4 Iconic Movie Scenes That Almost Got Cut From The Final Film

Goodfellas' "Funny how?" rant almost got trimmed for pacing

Joe Pesci's terrifying, largely improvised "funny how?" exchange was based on a real encounter he'd had. Martin Scorsese worried the extended, rambling dialogue would slow the film down — but after test audiences sat in dead silence through the whole thing, he kept it in. It's now one of the most quoted scenes Scorsese has ever directed.

Se7en's ending only stayed in because the cast refused to shoot it any other way

Studio executives pushed for a softer, less bleak ending to Se7en. Director David Fincher, along with Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman, refused to make the film unless the infamous "what's in the box" conclusion stayed intact, arguing the entire story fell apart without it. It became one of the most talked-about endings in modern thriller history.

"Part of Your World" was nearly cut from The Little Mermaid entirely

Disney CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg reportedly wanted the song removed after children in an early test screening grew restless during it. The film's directors and producers pushed back and convinced him to watch it again once the sequence was fully finished — it stayed, and became one of Disney's most iconic musical numbers.

The Breakfast Club's ending was rewritten because test audiences hated the original pairing

Writer-director John Hughes originally intended for Molly Ringwald's Claire to end up with Anthony Michael Hall's Brian. Test screening audiences rejected that pairing outright, wanting her paired with John Bender instead — so the ending was changed to the one now considered a defining moment of '80s teen cinema.