Since it dropped on Netflix in late 2018, Sandra Bullock film Bird Box has been drawing in viewers with its intriguing A-Quiet-Place-with-blindfolds premise: humanity becomes surrounded by creatures who, once seen, instantly drive people to suicide or turn them into homicidal psychopaths.
Part of the impact of the film is that these terrifying creatures are never actually seen by audiences – but it seems that’s not what was originally planned. It turns out that a scene featuring the monsters was made, but then cut as they looked too “funny”...
“There was a time when one of the producers was like, ‘No, you have to see something at some point’ and forced me to write essentially a nightmare sequence where Malorie [Bullock] experiences one in that house,” screenwriter Eric Heisserer recently told Bloody Disgusting.
“It was snake-like, and I was like, ‘I don’t want to see it when it first happens. Just bring it into the room. We’ll shoot the scene,’” he added. “I turn and he’s like this [growling at me.] It’s making me laugh. It was just a long fat baby.”
In the same interview, Bullock herself described the monsters as “a green man with a horrific baby face”, with director Susanne Bier adding they easily became "funny" and that she was pleased they were left out of the final cut.
“Whatever those beings are, they tap into your deepest fear,” Bier said. “Everybody’s deepest fear is going to be different from the other person. I think to suddenly take upon a concrete shape in order to illustrate that becomes weak. Where the concept is really strong, then trying to illustrate it is kind of almost meaningless. So it would have been the wrong decision.”
Netflix previously revealed that over 45 million accounts watched the film in the week following its 21st December release. The actual number of viewers could be much higher, with several people able to use one account.
Bird Box is streaming on Netflix Now
