How Movies Are Being Made Now

>There were signs that things were getting better. Deep into winter, test scores improved and hit the low 70s. However, rather than continue to tinker away on that cut, the studio decided to force a bakeoff by creating two cuts, one by Gillespie and one by the studio. >It is unclear what major differences emerged, but one source says Gillespie’s version was 11 minutes longer and featured more of the villain, Krem, played by Matthias Schoenaerts. When the two competing versions tested, the scores surprisingly dropped significantly, although the studio’s inched out ahead of Gillespie’s…but by only two points, according to sources. Gillespie’s version scored strongly on song choices, pacing and villain.Eking out a win, even a middling one, the studio chose its cut as the one to go into theaters. A studio insider says the differences were not particularly pronounced. >Studio insiders paint the back-and-forth process as routine, but others, including one franchise filmmaker who spoke anonymously for this story but was not involved in Supergirl, held the opposite view. >“It happens more than you think, but it’s not normal,” said the filmmaker of the bakeoff. “If a studio is going to put money into the test process, it means they feel strongly about certain things.” >The movie was never tested again. (As a point of comparison, the canceled Batgirl tested in the 60s and the box office disappointment Shazam! Fury of the Gods began its tests in the 60s, like most of Supergirl’s tests, before moving up.). And from that point on, if Gillespie believed strongly that something should be in the movie, he had to advocate for it, said one source.