The most expensive deleted scene ever cut from a movie
Filmmaking is easy. Just get yourself a visionary director, a quality screenwriter and a willing production crew and the movie is done, ‘bish, bash bosh’. Alas, sadly, we’re not living in Tinseltown, and making a movie is nowhere near as easy as one might think, with countless productions being victims of delays, disaster and much more, considerably swelling budgets.
There are multiple examples of such disastrous movie productions, but one of the most famous might be the Francis Ford Coppola Vietnam War flick Apocalypse Now, which was plagued with countless issues. As well as a budget that went wildly off course, the lead actor Marlon Brando also stirred drama on the set, appearing overweight on the very first day, which led to each and every one of his costumes having to be redesigned.
Elsewhere, the 1982 Werner Herzog flick Fitzcarralodo also caused a headache for the studio and production crew, with the eccentric filmmaker demanding that a vast ship be hauled over the mountains, especially for the movie. Although the film was plagued with problems, the German director holds it dear like one of his children, stating: “I would travel down to hell and wrestle a film away from the devil if it was necessary”.
Yet, neither of these movies compares to the 2013 zombie flick World War Z starring Brad Pitt, which is responsible for having the most expensive deleted scene in cinema history.
Adapted from the novel of the same name by Max Brooks, the action-orientated horror flick told the story of a former United Nations employee named Gerry Lane who travels the world to try and prevent a zombie pandemic from utterly destroying humanity. Brooks’ original book was a dense political thriller, with director Marc Forster attempting to recreate its exact tone and feeling.
Yet, it was this exact reason that made World War Z such a difficult production, with reshoots being ordered due to the fact that the initial ending was too political, confusing and controversial, featuring ideas of conscription and even a sex work sub-plot. Indeed, it seems that the studio and filmmakers weren’t quite on the same page, with the former forcing through a more generic zombie flick.
The entire ending of the movie had to be reshot to be more positive, with the whole process costing $25million, making it the most expensive deleted scene ever made, especially considering that it has never been revealed to the public.
Despite the massively conflated budget, with some estimating that it peaked at $269m, the movie went on to make $540.5m worldwide and even picked up some decent critical reviews along the way. It certainly helped that the movie was driven by Pitt in the lead role, bolstered by supporting performances from a strong ensemble that included Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz, Matthew Fox and Peter Capaldi.
Take a look at the trailer for World War Z.
