History Main / MidDevelopmentGenreShift

[[folder: Theatre ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

** ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'' was originally conceived as ''Dream'', a 2D UsefulNotes/SuperNintendo RPG with human characters rather than a 3D FunnyAnimal platformer.
** ''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'' was originally to be an on-rails light-gun shooter like ''VideoGame/LethalEnforcers'' or ''VideoGame/VirtuaCop''. Before that it would have been a pre-rendered 2D platformer, like ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' but with guns. The unrelated UsefulNotes/GameBoy James Bond game is much closer to this design.
** ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'' was originally just another generic kiddie platformer before they retooled it into the rude, crude, offensively over-the-top game everyone knows and loves in order to make it stand out from other Creator/{{Rare}} and UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 games. This was ''after'' the tie-in Game Boy game, which really was as saccharine as Conker was intended to be, had been released as well.

* When Creator/IdSoftware first described their concept for ''VideoGame/QuakeI'', it was a MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame (before ''VideoGame/EverQuest'' made the genre mainstream) with characters taking control of Norse-inspired warriors armed with hammers. At some point they scaled their ambition way down to just producing another FirstPersonShooter.

* ''Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes'' started as a standalone horror with a premise [[RippedFromTheHeadlines inspired by reports]] of people raising chimps as pets and being mauled by them when they reach adulthood. After completing the first draft, however, the writers realized that the script could easily be turned into a {{prequel}} for ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes'', and once Creator/{{FOX}} accepted their offer, they rewrote it as more of an adventure-drama, with a heroic UpliftedAnimal as the lead instead of the antagonist, and multiple references to the ''Apes'' franchise.

* ''Manga/YuGiOh'' was originally intended to be a straight-up dark fantasy manga focused on games in general, before the card game that was introduced took off in popularity and quickly proved to be [[CashCowFranchise cash cow]], which caused the manga to become the card battle series it's recognized as today.

* ''Manga/YuGiOh'' was originally intended to be a straight-up dark fantasy manga, before transitioning to the game/card battle series it's recognized as.

* ''Sally'' was always going to be a musical comedy about a HeartwarmingOrphan, but the story was completely different when Guy Bolton and Creator/PGWodehouse wrote their early drafts of it (only a few fragments of which have survived). ''The Little Thing'', as it was titled before it was sold to producer Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. as a contemporary Cinderella story, instead portrayed Sally as a [[MrImagination Miss Imagination]] type, with most of the plot taking place in fantasy sequences.

* ''Film/{{Evolution}}'' was going to be a serious sci-fi movie but became a sci-fi comedy.

* According to [[http://www.1up.com/news/super-mario-bros-25th-miyamoto 1up]][[note]]translated from an interview in Famitsu[[/note]], the NES version of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' was going to be a shoot-em-up platformer, and Mario was going to carry guns, [[http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/mario25th/4/0 like the beam gun]] similar to those in ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' and a rifle. [[HilariousInHindsight Also, he was going to]] [[VideoGame/SuperMario64 punch and kick enemies while empty-handed]], [[VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld ride on clouds]] (which were previously {{r|idingTheBomb}}ockets in earlier development) and fire at enemies in cloud drive-bys that would soon become [[BonusStage bonus coin stages]]. Also, the "jump button" was going to be "up" on the Control Pad, leaving the "A" button open for attacks.

* Creator/TommyWiseau originally wrote ''Film/TheRoom'' as a play. The title comes from the intent that it would only take place in one room. He supposedly then adapted the play into a 500-page book, which he was unable to get published.

* ''WesternAnimation/PlanetSheen'' was intended to be more serious and dramatic, but it ended up becoming even DenserAndWackier than ''WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutron''.

* ''Fanfic/{{Paradoxus}}'' (''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'', ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''): Since it's a fanfic, its development and "airing" phases are mixed, but it has been retooled several times which resulted in profound changes in its plot, tone, and characters. In the beginning, ''Paradoxus'' was an upbeat and rather generic NextGenFic with shared elements of both ''Winx Club'' and ''World of Warcraft''. Now it's DarkerAndEdgier, BloodierAndGorier, and a DeconstructionFic of how young fairies will fare with being put in charge of saving the magical dimension and dealing with the ensuing psychological trauma.

* ''Film/{{Zombieland}}'' was originally intended as a TV series, with a pilot script shopped around from as early as 2005 before its creators decided to make a standalone film. One particular gag in the film of the "Zombie Kill of the Week" is very clearly a holdover from the idea of ''Zombieland'' being an episodic series.

* ''Film/{{Zombieland}}'' was originally intended as a TV series.

->'''[=BoJack=]:''' Come on, guys, this is ridiculous - is this even a movie anymore?\\

* Creator/JohannesBrahms's Piano Concerto in D minor, Op. 15, was originally sketched as a sonata for two pianos.

[[folder: Anime And Manga ]]

* ''WebAnimation/TurnaboutStorm'' started out as a written fanfiction, but as it progressed evolved to an attempt at a game in order to be able to put music in it, then to a radio play, and finally to it settled with ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'' game-walkthrough-like videos so visual elements could be added.

[[folder: Film -- Animation]]

[[folder: Film -- Live Action]]

* ''Film/TheCannonballRun'' was originally a serious action film starring Creator/SteveMcQueenActor. Upon [=McQueen=]'s death, it became a Creator/BurtReynolds comedy.

* ''Toobin'' was originally in development as a kayaking game, with a kayak paddle controller based on the flight stick from the ''Star Wars'' UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame. The development team eventually decided the controls weren't intuitive and the gameplay wasn't fun enough.

* ''Film/HolidayInn'' was originally proposed by Music/IrvingBerlin as a plotless stage revue.

* According to legend, Creator/StevenSpielberg considered making ''Film/NineteenFortyOne'' a musical.

* ''Series/TwentyFour'' was originally conceived as a domestic comedy about a family preparing for a wedding. Seriously.