Test audiences aren't anything new in Hollywood; a test screening months before the movie opens is just a part of the filmmaking process. However, there are times when this feedback session does more harm than good.
For one reason or another, catering to a test audience's demands and expectations can actively make a movie worse. Sometimes the focus group-approved movie just feels inconsistent, while other times it's borderline unwatchable.
10 Last Action Hero's Bad Word Of Mouth Led To Its Underperformance
Last Action Hero's failure at the box office was attributed to many things, from Jurassic Park to the end of the '80s blockbuster action movie, but focus groups actually played a part in its downfall. The problem was that test audiences were expecting another explosive Arnold Schwarzenegger ride, not a self-aware parody of one.
The initial feedback was so bad that producers destroyed the scorecards, which emboldened rumors that the movie was a flop. Reshoots replaced satire with gunfights, causing the movie's odd tonal shifts between straightforward action and spoof. Last Action Hero was vindicated by time, but test audiences doomed its debut before it even hit cinemas.
9 Tank Girl's Edge Was Sanded Off For Teenagers' Sake
Tank Girl is the comic world's embodiment of anarchy, which is something her movie completely misunderstood. From the very beginning, producers wanted to market Tank Girl to teenagers, despite the young age group not being the comics' core audience. Naturally, this led to a test audience comprised of teenagers.
Against director Rachel Talalay's wishes, the movie was reworked as per the teenagers' feedback. Changes included Sub Girl's entire subplot getting excised, and the watering down or removal of sexually charged humor and themes, which are integral to Tank Girl's character. The end result was the blandest possible adaptation of an iconic indie comic rebel.
8 Alien 3 Was Edited With Teenagers In Mind
To this day, Alien 3's making is still regarded as one of the worst productions in movie history. From hostile producers to last-minute demands like changing the church setting to a prison despite the church set's completion, many factors hampered director David Fincher's sequel. One of the most detrimental was a focus group made up of teenagers.
Alien 3 was edited to address these teenagers' concerns, such as reducing the number of conversations in favor of action scenes. The movie became an almost incomprehensible mix of horror and action, with Fincher's original vision all but erased. Though the extended version retroactively redeemed the movie, Fincher still wants nothing to do with it.
7 Event Horizon Lost 35 Minutes Due To Test Screenings
Despite being a space-faring Lovecraftian horror movie, Event Horizon was blasted by test audiences for being too gory and graphic. Producers then forced director Paul W.S. Anderson to make the necessary cuts. While Anderson admitted that his original cut was too long, this knee-jerk mandate led to a movie that was now too short.
When Event Horizon made it to cinemas, it was 35 minutes shorter and it bombed. Even so, the movie became a sleeper hit in video sales, with some calling it one of the best horror movies of the '90s while also calling for a director's cut. Unfortunately, the missing 35 minutes have been lost forever. Shout! Factory even delayed their remaster's release when rumors of the footage cropped up, but to no avail.
6 I Am Legend Removed Robert Neville's Humanity & Nuance To Satisfy Focus Groups
One of the biggest criticisms against I Am Legend was that its ending was jarringly basic compared to its morally complex setup. Here, Robert blew himself up with a grenade to stop the Darkseekers—who were little more than zombies from a bad movie—from killing Anna and Ethan, who now hold the vaccine to end the outbreak. Apparently, this ending only came to be because of focus groups.
Originally, Robert realized that the Darkseekers were only attacking him because he abducted and killed many of them for his experiments. He ended the movie by abandoning the cure and leaving New York City with Anna and Ethan, finally moving on with his life. Test audiences didn't like this, leading to a less challenging conclusion.
5 First Blood's Poignant Ending Depressed Focus Groups & Created The Rambo Franchise
A common criticism of the Rambo movies is that the franchise should've begun and ended with First Blood. Just like in the book the movie was based on, Rambo was originally given a mercy kill by Col. Trautman. Test audiences were so invested in Rambo's struggle that they hated his tragic end, leading to a new ending where he was just arrested.
Rambo's popularity birthed four sequels, with a fifth one possibly on the way. While undeniably fun, each new Rambo movie missed the original's point. Where First Blood was a cautionary anti-war tale about violence's futility, the sequels turned Rambo into an action hero who killed whoever fit the broad description of "America's enemy."
4 Fatal Attraction's New Ending Reduced Alex To A One-Dimensional Killer
While not the first of its kind, Fatal Attraction undoubtedly popularized melodramas starring murderously obsessive femme fatales, which were prevalent in the '80s to even today. This was cemented by the action-packed finale, where Dan and his wife, Beth, killed the crazed third party, Alex. However, this ending was only made to satisfy test audiences.
Originally, Alex killed herself and framed Dan for her death before Beth found a tape recording that proved Dan's innocence. Test audiences wanted Alex to suffer more, hence the reshoots. Though it helped Fatal Attraction become a smash hit, this crowd-pleasing ending excised the story's original tragedy while also arguably galvanizing the problematic stereotype of mentally ill women being portrayed as hysterical killers.
3 Suicide Squad's Theatrical Cut Was A Failed Attempt To Appease Two Different Test Screenings
When it was first announced, Suicide Squad looked like a gritty thriller about Task Force X's black ops missions. But when it hit cinemas, the movie was a dark comedy starring a Suicide Squad comprised of some of DC Comics' silliest villains. As it turns out, this was the result of multiple test screenings and intense studio interference.
Reportedly, Warner Brothers tested two versions of Suicide Squad: Ayer's and a cut heavily influenced by the MCU's endlessly likable and quotable Guardians Of The Galaxy. Instead of committing to either, producers combined the best of both cuts based on focus groups' feedback. Ayer angrily disowned the theatrical cut (which received universally negative reviews) while continually campaigning for the release of his unabridged version.
2 Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers' Two Cuts Satisfied No One
Halloween sequels always faced an uphill battle when it came to quality and reception, but the sixth entry, The Curse Of Michael Myers, had the roughest ride of them all. Originally, the sixth Halloween had a methodical occult and Gothic slant, so of course, it was previewed to a test audience primarily comprised of teenage boys.
The initial negative feedback led to the theatrical cut, which sped up the editing with questionable MTV-styled quick cuts and removed the supernatural lore. The movie all but killed the franchise, and it was somewhat redeemed with the restored Producer's Cut. Not helping was Donald Pleasence's death, which greatly affected reshoots as many of Dr. Loomis' scenes had to be cut or worked around.
1 Blade Runner Was Shortened & Watered Down For Test Audiences' Sake
Without question, Blade Runner is the most well-known instance of a movie that was worsened by focus groups' feedback. Not only did their initial feedback lead to reshoots and a divisive new ending, but it resulted in a single movie getting seven known cuts that were released in theaters or on home video from 1982 to 2007.
The original cut confused test audiences, so producers remedied this by adding an on-the-nose narration by Harrison Ford that he hated. Additionally, a saccharine happy ending replaced the original open conclusion. After Blade Runner flopped on opening day but came back as a cult legend, director Ridley Scott tirelessly reworked it before settling with The Final Cut.
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