5 Iconic Movie Scenes Created Because the Budget Ran Out

Everyone smiles when a film with real budget restraints winds up surprising everyone and becoming widely beloved. It’s always indicative of art’s consistent ability and power to endure amongst adversaries big, small, physical, and environmental.

Here are some of the best scenes in movie history that only turned out the way they did because the budget was running tight.

1. The Ice Rink Scene in Rocky

When Rocky and Adrian go on their ice skating date in an empty rink, and slowly begin to realize that they’re totally perfect for each other is a scene that could make the Grinch’s heart melt. But in the original draft of the script, the scene looked a lot different.

It’s no secret that Rocky has one of the most inspirational making-of stories of all time, and so much of that is owed to the extremely tight budget of the film. In Stallone’s script, the rink was set to be filled with other attendees skating alongside the couple, but due to their inability to pay for that many background performers, the scene was condensed to only include the two central players. All the better for it because the intimacy that the scene exudes can really only be achieved by letting the audience have as focused a view on these characters as they get.

2. The Ending of The Blair Witch Project

‘The Blair Witch Project’Credit: Artisan Entertainment

Influenced both by creative liberties and a lack of money, the ending of The Blair Witch Project still sparks massive speculation over twenty-five years after its release.

Filmmaking duo Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez were inhibited by how to end the film due to a desire not to bring the realism of the film down by showing some form of poorly constructed or animated monster at the center of the mystery. Instead, they opted for a much more cerebral, visual callback-oriented ending that is designed to keep the biggest answers a mystery to the audience.

In 1999, everything about the film was brand new to audiences, so when people were left aghast by the ending of the film during test screenings, the filmmakers were given a substantial sum of money to film alternate endings that answered audience questions more. None of these endings wound up making the cut, with the original one making the cut, and the film is all the better for it.

3. Lots of Stuff From Monty Python and the Holy Grail

One of the most iconic comedy films of all time, Monty Python and the Holy Grail has some all-time funny moments in movies. And some happened completely due to lack of money.

A famous example is the use of coconuts to mimic the sound of a horse galloping. The crew simply could not afford to have horses on set, so they used coconuts instead. Also, that ending. While the abruptness of it, and the time period change is a famous and at times polarizing choice, it wasn’t the original plan. The original ending involved a large-scale medieval battle with King Arthur’s army. Now, if the crew couldn’t afford horses for the performers, they certainly couldn’t afford to stage and execute a full-blown medieval battle. Enter: the real ending of the movie.

4. Alderaan’s Demise in Star Wars

‘Star Wars’Credit: Walt Disney Studios

In George Lucas’ original draft of A New Hope, Leia was supposed to spend a lot more time on Alderaan instead of the Death Star. Originally, Luke, Han, Obi-Wan, and the droids were meant to make it to Alderaan to save Leia from a Sith prison she was supposed to be imprisoned in.

Unfortunately, Lucas and company couldn’t afford the costs required to make these sequences viable to shoot, so he wound up moving all of Leia’s scenes onto the Death Star itself. And how to remove Alderaan as a priority? Just blow it up! Hence, the ultimate showcase of the Death Star’s magnificent power.

5. Pretty Much Everything in Night of the Living Dead

While the choice to shoot the film in black and white shouldn’t be reduced entirely to budgetary restraints, as Romero has cited various creative motivations behind the decision, the choice certainly helped mask some of the cheaper areas of the film.

When making a zombie film, a lot of money obviously has to go towards makeup and special effects. With the film being in black and white, the artists were able to get away more easily with using chocolate syrup for blood, or roast ham covered in more chocolate syrup for skin and flesh.

Furthermore, another fun fact: the zombies were created as freshly dead humans primarily due to budget constraints also. The filmmakers didn’t have the money to depict rotting corpses rising from graves, so the entire idea behind modern zombie lore and creation was altered into what it is today.