10 Great Movies That Test Audiences Hated

Test screenings are just one small part of the entire expansive film production process, but oftentimes, they can be one of the most significant. Film studios will put out early releases to small audiences in a bid to get feedback and criticism to give an indication if the film is on the right track, or if they have a potential flop on their hands. This is valuable as it offers insights into the minds of the wider public, and if one particular element is hated by the majority, it can quickly be cut or re-edited, thus saving the studio time and money and also crafting a potentially more successful film.

Test screenings are often a necessary evil for filmmakers, but they are far from perfect, with some of the best films of all time being put through the wringer, facing incredible criticism and backlash from the test audience. Iconic films such as Goodfellas and Se7en received brutal feedback, and if not for some brave decisions and tenacious confidence, they might have been changed for the worse with some terrible alternate endings. Test audiences tend to chip away or dislike elements of a film that push boundaries and limits, oftentimes the very thing that makes a film so special.

10 Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

Test Audiences Hated The Original Ending

Director Adam McKay’s Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is a comedy starring Will Ferrell as a celebrated anchor of a popular news network. His world and workplace are turned upside down when new anchor Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) is added to co-present his show, which disturbs the outdated male-dominated ecosystem. Though it has more than reached cult classic status now, with an ensemble cast featuring the likes of A-List stars Paul Rudd and Steve Carell and memorable dialogue, it didn’t start off with such a bright beginning.

The film’s original ending had a long-running subplot that saw Corningstone abducted by a vigilante group that the test audiences despised. Anchorman scored just 50/100 in the initial screening, with Ferrell explaining just how poor the test screening went with early audiences, “They just didn’t like that storyline at all. We just lost the audience. When it was the news team and all of us interacting, we would get them back.” (via Indiewire). Though on the bright side of test screenings, the ending was reshot quickly, leading to one of the funniest comedies from the 2000s.

9 Blade Runner (1982)

Test Audiences Hated The Slow Pace And The Sad Ending

A loose adaption of author Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner is one of the most acclaimed dystopian sci-fi films of all time. Set in LA, Harrison Ford stars as ex-blade runner Rick Deckard, who’s on a mission to take out any rogue bioengineered ‘replicants’, giving one of the most captivating performances of his career. Though the film was well received, both upon release and in the modern day, several issues arose from the test screening that had the director and creatives forced to make changes.

A sequel to
Blade Runner
, called
Blade Runner 2049
, was released in 2017, starring Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford.

Blade Runner would go on to be considered a masterpiece by Scott, however, test audiences lamented the slower pace, somber original ending, and most significantly, thought it was too confusing and hard to follow. Due to this, Scott added voice-over narration by Ford’s character, Rick, on the more complicated parts of the film and also edited the ending to a happier version, allowing Rick’s love interest, Rachael, not to have a limited lifespan. Though the theatrical release was known as the official version, Blade Runner has many different versions and cuts of the film, each with a different narrative and layers.

8 Se7en (1995)

Test Audiences Hated The Grim Ending

In one of his most iconic works in a career full of highlights, director David Fincher’s gruesome thriller Se7en sees Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman play Detectives Mills and Somerset, who are looking for a deadly serial killer. The film has many twists and turns, with the climactic ‘head in the box’ scene being one of the most harrowing endings in cinematic history. As to be expected, early test audiences were appalled at the ending, finding it much too morbid and disgusting, feeling a horrific finish was the wrong tone for the film, and wanting something lighter and more uplifting.

Bravely, Fincher and Pitt chose to ignore the criticism and screening feedback – and surely, a talking to from studio executives – and kept the film’s original ending. Pitt fought for the iconic ending to stay as it was, as it was a large part of the reason he agreed to sign on and star in the film in the first place, though one small concession was made, allowing Detective Somerset to deliver a Hemingway quote at the ending to soften the blow somewhat. Se7en went on to generate $327 million at the box office and become one of the most iconic thrillers of all time.

7 Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Test Audiences Hated The Original Opening

Sunset Boulevard is a black comedy set in Golden-era Hollywood that tells the tale of screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden) and the tragic events that occurred after meeting silent film star Norma Desmond. The film is now a certified classic of film noir, with a gripping story and stunning performances, but test audiences new to film didn’t have the same rose-tinted glasses on that modern viewers have now. During the initial screening, the original opening of the film was met with confusion and laughter, leaving the audience unsure of the film’s genre or how to process the narrative.

As Sven Mikulec explains, “there is no handsome screenwriter floating face-down in a pool, rather, this original version opens with Gillis’ corpse arriving in a morgue, surrounded by other corpses.” (via CiniphiliaBeyond). The comparatively bizarre original opening seems more at home in a B-movie zombie film than a masterpiece of modern cinema, so Wilder reshot the opening to the iconic sequence known today that helped transform it into an instant classic. Sunset Boulevard went on to be nominated for 11 Academy Awards (3 wins) and was hailed as one of the best films of all time.

6 John Wick (2014)

Test Audiences Just Didn’t Connect With The Story

From the endlessly creative mind of Chad Stahelski, John Wick sees Keanu Reeves revitalize his career as the titular ex-assassin who gets sucked back into the underworld after a gangster’s son kills his beloved pet dog. The film is, without doubt, one of the most iconic films turned franchises in modern cinema, so it’s surprising to learn that it didn’t go down well during initial audience screenings. Worse still, the testing audience was actually the crew and cast’s family and friends, an obviously notoriously receptive crowd, so the fact it failed to garner much praise was a shock to the creators.

The test audience just didn’t connect with the film, didn’t relate to the lead character or his story, and thought the film was too action-heavy. However, this isn’t another case of a movie making extreme changes after a terrible screening, as Stahelski and his team opted to stay true to their original vision of an iconic assassin who indulges in lengthy, stylized action sequences with inventive martial arts moves. The strategy worked, and their friends and family must have had to laugh as it went on, virtually unchanged, to become one of the premiere action movie franchises in recent memory.

5 12 Monkeys (1995)

Test Audiences Hated The Hard-To-Follow Story

A founding member of the Monty Python comedy troupe, actor and director Terry Gilliam is no stranger to bizarre and inventive works, and nowhere is this clearly than in his sci-fi thriller, 12 Monkeys. The film stars Bruce Willis as convict James Cole, who is forced back in time in order to prevent an outbreak of a gruesome virus in a movie that expands into many layers, motifs, and themes. Though the film has an ensemble cast (also starring Brad Pitt) as well as masterful direction and an inventive story, test audiences didn’t warm to it immediately.

The test screening members found that the film’s overall story and non-linear back-and-forth narrative were unclear, and the overall premise was complicated and hard to follow. In another case of directorial confidence, the experienced Gilliam – who had directed several acclaimed films to that point (Time Bandits, Brazil) – decided to make only minimal revisions to his work and keep the overall narrative the same, trusting a wider audience to understand the plot. The decision paid dividends, with the film garnering massive commercial success and major awards for Pitt’s role, cementing Gilliam as a legend in the sci-fi genre.

4 Final Destination (2000)

Test Audiences Hate The Unnecessary Subplots

Based on a story by Jeffrey Reddick, Final Destination sees a group of teenagers narrowly escape death by avoiding a plane crash after one of the teens has a vision it will happen. Co-written and directed by the acclaimed James Wong, the film follows the group after they cheated death, as Death itself tracks down and kills them one by one in a series of inventive and graphic deaths designed to get the plan back on track. Though the film featured a hugely inventive plot, incredible action, and graphic kills, it still failed to win over the initial test screenings.

The
Final Destination
franchise has a new film coming out in 2025 entitled
Final Destination: Bloodlines
.

The main problem from the original Final Destination and what received the most backlash was the multi-layered approach first used, which added in romantic subplots between characters and a deeper philosophical angle about the meaning of life and death. The early audience loved the violent deaths and over-the-top, at times, grotesque action, but quickly lost interest when anything else was on the screen. That led creators to focus more on this aspect, which would go on to become its defining trademark, leading to a wildly successful run and four (with a fifth planned in 2025) sequels.

3 Last Action Hero (1993)

Test Audiences Hated The Unfinished Effects And Poor Sound

John McTiernan’s Last Action Hero is a fantasy action-comedy starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as L.A. police detective Jack Slater, who stars in a popular action movie franchise. The film is full of hilarious meta-comedy and self-aware references, as Schwarzenegger is playing himself, playing the role of Jack, as a young boy enters the fantasy world of his character after receiving a golden movie ticket. Test screenings can often be completed early in development, as was the case here, with some effects and other aspects of the film not fully completed, which can cause a whole host of issues for the audience.

The reaction from the test screenings was terrible, with the aforementioned unfinished special effects and poor audio quality of the film making the audience become agitated and confused with what was going on. The feedback was so negative, apparently producer Mark Canton shredded the comment cards so the filmmakers wouldn’t have to see them. On a positive note, as the feedback was mostly technical in nature, once the film was fully finalized (though still with some issues) it was pushed out into theaters and while initially it was met with some criticism, it has since entered fully cult classic status.

2 Videodrome (1983)

Test Audiences Hated The Violence And Plot

Videodrome is a sci-fi body horror that stars James Woods as TV station president Max Renn, who uncovers an unusual broadcast signal that induces hallucinations in those who watch. Written and directed by David Cronenberg, the film explores many interesting themes, such as the impact of modern media, the reporting of violence and murder, and mind control. However, the filmmakers could have used some mind control during the test screening, as the reactions from the viewers were some of the worst in cinematic history, causing Cronenberg to do something that nobody expected.

The early audience gave it some of the worst reviews imaginable, with comments about the disgusting violence, grotesque visuals, and complaints about a lack of plot throughout the film. Cronenberg reworked some minor changes to the film and its edit, but he also added back in an additional 10 minutes of the film, leaving in all the haunting, gory action and potentially adding in more to fully keep his vision for the film intact. The film was released with these changes, and though it wasn’t hugely successful, it has since proved to be an impactful and celebrated work.

1 Goodfellas (1990)

Test Audiences Walked Out Due To The Violence

A film adapted from Nicholas Pileggi’s 1985 nonfiction book Wiseguy, Goodfellas, directed by the legendary Martin Scorsese, sees the life and crimes of mobster Henry Hill (Ray Liotta). The film features an incredible ensemble cast with the likes of Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, detailing the brutal and fascinating world of organized crime. However, the phrase ‘know your audience’ comes to mind as the test screening members, hailing from conservative Orange County, California, infamously didn’t appreciate the in-depth and graphic violence.

The now iconic Billy Batts ‘body-in-the-trunk’ scene was originally more brutal, with Scorsese recalling, “When he stabbed Billy Batts in the trunk, after the first two [stabs], people started leaving. And then he did it a third time, and more people left. And then I asked… ‘How many more we got left?’… ‘Seven.’” (via Entertainment Weekly). Movie executives were prepared for the worst, but Scorsese stuck to his guns, only toning down certain scenes very lightly. The final version was a critical and commercial powerhouse, with six Oscar nominations and the film praised as one of the finest movies ever made.

Sources: Indiewire, CiniphiliaBeyond, Entertainment Weekly