Inside the push for the Gillespie cut: what really went down with Supergirl test screenings and sudden song swaps

There’s a certain bit in Supergirl – yes, THAT scene, late in the final act – that’s got just about everyone scratching their heads. Picture this: the city’s wrecked, superheroes are punching holes through skyscrapers, energy blasts everywhere, and what do you get on the soundtrack? Not epic orchestral drama, not even a classic 80s banger, but a fairly bland, lo-fi cover of ‘The Middle’ by Jimmy Eat World, crooned by Kelty Greye and KidMotel. Honestly, it lands with a clunk – precisely at the moment the tension should be peaking, suddenly you’re thinking about sixth-form discos. Given producer James Gunn’s track record for absolute barnstorming song choices, you’ve got to wonder how this even happened.

Now, The Hollywood Reporter has let slip a few details from behind the curtain, and as expected there’s more to this than ‘creative vision’. Turns out, the Jimmy Eat World cover wasn’t director Craig Gillespie’s plan at all. Originally, that same sequence was scored with a cover version of ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’. (Yes, Cyndi Lauper’s classic – though get this, they went with a “soulful” reinterpretation instead of the real thing, which, let’s face it, has become the laziest kind of soundtrack trope going.)

But that wasn’t the only thing swapped around after principal photography. The cut that ended up on cinema screens wasn’t even Gillespie’s. His version reportedly clocked in about twelve minutes longer, went deeper on the main villain Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts), and used a completely different set of songs. That last bit stings, since Gillespie’s got a proper knack for pairing visuals and music when he’s allowed full control, nearly on par with Gunn himself.

Here’s the twist: the studio tinkered with Gillespie’s edit, made the changes (not least with those notorious song swaps) and tested different versions on preview audiences. The version they settled on – the one we all got lumbered with in cinemas – apparently scored only slightly better in test screenings. But because it squeaked out ahead, Warner Bros just stuck with it, instead of dragging everyone back into the edit bay.

Bit odd, though – the differences between the two cuts aren’t wildly massive, and Gillespie, by all accounts, didn’t put up a fight for his original material. Still, insiders say the people in charge knew things weren’t shaping up well straight after shooting wrapped, with audience scores about as enthusiastic as those for Shazam! Fury of the Gods, which – let’s be honest – is not what you want associated with your expensive new reboot.

For the completists, here’s what changed in a nutshell:

• Director’s Cut was about 12 minutes longer than what landed in cinemas
• The villain Krem got more backstory and screen time in Gillespie’s original edit
• Major song swaps: Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’ cover replaced with a Jimmy Eat World one, plus a handful of less obvious needle drops removed entirely
• Final studio cut tested only a hair better than Gillespie’s, but enough for execs to stick with it
• The film underwent reshoots in post, and was met with tepid test screening results throughout

Quite a lot of shuffling about, with very little impact on the end result. A bit surprising, but apparently these sorts of eleventh-hour intervention jobs are more routine on big franchise flicks than the studios admit. Makes you wonder what can really be accomplished in the edit once they know a film’s broken – especially when you’ve already spent millions and are scrambling for a halfway decent test score.

The upshot at the box office hasn’t exactly been thrilling. Milly Alcock’s new Supergirl hasn’t had the easiest of landings (despite a little goodwill from original Supergirl Helen Slater, who came out and said some nice things about it). In any case, Alcock will be suiting up again next summer for Man of Tomorrow, alongside the rest of the recast DC gang.

'Should we be clamouring for the Gillespie cut?' Probably only if you’re a completist, honestly.