Scientific findings?
In the original version of last year's hit "My Best Friend's Wedding," Rupert Everett had a minor role as Julia Roberts' gay best friend.
But test audiences wanted more. So the ending was scrapped, the set rebuilt, and Everett's character came back for one final appearance.
That's what can happen if test audiences love you. But what if they loathe you?
Ask Glenn Close. In the 1987 thriller "Fatal Attraction," test audiences so despised Close's character that they became responsible for having her killed off in the end.
Music, endings, even character development can be radically altered as a result of audience research.
"People want to have the backing of something that seems quantifiable and scientific in a field that is basically neither of those things," says Andrew Hinds, senior editor of Variety.
Audience testing is the movie studios' way of hedging their bets. Although it's been around for a long time, it has never been a completely reliable process.
In 1939, test audiences for "The Wizard of Oz" felt that the now-classic scene in which Judy Garland sings "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" slowed down the action. Somehow, the songwriters prevailed, and the song stayed put.
When "E.T." was tested, audiences hated it. But it went on to become the second-highest grossing film of all time.
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