett to be brothers.
* ''Episode IV: Film/ANewHope'' (1977):
** The very first treatment of what we now know and love as ''A New Hope'', ''[[http://www.secrethistoryofstarwars.com/journalofthewhillspart2.html The Journal of the Whills]]''. It centered around a Jedi-bendu by the name of Mace Windy (who would become the Mace Windu character in ''The Phantom Menace'') and his apprentice, C. 2. Thorpe. Lucas brought the thing to his agent, Jeff Berg, who was quickly confused by the [[CallARabbitASmeerp massive amounts of jargon]] used in the treatment, and recommended he start simpler.
** Other early drafts had the main character called Luke Starkiller, a cyborg science officer on the Millennium Falcon, and had Han Solo as a "hulking green alien" before he was turned into a lovable rogue and Harrison Ford came along. And Chewbacca was his wife!
** Another version, similar to the above, featured a cast made entirely of robots.
** The first draft of ''Hope'' was about twice as long as the finished film, and contained a lot of elements that would be recycled in later movies -- for example, the last act would take place on the jungle planet Yavin, which would be the home planet of the Wookiees (originally envisioned as smaller, with heads like that of "giant bushbabies", and not technologically capable), who would end up fighting the Empire alongside our heroes. The second draft was a substantial rewrite which cut all this out, but Lucas still wanted a Wookiee in the movie: so he created Chewbacca, a Wookiee co-pilot who ''was'' familiar with technology. For ''Jedi'', Lucas brought back his idea of a low technology race fighting the Empire -- but in place of the Wookiees, he invented the Ewoks (by effectively shrinking them down half the size and inverting the two syllables in their species name)[[note]]Lucas maintains that Chewbacca showed the Wookiees were not a low-tech species, which is why he couldn't use them; however, the Ewoks were notably cheaper to film and [[MerchandiseDriven more merchandisable]][[/note]]. A giant battle with Wookiees on their home planet Kashyyyk finally made it to screen in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith''.
** The first two drafts of the screenplay apparently ripped off ''ComicStrip/FlashGordon'' and Creator/FrankHerbert's ''Literature/{{Dune}}'', respectively. Lucas had to rework the draft several times when the rights holders (King Features and Herbert) balked. Even then, Herbert tried to sue because (if you read the book) they're still similar, but he relented when the film became a hit in its own right.
** Before Leia was added to the story, Lucas was concerned that there weren't any major female characters. He considered changing Luke into a woman!
** R2-D2 and C-3PO had different character [[http://www.df.lth.se/~ola/Starwars/StarWars/starwars6.html designs]] in the beginning: the former was meant to be tripedal, and the latter bore an androgynous appearance similar to Hel from ''{{Film/Metropolis}}''. Artoo's design was changed after tripedal locomotion proved to be too difficult to accomplish on sand. Lucas also decided to make Threepio more distinctly male in the end.
** Lucas wanted Creator/ToshiroMifune to play Obi-Wan, before the suits at 20th Century Fox insisted that he had to get a "name actor" (such as the eventual choice of Sir Creator/AlecGuinness) to play the character. There are also differing accounts regarding why Mifune wasn't cast; some say Fox was hesitant because his English was difficult to understand and his lines had to be consistently dubbed over, while others say it was because he was simply not available. Creator/PeterCushing was also considered as Obi-Wan Kenobi before being cast as Grand Moff Tarkin.
*** [[http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/toshiro-mifune-turned-down-star-845721 According to]] Mifune's daughter Mika, Mifune himself turned down the role of Obi-Wan, believing it was degrading to the samurai film genre. He was also offered the part of Darth Vader, but turned it down because his face would be covered the whole time.
** The "Lost Cut" -- the first rough cut of the film, which has never been seen publicly and has been detailed in various articles over the years -- was apparently intended to be "''Film/AmericanGraffiti'' In Space". It featured many extra scenes, including extra footage of the Jawas and the Sandcrawler, a midget alien confronting a creature much larger than itself (seen in a BetweenMyLegs shot) at the Mos Eisley spaceport, and more. It is unknown whether or not this version would have turned out better than the theatrical release.
** Darth Vader was originally a rather minor character, and early drafts actually have him spending most of the movie without his iconic suit. He was even going to be killed off during the trench run at the end, but Lucas decided to add a shot of him escaping as a SequelHook, and the rest is history.
** Creator/BurtReynolds, Creator/NickNolte, Creator/AlPacino, Creator/ChristopherWalken and Creator/KurtRussell were all considered for the role of Han Solo.
** Creator/CarrieFisher and Creator/SissySpacek both auditioned for the lead roles in ''A New Hope'' and ''Film/{{Carrie|1976}}'' (Female lead in the case of the former). So we were ''this'' close to Spacek as Princess Leia and Fisher as Carrie.
** Finding the voice of Creator/DavidProwse, who played Darth Vader on set, to not be intimidating, Lucas thought of casting Creator/OrsonWelles as Vader's voice. But believing Welles was too recognizable, cast Creator/JamesEarlJones instead.
** Creator/AnthonyDaniels was originally hired to only to be the actor inside the C-3PO suit, although he voiced his role on set just like Prowse did with Vader. Creator/MelBlanc was among those who auditioned for the voice role, and according to legend, it was him who persuaded Lucas to use Daniels' voice in the final film.
** A comic based on the original script and featuring much of the ideas above was made in 2013, titled ''The Star Wars''.
** Chewbacca originally [[http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060528003603/starwars/images/b/bf/ChewieConceptArt.jpg had a bat-like face]].
* ''Episode V: Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' (1980):
** If you want to see what a second film would have been without Han Solo, Alan Dean Foster was commissioned to write a novel that the second film could have been: ''[[http://tinyurl.com/2k3n43 Splinter of the Mind's Eye]]''.
** Early story meetings had the wampa as a fish-like monster that could "swim" through snow, in contrast to the Yeti-like creature seen in the finished film.
** The earliest drafts had the wampas arranging a coordinated attack on Echo Base before the Empire even arrived, and a scene of a wampa bursting through one of the base's walls was filmed before being scrapped. There was also an additional sequence where Threepio would have torn a warning sign off of the room where the captured wampas were being held, leading to an unfortunate Snowtrooper getting grabbed and mauled during the Imperial invasion.
** In one draft, there was no trip to Dagobah, and no Yoda. The Force would have been something anyone could tap into.
** Yoda was initially conceived as a large alien before the production team settled for making him the small, elf-like creature everyone knows and loves.
** Yoda was going to be played by a trained monkey.
** Lucas originally wanted Creator/JimHenson to play Yoda. He wound up casting Creator/FrankOz because Henson was busy with ''Film/TheGreatMuppetCaper'' at the time, and couldn't commit to a major role in another film.
** Emperor Palpatine's original concept was to be an AntiClimax boss who got up to his position by Vader and Tarkin, and that the Emperor would have been a lot closer to a PuppetKing to them. It was changed so late into the game that the novelization of ''A New Hope'' used this characteristic. Eventually, by ''Jedi'', or at the very least ''Empire'', its made very clear that Palpatine was not a PuppetKing, and certainly not an AntiClimax boss.
** Apparently, the huge mind-blowing shocking twist of Darth Vader being Luke's father was never intended. In an early draft Anakin's ghost even appeared. Talk about a serious rewrite (and this was probably why the twist was so shocking; there weren't any hints).
* ''Episode VI: Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' (1983):
** According to Gary Kurtz, the original treatment for ''Jedi'' ended with Han Solo and/or Lando Calrissian dying, the Millennium Falcon getting blown up (which is briefly alluded to in the finished film, with Han having a funny feeling he'll never see the Falcon again before leaving for Endor) and Luke going into seclusion by walking out into the Tatooine desert. Harrison Ford, for his part, wanted Han to die at the end, but Lucas vetoed it.
** Because Creator/HarrisonFord initially only signed on to two Star Wars movies, his character Han was carbon frozen at the end of ''Empire'' and was going to be killed off at the beginning of ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''. Before production Jedi producer Howard Kazanjian told George Lucas that he could convince Ford to come back. He made a deal with Ford's agent good enough to get Harrison to do the final movie so Han was written back into the story.
** The Emperor wasn't supposed to appear in person until ''Episode IX'', when he would be defeated and the Empire finally toppled. Apparently between ''Empire'' and ''Jedi'', Lucas decided he didn't want to make six more films to finish the story (he wanted to be able to see his family and friends once in a while) and changed the story to a much more simplistic retelling of ''A New Hope'', complete with a new Death Star.
** The original title of the film would have been "'''Revenge''' ''of the Jedi''", but this was changed when Lucas (after consulting with his producers) realized that Jedi were above the concept of revenge. [[note]] [[WebVideo/RedLetterMedia Some think it's because he found out leaving out the extra letter would save him $912/year on merchandise]][[/note]]
** Lucas wanted Steven Spielberg to direct ''Jedi''. This became impossible when the Director's Guild ticked Lucas off by fining him for not doing a proper credit sequence in the previous ''Star Wars'' movies, and he quit the Guild in protest. Also, Lucas was aggressively trying to court both David Cronenberg and David Lynch, but neither of his choices panned out. Steven Spielberg apparently thought about suggesting Lucas have Paul Verhoeven direct the film, but after seeing the explicit content in ''Spetters'', immediately reconsidered. [[note]] “I suppose,” Verhoeven said, “he was scared that the Jedi would immediately start fucking.”[[/note]]
** The B-wing fighters were supposed to have a much greater role in the attack on the Death Star, but most of their sequences were cut because the models kept blending in with the star field backdrops used for filming.
** Luke's second lightsaber was originally planned to be blue, just like his first one, and it's even depicted as blue in some ''Jedi'' promotional material (such as [[http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080819092050/starwars/images/b/b2/ReturnOfTheJediPoster1983.jpg this poster]]). It was changed to green late in production in order to make it better stand out against the blue sky during the barge fight sequence on Tatooine.
** Leia was never intended to be Luke's sister (as their brief kiss in the previous film shows), and the next trilogy was apparently going to be about Luke finding his long lost sister.
** The Ewoks were to be accompanied by the Yuzzums. Both species went through different designs, more resembling creatures from folklore such as trolls. Some versions were gangly with elongated legs and arms. Some had an elongated nose, a beak, or a pig-like snout. Some designs lacked fur. Some had a more pug-like face and would not be mistaken for a teddy bear.
** Creator/DavidLynch or Creator/DavidCronenberg could have been the directors.
** Grand Moff Jerjerrod would have been Vader's main rival. Instead of Coruscant, the Imperial capital would have been the overly polluted Had Abbadon, orbited by two death stars, and a green moon being turned into a paradise. The Emperor would consult with Vader and Jerjerrod in the throne room in Had Abbadon, surrounded by a lava pit that the Emperor and Vader would fall into during the final battle.
** In another draft, the green moon became Jus-Endor, Had Abbadon and the other Death Star were removed, and Admiral Ackbar was described as being pale blue.
** A proposed ending would have had Luke putting on Vader's helmet, vowing to destroy the Rebel fleet and rule the galaxy, then aiming the Death Star at Had Abbadon and destroying it.
** In the final battle, Ben and Yoda would appear alive and physical, and would taunt the Emperor, with Ben being struck by the Emperor's lightning instead of Vader. Yoda would prevent Vader from becoming one with the Force, allowing "Annikin" to appear and describe his fall to the dark side. Obi-Wan would explain how they escaped being pulled into the Force in order to not lose their identity, how he blamed himself for everything that happened, and that Owen was his brother.
* ''Episode I: Film/ThePhantomMenace'' (1999):
** Early treatments of the film originally did not have Qui-Gon Jinn, and simply had Obi-Wan by himself as a Jedi Knight. Qui-Gon was added as Obi-Wan's master to flow with the generational "PassingTheTorch" theme found throughout the whole saga. It has been argued that the events in the story would have made [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBvp1r2UpiQ a lot more sense]] had the original plan been filmed.
** When Lucas decided to show the Master-Padawan setup of the Jedi properly, he considered to make ''Qui-Gon'' the Padawan.
** Creator/TomHanks, Creator/MorganFreeman, Creator/DenzelWashington, Creator/KyleMacLachlan, Creator/KurtRussell and Creator/VinDiesel were considered for Qui-Gon Jinn.
** Creator/HughJackman, Harry Connick, Jr., Creator/KennethBranagh and Creator/TimRoth were considered for Obi-Wan Kenobi.
** Creator/BenicioDelToro was originally cast as Darth Maul, but del Toro quit when he found out he would get few speaking lines. del Toro would later portray DJ in ''Film/TheLastJedi''.
** Michael Angarano, Creator/HaleyJoelOsment, Cameron Finley and Justin Berfield auditioned for the role of Anakin Skywalker.
** Creator/KellyMacdonald was looked at to portray Queen Amidala.
** Music/TupacShakur was eager to recieve a part in the film. He auditioned for the role a few weeks prior to his [[AuthorExistenceFailure untimely death]]. The role he was circling on? '''Mace Windu'''.
** George Lucas met with Creator/RobertZemeckis, Creator/StevenSpielberg, and Creator/RonHoward about directing the movie, but they all found the prospect too daunting, since making a new Star Wars movie was pretty much universally seen as [[ToughActToFollow a pretty huge burden due to how beloved the originals are]].
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuQWxz5Eqi8 According]] to Jake Lloyd, there was a ''six-hour'' cut of the film that was screened for several people before the film was released, with those who saw it (including the actor who voiced General Grievous in ''Revenge of the Sith'') proclaiming it to be "mindbogglingly good". Like the later "Lost Cut" of ''A New Hope'', this cut has never been released publicly.
** A [[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Blarth Blarth]] was to accompany Jar Jar as a sidekick.
* ''Episode II: Film/AttackOfTheClones'' (2002):
** Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio was at one point attached to play Anakin in ''Clones'', but (depending on which story you believe) he either backed out after reading the script, dealt with scheduling conflicts with ''Film/CatchMeIfYouCan'', was scared of being attached to a massive franchise or was let go by Lucas after he spilled the beans about his casting during an interview with a media outlet.
** Creator/RyanPhillippe, Creator/CharlieHunnam, Colin Hanks, Creator/PaulWalker, Creator/MishaCollins, Creator/HeathLedger, Creator/ChristianBale, Joshua Jackson, Creator/JamesVanDerBeek, Eric Christian Olsen, Erik von Detten, Jonathan Brandis, and Chris Klein also auditioned for the part of Anakin Skywalker.
** Count Dooku was initially designed as an alien ''woman'', with concepts being thrown around like a killer fairy, a hyper-advanced robot and several others. Eventually, Lucas told the team that they could either make one design work, or scrap the whole thing and start fresh with Creator/ChristopherLee, who had just signed on. They did the easy thing. Funny enough, one of the rejected designs was later used to portray Asajj Ventress in the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' and ''[[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Legends]]'' stories.
** A portion of ''Clones'' was reworked and refilmed in post-production. As originally shot, Anakin and Padmé were immediately captured when they arrived on Geonosis, offered the opportunity to join the Separatists by Dooku, and sentenced to death. Obi-Wan would not have been seen after his capture until Anakin and Padmé arrived in the arena. These scenes were deleted and replaced with new scenes: the droid factory set-piece and Dooku's offer to join the Separatists instead being delivered to Obi-Wan.
** R4-P17, Obi-Wan's astromech droid, was originally going to be destroyed during the execution scene at the Geonosian arena. The droid also was supposed to possess an actual body, whereas in the finished film, R4 is just a stationary head built into the ship. It would eventually meet its fate in the [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith next film]], courtesy of buzz droids.
** Several members of the boy band Music/NSync filmed cameos as Jedi during the climactic arena sequence, but they were cut from the movie during the editing phase.
** Creator/TerenceStamp was to reprise his role as (Ex-)Chancellor Vallum in a cameo, but was dropped when Stamp declined due to his poor experience working on ''The Phantom Menace''.
** Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas was supposed to be an alias for Darth Sidious known as Sido-Dyas instead of an actual Jedi. Apparently, a typo in the script led to them developing Sifo-Dyas as a real Jedi and turning it into something of a DeceasedFallGuyGambit.
** The novelization for ''Return of the Jedi'' mentioned that Owen Lars was Obi-Wan's brother, but in this film he was changed to being Anakin's stepbrother.
** Believe it or not, Order 66 was supposed to take place in ''this'' film, hence the subtitle. The event was ultimately saved for the next film since it would compress too many events in one film.
* ''Episode III: Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' (2005):
** ''Star Wars III: Fall of the Republic'', by John L. Flynn, was a proposed script from 1983.
** Shaak Ti. She had three different possible deaths, yet she ended up being one of the few Jedi to survive Order 66. First, the creators of the ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsCloneWars Clone Wars]]'' miniseries wanted to have Grievous kill Shaak Ti in the final episode — she only lived because she was slated to appear in ''Sith''. Two death scenes were filmed for Shaak Ti's appearance in the film: one where Grievous executes her in front of Anakin and Obi-Wan, and one in the Jedi temple where Anakin stabs her in the back while she's meditating. Neither were used. She finally died in the now non-canon videogame ''VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed''.
** Immediately after that latter scene, Anakin was to have callously walked down the temple grounds while the clones were slaughtering the Jedi left and right, [[UnflinchingWalk oblivious to the chaos around him]]. This scene presumably would've taken place before the infamous [[VillainyDiscretionShot unseen]] [[WouldHurtAChild Youngling slaughter]]. It was partially shot but didn't get past post-production stage, leaving it unfinished.
** Had Ti's death in the hands of Grievous been used, Tsui Choi from the Dark Horse comics would've appeared taking Ti's place in the Jedi Council.
** Creator/GaryOldman was apparently intended to voice General Grievous, but Lucas' departure from the Director's Guild of America many years earlier prevented Oldman from taking part without legal action.
** Anakin was originally supposed to just watch the entire fight between Palpatine and the other Jedi Masters, with Palpatine even having stolen Anakin's lightsaber to do so. The entire fight would have had Anakin debating on which side he was going to choose. They even filmed it, but they figured that Anakin simply watching the fight meant that he had already made his choice, so it was refilmed to the current one. Further, the final fight between Windu and Palpatine was supposed to be an all-over-the-place masterpiece, but due to Lucas wanting Ian [=McDiarmid=] (who played Palpatine) to do as many of his own stunts as possible (odd, considering his predilection for digital effects, and the fight later on in the movie between Palpatine and Yoda) it was reduced to, largely, Windu forcing Palpatine down the hallway and then a bit of a scrap in the office before Anakin showed up and both started talking to him.
** Two of the Jedi Masters who accompany Mace Windu and died during the unsuccessful arrest of Palpatine were originally meant to be killed during Order 66. Specifically, Saesee Tiin was supposed to accompany Ki-Adi-Mundi at Mygeeto and be killed alongside him, while Kit Fisto was to die along with two Jedi that were ultimately cut from the film on Saleucami (where Stass Allie was ultimately killed in the finished picture).
** There is a long-standing rumor that Qui-Gon was going to appear as a Force ghost, but which never happened due to Creator/LiamNeeson supposedly being in a motorcycle accident. He would later voice the Force ghost of Qui-Gon in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars''.
** The Chancellor's Rodian aide from ''Attack of the Clones'' and two senate guards were to make cameos with Palpatine before the Jedi Masters arrived. These were cut before filming.
** A 10 year old Han Solo was going to appear during the Battle of Kashyyyk as an orphan being raised by Chewbacca. He would have helped locate General Grievous by finding part of a transmitter droid that was sending signals from Utapau, allowing Obi-Wan to find and confront the villain. On the other hand, the cameo would have opened up some {{Plot Hole}}s, such as Han not believing in the Force during ''A New Hope'' despite having met Master Yoda as a child.
** Boba Fett was originally going to be the one to kill Mace Windu, finally exacting vengeance for the death of his father. This was cut because Lucas said the subplot was unnecessary and strained the WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief, as he felt there was no way a 16-year old could kill a seasoned Jedi Master. The plot about a young Boba Fett trying to kill Mace was recycled for the ''Clone Wars'' animated series.
** Nute Gunray's demise was somewhat different in the original screenplay. In a desperate attempt to kill Vader, Gunray would've summoned a group of droidekas to open fire on him as he was killing the other Separatist leaders. When the smoke cleared, Vader was presumably killed...only for him to appear from the roof and destroy the droidekas before beheading Gunray. This explains why, in the finished film, Gunray flinched in shock when Vader lunged at him; he had thought the droids had killed him.
** A scene of Wat Tambor getting stabbed in the stomach by Vader at Mustafar was filmed, but cut for being too violent (though the final film had Tambor visibly hiding in the conference room). Two stills from the scene were used in promotional material, and one of the stills were drawn for the comic book adaptation.
** In the original script, Palpatine would've been revealed to have used the Force to push the midi-chlorians to begin the creation of Anakin (meaning, in other words, Palpatine '''created Anakin'''). The conversation between him and Anakin at the theater would've ended with him saying "You could say that [[LukeIAmYourFather I'm]] [[Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack your]] [[CallForward father]]." The idea of Palaptine being Anakin's "creator" would be made canon in the comic book series ''ComicBook/StarWarsDarthVader'', 13 years later.
** Anakin was going to sport [[TotallyRadical a mohawk and a tattoo]], an idea that Lucas quickly vetoed. Another idea was for him to have [[PrettyBoy long hair with a ponytail]]; Lucas vetoed that as well.
** Dooku's death was supposed to be the event that fully turned Anakin to the dark side, not inadvertedly letting Palpatine kill Windu. This was moved to the opening sequence when the original plan (seven battles in seven different planets, to highlight the massive destruction the Clone Wars was casuing) was changed to Anakin and Obi-Wan having to rescue Palpatine from Dooku and Grievous.
** Ahmed Best [[https://ew.com/article/2012/02/11/star-wars-deleted-scene-revenge-of-the-sith-jar-jar-binks/ has stated]] that Palpatine was to mockingly thank [[UnwittingPawn Jar Jar Binks]] for granting him the emergency powers in the first place before crowning himself emperor. Best also wanted Jar Jar to [[KilledOffForReal die]] in the film so that he'd be given a dramatic send-off, but Lucas, who had always considered the character to be his [[CreatorsPet favorite]], refused.
** Originally, when Yoda and Obi-Wan rush to the Jedi Temple following Order 66, they were to be confronted by clone troopers disguised as Jedi. A promotional image of such a trooper can be found as a bonus feature on the DVD release.
* ''Episode VII: Film/TheForceAwakens'' (2015):
** Rey and Finn were named Kira and Sam at an early stage of production, while Poe was originally called "John Doe" in reference to his early death.
*** "Sam" was originally conceived as being the youngest member of a group of space pirates led by Maz Kanata, rather than a stormtrooper. The opening shot of the film was going to be his tiny ship towing a derelict Star Destroyer, meant to mimic the opening of ''A New Hope'' as closely as possible. Sam would have lost control of the Star Destroyer and let it crash on Jakku, where Rey would search it for parts as she does in the final film.
** R2-D2 was originally going to appear much earlier in the film alongside C-3PO, but the writers thought it would be better to present his arrival as a bit of delayed gratification by not having him reactivate until the final act.
** Luke had a significantly larger role in the earlier drafts, but his presence was drastically reduced in order to avoid having him overshadow Rey and Finn.
** Several different ideas for the movie's {{MacGuffin}} were put forth initially, with ideas such as the heroes trying to find the remains of Darth Vader or searching the underwater wreckage of the second Death Star in order to find info about sacred Jedi sites. In the end, it was decided that the search for Luke himself would be the main thread tying everything together.
** Poe was originally supposed to die in the TIE Fighter crash near the beginning of the film, which made Creator/OscarIsaac hesitant to accept the role. However, Creator/JJAbrams decided to spare Poe after finding a way to temporarily write him out of the story without killing him.
** The screenplay had Maz Kanata going with the heroes to the Resistance base, and Creator/LupitaNyongo even filmed some scenes with Creator/CarrieFisher. They were all cut after the creative team decided that Maz really didn't add anything to the final act. However, [[MissingTrailerScene a shot of Maz giving Anakin's lightsaber to Leia did show up in the second trailer]].
** Back when Luke was going to be one of the main characters, there were plans for Creator/HaydenChristensen to cameo as the Force ghost of Anakin Skywalker. His appearance would have constantly shifted between that of Anakin and Darth Vader, playing on the duality of the Force.
** One of the movie's working titles was ''Shadow of the Empire'', but this was changed to avoid confusion with the ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheEmpire'' multimedia project from the 90's.
** Snoke's design went through several iterations, and at one point was going to be a "beautiful, statuesque woman" inspired by Greek sculpture.
** Captain Phasma was originally going to be a man, and it's rumored that the creative team was looking at Creator/BenedictCumberbatch to play him. Phasma was rewritten into a woman after the movie received some complaints about the lack of women in the cast, and the creators cast Creator/GwendolineChristie in the role.
** The movie was originally going to open with Luke's severed hand floating through space, still holding the lightsaber from his duel with Darth Vader in ''The Empire Strikes Back''. The hand would then burn up in the atmosphere of the planet Jakku, and the surviving lightsaber would land in the desert, only to be plucked up by an unseen alien.
* ''Film/RogueOne: A Star Wars Story'' (2016):
** Creator/PhilLordAndChrisMiller ''almost'' made a cameo, and were even fitted into [[https://twitter.com/TheSWU/status/754686303053156353/photo/1 costumes on the set for it]]. It would have served as a foreshadowing to them directing the Han Solo film for the ''Star Wars Anthology'' series, which they were ultimately dropped from.
** [[spoiler: An early draft of the script had the Rebels survive the movie and deliver the Death Star plans in person, as Gareth Edwards believed there was no way the execs would let him make a ''Star Wars'' movie where all the heroes die by the end. To his surprise, both Disney and Lucasfilm gave him permission to kill off the heroes, as they agreed that it'd help explain why none of these characters ever appeared in the original trilogy.]] This is why Creator/FelicityJones was contracted for two movies despite [[spoiler: her character dying at the end]].
** John Knoll's original pitch had Darth Vader as a mere cameo with no lines, as well as the complete absence of the Force. Gareth Edwards had the the explicit Force elements and Jedha added to the film because he felt that a ''Star Wars'' movie without the Force simply didn't feel right.
** Lyra Erso was originally going to be a former Jedi who had survived Order 66, but this plot point was dropped. Elements of the idea can still be seen in the final film, such as the Kyber crystal necklace she gives to Jyn in the opening scene, and the fact that her clothes resembled Jedi attire.
** John Knoll actually conceived the idea as a TV show back in 2003, when Lucasfilm was looking for ways to continue the franchise after ''Revenge of the Sith''. When the show was canned over budget concerns, Knoll's concept was retooled into the movie.
** Gary Whitta had two ideas for the ending of the Battle of Scarif that were both scrapped. [[spoiler:The first idea would've had Krennic survive the Death Star blast on the Imperial base despite everyone else dying there...only for Darth Vader to [[YouHaveFailedMe force choke him to death]] aboard a ''Star Destroyer''. This was scrapped due to Lucasfilm thinking Krennic surviving the blast would've been improbable]]. The second ending [[spoiler:would've had Vader himself enter Scarif's surface to slaughter the Rebels personally, only to be too late to stop the Death Star plans from being transmitted to the Rebels]]. This ending was reworked to [[spoiler:Vader boarding the ''Profundity'', slaughtering all the Rebels firing at him before the [[SoleSurvivor sole surviving Rebel]] takes the plans to Leia's ship]].
* ''Episode VIII: Film/TheLastJedi'':
** Early script ideas involved Luke being [[BlindWeaponmaster blind]], but this was ultimately decided against. It should be noted that this was before ''Film/RogueOne'' decided to use a similar concept with Chirrut. And funnily enough, Creator/MarkHamill plays a blind character in Season 2 of ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollhunters}}'', which was released the very same day.
** Creator/GuguMbathaRaw and Creator/TatianaMaslany were both in the running for roles in the film, but had to back out due to scheduling conflicts (or the roles in question being excised from the film altogether). This is actually not [[Film/RogueOne the first time]] that Maslany ran into this issue with a ''Star Wars'' movie.
** Lando Calrissian was going to be Finn and Rose's contact at the casino (note Maz talking up the guy without giving his name like it's going to be some big reveal), until the crew considered that having Creator/BillyDeeWilliams return just to completely fail in his mission would be an insult to the character, and that Lando would never betray the Rebellion a second time after his character development in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''.
** Creator/JoaquinPhoenix was the actor originally considered to play DJ before Creator/BenicioDelToro got the part.
** Obi-Wan was considered to appear as a Force ghost. This was removed as the only version of Obi-Wan Luke has interacted with is Creator/AlecGuinness', who is long dead by now, and Johnson felt that having Luke interact with Creator/EwanMcGregor's Obi-Wan would have felt too weird.
** ''The Art of Star Wars: The Last Jedi'' details a few variations of the laundry room scene where Finn, Rose, and DJ get their disguises. In one, the trio encounter a group of Stormtroopers only to realize they are empty suits of armor on a clothing conveyor belt. Another would have had them follow a lint trail to the laundry room.
** According to the art book, Finn and Rose were going to break into a store in Canto Bight and [[BlackTieInfiltration steal a tux and gown]], with a SheCleansUpNicely effect for Rose in her dress and Finn having his tux on backwards. That idea was scrapped in favor of the two sticking with their Resistance gear. In early drafts, they were also going to meet the Master Codebreaker in the cabaret room, be taken along for a quest to retrieve a MacGuffin from a warlord, and be arrested on the casino's rooftop.
** Also in the art book, Luke was going to be visited by a Sith Force Ghost while meditating in his hut on Ahch-To with the Sith being described as an "all-powerful Sith Lord who ruled over the Dark Side of the Force from the Afterlife" and was also described to be "pulling Snoke's strings" from behind the scenes.
** At the start of the writing process, the crew laid out a spreadsheet of absolutely every possible answer to Rey's parentage they could think of, no matter how likely it was to actually be used. This included her actually being some kind of super advanced droid.
* ''Film/{{Solo}}: A Star Wars Story'' (2018):
** The idea of a Han Solo prequel was first conceived by Creator/GeorgeLucas himself. Prior to selling Lucasfilm to Disney, Lucas hired Lawrence Kasdan to write a screenplay for the movie. The project was put on hold after Disney acquired Lucasfilm so that Kasdan could help write for '' The Force Awakens''.
** Creator/PhilLordAndChrisMiller were originally hired to direct the movie but were replaced by Creator/RonHoward mid-production. According to reports, they were let go for including too much on improvisation and making a comedy in the vein of ''Film/AceVenturaPetDetective'' and ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy''.
** Michael K. Williams was replaced by Creator/PaulBettany as Dryden Vos when he was unavailable for reshoots. Vos was conceived as a "half-mountain lion"-like character who resembled a [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels Lasat]] in the concept art.
* Josh Trank was in line to helm a Boba Fett movie for the ''Star Wars Anthology'' series, but after word got out about his [[TroubledProduction incredibly erratic and unprofessional behavior]] on the set of ''Film/FantasticFour2015'', the offer was rescinded and the film was shelved for the foreseeable future.
* '' Episode IX: Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'' (2019):
** In what is easily [[TearJerker the saddest example]] in of the franchise, General Leia was confirmed by Lucasfilm to have a large part in the film, which the [[AuthorExistenceFailure untimely passing]] of Creator/CarrieFisher all but rendered impossible.
** Colin Trevorrow was attached to direct, but CreativeDifferences and alleged backstage conflict with Lucasfilm resulted in J.J. Abrams getting rehired.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Superman'']]
* ''Film/SupermanTheMovie''
** Casting choices for the title role before Creator/ChristopherReeve was ultimately chosen included Creator/RobertRedford, Creator/BurtReynolds, Creator/SylvesterStallone, Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger, and Creator/PaulNewman. Other actors considered included Creator/DustinHoffman, Creator/JonVoight, Creator/ChristopherWalken, Creator/CharlesBronson, Creator/ClintEastwood, and even ''UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli''.
** Patrick Wayne, the son of actor Creator/JohnWayne, auditioned for the title role, but dropped out in order to care for his ailing father, who died just a year after the movie was released. Music/NeilDiamond (!!!) and Olympic champion Caitlyn Jenner auditioned for the part as well.
** Creator/FrancisFordCoppola, Creator/GeorgeLucas and Creator/StevenSpielberg were looked at to direct, with the latter two having to pass due to being busy with ''Film/StarWars'' and ''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind'', respectively.
** Before production started, Guy Hamilton was the initial choice for director, but for tax reasons he was relegated to directing in the UK for a limited time, and he was unable to take Creator/MarlonBrando to Italy due to an arrest warrant for his involvement in ''Film/LastTangoInParis''. Because Hamilton refused to return to the UK because of being a tax exile there, he was released from his contract, and Mark Robson (''Avalanche Express'') was almost hired as a replacement, then the producers discovered Creator/RichardDonner after watching Donner's masterpiece, ''Film/TheOmen1976'', and set off to have him on the director's chair.
** Creator/MargotKidder was originally supposed to sing the song "Can You Read My Mind" for the flying sequence with Superman, but disliked it and changed it to voice-over.
** Originally, the helicopter scene was simply going to have Superman save Lois from falling. Later, Donner decided to have the helicopter drop and the modified scene was called "The Double Jeopardy Scene."
** The producers wanted Creator/JoanCrawford for the role of Ma Kent. Unfortunately, Crawford was too ill to take the part and died shortly before production began.
** Creator/DustinHoffman, George Kennedy, Creator/JackNicholson and Creator/GeneWilder were considered for Lex Luthor.
** Creator/CharltonHeston was considered for Jor-El. He turned it down due to scheduling conflicts with ''The Prince and the Pauper'' and ''Gray Lady Down''.
** In an early draft of the script, one of Lex Luthor's personality quirks is that he likes to chew on Kleenex.
** Creator/CarrieFisher, Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh, Creator/ShirleyMacLaine, Creator/LizaMinnelli, Christina Raines, Creator/BarbraStreisand and Creator/NatalieWood were considered for Lois Lane.
** Creator/EdAsner, Martin Balsam, Creator/WalterMatthau, Jason Robards, Lawrence Tierney and Creator/EliWallach were considered for the role of Perry White.
** Creator/GoldieHawn was the first choice for the role of Eve Teschmacher, but she wanted too much money.
** Creator/PeterBoyle auditioned for Otis.
** Creator/ChristopherLee had to turn down the role of General Zod. He had just moved to Hollywood as a tax exile, and did not want to have to return to England.
** The film's tie-in novel, ''Last Son of Krypton'', was adapted from a movie treatment Creator/ElliotSMaggin had been pitching to DC since 1974. When Mario Puzo was chosen to write the ''Superman'' movie instead, Maggin was given permission by Warner Books to turn his unused treatment into a novel. This explains why despite being marketed as a tie-in to the film (complete with an image of Christopher Reeve on the cover and photos from the movie inside), the two projects are clearly not in the same continuity.
* ''Film/SupermanII''
** Richard Donner was fired from the film halfway through production, as producer Alexander Salkind wanted the film to be more {{camp}} and less expensive than the previous film. The result on the franchise was disastrous -- many of the stars, including Creator/MarlonBrando and Creator/GeneHackman, refused to work with new director Richard Lester or participate in later sequels. It should be noted that however disastrous the result was for the franchise as a whole, the Lester version was still a critically acclaimed box office smash, and even ''Superman III'' enjoyed good box office (if not the critical acclaim) even if only because III piggy backed off the success of the first two films. Donner had reportedly been at odds with the Salkinds from early on over the tone of the film and reportedly did not get along with Pierre Spengler, a long time friend and frequent collaborator of the Salkinds. Marlon Brando was said to have been cut out of the film altogether because he was too expensive, not just for his paycheck but because he got a big bite of the first film's box office and was entitled to a big bite of the second film's box office as well, which the Salkinds decided they didn't like. Jack O'Halloran, the actor who played Non, later accused the Salkinds of having done a poor job managing the budgets for both films.
*** Fans got a taste of this when the [[DirectorsCut Richard Donner cut]] of ''Superman II'' was released (though it obviously wasn't as polished as it would have been had he been able to properly complete it). The "reversing time" trick was originally intended as a finisher for II, but Donner decided to use it as a memorable climax to the first movie. The directors cut restored it as originally planned, though Donner said he would have worked out a new ending if he was kept on.
** A bunch of scenes were shot for both versions, some of which went un-used in both versions, some of which were restored in extended TV cuts, such as a rather chilling scene (from the original theatrical ''Lester'' version!) of a young boy (the one who is supposed to be from the American mid-west yet talks with a British accent) being brutally killed by Non when he tries to ride away for help. This scene ends with an old woman exclaiming "He was only a boy!" to which Ursa cheerfully replies "[[CrossesTheLineTwice Who will never become a]] ''[[CrossesTheLineTwice man]]''."
** An early version of the script had four Kryptonian villains who were exiled from the planet before its destruction. Jak-El was supposed to be an evil prankster and source of comic relief. He is described as "a psychopathic jokester, whose pranks and practical jokes are [[ForTheEvulz only funny to him when they cause death and suffering to others]]." The character was never cast.
** The producers wanted Creator/HenryFonda to cameo as the United States President, but Fonda's other projects as well as his failing health led to E.G. Marshall getting the part.
* ''Film/SupermanIII''
** According to Ilya Salkind, the original script was going to involve Brainiac and Mr. Mxyzptlk (who would have played by Dudley Moore) teaming up against Superman, who would also meet his cousin, Supergirl, who was adopted by Brainiac. The three characters would have been involved in a LoveTriangle, with a jealous Brainiac turning Superman evil and Supergirl agreeing to marry him if he returned Superman to normal. Superman would have made a deal with Mxyzptlk to transport him and Brainiac to another dimension in order to settle the matter without superpowers, which they would have done by jousting in medieval armor.
** The original title for the film was going to be ''Superman vs. Superman''.
** Creator/AlanAlda and Creator/FrankLangella were both considered for the role of Ross Webster. [[Film/SupermanReturns At least Frank got a role later.]]
** Gus Gorman was meant to be the human guise of Brainiac.
* ''Film/{{Supergirl}}''
** Supergirl was originally going to wear a completely different costume with a more modern sensibility. The new suit was eventually discarded in favor of the classic, iconic costume, but made its way into the comics as the costume Supergirl wore until her death during ''Comicbook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''.
** Christopher Reeve was supposed to cameo as Superman at one point.
** Ilya Salkind and screenwriter David Odell originally wanted Brainiac to appear in the movie, and would have featured multiple planets over the course of the movie. If this had come to pass, this would have been the most expensive of the Superman films at that time.
* ''Film/SupermanIVTheQuestForPeace''
** Creator/WesCraven was originally slated to direct the movie, but was replaced due to CreativeDifferences with Creator/ChristopherReeve. (This should already be obvious.)
** Reportedly, the original budget was about $35 million, but Creator/TheCannonGroup slashed it in half.
** The planned soundtrack album (split between songs - mostly for nightclub scenes - and Music/AlexanderCourage's score) was cancelled when most of the scenes for which the chosen tracks were written got cut from the movie. (This was before the phrase "Music From And Inspired By" became the ''bête noire'' of film music fans.)
** Quite a lot of material (45 minutes worth!) was cut for the movie's theatrical release, with some odd choices. One would think an extended action sequence of Superman fighting a super-powered opponent (the Bizarro-esque first incarnation of Nuclear Man) would be something you'd want to ''keep''. Other deleted scenes make the plot hang together a little better, and there's a nice character scene between Lois Lane and the weakened Clark/Superman at Clark's apartment.
* Another ''Superman'' movie after ''Superman IV'' went through an incredible sequence of ExecutiveMeddling and What Could Have Been, before finally resulting in ''Film/SupermanReturns'':
** ''Cannon's Superman V'':
*** Originally, Cannon considered doing a fifth movie using the deleted footage of Superman fighting Lex's original version of Nuclear Man, which was played by Clive Mantle. These ideas were quickly scrapped after ''Superman IV'' bombed.
*** One of the earliest script treatments would have had Superman fighting Comicbook/{{Brainiac}} and dying before being revived inside the shrunken city of Kandor and going off to stop Brainiac for good.
** ''Superman Lives'':
*** Some of the ideas tossed around included a [[SpiderTank giant mechanical spider]] attacking Lois Lane in a pit of webs, [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman Supes being a normal guy who got his powers from his costume]] a'la Comicbook/{{Venom}} (the hell?), Brainiac having a "gay [[Franchise/StarWars R2-D2]]" as a sidekick, polar bear fights and a Kryptonian cyborg. This was all real.
*** Creator/KevinSmith was attached to the project at one point (after telling Creator/WarnerBros execs that the other writers knew nothing about the mythos), and comics fan Alex Ford wrote a treatment that, though ultimately rejected, was praised as being well-written and respectful to the source material. Smith [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo2KB1dEDdk tells]] the story of his involvement in ''Superman'' more fully in his "Evening With Kevin Smith" DVD, including the connection to ''Film/WildWildWest''.
*** Among the people considered for the role of Clark/Kal-El in ''Superman Lives'' was none other than ''Creator/NicolasCage''. ''And'' it was at one point to be directed by Creator/TimBurton. Creator/ChrisRock was also being looked at to play Comicbook/JimmyOlsen, which would have made for a RaceLift. Franchise/{{Batman}} also would've made a cameo during Superman's funeral.
*** Jon Peters has said Creator/SandraBullock was the main choice to play ComicBook/LoisLane, while Tim Burton has said he wanted Creator/ChristopherWalken to play Brainiac. Creator/KevinSpacey was actually one of the top choices to play Comicbook/LexLuthor, years before ''Superman Returns''.
*** Superman would have worn multiple costumes, starting with a more "organic" variation of the classic red and blue tights. After his death, he'd briefly transition to a regenerative alien suit to help the healing process before merging with the Eradiactor, who would have had the ability to transform into a suit of PoweredArmor. Superman would then don a black outfit with a silver S during the final battle, as producer Jon Peters thought the classic costume was "Too faggy." [[https://www.plarko.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Tim_Burton_Superman_costume.jpg A test shot of the regenerative costume can be found here]], [[https://twitter.com/JonSchnepp/status/621039778977308672 while one of the red and blue suit can be found here]].
*** After Kevin Smith exited, ''Superman Lives'', writer Wesley Strick was brought on to take a shot at it, and the results, in the words of i09, "would have made ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' look like ''Film/TheDarkKnight''." Read more about that script [[http://io9.com/5981002/proof-that-superman-lives-would-have-made-batman--robin-look-like-the-dark-knight here]].
*** After Strick was fired, Dan Gilroy was brought in. His draft was more character driven, and utilized Burton's idea of Superman as an outcast who felt isolated from the rest of mankind. Superman would start the film not knowing he was an alien, and would have spent his life up to that point trying to find an explanation for his "condition." After finally learning his true heritage, he would be devastated.
*** Gilroy's draft also had a subplot involving Superman worrying about his future with Lois. He would be afraid that their offspring might end up being a deadly abomination that could harm Lois while still in her womb.
** ''Superman Reborn'':
*** The film would see Superman die during his battle with Doomsday, only to transfer his life-energy into Comicbook/LoisLane and cause her to have a MysticalPregnancy and give birth to Superman's child, who would [[PlotRelevantAgeUp rapidly mature into a 21-year old]] within three weeks and then become the new Superman. No word on what drugs the execs involved in this were taking.
*** One draft of ''Superman Reborn'' featured Clark having romance problems with Lois Lane and eventually going to see a psychiatrist just before his death. Other villains featured in the script included the Parasite and Silver Banshee.
** ''Superman: Flyby'':
*** Creator/JJAbrams' draft for the film. Let's see... Krypton is designed to be like [[Film/ThePhantomMenace Naboo]], and doesn't blow up; [[OriginalCharacter Original character]] Kata-Zor, brother of Jor-El, would start a civil war on Krypton; Kal-El is shipped away by his parents because of a coup. Clark's powers first manifest as a young boy, when he saves Ma Kent from a rapist landlord. Lex Luthor is a CIA agent pursuing proof of extraterrestrial life... because he's an alien himself. Kata-Zor's son, Ty-Zor, would bring three Kryptonians to Earth to fight Superman. Superman ''dies'' in the climax, so Jor-El, still imprisoned on Krypton, ''kills himself'' so he can go into the afterlife and talk Superman out of being dead. [[http://www.aintitcool.com/node/13350 And so much more what-the-fuckery.]]
* A scene that was never filmed for ''Film/{{Steel}}'' would have had John Henry Irons visiting a disability counselor after Sparky ended up in a wheelchair. The counselor (in a wheelchair himself) would note John's [[{{Superman}} S-Shield]] tattoo, and talk about the responsibility that comes with that symbol, inspiring him to become Steel. Unfortunately, Christopher Reeve couldn't make it, and without him in the role the entire point of the scene was gone.
* [=McG=] almost directed a ''Batman vs Superman'' movie before dropping out to do ''Film/CharliesAngelsFullThrottle''. The movie would've been DarkerAndEdgier and featured a down-on-his-luck Clark Kent who had just recently been divorced by Lois, as well as a Batman struggling to get over the deaths of ComicBook/{{Robin}}, Alfred, and Commissioner Gordon. In a bit of HilariousInHindsight, Creator/ChristianBale was approached to play ''Superman'' just a few years before ''Film/BatmanBegins'' entered production.
* A sequel to ''Superman Returns'' dubbed ''Man of Steel'' (no relation to the actual movie of that title) was in the works for a while, with Creator/BryanSinger wanting Comicbook/{{Darkseid}} to be the BigBad and Michael Dougherty wanting Brainiac. Singer claims the film would have been more violent and action-packed to answer the complaints about ''Returns'' allegedly being boring and too focused on personal drama.
* Creator/MarkMillar (with Creator/MatthewVaughn directing) pitched an eight-hour trilogy that would chronicle Superman's life from his birth on Krypton to right when he is the last being on earth as the sun goes supernova. Millar himself compared the film trilogy to ''Film/TheGodfather'' series.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'']]
* In the mid-1980's, New World Pictures pitched a movie idea to ''Turtles'' creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird that would've been more of an R-rated comedy film. Creator/{{Gallagher}}, Creator/SamKinison, Creator/BobcatGoldthwait and Billy Crystal would've played the turtles dressed in turtles shells with their arms and legs dipped in green paint, [[{{Squick}} with no clothes on whatsoever]]. Not much is known about this idea except that one of the treatments had the turtles fighting half-naked nuns wielding Uzis in roller skates. Since this idea was pitched around the time [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 the cartoon]] was about to air, there was probably no chance this movie would've ever been green-lit.
* ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1990''
** Jennifer Beals, Creator/MarisaTomei, Creator/SandraBullock, Creator/NicoleKidman, Creator/MelanieGriffith, Creator/SeanYoung, Creator/LorraineBracco, Creator/WinonaRyder, and Brooke Shields were all considered for April O'Neil.
** Steve Barron wished to replicate April O'Neil's jumpsuit look from the early Mirage comics and the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 1987 cartoon]]. The look was going to closer resemble the cartoon with a yellow colored jumpsuit and a big head of red hair (as opposed to a green jumpsuit and brown hair). However, Judith Hoag found the jumpsuit "horrifying" and the idea was nixed. The yellow raincoat April wears in the beginning of the movie is a homage to the yellow jumpsuit she wears in the cartoon.
** The scene where Raphael exits the movie theater would have had no poster for ''Film/{{Critters}}'' showing, and Raphael, apparently having seen a screening of ''Film/Batman1989'', would have commented, "[[TakeThat Cool car. Stupid costume.]]" This would've been HilariousInHindsight since Creator/WarnerBros, who produced said movie, would take over this film's distributor, Creator/NewLineCinema, in 2008.
** Originally, a young Foot ninja named Shinsho was intended to be killed by getting brutally beaten by Tatsu due to the Foot Clan's failure, but executives at New Line Cinema felt the scene was too violent for a PG-rated film. The dialogue was re-dubbed with the kid comforting him saying "you'll be alright," to show Tatsu only injured him. Shinsho's death was retained in the tie-in novelization and the French dub of the film.
** There are a handful of scenes that were deleted from the final cut for reasons unexplained. They would have given the four turtles much more CharacterDevelopment, expanding on April and Casey's romance, and would have put later scenes into a different context:
*** April and Casey's reaction to Mikey's "turtle wax" joke was originally one of ''relief'' after he goes through a severe HeroicBSOD where he destroys a punching bag and part of the barn's wall
*** An extended training sequence where Leo proves a point by turning his mask around and fighting blind followed by the other Turtles taking turns doing the same. The scene rather famously has Donatello sporting a straw hat.
*** Various scenes of the Turtles training on their own or in pairs trying to master the technique Leo shows them earlier
*** Some of the April and Casey scenes involve him trying to help her with a stuck truck door while she declines and exits on the driver's side. Another leads into the scene of the two of them talking on the porch swing where the night before she shows him her drawings the Turtles but tries to hide the one she did of him in a beanie, they both share a laugh over it.
*** A game of "ninja hot potato" where the Turtles toss around an apple and the holder has to defend against the other three while taking a bite out of it. It makes the later scene where Raph finishes off an apple after defeating a squad of Foot ninjas a CallBack.
** The original ending had April quitting her reporter's job in order to pitch the story of their adventures to a comic book company while the Turtles listen in outside the window. When the editor [[ItWillNeverCatchOn rejects her idea as being too unrealistic]] [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Mikey falls off the building]].
* ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIITheSecretOfTheOoze''
** The original draft for the film had Professor Perry revealing himself to be an Utrom in the ending. This was cut allegedly because New Line didn't want people to [[AdaptationDisplacement confuse him with Krang]]. Much [[ChekhovsGun foreshadowing]] ended up left in the movie though. Perry immediately recognizes what happened to the Turtles upon first meeting them, and even describes the very accident that led to them coming in contact with the ooze ''down to the year''. He even has suspiciously portentous lines like "Sometimes the best way to hide is right out in public," and "You're the last one, aren't you?" If you pay attention, during the two scenes at T.G.R.I., there appears to be a large rock-like object encased in glass with numerous computers plugged into it. And April later mentions in her news report that the company mysteriously (and ''literally'') "disappeared". The most bizarre effect of this though is the resulting [[NonIndicativeName Non-Indicative Title]] - the "secret of the ooze" is the fact that it's '''''alien in origin''''', but got cut from the movie!
** The draft also revealed Bebop and Rocksteady planned to appear in the movie, but ExecutiveMeddling from New Line resulted in them getting replaced with Tokka and Razhar.
** Bits of dialogue explaining where Casey Jones was were cut for reasons unknown. The dialogue never went further than "He was out of town," and caused huge confusion when he inexplicably shows up in the third movie, also without any explanation on why he was gone in the second movie.
* ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIII''
** Rumor has it that had the original draft for the second movie been taken up, this film would have been based off the ''Turtles in Space'' story arc from the comics, rather than the time travel plot it got instead.
* A fourth ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' film after ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIII'' (excluding the AllCGICartoon ''WesternAnimation/{{TMNT}}'') went through a lengthy phase of DevelopmentHell and ExecutiveMeddling before being ultimately canceled in favor of a ContinuityReboot [[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2014 in 2014]].
** ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: The Next Mutation'' (no relation to the [[Series/NinjaTurtlesTheNextMutation live-action series of the same name]]):
*** It would have dealt with the turtles and Splinter finding out that their mutations haven't completed and they develop new powers. Mikey would have developed a human-like appearance that would allow him to go to the surface, Donnie's eyesight would have faded and he would make special goggles that would allow him to see better, Leo would change his skin to a chrome-like surface, Raph would turn more monstrous, and Splinter would bulk up. This movie was quickly scrapped once ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III'' flopped, and the idea of accelerated mutations was introduced in later seasons of the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 Fred Wolf cartoon]].
*** [[http://tmntentity.blogspot.com/2011/03/4th-live-action-tmnt-movie-that-never.html This page]] features concept art of what the Turtles would have been portrayed as in the movie. No word yet on what kind of NightmareFuel the New Line executives went through.
*** There were plans to have a fifth turtle in the film, whose name is known only in the early concepts as "Kirby." This idea later resurfaced in a short-lived live-action television series called ''Series/NinjaTurtlesTheNextMutation'', where the turtle is a female named Venus.
** ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: The Foot Walks Again'': A DarkerAndEdgier sequel that would have [[CanonDiscontinuity ignored the events]] of ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III'' and feature the return of the Foot Clan and Super Shredder. Not much is known about this movie, except that it removed the idea of accelerated mutations whilst keeping "Kirby." New characters would be introduced in the movie, and also feature an [[FaceHeelTurn Evil April]]. [[http://www.joblo.com/movie-news/the-concept-art-from-the-fourth-tmnt-movie-that-never-was-gives-us-a-look-at-fifth-turtle-kirby The concept art was also slightly modified]].
** ''Untitled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot (2011)'': After the AllCGICartoon ''WesternAnimation/{{TMNT}}'', which continued the story after ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III'', failed to meet expectations, Warner Bros. decided to reboot the live-action film series, with input from ''TMNT'' franchise owner Mirage Comics. This film was to be a direct sequel to the [[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1990 original movie]] that would outline the turtles' origins, which would have [[CanonDiscontinuity rendered the sequels, as well as the animated movie, non-canon]]. Like the failed ''The Foot Walks Again,'' this was to have a DarkerAndEdgier plot, but this time written by [[Film/YoungGuns John]] [[WesternAnimation/SpiritStallionOfTheCimarron Fusco]] and based off the original black and white comics from ''Turtles'' creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. Thanks to script disagreements from Creator/ParamountPictures (who was to co-produce the movie with Creator/WarnerBros and Creator/LegendaryPictures, in their second collaboration following ''Film/{{Watchmen}}''), the film didn't get very far when Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} acquired the rights to the ''TMNT'' property, directly resulting in Warner Bros. losing the film rights to the series, Fusco getting booted out, and causing this project to be scrapped entirely. Nickelodeon, with Paramount's input, decided to do things their own way, and what we instead got was a complete ContinuityReboot [[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2014 released in 2014]].
* ''WesternAnimation/{{TMNT}}'' (2007) ended up being the film that continued the story after ''TMNT III'', though it had some ideas of its own that never made it to the screen:
** Kevin Munroe stated that he would have liked to do a sequel, either featuring the Foot Clan (which, given Karai's ominous remark at the end of the film, [[spoiler: indicated that the Shredder might have come back]]), the Rat King, or the Triceratons. Munroe also expressed interest in having Creator/SarahMichelleGellar and Creator/ChrisEvans reprise their roles as April and Casey in a live action film. Because of Imagi Studios' financial troubles, Warner Bros. abandoned the sequel in an ill-fated attempt to reboot the live-action universe (see above) that went bust after Nickelodeon acquired the TMNT property.
** Originally the backstory of Yaotyl and the Generals was going to be told by Winters when April and Casey deliver Aguila's statue to him, but the filmmakers decided to just get everyone on the front page in the film's prologue.
** An abandoned sub-plot would have featured Casey working up the courage to propose to April, which he would've done at the film's end.
** The opening would've been narrated by Splinter, and the opening sequence thereafter would have introduced Raph as the Nightwatcher. This opening can be found on the DVD.
** In an earlier draft that found its' way into tie-in materials, Yaotyl and the Generals would've succeeded in destroying the ancient civilization we see them attacking in the prologue, but they would've been cursed with immortality and being turned to stone by a sorceress from the civilization who was not present at the battle.
** The fight between Leo and Raph would've had them fight barehanded. The nearly completed scene can be viewed on the DVD.
** As shown in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhMYDst0hxY this video]], the movie was originally going to have just voice actors until ExecutiveMeddling kicked in, resulting in some celebrity casting. Only intervention by the creators got the turtles and most of the supporting characters to be played by voice actors.
* Speaking of [[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2014 that reboot]]:
** In earlier scripts, Casey Jones was going to be present and be [[HumanFocusedAdaptation the main protagonist]]. The movie would've had the turtles as ''aliens'' rather than mutants. The Shredder was changed to a white, American military officer named "[[MeaningfulName Colonel Schraeder]]," with the Foot depicted as a black-ops military unit rather than a ninja clan. Schraeder would've eventually been revealed to be an alien in disguise and a CompositeCharacter of himself and Krang. This was supposedly scrapped after negative fan reaction, as well as vocal displeasure from those who were previously involved in the franchise.
** Eric Sacks was originally announced to be the film's incarnation of the Shredder. But massive backlash to "[[RaceLift White Shredder]]" from fans resulted in the film having scenes reshot with a more traditional version of the Shredder.[[note]]Rumors said he was going to be the adopted son of Oroku Saki, making Shredder a LegacyCharacter and/or a CollectiveIdentity (explaining why the Foot Clan has modern gear; they're just the ''American'' branch and the ''Japanese'' Foot are still traditional ninja).[[/note]] This change was made so late in development that Sacks as the Shredder was used in the Nintendo 3DS adaptation.
** [[spoiler: K. Todd Freeman was cast as Baxter Stockman, according to IMDB, but all his scenes were cut from the film, presumably for the above re-shoots.]]
** Concept art has revealed that at one point, Rocksteady and Bebop from the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 original TV show]] were going to appear as well. The sequel, ''[[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesOutOfTheShadows Out Of The Shadows]]'', [[RefittedForSequel features them proper]].
** Minae Noji filmed more scenes as Karai, including a fight scene with April. She would have dominated most of the fight, only for Vernon to knock her off balance with his camera, allowing April to finish her off. The entire fight sequence was cut for unknown reasons, essentially making Karai's role in the film a mere {{Cameo}}.
* ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesOutOfTheShadows'':
** Its working title was ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Half-Shell'', before the trailer officially revealed its real subtitle.
** Wrestling/CMPunk auditioned for the role of Rocksteady, but lost it to fellow Wrestling/{{WWE}} wrestler Sheamus.
[[/folder]]

----

** Gary Whitta had two ideas for the ending of the Battle of Scarif that were both scrapped. [[spoiler:The first idea would've had Krennic survive the Death Star blast on the Imperial base despite everyone else dying there...only for Darth Vader to [[YouHaveFailedMe force choke him to death]] aboard a ''Star Destroyer''. This was scrapped due to Lucasfilm thinking Krennic surviving the blast would've been improbable]]. The second ending [[spoiler:would've had Vader himself enter Scarif's surface to slaughter the Rebels personally, only to be too late to stop the Death Star plans from being transmitted to the Rebels]]. This ending was reworked to [[spoiler:Vader boarding the ''Profundity'', slaughtering all the Rebels firing at him before a spy takes the plans to Leia's ship]].

[[folder: ''Superman'']]

[[folder: ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'']]

** Immediately after that latter scene, Anakin was to have callously walked down the temple grounds while the clones were slaughtering the Jedi left and right, [[UnflinchingWalk oblivious to the chaos around him]]. This scene presumably would've taken place before the infamous [[WouldHurtAChild Youngling slaughter]]. It was partially shot but didn't get past post-production stage, leaving it unfinished.

** Two of the Jedi Masters who accompany Mace Windu and died during the unsuccessful arrest of Palpatine were originally meant to be killed during Order 66.

** Shaak Ti. She had three different possible deaths, yet she ended up being one of the few Jedi to survive Order 66. First, the creators of the ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsCloneWars Clone Wars]]'' miniseries wanted to have Grievous kill Shaak Ti in the final episode — she only lived because she was slated to appear in ''Sith''. Two death scenes were filmed for Shaak Ti's appearance in the film: one where Grievous executes her in front of Anakin and Obi-Wan, and one in the Jedi temple where Anakin stabs her in the back while she's meditating. Neither were used. She finally died in the videogame ''VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed''.

** Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio was at one point attached to play Anakin in ''Clones'', but (depending on which story you believe) he either backed out after reading the script, dealing with scheduling conflicts with ''Film/CatchMeIfYouCan'', was scared of being attached to a massive franchise or was let go by Lucas after he spilled the beans about his casting during an interview with a media outlet.

* Creator/BenAffleck, who played Batman in the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse since ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', was originally attached to direct, write, and star in a solo Batman movie. However, Affleck would later step down as director and writer with Creator/MattReeves taking subsequently taking over. Then it was announced that Affleck left the role as Batman with Reeves deciding to cast a younger actor.

* ''Film/ManOfSteel''
** Creator/DarrenAronofsky was one of Creator/ChristopherNolan's choices to direct the new Superman movie. He eventually decided on Creator/ZackSnyder, but it would have been interesting...
** A few years before she was cast to play Franchise/WonderWoman in ''Batman v. Superman'', Creator/GalGadot was offered the Faora role. She turned it down because she was pregnant at the time, but says it obviously worked out for the best.
** The original script ended with Zod once again being trapped in the Phantom Zone alongside his soldiers. Christopher Nolan strongly opposed Snyder's decision to have Superman kill Zod instead.
* ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice''
** Zack Snyder has said that had WB chosen to do a proper sequel rather than the {{crossover}} with Batman, Metallo would have been the villain.
** There were plans for the Riddler and the Joker (with Creator/JaredLeto reprising his role from ''Film/SuicideSquad'') to appear, but Snyder felt that they would have taken away too much focus from Batman and Superman.
** Creator/JesseEisenberg was originally going to cameo as Jimmy.
** The concept art for Doomsday before his final design would have looked much more closer to his comic book variation except for the possible lack of hair.

** A scene of Wat Tambor getting impaled by Vader at Mustafar was filmed, but cut for being too violent (though the final film had Tambor visibly hiding in the conference room). Two stills from the scene were used in promotional material, and one of the stills were drawn for the comic book adaptation.

** Originally, when Yoda and Obi-Wan rushed to the Jedi Temple following Order 66, they were to be confronted by clone troopers disguised as Jedi. A promotional image of such a trooper can be found as a bonus feature on the DVD release.

* ''Film/{{Solo}}: A Star Wars Story''

* In what is easily [[TearJerker the saddest example]] in of the franchise, General Leia was confirmed by Lucasfilm to have a large part in ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'', which the [[AuthorExistenceFailure untimely passing]] of Creator/CarrieFisher has all but rendered impossible.

** In the original script, Palpatine would've been revealed to have used the Force to push the midi-chlorians to begin the creation of Anakin (meaning, in other words, Palpatine '''created Anakin'''). The conversation between him and Anakin at the theater would've ended with him saying "You could say that [[LukeIAmYourFather I'm]] [[Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack your]] [[CallForward father]]."