5 Movies That Got Completely Rebuilt In The Editing Room — And You Can Actually See The Seams

Rogue One Was Reportedly So 'In Trouble' They Brought In A Ghost Director To Save It

After test screenings left Lucasfilm unhappy with Gareth Edwards' cut, Tony Gilroy was quietly brought on to rewrite and help oversee reshoots, eventually taking a leading postproduction role. He didn't just punch up dialogue — the ending itself, including the now-iconic Vader corridor scene, was reportedly reworked during this period, and Gilroy walked away with a paycheck north of $5 million.

Justice League's Reshoots Cost 3x The Industry Norm — Partly Because Of A Mustache

When Zack Snyder stepped away during postproduction, Joss Whedon took over and oversaw roughly two months of additional filming that reportedly cost about $25 million, wildly more than the typical $6–10 million reshoot budget. Producer Charles Roven later said Whedon's new material made up 15 to 20 percent of the finished film — and yes, part of that money reportedly went toward digitally removing Henry Cavill's mustache.

World War Z's Original Ending Was So Broken They Rebuilt 40 Minutes From Scratch

Paramount execs reportedly sat in stunned silence watching the first cut, prompting them to bring in Damon Lindelof, and later Drew Goddard, to scrap the entire third act. The resulting seven weeks of reshoots in Budapest reportedly cost around $20 million and helped balloon the budget from a planned $125 million to over $200 million.

Fant4stic's Reshoots Were So Chaotic The Director Publicly Disowned It Before It Even Opened

Josh Trank has said the studio was uncomfortable with his grim tone and, after test reactions, reportedly spent roughly $10 million on a rushed 'comedy rewrite' during reshoots he wasn't allowed to direct. Trank later described the process as feeling like being sidelined on his own set, and the finished film — still missing a proper ending shot late — remains one of the most infamous superhero flops ever made.

Suicide Squad Literally Had Two Competing Cuts Duke It Out At Test Screenings

After Batman v Superman's dark tone got hammered and a jokey teaser trailer went viral, Warner Bros. reportedly had the trailer company Trailer Park cut a lighter competing version of David Ayer's film, and both were tested on audiences before the studio blended them together. That compromise required millions in additional reshoots on a film that already cost at least $175 million, and the tonal whiplash between Ayer's original vision and the studio's version became one of the most-cited reasons critics called it a mess.