Did you know some of our most beloved movies originally had different, sometimes better, endings? That is until they were tested in front of focus groups.
AI Summary
Join Josh and Chuck as they dive into the secretive world of movie audience testing and how test screenings have dramatically changed some of Hollywood's most famous films. They explore everything from the brutal process that even believers like Ron Howard call "hideous" to legendary examples like Pretty Woman's originally dark ending and Blade Runner's tacked-on happy conclusion. The hosts reveal how one company dominates this shadowy industry and share surprising stories about which beloved movies almost had completely different finales thanks to focus group feedback.
Movies Discussed
28 Days Later
"You know, 28 days later, you saw that one, right? Yeah. — Used as an example of a movie where test audiences influenced changing from a dark ending to a more hopeful one."
— Josh
A Prairie Home Companion
"Oh, did he do Prairie Home Companion? They did a Prairie Home Companion with Lindsay Lohan. — Mentioned as a Robert Altman film with questionable casting choices."
— Josh
Apocalypse Now
"So when Coppola was making Apocalypse Now, he had focus groups and... Really? Yeah. — Used as an example of how even auteur filmmakers sometimes have to use audience testing due to studio pressure."
— Josh
Best Worst Movie
"The Best Worst Movie was a great documentary and Trolls II was not a good movie — Mentioned as an example of a great documentary about a terrible movie, contradicting his earlier point about great movies having great documentaries."
— Josh
Blade Runner
"Blade Runner, perhaps the most famous changed ending of all time. — Presented as the most famous example of test audiences forcing changes to a movie's ending."
— Josh
Edge of Tomorrow
"like that Edge of Tomorrow movie was terrific. Yeah. I haven't seen it yet. — Mentioned as an example of Tom Cruise's good acting work."
— Josh
Fatal Attraction
"Fatal Attraction famously changed. Yeah. So the ending of Fatal Attraction — Used as a famous example of how test audiences demanded a different ending than what was originally filmed."
— Josh
Glitter
"But this, this article keeps picking on glitter, which seems mean — Mentioned as an example of a movie that gets unfairly picked on as a bad film."
— Josh
Gnomes & Trolls II: The Forest Trial
"The Best Worst Movie was a great documentary and Trolls II was not a good movie — Referenced as a notoriously bad movie that became the subject of a documentary about its cult following."
— Josh
GoodFellas
"What was the movie that was given an example in this article of something that was found to be too violent? Goodfellas? — Used as an example of how test audiences can help filmmakers adjust violence levels and pacing in movies."
— Chuck
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
"You've seen the Hearts of Darkness, right? No, the documentary about it? Yeah. No. It's really good. — Referenced as a documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now to illustrate how difficult that production was."
— Josh
Heathers
"Did you see Hethers? Did you see Hethers? Mm-hmm. — Referenced as a movie that had a much darker original ending than what was actually used."
— Josh
Hostel
"Have you seen hostile? Yeah. I didn't think that was very campy. — Used as a comparison point when discussing different types of disturbing horror films."
— Chuck
License to Kill
"James Bond's movie, License to Kill, was originally called License Revoked. — Used as an example of how test audiences influenced a movie title change."
— Josh
M*A*S*H
"Or Mash. I'll bet it was Mash. Yeah. — Discussed as likely being Robert Altman's highest grossing film."
— Josh
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
"And then McCabe and Miss Miller, that's a classic as well. Never even heard of it. Warren Beatty. — Referenced as another Robert Altman classic film."
— Josh
Mission: Impossible III
"He crashed his own test screening of Mission Impossible 3 allegedly — Used as an example of Tom Cruise interfering with the audience testing process."
— Josh
Nashville
"Like Nashville. Have you ever seen Nashville? No. I never saw Nashville. Man, so good. — Recommended as one of Robert Altman's great films."
— Josh
Nine to Five
"What? I don't remember. Wow. Must not have been a very good movie. That was a long time ago. Nine to five. — Chuck recalls attending a test screening for this movie, and later praises it as holding up well."
— Chuck
Old School
"Matt Walsh is the one that was in old school, right? — Mentioned while trying to identify which Matt Walsh from UCB was in Best Worst Movie."
— Chuck
Pretty in Pink
"Pretty in pink. Yeah. This one's pretty famous too. — Referenced as a famous example of test audiences changing which character the protagonist ends up with romantically."
— Josh
Pretty Woman
"Pretty woman. The movie, the saccharine feel good movie from Richard Geer and Julia Roberts. — Discussed as a movie that was significantly changed from its original darker concept through the development process."
— Josh
Re-Animator
"Oh, I think like a reanimator type of thing. Oh, yeah. Okay. — Given as an example of 'campy disturbing' horror films."
— Josh
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
"Did you ever see Scott Pilgrim versus the world? No. — Mentioned as an example of a movie where test audiences influenced the romantic ending."
— Josh
Shortcuts
"Shortcuts. Shortcuts. Yeah. I saw The Player. — Listed as another Robert Altman film that Chuck has seen."
— Chuck
Sunset Boulevard
"What about the opposite dark beginnings and undark beginnings like with Sunset Boulevard? — Discussed as an example of a movie where test audiences caused the filmmakers to change a bizarre opening sequence."
— Josh
The Human Centipede (First Sequence)
"You saw the first one? Yeah. Have you seen it? No. Dude. — Discussed as a surprisingly worthwhile disturbing film that Josh recommends."
— Josh
The Human Centipede 3 (Final Sequence)
"But this, this article keeps picking on glitter, which seems mean because there's a lot of stinkers out there. Yeah. Apparently human Centipede three — Mentioned as having the lowest Metacritic score of all time as an example of a truly bad movie."
— Josh
The Player
"I wonder what his top grossing movie ever was, probably The Player. — Mentioned as a possibility for Robert Altman's most commercially successful film."
— Josh
The Shining
"It was pulled from outtakes of the shining, the beginning of the car scene and the shining — Mentioned because outtakes from this film were used in the theatrical version of Blade Runner's ending."
— Josh
The Wizard of Oz
"The Wizard of Oz. When the audience has said, you know, that somewhere over the rainbow song really slows things down. — Used as an example of how test audiences can sometimes be wrong about what should be cut from a movie."
— Josh
Weekend at Bernie's
"which by the way, it's all weekend at Bernie's again recently hits a, no, it's not that bad. — Mentioned in passing while discussing Andrew McCarthy's career."
— Chuck
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