41 Trailer Scenes That Didn’t Make The Final Film
Star Wars, Terminator 2, Fantastic Beasts, and more: they all have scenes in the trailer, that never made the final film...
This article comes from Den of Geek UK.
More often than you might think, scenes that appear in movie trailer don’t turn up in the finished film. This can leave trailer-loving audience members confused as the credits roll, wondering if they dropped off and missed something important.
A couple of massive movies have done this recently, and the internet has been quick to fill in the blanks with speculation. Fingers have been pointed at tinkering studio bigwigs and extensive reshoots, when the reality is often a little less dramatic: filmmakers always chop some footage in the edit, and they rarely have much involvement in the trailers.
The marketing people and the folk in the edit suite are bound to prefer different scenes sometimes, leading to slightly misleading trailers and somewhat bemused fans. Take these 41 instances, for example…
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
As we’ve discusssed in detail elsewhere, various shots and lines from Rogue One‘s trailers didn’t make it into the film itself. The lights turning on in a corridor while Felicity Jones turns towards camera, “This is a rebellion, isn’t it? I rebel,” Krennic walking through water, the gang running across the beach with the plans, the TIE fighter rising up while Jyn was on that platform, Vader looking at some form of blueprint, Saw’s line “what… will you… become?” – all these cool moments were ditched in the edit, perhaps due to the well-publicised reshoot process behind the scenes.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The internet spoke a little less about it, but The Force Awakens‘ trailers featured footage that didn’t make the final cut as well. Kylo Ren igniting his crossguard lightsaber, Rey telling Maz she’s “no one,” Rey lingering outside before entering the Star Destroyer at the start, and – perhaps most intriguingly – a woman presumed to be Leia being handed Luke’s lightsaber by Maz. In an earlier cut, Maz ended up at the Resistance base.
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
It turns out that cutting trailer scenes from the actual film is an age old Star Wars tradition. In the trailer for The Empire Strikes Back embedded above, you’ll catch a glimpse at C-3PO removing a warning sticker of some sort from a wall, and a different – more lingering – version of the Luke and Leia kiss. The former is a total mystery, and the latter would’ve made Return Of The Jedi’s sibling reveal even more weird.
Star Trek
Two cut scenes from J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek can be seen in the trailer above. A younger Winona Ryder and an infant Spock are glimpsed at one point, and at another we’re shown a tease of a scene involving Eric Bana’s Nero breaking out of a Klingon prison (which could’ve explained what he got up to for all those years). Nero’s line at the end, “the wait is over”, didn’t make it into the movie either.
Planet Of The Apes (2001)
Tim Burton’s Planet Of The Apes was wacky enough, but one line from the trailers could’ve added a whole new level of weird. Spoken by Tim Roth’s ape character, but ultimately cut from the film, the line “get me the spaceman!” could’ve been brilliant in the finished movie. Witness it at the 01:30 mark in the trailer above.
Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
Speaking of apes, at 02:24 in this trailer for Rupert Wyatt’s Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, you’ll see James Franco’s Will driving away from the exploding, monkey-covered building in a remarkably calm fashion, with the camera mounted on the car itself. It’s a cool shot, but didn’t make the film.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
This iconic T2 trailer didn’t end up featuring in the film at all: in it, the latest T-800 to bear Arnold Schwarzenegger’s beautiful face is sculpted by machines. Although it wasn’t a scene from the movie, this eye-catching sequence did plenty to build hype by establishing that Arnie’s days kicking ass were far from finished.
Terminator: Salvation
It’s not just the good Terminator films that leave material on the cutting room floor, either. The trailers for McG’s relaunch, Terminator Salvation, featured lines of dialogue that alluded to complicated timelines and history repeating itself. Bryce Dallas Howard’s Kate Connor says this in the trailer: “If you saved us once, in another future, you can save us in this one.” But in the end, this line was ignored altogether.
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
“Don’t panic. There’s absolutely nothing to worry about,” Eddie Redmayne’s Newt tells some muggle cops in the trailer for Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, before the big beastie baddie rushes up the street behind him. This comedic moment didn’t make it into the film. “I think when it got to the cut, [it was] tonally wrong to have the moment because actually, the stakes are too high for [Newt] to have a time out moment,” Redmayne told People’s Choice.
King Kong (2005)
Riffing on a scene from the original film, Naomi Watts’ Ann Darrow lets out one hell of a fake scream for Jack Black’s film director Carl Denham, whilst posing on Skull Island, in the trailer for Peter Jackson’s King Kong. The eponymous monstrous monkey replies with a roar that echoes out for miles. The scene didn’t show up in the film, but still stands as a lovely piece of cinema.
Godzilla (1998)
Like the T2 production line scene, this Godzilla clip teasing the 1998 movie did a great job of hyping up the return of an iconic screen baddie, without using a single frame of footage from the film itself. Roland Emmerich shot a similar teaser involving a fisherman, which did feature in the film, albeit in a shorter form.
Predators
In the briefest of moments in the trailer above, Adrien Brody is targetted by no less than 14 Predator weapons. In the finished film, though, he only faces off with three of them. A crafty marketing team trying to make the stakes look higher, or a budget cut that changed the story during production? We have no idea.
Alien 3
Due to the studio taking an axe to the film, the original cinematic cut of Alien 3 failed to include a number of scenes from its trailer. Most notably, the shot of Charles Dance carrying the unconcious Ripley didn’t make it into the film. A decade later, the Assembly Cut restored a lot of these scenes as part of its extra 30 minutes.
Batman Returns
More of an alternate take than a deleted scene, but still – Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman has a moment in the trailer for Batman Returns that isn’t actually in the film. She’s lying on her bed, laughing madly and snorting a little. The location is seen in the movie, but the unhinged laughter isn’t. Odd.
Batman Forever
“If the Bat wants to play, we’ll play!” So sneers Tommy Lee Jones in the Batman Forever trailer. The line was nowhere to be heard in the film, since the helicopter sequence it’s taken from was cut way down.
Batman Begins
“They told me there was nothing out there. Nothing to fear. But the night my parents were murdered I caught a glimpse of something. I’ve looked for it ever since. I went around the world, searched in all the shadows, and there is something out there in the darkness – something terrifying, something that will not stop until it gets revenge – me.” This entire Bat-monologue was written especially for the Batman Begins trailer.
“Wouldn’t have worked in the film,” Jonathan Nolan explained later.
Spider-Man
This whole trailer for Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man is missing from the film itself. In it, Spidey webs up a gang of robbers – and their helicopter – between New York’s Twin Towers (a bit harsh considering that the web will disolve eventually). It was always meant as a standalone trailer sequence, rather than a chunk of the film, and was pulled from cinemas altogether after 9/11.
The Amazing Spider-Man
You probably remember that the trailers for The Amazing Spider-Man banged on about the “untold story” of Peter’s parents. The trailer above includes Rhys Ifans’ Curt Connorts saying, “If you want the truth about your parents, Peter, come and get it.” Irrfan Khan’s Ratha adds later on, “Do you think what happened to you, Peter, was an accident? Do you have any idea what you really are?” Both lines were cut from the film and the untold story remained just that.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
The Amazing Spider-Man series was at it again with the promo materials for its second and final instalment. “Oscorp had you under surveillance,” Dane DeHaan’s Harry warned Andrew Garfield’s Peter in the first trailer. When Peter asked why, Harry replied: “Isn’t that the question of the day?” This whole subplot was chopped, perhaps because Marc Webb was hoping to save some secrets for the sequels that ended up being cancelled.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
At 01:52 in this X-Men Origins: Wolverine trailer, you’ll see the briefest glimpse of a white haired girl. Presumably, this is a young Storm, making a cameo just like Cyclops and Professor X did. It’s unclear where/when the scene was set. Was she a prisoner of Stryker, or did Wolvie run into Storm on his mission with Team X? The scene never surfaced, so we’re still clueless.
X-Men: Days Of Future Past
Rogue, played by Anna Paquin, appears a couple of times in this trailer for Days Of Future Past. She’s standing still and solemn near the start, and then running down a corridor with Magneto and Bobby around the middle. Neither of these scenes appeared in the cinematic film, with Rogue’s part reduced to a last-minute cameo, but they were reinstated in the special DVD release known as The Rogue Cut.
Superman Returns
“Your father used to say that you were put here for a reason” and “you know, the world can always use more good reporters” are two lines spoken by Eva Marie Saint’s Martha Kent in the Superman Returns trailer. Neither slice of motherly wisdom ended up in the film itself. Admittedly, they could’ve been voiceover sentences written solely for the trailer.
The Incredible Hulk
Two moments of note in this one: Ed Norton’s Bruce Banner wandering in the Arctic (which later appeared on the DVD) and Bruce’s line “There’s only one thing that can fight that – it’s in me.” The former, in particular, could’ve improved the movie: it’s an alternate opening scene in which Bruce tries to kill himself and end the Hulk, which would’ve started things off on a totally different footing.
Iron Man 2
“Give me a smooch for good luck,” Tony asks Pepper in original his Iron Man 2 intro scene, which you can watch in the trailer above. She chucks his helmet out of the plane and he flies out after it, saying “you complete me!” as he jumps. It’s a lead-in to the Stark Expo scene, and a funny little moment which was probably cut for pacing reasons.
Thor: The Dark World
Interestingly, despite the reports at the time that rewrites and reshoots were carried out to add more Loki to the movie, Tom Hiddleston’s mischief-maker had once scene removed from Thor: The Dark World. “Give the people what they want”, he says while clad in fur. Funny, because Loki larking around and wearing silly outfits is exactly what most people wanted. Why chop it?
Jonah Hex
At 02:09 in this Jonah Hex trailer, you’ll see Megan Fox’s Lilah in the middle of a raunchy sex scene. When the movie reached cinemas (to not much of a reception), this steamy scene was nowhere to be seen. Is it too cynical to think they just filmed it for the trailers, in order to intrigue some red-blooded potential punters? Possibly.
Fantastic Four (2015)
“How long until he’s in?” a military-ish voice asks. Miles Teller’s Reed Richards, flying a plane, says “two minutes”. Some hangar doors open, and the Thing jumps out – sans parachute – and plummets into a warzone, exploding a tank as soon as he lands. “Could be less,” deadpans Richards. The scene is very conspicuous by its absence in Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four film, which is believed to have undergone major reshoots and changes during production.
Suicide Squad
By this point in the article, you’ve probably noticed that Suicide Squad wasn’t the first comic book film to advertise scenes that never materialized in the movie. But it’s certainly one of the biggest culprits: the Joker’s “I’m just gonna hurt you really, really bad” line was the centrepiece of the first promo video, and it never played out in the film. Neither did a cool shot of Katana’s sword breathing energy, Scott Eastwood enjoying a fist-bump, the Joker reappearing post-helicopter-crash with a burned face, or Harley Quinn pretending her baseball bat was a shotgun. Was it the reshoots, the focus groups or the genuine need to cut things down that caused this? We’ll likely never know for sure.
Thunderball
Thunderball‘s trailer features Sean Connery saying “The things I do for England…” as Luciana Paluzzi’s Fiona peels off his shirt, unveiling the hairy masterpiece beneath. The line was removed from the picture, and was cheekily recyled for You Only Live Twice. It’s unclear why it got cut, but one thing’s for sure: this is an unsettling trailer to watch nowadays. It literally lists the hair colors of the women in the movie.
Quantum Of Solace
Modern Bond movies aren’t immune to cutting trailer scenes, either. In the trailer for Quantum Of Solace, and its posters, Daniel Craig’s 007 is seen walking up a rocky desert verge with a tux and nice big gun. The shot was filmed just for the promotional team, and had no place in the actual movie, it would seem.
The Transporter
No one does a mysterious trailer shot quite like the mighty Jason Statham. Behold, at the 01:06 mark in this trailer, as The Stath deflects a missle using a tea tray and lives to tell the tale. It sounds like the kind of unbelievable achievement his character in Spy would brag about. It’s nowhere in the cinematic cut of The Transporter, though. For shame.
Mission: Impossible
Tom Cruise’s ‘personification of destiny’ Ethan Hunt and Emmanuelle Beart’s character in Mission: Impossible Claire Phelps did not get hot and heavy in this franchise-launching film. But in the trailer they did. You can watch Cruise doing some intense kissing and spinning around at 01:23 in the promo above.
Neighbors 2
Thought it was just sci-fi, superhero and action movies that left trailer scenes on the cutting room floor? Think again. Neighbors 2 ditched a few moments: a sorority girl giving Seth Rogen the finger while he crashed his car, a reprisal of the air-bag sofa gag from the first film, and Hannibal Buress screaming in a tank. Are less gags you already know the punchlines to a bad thing for a comedy to have, though?
Notting Hill
Even the British comedies aren’t safe! In the brilliantly-retro trailer for Notting Hill, Hugh Grant’s William tells his parents about his new girlfriend, keeping her identity secret in the process. This conversation (which takes place at 01:07 in the trailer), and William’s parents, were removed from the film altogether. Harsh.
The Truman Show
At 01:06 in the trailer above, you’ll see a vital detail from The Truman Show that didn’t end up in the finished film: a visible crack in the sky, made when the light fell from its rigging. This, of course, would give Truman more cause to go down his rightly paranoid path. Truman still looks up in the finished film, but the sky remains in tact. Online trivia pages persist that other trailers had different missing moments, including a cast read-through scene and Truman singing his own national anthem – but I haven’t been able to track those clips down.
Paranormal Activity 3
A pair of girls play a game of Bloody Mary in the trailer above, for Paranormal Activity 3, and in the process they summon a female supernatural entity. It lingers in the frame after they walk out. But the scene didn’t linger in the editing room: it was removed altogether from the film, with boys replacing the girls in a similar sequence. A knocking game featuring the girls from the second trailer was also taken out.
Scream 4
“You can’t kill Sydney, she’s victim royalty,” Rory Culkin’s Charlie says of Neve Campbell’s character, providing some of the franchise’s trademarked meta humor in the trailer for . Marielle Jaffe’s Olivia counters him, arguing that Sydney is expendable. This exchange was removed from the finished film altogether, for reasons unknown.
I Am Legend
In the final seconds of the first trailer for I Am Legend, one of the zomibe/vampire creature thingies gets right up in Will Smith’s gorgeous face. This is from the internet-famous alternate ending to the film (which is, in my humble opinion, much better) – it didn’t end up in the cinematic cut of the movie, but did find life as a DVD extra.
Ghostbusters (2016)
“30 years ago, four scientists saved New York” – a confusing intro to the Ghostbusters trailer which didn’t end up being relevant to the film at all. Also, there’s a beautiful shot of some jazz age ghosts at 0:54 in the trailer above, which didn’t end up in the film. Melissa McCarthy describing everyone’s specialties (“no one’s better at quantum physics than you!”) was also cut, and the scene with Kristen Wiig describing slime as “very hard to wash off” was trimmed down as well. There’s a shot of McCarthy with slime coming out of her nose that got chopped, too.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Bob Hoskins’ head is replaced with that of an animated pig in a deleted scene from Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The scene also found its way into the trailer for the movie (see: 02:31 in the video above), but didn’t feature in the cinematic cut of the film. It is on the DVD, though.
Back To The Future
And finally, another Robert Zemeckis movie which was advertised using footage that didn’t end up in the finished product. By the looks of it, this short clip of Marty powering up the DeLorean was shot especially for promotional purposes.
Like the Terminator and Spider-Man ones listed earlier, it was never intended for the film itself. It gets the concept across in a very cool way, without spoiling a lick of the plot or giving a single punchline away. They really don’t make ’em like that anymore, do they?
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Rob Leane has written for this loveable website for over five years. In his spare time, he's caught hundreds of Pokémon and sunk days of his…