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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
00:09the 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 out
00:20there that had way more power and in this case none of them survived. So I'm Amy from WhatCulture
00:25and 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
00:59like that maybe we could understand. The initial intention was to paint Lou as a damaged person,
01:04a survivor archetype who was just trying to get by day to day, his morals being pushed to the
01:09wayside by harsh reality. There'd be a whole subplot revealing Lou's traumatic past and showing how it
01:15relates to his current self but alas this was not to be. Director Dan Gilroy decided it would actually
01:21be more 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 McArdle, 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
02:32monsters. Much of his motivation in the novel was that he wanted to perform an exorcism on the
02:37haunted house, something that could have made for some nice scary visuals if included in the film.
02:41Father Anson was however completely removed before the film ever reached audiences, taking with him
02:47his biblical brand of supernatural horror. 7. Love Actually
02:51A much sadder story. Depending on your feelings about rom-coms, you might either absolutely adore
02:57or totally detest Love Actually. It's a sickly sweet Christmas classic, intertwining stories of
03:03various couples across the UK to deliver one united message. Love is all you need. Merry Christmas.
03:09Well, 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
03:22entirely straight, and don't try telling me that Bill Nye's character is gay representation,
03:26it's very ambiguous at best, but at the same time it also would have been the only one with an
03:30undebatably sad ending. We would have spent time with the couple in their home, the teacher caring for
03:35her partner as they come to terms with the inevitable, and then dealing with the aftermath
03:39when it happens. The story would have had a totally different tone than even the saddest
03:44other ones we know from the film today, and overall it would have shaped the movie to be slightly
03:48different, less perfect. Taking off some of the Christmas sparkle and the perfect happy ending
03:53could have actually been quite an interesting, good thing, but then again, not everyone wants sadness
03:58in their rom-coms. Definitely not in the festive season either.
04:016. Hannibal. Another serial killer. You may have noticed when watching the sequel to the infamous
04:07Silence of the Land that at one point a whole other serial killer is mentioned, a killer by the name
04:13of Il Mostro. In real life, Il Mostro refers to the monster of Florence, who murdered 14 people over
04:19the 70s and 80s. In fiction, Il Mostro has been firmly cemented into the story of Hannibal, first in the
04:251999 novel, where an investigator is left in disgrace after arresting the wrong man accused of being
04:30Il Mostro, and 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. Well, that was until that whole
04:41bit was chopped out with Hannibal's own surgical precision. After referencing Il Mostro, he actually
04:46makes an appearance as Hannibal murders Chief Inspector Pazzi. Working as a janitor in Florence, he encounters
04:52the titular cannibal mid-murder but manages to escape with his life, soon afterwards fleeing the city.
04:57The subplot relating to Il Mostro's similarly horrible crimes, culminating in his appearance and
05:02fleeing, certainly wasn't the top of the priority list. It's kind of a shame really, because it was
05:07included in the book and the TV show for a reason, it's quite compelling, so you really would have
05:11hoped that here it would be treated with more significance and not just cut.
05:155. Me Before You.
05:17Lu's tragic past
05:192016's Me Before You tells the unlikely love story of a small-town girl and a recently paralysed
05:25billionaire. Based on the novel of the same name by Jojo Moyes, it stays fairly faithful to its
05:30source material, but one big detail is missing. In the novel, the explanation for why protagonist
05:35Lu is so scared to expand her horizons is that she experienced huge trauma as a teenager. We find out
05:41that at a party, Lu was sexually assaulted by a group of older boys, and following this, she shuts her
05:47entire life down. Author and screenwriter Moyes explained that she chose to leave it out as there was
05:52no way she could comfortably translate it to screen. In the book, she explains, the rape is covered in an
05:57almost throwaway manner, as if Lu 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 the
06:07character 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
06:17It seems unthinkable now that they would have crammed another character into this film,
06:21especially considering how well known it is for its overabundance of characters. But this wasn't
06:26just any old throwaway that they were going to chuck in there, it was the ever iconic Mary Jane Watson.
06:31Shailene 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
06:39of the groundwork for her presence later in the future. With Gwen Stacy's death happening at the
06:44end of the film, I must say it would have felt a bit preemptive and calculated to start shoehorning
06:49in MJ in the very same picture. In the end, the decision to cut out MJ worked for the best.
06:53Gwen's death wasn't sullied by a 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
07:12motivation throughout is the thought of them being back together again, the drive to keep
07:16his family safe and get things back to a stage where they can live their happily ever afters.
07:20Well, there was almost a rather sour undertone to all of this, as initially there was going to be a
07:25subplot in which Jerry's wife begins an affair with a paratrooper.
07:29Oh yeah, sorry buddy, I know you're off saving the world, but I gotta get me some while you're away.
07:33This subplot would have led the film to dedicate more time to Jerry's family in his absence and
07:38also change the family's dynamic on his return, in turn influencing the whole tone of the film's
07:43ending. In the end it was decided that this little storyline wasn't worth the time it would eat up and
07:47it was just deleted. In some ways I think it almost could have improved the film, you know,
07:51giving it less of a textbook happy ending. However, with everything being as miserable as it is these days,
07:57having a bland happy ending isn't the worst thing in the world.
08:002. Prometheus. Alien Jesus.
08:03Now in a very sharp change of tone I introduce you to Alien Jesus, a genuine real idea that was almost
08:10an 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 there's
08:21probably a reason I'm not a screenwriter, because apparently that would never work,
08:25hence why the explicit stating of Jesus was an alien sent to save you and you killed him,
08:30thus bringing about your own doom, being removed from Prometheus' plot.
08:34Ridley Scott, in an interview with the since-closed-down-movies.com, did not shy away from
08:38stating the film's biblical links. There are a number of scenes that mirror biblical and mythical events,
08:43but after deliberation the filmmakers stopped short of actually making an official plot point of us
08:48finding out that Jesus was an engineer. The biblical stuff is super hinted at, but it's never actually
08:53explored as it was once intended. At one point Scott even deliberated having us meet God, another
08:58engineer of course, in a potential sequel. 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 Halloween
09:15film, 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 killi-kili curse thing that makes Michael do bad things, and it was going to be passed
09:37to him by the now-dead cult leader. The film would have ended with his desperate cry as he acknowledged
09:42his fate, but alas, the fate was removed. Audience members at the test screening despised
09:47the 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
09:57sadly already passed away, so the whole concept of passing on the curse to him was scrapped,
10:01and instead 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 WhatCulture.com
10:21for more lists and articles like this every single day. As always, I've been Amy from WhatCulture,
10:25and I'll catch you next time.
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