# Movies where significant scenes or entire plots had to be deleted and reshot due to offscreen events **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 17, 2018, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-significant-scenes-or-entire-plots-had-to-be-deleted-and-reshot-due-to-offscreen-events/806814 "2018-01-17T09:53:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-significant-scenes-or-entire-plots-had-to-be-deleted-and-reshot-due-to-offscreen-events/806814/21 "2018-01-17T17:01:24Z")
The filming of the TV miniseries _ **Peter the Great** _ ran over schedule, and the star, Maximilian Schell, had to move on because of a prior commitment. The series was completed using an obvious double whose face was always hidden or photographed in the dark. (This was satirized brilliantly on Johnny Carson’s _ **Tonight Show** _.) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-significant-scenes-or-entire-plots-had-to-be-deleted-and-reshot-due-to-offscreen-events/806814/22 "2018-01-17T17:01:34Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I’ll sneak in to mention one of the most famous examples, though it was just a tiny bit of audio that had to be changed. In _Dr. Strangelove_ the Slim Pickens character said > Between filming and release, John F. Kennedy was shot dead in Dallas. Pickens was called back to the studio to change ‘Dallas’ to ‘Vegas.’ They took out the pie fight for the same reasons, I think. > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > The 2002 Spiderman movie, shot in 2001, had Spiderman swing on the World Trade Towers. The scene was cut for obvious reasons. I saw that trailer in the theater, but wasn’t under the impression it was a full scene from the movie. I thought they filmed it exclusively for the trailer. Was it really in the movie? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-significant-scenes-or-entire-plots-had-to-be-deleted-and-reshot-due-to-offscreen-events/806814/23 "2018-01-17T17:08:27Z")
Not quite what the OP is asking, but there’s an interesting continuity error in **The Bonfire of the Vanities** involving an “offscreen event”. The production started in New York City, shooting exterior scenes in the city. Then they took a break for a couple weeks while everyone relocated to Hollywood to shoot the interior scenes on soundstages. During that break, Melanie Griffith got breast implants. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-significant-scenes-or-entire-plots-had-to-be-deleted-and-reshot-due-to-offscreen-events/806814/24 "2018-01-17T17:30:26Z")
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was re-written, cast, and shot after the death of Heath Ledger. Multiple other actors stepped in to fill the role. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-significant-scenes-or-entire-plots-had-to-be-deleted-and-reshot-due-to-offscreen-events/806814/25 "2018-01-17T17:49:25Z")
Chris Farley had completed approximately 80% of the voice work for the title role of **Shrek** , but it all had to be redone with Mike Myers after Farley’s death. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-significant-scenes-or-entire-plots-had-to-be-deleted-and-reshot-due-to-offscreen-events/806814/26 "2018-01-17T19:00:36Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I saw that trailer in the theater, but wasn’t under the impression it was a full scene from the movie. I thought they filmed it exclusively for the trailer. Was it really in the movie? My understanding is that the scene with the helicopter strung up between the towers was just for the teaser trailer (considering there was no scene remotely similar in the movie), but there was a scene of him climbing the tower. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_Hey_Paula)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-significant-scenes-or-entire-plots-had-to-be-deleted-and-reshot-due-to-offscreen-events/806814/27 "2018-01-17T19:38:28Z")
**Anchorman** originally had a terrorist/bombing subplot. That subplot didn’t test well, what with 9/11/2001 being too recent in memory, and the zoo/bear subplot was substituted, and shot months later. I was an extra for three weeks during the original shoot, and was surprised when I was called up months later for a week of re-shoots. Luckily I hadn’t cut my long hair or gotten rid of the personal wardrobe items I’d worn in the original shooting. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-significant-scenes-or-entire-plots-had-to-be-deleted-and-reshot-due-to-offscreen-events/806814/28 "2018-01-17T20:24:48Z")
Not a movie, but [an episode of _Friends_](https://youtu.be/_p5i7lu2pGQ) scheduled to air early in the 2001 fall season featured Monica and Chandler being detained at the airport after Chandler joked about having a bomb. It was pulled after 9/11 and replaced with a much lamer subplot. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-significant-scenes-or-entire-plots-had-to-be-deleted-and-reshot-due-to-offscreen-events/806814/29 "2018-01-17T21:46:16Z")
Not sure if this is exactly what your looking for, but I read somewhere that an impersonator was hired after James Dean’s death to redo several lines of dialogue in his last movie. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-significant-scenes-or-entire-plots-had-to-be-deleted-and-reshot-due-to-offscreen-events/806814/30 "2018-01-17T21:53:06Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Jean Harlow died while filming _Saratoga_. The had to complete it using stand-ins. I knew there was an old movie where that had been done; thanks for knowing who and what it was. The “Spice Girls Movie”, which I realize is very forgettable (and no, I haven’t seen it) had to have its script revised 3 times due to references to Gianni Versace, Princess Diana, and Mother Teresa, who all died within about a month of each other during the movie’s shooting. ---
**Author:** ![Marlonius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Marlonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlonius)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-significant-scenes-or-entire-plots-had-to-be-deleted-and-reshot-due-to-offscreen-events/806814/31 "2018-01-17T23:50:05Z")
Oliver Reed died of a heart attack during the filming of Gladiator. They did some digital manipulation of pulling him out of one background and putting him into another so that they could kill off his character via careful editing and new shots with body doubles vs. having him simply disappear from the film with no explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Arizona\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Arizona\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arizona_Mike)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-significant-scenes-or-entire-plots-had-to-be-deleted-and-reshot-due-to-offscreen-events/806814/32 "2018-01-18T00:45:58Z")
In the Curse of the Pink Panther, much of David Niven’s dialogue was unusable due to his advancing Lou Gehrig’s disease, so the producers hired impressionist Rich Little, who dubbed much of his dialogue. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-significant-scenes-or-entire-plots-had-to-be-deleted-and-reshot-due-to-offscreen-events/806814/33 "2018-01-18T01:25:33Z")
The 1993 movie [The Program](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Program_(1993_film)#Controversy) originally contained a scene where some characters lay down on the center line of a busy street. Some people IRL tried the same thing; one died and others were injured, so new prints were released [without that scene.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiPCmKvgDQo) Funnily enough, the main characters in **The Notebook** do the same thing, and I don’t recall anyone trying it and getting killed or injured. Of course, that scene takes place late at night, with almost no traffic. And **The Notebook** wasn’t aimed at the same audience as **The Program**. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-significant-scenes-or-entire-plots-had-to-be-deleted-and-reshot-due-to-offscreen-events/806814/34 "2018-01-18T02:08:17Z")
The hero on the TV show _The Greatest American Hero_ originally had the name Ralph Hinckley. The pilot aired shortly after John Hinckley shot Ronald Reagan. In one of the opening scenes, Ralph Hinckley says his name, but they covered up the vocals with the sound of a jet flying overhead. They later changed his name to Ralph Hanley or Ralph H when it was said on air. After the first season, his last name reverted to Hinckley. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-significant-scenes-or-entire-plots-had-to-be-deleted-and-reshot-due-to-offscreen-events/806814/35 "2018-01-18T03:44:10Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > The 1993 movie [The Program](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Program_(1993_film)#Controversy) originally contained a scene where some characters lay down on the center line of a busy street. Some people IRL tried the same thing; one died and others were injured, so new prints were released [without that scene.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiPCmKvgDQo) > > Funnily enough, the main characters in **The Notebook** do the same thing, and I don’t recall anyone trying it and getting killed or injured. Of course, that scene takes place late at night, with almost no traffic. And **The Notebook** wasn’t aimed at the same audience as **The Program**. The scene in The Program was also shown in commercials and the trailer. A much wider audience saw it. On the other hand I didn’t know The Notebook had a similar scene because I’ve never seen it and the scene was not in its promotion. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-significant-scenes-or-entire-plots-had-to-be-deleted-and-reshot-due-to-offscreen-events/806814/36 "2018-01-18T04:03:02Z")
In _There Will Be Blood_, the roles of brothers Paul and Eli Sunday were intended to be played by two different actors. Several weeks into filming, Kel O’Neill was fired and Paul Dano (who was already playing Paul) took on the role of Eli as well. Some scenes had to be reshot. This change unfortunately left me completely confused through the whole movie and ruined it for me. I couldn’t figure out whether they were supposed to be identical twins or one guy pretending to be two identical twins. ---
**Author:** ![Annoying\_Buzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Annoying\_Buzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoying_Buzz)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-significant-scenes-or-entire-plots-had-to-be-deleted-and-reshot-due-to-offscreen-events/806814/37 "2018-01-18T08:41:53Z")
Production on the 1983 film **Brainstorm** was put on hold, and some parts of the script had to be re-written, due to Natalie Wood’s death. A few scenes were shot using her sister as a double. ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-significant-scenes-or-entire-plots-had-to-be-deleted-and-reshot-due-to-offscreen-events/806814/38 "2018-01-18T09:13:44Z")
Scene in “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” as described in the trivia section of [IMDB](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060196/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv): > [@](#): > > According to Eli Wallach, when it came time to blow up the bridge, Sergio Leone asked the Spanish army captain in charge to trigger the fuse, as a sign of gratitude for the army’s collaboration. They agreed to blow up the bridge when Leone gave the signal “Vai!” (Go!) over the walkie-talkie. Unfortunately, another crew member spoke on the same channel, saying the words “vai, vai!”, meaning “it’s OK, proceed” to a second crew member. The captain heard this signal, thought it was for him and blew the bridge; unfortunately, no cameras were running at the time. Leone was so upset that he fired the crewman, who promptly fled from the set in his car. The captain was so sorry for what happened that he proposed to Leone that the army would rebuild the bridge to blow it up again, with one condition: that the fired crewman be re-hired. Leone agreed, the crewman was forgiven, the bridge was rebuilt and the scene was successfully shot. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-significant-scenes-or-entire-plots-had-to-be-deleted-and-reshot-due-to-offscreen-events/806814/39 "2018-01-18T11:48:32Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **Men in lack II**. Sounds like lesbian erotica. > [@El\_Kabong](#): > > First one that comes to mind is _Back to the Future_, which shot for several weeks with Eric Stoltz in the Marty McFly role before he was replaced by Michael J. Fox, who apparently had been the preferred choice all along. I believe the official story was that Fox was granted a release from his TV contract at the last minute, enabling his casting, but from what I’ve read “creative differences” on Stoltz’ part were significant factors as well. Not sure this fits the “offscreen events” criteria, but thought I’d throw it out there. Actually, Fox had to film both the movie and the show at the same time. He’d film the show during the day, and the movie after shooting for his show wrapped for the day. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-significant-scenes-or-entire-plots-had-to-be-deleted-and-reshot-due-to-offscreen-events/806814/40 "2018-01-18T14:36:29Z")
“Smokey and the Bandit 3” originally had Jackie Gleason playing both the sheriff and The Bandit. I don’t think they were supposed to be two different roles for Gleason, but the Sheriff was going to be “The Bandit” in that the Enos brothers made an offer to the retiring sheriff to make a special run. Apparently this confused audiences, so Jerry Reed was brought back this time to play The Bandit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-significant-scenes-or-entire-plots-had-to-be-deleted-and-reshot-due-to-offscreen-events/806814.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-significant-scenes-or-entire-plots-had-to-be-deleted-and-reshot-due-to-offscreen-events/806814.md?page=3)