Bizarre First Drafts Of Famous Movies

[chainsaw midget]

Let's talk about the strange first drafts of movies. 

Frankly there's enough changes in the early Star Wars scripts to make a whole nother topic just on them. 

I also think the original ending of Clerks where Dante is killed by a robber is pretty well know. 

Here one I just found out.  In an early draft of Back to the Future, Doc Brown was a bitter cynical old failure.  Their actions when they go back in tim result in the 80s turning into some strange retro futuristic timeline.  Also, Rock and Roll is never invented.

We missed a really awesome version of Twilight.  (Yes, at one point Twilight was going to be cool.)  It was going to feature Edward as a vampire hunter that worked for the FBI and Bella as a badass vampire.  It was going to be an action movie where vampires fought SWAT teams in tree tops.  Basically nothing like the actual books, but I don't think that would be a problem this time.

[LilCerberus]

The  5,000 fingers of Dr T has way more than I can list, but was pretty disturbing!

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045464/trivia?ref_=tttr_ql_trv_1

[claws]

The first draft of Purple Rain when it was still called Dreams saw Prince's parents both die (murder & suicide) leaving behind a shattered Prince. The script was changed when director Albert Magnoli came aboard. Prince wanted to shock the audience "just like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" but Magnoli convinced him not to make the movie that dark and disturbing.

[Alex]

Will Smith movie Hancock, was originally called Tonight He Comes and had the storyline of an ordinary housewife being stalked by a superhero, who eventually rapes her and kills her when he ejaculates and the force of it blows a hole through her back.

Pretty Woman was written as a serious drama about prostitution and ended up with the businessman dumping her at the roadside when she was unable to stop her drug habit.

[zombie no.one]

not sure if this counts but HENRY PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER was originally going to be a documentary about pro wrestling. When a museum owner who'd agreed to let them have access to his wrestling memrobilia suddenly doubled his asking fee at the last moment, they decided to make a horror film instead!

[kornula]

not sure if this counts but HENRY PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER was originally going to be a documentary about pro wrestling. When a museum owner who'd agreed to let them have access to his wrestling memrobilia suddenly doubled his asking fee at the last moment, they decided to make a horror film instead!

That's why I love movies!  Stories like that are what fuels MST3K

[beat_truck]

Not exactly bizarre, but due to budget cuts, Day of the Dead was originally going to be very different than the version we got.  The original script is available to read on the 'net.

Smokey and the Bandit 3 was a mess, but I've read that it originally was going to be some really convoluted mess called Smokey Is The Bandit, where Jackie Gleason lost his marbles and played both parts or something.

[RCMerchant]

The first draft of SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939) had Peter Lorre as Dr.Frankenstein. And Lugosi's Ygor part was small. But director Rowland V. Lee liked Lugosi, who's per for week by Universal was dirt cheap, expanded the part so Lugosi, who was broke in 1938 due to the British ban on horror movies, some extra income. As a result, Lugosi stole the show.

[Rev. Powell]

Not really a famous movie, I guess, but DIRTY DANCING 2: HAVANA NIGHTS was originally a very serious historical drama set during the Cuban revolution. The producers later added dirty dancing.

[Alex]

Battlestar Galactica started life as a pure Star Wars clone, close enough to cause a lawsuit.

[Trevor]

Not exactly bizarre, but due to budget cuts, Day of the Dead was originally going to be very different than the version we got.  The original script is available to read on the 'net.

Smokey and the Bandit 3 was a mess, but I've read that it originally was going to be some really convoluted mess called Smokey Is The Bandit, where Jackie Gleason lost his marbles and played both parts or something.

Smokey Is The Bandit was actually filmed with Jackie Gleason playing both the sheriff and Smokey and preview audiences got confused so the film was re shot.

[zombie no.one]

just done some foolproof 'internet fact checking' (erm, yeah), but it does apparently seem that at one point BACK TO THE FUTURE was suggested to be renamed SPACEMAN FROM PLUTO (because no one would want to see a movie with 'Future' in the title?), and Marty McFly was going to be on the verge of suicide before discovering a time machine that was either a fridge or a car-wash.

[chainsaw midget]

The Truman Show was originally The Malcolm Show, and it was a much darker thriller. 

Monsters Inc was originally about a middle aged man who was depressed and stuck in a rut discovering a book of monsters he drew as a child.  The monsters would then come to life and reveal themselves to be his unresolved childhood fears. 

[Trevor]

I read that the first drafts of The Room and Troll 2 made it seem like they were actually going to be good movies   

[chainsaw midget]

I read that the first drafts of The Room and Troll 2 made it seem like they were actually going to be good movies   

LIES!