Studio meddling happens all the time, and it's mostly because studios think they have better ideas than the director, and David Ayer is still talking about his cut of Suicide Squad. It has been reported to no end how Warner Bros. drastically changed the 2016 movie to appeal more broadly to general audiences, and as a result, fans believe there's a much better cut out there.
Studio interference has negative connotations, as directors are often looked at as visionaries and artists whose ideas couldn't possibly be bad. But some examples prove the exact opposite, as there have been many times when studios have stepped in and kept the filmmakers from doing what they intended, and it worked out for the better.
American History X (1998)
The post-production troubles with American History X have been well-documented. Director Tony Kaye and actor Edward Norton wanted two very different movies, and it reached the point where Kaye was even locked out of the editing room and the final cut was given to the actor.
Future_shoes notes that along with adding more footage and focusing more on Derek's story arc, Norton removed "the original ending of Derek shaving his head (implying he returned to his neo-nazi ways)." Even though it would have been just a few seconds long, that shot would have massively impacted the meaning of the movie in such a negative way.
Dredd (2012)
Dredd is one of the best non-superhero comic book movies and criminally overlooked. Though it has gained a cult following in the time since, the film unfairly bombed at the box office when it was released in 2012. But despite its current overwhelmingly positive reception, the reboot may have ended up more like the notorious 1995 Sylvester Stallone-led Judge Dredd.
A deleted user notes the post-production problems and the dispute between director Pete Travis and writer/producer Alex Garland. The user explains that the director "was locked out of the editing room of Dredd by the producers and executives, and Alex Garland took over post-production to such a degree that he had sufficient grounds for a co-director credit." Dredd actor Karl Urban sides with the Redditor, who claims that Garland actually directed the movie.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005)
Volcano_Tequila reminds users of the troubled production that the Doug Liman-directed action rom-com Mr. & Mrs. Smith went through. The Redditor notes, "I recall reading that Mr. & Mrs. Smith, with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, was a directorial mess completely saved by a massive re-edit." Another Redditor, Hey_Bim, claims that Liman has no involvement in directing the action sequences.
While that sounds like an outlandish claim, a Los Angeles Times report mentions that many of his colleagues argue that Liman "owes a big debt on each of his films to others who were working alongside him." There is a Mr. and Mrs. Smith reboot in the works, but that looks like it's struggling to avoid the same missteps of the movie it's based on, as Phoebe Waller-Bridge recently parted ways with the project for unknown reasons.
The Matrix (1999)
The Matrix is an action movie classic and one of the most influential films ever made, but there's an argument to be made that that might not have been the way people look at the movie if the studio didn't interfere. Darth_Nevets argues that "studio interference made the first film a classic by forcing the Wachowskis to make a baseline competence in their craft."
The Redditor then claims that the sequels are much worse due to the directors having more freedom and not getting any studio notes. The one thing for sure is that Warner Bros. certainly didn't interfere with The Matrix Resurrections, as the studio let itself be the villain of the movie.
Justice League (2017)
This might be something of an unpopular opinion, as most fans would argue that the studio-interfered theatrical cut is much worse than Zack Snyder's Justice League. However, Ashu54 argues that Warner Bros. hiring Joss Whedon to add some MCU-style flare and humor was the right decision.
Though they admit that the CGI was butchered, the Redditor argues, "In some aspects like the team banter, the characterization of Superman, and the general plot" were all improved when the studio stepped in. With the 2021 four-hour cut now available on HBO Max, it's unlikely that many fans are revisiting the 2017 version, but it is more in line with Marvel Studios' tone.
Alien 3 (1992)
This isn't quite studio interference with creatives, but as actors in movies start to gain a lot of power when they become an important part of a movie franchise, it certainly counts. MasqureMan notes, "Apparently Sigourney Weaver really wanted an alien and human to hook up in Alien 3, but the studio shot it down (thankfully)."
However, though that bad idea didn't make it into the David Fincher-directed movie, plenty of other bad ideas did, and the film is a significant step down from Alien and Aliens. Not only that, but there was other studio interference that was actually detrimental to the film's quality, as even Fincher hates the movie.
Final Destination (2000)
Final Destination is about a group of teenagers who cheat death when they escape an explosion on a plane after one of them has a premonition. However, they're then killed one by one by Death himself. JC-Ice recalls, "The filmmakers wanted to call it Flight 180, and it originally had a happy-ish ending. There would have been no franchise if they did that."
As the first Final Destination takes place on a plane, the alternate title does make sense, but it doesn't exactly lend itself to an anthology franchise. And though the Final Destination movies are of varying degrees of quality, it was a smart decision by the studio to retitle the first movie, otherwise there probably wouldn't have been four sequels.
First Blood (1982)
First Blood is a lean 90-minute movie that's thrilling from start to finish, but Fools_Requiem reminds users that that wasn't always the case. The Redditor explains, "First Blood was initially a 3-and-a-half-hour disaster of a movie before Stallone, fearing it would end his career, got it chopped down to 93 minutes.
Cutting a few scenes here and there from a movie is completely normal, but cutting two hours is almost unheard of, and when that usually happens, the film turns out to be an incoherent mess. But in this case, it was for the better and the first Rambo movie ended up becoming an all-time classic.
Rogue One (2016)
When it comes to the Gareth Edwards-directed Rogue One, many think it's a great movie in a bad franchise, at least when it comes to Disney's latest Star Wars movies. But that may not have been the case, as Fortyfivesouth notes that the film was "allegedly reshot by Tony Gilroy." The movie wasn't entirely reshot, but Gilroy did direct extensive reshoots of the movie. And though it isn't clear what he reshot, according to Collider, he claimed the film was in "terrible, terrible trouble" before it was reshot.
Disney has struggled with producing Star Wars movies, but Rogue One isn't the only Star Wars film that the studio interfered with for the better. Producer Kathleen Kennedy fired Solo: A Star Wars Story directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, as, according to Independent, they were making Han Solo look like Ace Ventura.
Tombstone (1993)
George P. Cosmatos is the official director of the 1993 western Tombstone, but many believe that it was actually actor Kurt Russell who did all of the directing on set, which is why it turned out as good as it did. KingCornell sheds some light on the movie production's history.
The Redditor explains, "The initial director was a first-time director who couldn’t handle the pressures of the job so they hired George P. Cosmatos who is credited as the director." The user is referring to Kevin Jarre, the movie's screenwriter, who was hired to direct, but he was replaced by Cosmatos when he felt too overwhelmed. But according to The Hollywood Reporter, Russell claims that he did all the directing, and that claim is backed up by his costar Val Kilmer too.