Tom Hanks Saved Forrest Gump By Personally Funding An All-Time Classic Scene
In 1994, you couldn't escape "Forrest Gump." The Robert Zemeckis-directed comedy-drama starring Tom Hanks was huge — it hauled in $678.2 million at the worldwide box office, which made it the second-highest-grossing film of '94 (the first-highest grossing film was "The Lion King"). From there, "Forrest Gump" would go on to Oscar glory, winning six Academy Awards — Best Picture, Best Director for Robert Zemeckis, Best Actor for Tom Hanks, Best Adapted Screenplay for Eric Roth, Best Visual Effects, and Best Film Editing for Arthur Schmidt. It was a cultural phenomenon, and TV reruns would eventually make it even more ubiquitous.
The story follows Forrest Gump, a man with an IQ of 75 who somehow stumbles through several major events in American history throughout the 1960s and 70s. This concept allowed Zemeckis to use what was then cutting-edge visual effects that would drop Hanks into historical footage and have him "interacting" with real-life prominent figures like Lyndon Johnson and John Lennon.
While the film was a massive critical and financial hit at the time of release, the years have soured some folks on "Forrest Gump," with many decrying it as cloying and overrated (I remember being a fan of the film when I saw it as a kid, but these days I don't care for it, although I admittedly haven't revisited it in years). Whatever you think of "Forrest Gump," you have to admit that Zemeckis stages several memorable scenes throughout the narrative. As it turns out, one of the film's biggest sequences could've been left out of the movie altogether — if Tom Hanks hadn't stepped in to help finance things.
Tom Hanks saved a Forrest Gump scene
One of the most iconic moments from "Forrest Gump" comes more than halfway through the film, when a heartbroken Forrest starts running ... and running ... and running. According to the film, Forrest spends three years running non-stop across the country. And then one day, he just stops and goes back home. It's a pivotal moment, and a payoff to an early sequence that showcases how fast Forrest runs. But it almost didn't make it into the movie for budgetary reasons. While speaking with Yahoo Movies, Tom Hanks revealed that he had to step in to help finance the sequence.
According to Hanks, "[t]he studio was one day away from pulling the plug." Director Robert Zemeckis then came to Hanks and proposed that he and Hanks split the cost of the big running sequence. Hanks agreed, adding: "And we were 48 hours away from it being shut down. So I'm glad that worked out." In hindsight, it sound crazy that the studio (Paramount in this case) was on the verge of shutting down such a memorable sequence, but of course, they probably weren't predicting that "Forrest Gump" would go on to become such a massive box office hit and Oscar winner.