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These background stories could've completely ruined our favourite films...
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00:00I imagine that when writing a screenplay it's difficult to strike the right balance between
00:04focusing on a storyline and keeping things tight and giving too little outside information leaving
00:10the world feeling a bit barren. This is usually where subplots come in handy, offering a bit of
00:15support without changing anything too much in the main storyline. But there are certain subplots
00:19out there that had way more power and in this case none of them survived. So I'm Amy from
00:25WhatCulture and here are 9 deleted movie subplots that changed everything.
00:309. Nightcrawler. A sympathetic backstory. Nightcrawler's protagonist Lou Bloom is a bad
00:36person. He's not likeable, he's not relatable and as much as we may try we don't really understand
00:41why he does the things he does to the extent he does them. It would have changed the film's entire
00:46tone then if we were to be given some deep Lou lore. For instance if we were shown sequences from his
00:51childhood that explained why he was like this. Maybe that he developed an obsession with death
00:55from a young age after his whole family was murdered in a break-in gone wrong or something like that,
01:00maybe we could understand. The initial intention was to paint Lou as a damaged person, a survivor
01:05archetype who was just trying to get by day to day, his morals being pushed to the wayside by harsh
01:10reality. There'd be a whole subplot revealing Lou's traumatic past and showing how it relates to
01:15his current self but alas this was not to be. Director Dan Gilroy decided it would actually be
01:21more effective if he just went the opposite way and made Lou unimaginably cold. He said it would
01:26detract from the experience if he had to set aside too much time to spend on Lou's past or give him
01:31any sympathetic scenes and so all of that was cut from the script and the new Lou that we know today
01:37was born. 8. The Uninvited 1944. The Missing Priest. There is one line that remains in the final cut of
01:44this film today that betrays its earlier form, a line in which a character refers to a priest that
01:50we've never seen or heard of. Out of the blue and without much follow-up, it's a comment that's
01:55pretty easy to ignore but if you know then you know. Before the final cuts and touches, The Uninvited
02:01featured a whole subplot and additional character by way of Father Anson. In the book the film is based
02:07on, Uneasy Freehold by Dorothy McCardle, Father Anson is a local priest and a very big advocate for
02:12Mary's character. Worth noting here that Mary is of course the bad guy. He helped paint the picture
02:17along with the other locals of Mary being a beautiful, virtuous woman and her rival Carmel
02:23being ungodly. His input rooted the film's supernatural elements in more biblical origins,
02:28with heavier mentions of demons being the antithesis of angels rather than just run-of-the-mill monsters.
02:33Much of his motivation in the novel was that he wanted to perform an exorcism on the haunted house,
02:38something that could have made for some nice scary visuals if included in the film. Father Anson was
02:42however completely removed before the film ever reached audiences, taking with him his biblical
02:47brand of supernatural horror. 7. Love Actually
02:51A much sadder story. Depending on your feelings about rom-coms you might either absolutely adore or
02:57totally detest Love Actually. It's a sickly sweet Christmas classic, intertwining stories of various
03:03couples across the UK to deliver one united message. Love is all you need. Merry Christmas.
03:10Well originally actually we were going to get a whole other couple included in this story,
03:14with this plot thread focusing on the school head teacher and her terminally ill partner.
03:18Not only would this have made for one overtly gay relationship in a film that's otherwise entirely
03:22straight, and don't try telling me that Bill Nye's character is gay representation, it's very ambiguous at
03:27best, but at the same time it also would have been the only one with an undebatably sad ending.
03:32We would have spent time with the couple in their home, the teacher caring for her partner as they
03:36come to terms with the inevitable, and then dealing with the aftermath when it happens.
03:41The story would have had a totally different tone than even the saddest other ones we know from
03:45the film today, and overall it would have shaped the movie to be slightly different, less perfect.
03:50Taking off some of the Christmas sparkle and the perfect happy ending could have actually been
03:54quite an interesting, good thing, but then again not everyone wants sadness in their rom-coms,
03:59definitely not in the festive season either.
04:01You may have noticed when watching the sequel to the infamous Silence of the Land that at one point
04:09a whole other serial killer is mentioned, a killer by the name of Il Mostro.
04:14In real life, Il Mostro refers to the monster of Florence, who murdered 14 people over the 70s and 80s.
04:20In fiction, Il Mostro has been firmly cemented into the story of Hannibal, first in the 1999 novel where
04:26an investigator is left in disgrace after arresting the wrong man accused of being Il Mostro,
04:31and in the TV adaptation whereby Hannibal and Il Mostro are alleged to be the same person.
04:36Finally, when it comes to this film, they almost met face to face.
04:40Well, that was until that whole bit was chopped out with Hannibal's own surgical precision.
04:44After referencing Il Mostro, he actually makes an appearance as Hannibal murders Chief Inspector Pazzi.
04:50Working as a janitor in Florence, he encounters the titular cannibal mid-murder but manages to escape
04:54with his life, soon afterwards fleeing the city. The subplot relating to Il Mostro's similarly horrible
05:00crimes, culminating in his appearance and fleeing, certainly wasn't the top of the priority list.
05:05It's kind of a shame really, because it was included in the book and the TV show for a reason,
05:09it's quite compelling. And so you really would have hoped that here it would be treated with more
05:13significance and not just cut. 5. Me Before You
05:17Lew's tragic past
05:192016's Me Before You tells the unlikely love story of a small town girl and a recently paralysed billionaire.
05:26Based on the novel of the same name by Jojo Moyes, it stays fairly faithful to its source material,
05:31but one big detail is missing. In the novel, the explanation for why protagonist Lew is so scared
05:36to expand her horizons is that she experienced huge trauma as a teenager. We find out that at a
05:42party, Lew was sexually assaulted by a group of older boys, and following this she shuts her entire
05:48life down. Author and screenwriter Moyes explained that she chose to leave it out as there was no way she
05:52could comfortably translate it to screen. In the book, she explains, the rape is covered in an almost
05:57throwaway manner, as if Lew hasn't processed it fully and instead keeps it tucked away in her mind.
06:03She explains it would have totally changed the tone of the story and done a disservice both to
06:07the character and the important subject matter. So Moyes made the smart decision to just call it quits.
06:134. The Amazing Spider-Man 2
06:15Mary Jane almost appeared. It seems unthinkable now that they would have crammed another character into
06:21this film, especially considering how well known it is for its overabundance of characters. But this
06:25wasn't just any old throwaway that they were going to chuck in there, it was the ever iconic Mary Jane
06:30Watson. Shailene Woodley was cast in the role of Mary Jane and had filmed all of her scenes. The scenes
06:35weren't huge and her part wasn't going to be groundbreaking but the goal was to lay some of the
06:40groundwork for her presence later in the future. With Gwen Stacy's death happening at the end of the film,
06:45I must say it would have felt a bit pre-emptive and calculated to start shoehorning in MJ in the
06:49very same picture. In the end, the decision to cut out MJ worked for the best. Gwen's death wasn't sullied by
06:55a rival romance and the cast didn't burst at its seams, close as it was.
06:593. World War Z
07:01Jerry's Wife Goes Rogue
07:03It's a heartwarming moment at the end of World War Z when Jerry reunites with his family,
07:07embraced happily by his adoring wife and children. It seems that a huge part of his motivation
07:12throughout is the thought of them being back together again, the drive to keep his family
07:17safe and get things back to a stage where they can live their happily ever afters.
07:21Well, there was almost a rather sour undertone to all of this, as initially there was going to be a
07:26subplot in which Jerry's wife begins an affair with a paratrooper. Oh yeah, sorry buddy, I know you're
07:31off saving the world but I gotta get me some while you're away. The subplot would have led the film
07:35to dedicate more time to Jerry's family in his absence and also change the family's dynamic on his
07:40return, in turn influencing the whole tone of the film's ending. In the end it was decided that this
07:45little storyline wasn't worth the time it would eat up and it was just deleted. In some ways I think
07:49it almost could have improved the film, you know, giving it less of a textbook happy ending. However,
07:54with everything being as miserable as it is these days, having a bland happy ending isn't the worst
07:59thing in the world. 2. Prometheus
08:02Alien Jesus
08:03Now in a very sharp change of tone, I introduce you to Alien Jesus, a genuine real idea that was
08:10almost an important subplot in a genuine real movie. And not just any old movie, in 2012's already
08:16controversial Prometheus. If in doubt, just add Alien Jesus, that's what I've always said. And
08:21there's probably a reason I'm not a screenwriter, because apparently that would never work, hence
08:25why the explicit stating of Jesus was an alien sent to save you and you killed him, thus bringing about
08:31your own doom, being removed from Prometheus' plot. Ridley Scott, in an interview with the
08:35sinceclosedownmovies.com, did not shy away from stating the film's biblical links. There are a
08:41number of scenes that mirror biblical and mythical events, but after deliberation, the filmmakers
08:45stopped short of actually making an official plot point of us finding out that Jesus was an engineer.
08:50The biblical stuff is super hinted at, but it's never actually explored as it was once intended.
08:55At one point Scott even deliberated having us meet God, another engineer of course, in a potential
09:00sequel. Thankfully though, they're back down.
09:021. The Curse of Michael Myers, Loomis's Possession
09:06Test audiences did the heavy lifting for us on this one and managed to get one terrible
09:11Halloween subplot kicked to the curb late on in production. The test cut of the sixth
09:15Halloween film, known as the Producers' Cut, varies quite markedly from the version we know today.
09:20The end of the Producers' Cut sets up a subplot to carry on even into the next film,
09:25meaning that had it not been removed, then the impact would be felt beyond this movie.
09:29Originally, Dr Loomis was intended to become possessed by the Mark of the Thorn,
09:33you know, the killy killy curse thing that makes Michael do bad things, and it was going
09:36to be passed to him by the now dead cult leader. The film would have ended with his desperate cry
09:41as he acknowledged his fate, but alas, the fate was removed. Audience members at the test screening
09:46despised the idea of Loomis becoming involved in the cult and they vocally opposed it. And as a result,
09:52the whole thing was rethought. When it came time for reshoots, Loomis actor Donald Pleasance had sadly
09:57already passed away, so the whole concept of passing on the curse to him was scrapped and
10:02instead Dr Loomis simply meets his demise in an off-screen death. It's far less than he deserved,
10:07but you know, you gotta work with what you've got. And on that note, we've reached the end of this
10:11list of 10 deleted movie subplots that changed everything. If you know any more really interesting
10:16ones, then let us know about them in the comments down below. And remember to check out
10:20whatculture.com for more lists and articles like this every single day. As always,
10:24I've been Amy from WhatCulture and I'll catch you next time.
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