Hollywood was abuzz when the news broke about Kevin Spacey being fired from the film All The Money In The World after sexual assault allegations. Insiders questioned whether or not it was possible for the film to succeed after being re-cast and re-shot with a new lead actor, Christopher Plummer. Movie insiders marveled as the film received three Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress (Michelle Williams), Best Supporting Actor (Christopher Plummer) and Best Director (Ridley Scott) and, although the movie is not the first to survive major re-shoots, here is a list of five films that not only survived, but also went on to win awards and become commercial blockbusters.
Back to the Future
Eric Stoltz was originally cast because Steven Spielberg’s first choice, Michael J. Fox, was shooting Family Ties. After almost six weeks of shooting, Spielberg decided to reshoot with Fox. It won a People’s Choice Award, Kids Choice Award, and remains a highly popular movie after all these years.
Hannah and Her Sisters
Woody Allen was unhappy with the original results and re-shot 80% of the movie. Michael Caine and Dianne Weist won Academy Awards and the film even won and Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay as well as Golden Globes and Director’s Guild Awards.
The Simpsons Movie
Late into the editing process, the film’s antagonist was removed as he was deemed, “too wimpy” for the storyline. A new character was created, redrawn and, carefully, inserted into each scene. The film went on to win a British Comedy Award for Best Film and was a commercial hit.
Apocalypse Now
The film famously encountered many troubles and it is a miracle it was completed. A typhoon and Martin Sheen’s heart attack mid-filming were just a few of the issues that plagued the movie; however, it went on to win multiple Academy Awards as well as Golden Globes, Palme D’Or and BAFTA Awards.
Rocky
Sylvester Stallone’s reshoots for Rocky had nothing to do with characters, storyline, or actors and everything to do with money. Originally, the movie’s final scene had the main character crowd-surfing after his big win, however, during the editing process, Stallone realized there weren’t enough people in the crowd to do the scene justice. He ended up gathering friends and family together, after the film had wrapped, and re-shot the final scene in a small portion of the rebuilt set. The film won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture.