61885 - Changes to movies

[Humble Master]

http://theboard.byu.edu/questions/61885/

What movies/tv shows do you know that have been changed because of real life events?

I know of a few changes, and lots of scheduling delays.

I know the original Spider-Man films trailer had scenes of a helicopter caught in a giant spider web between the Twin Towers that was removed after 9/11. They also had to alter the skyline in all the wide shots of the city in the movie. They also added a rather huge American flag to the final montage as a response to the attacks.

The TV show The Greatest American Hero changed the last name of the title character from Hinkley in the middle of the first season because that was the name of that man who attempted to assassinate President Reagan.

The movie Phone Booth, which prominently features a sniper, was delayed for several months because of the Washington D.C. sniper.

I know an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that featured a high school teenager with a rifle at his school (and it appears he may be planning a mass murder) was aired about a year after it's original scheduled air date because of the Columbine shootings.

Bones delayed an episode for a good chunk of the season that dealt with murder on a college campus after the Virginia Tech shootings.

[krebscout]

Mad Men - a character died in real life, and it flowed seamlessly into the plot line.

And this sort of thing seems to happen to Terry Gilliam all the time. First Don Quixote, then The Igaminarium of Dr. Parnassus - Heath Ledger died mid-shoot, so they changed the story a bit and had Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law all play the character at different points. It makes sense within the movie.

[ahem.]

Um... West Wing delayed their original Season 3 opener and added a new episode that aired like 2 weeks after 9/11 because they wanted to Talk about Things. The episode doesn't really fit into the show's time-line very well, and easily lifts out.

And also Santos, the Democratic candidate in season 7, was supposed to lose the election. But since the actor playing his running mate died (which led to them killing off the character), they thought it would be too mean to make him lose the election as well. So he won.

[Democritus]

Oh, I just thought of Plan 9 from Outer Space. The vampire in the movie was played by the classic Bela Lugosi...who died unexpectedly during filming. The vampire throughout the rest of the bizarrely edited film was portrayed by the director's wife's chiropractor, who walked around the set with a cape drawn over his face to hide his total lack of resemblance to the deceased actor.