Universal Sold ‘The Substance' to MUBI After Coralie Fargeat Refused to Change Ending

“The Substance,” one of the year’s best films, has become an indie success, and full credit should go to its visionary director, Coralie Fargeat. However, it turns out that the making of the film was absolutely CHAOTIC. There’s no other word to describe it.

Fargeat recently sat down with Le Point to describe the experience of making this film, and she went on to say that “it was my Apocalypse Now.” Six months of shooting that led to a studio’s attempt at interfering with her vision.

Universal Pictures was originally supposed to distribute the film, but weeks before the Cannes Film Festival screening of ‘Substance,’ the studio stepped away from the project, selling it to MUBI.

Problems with the film began early. Production had to be halted as Ray Liotta, who had already shot several scenes, passed away. Liotta was replaced by Dennis Quaid. Fargeat, who would shoot 20 or 30 takes of the same scene, refused to speed up filming due to the tight schedule, and continued to exude obsessively meticulous attention to every detail, every frame. Moore and Fargeat would go on to have numerous on-set outbursts, according to Le Point.

Multiple sources state that the studio was "worried about the prospect of releasing the film." According to Fargeat, the film encountered significant challenges during post-production, including a contentious test screening attended by “two unnamed male executives and one unnamed female representative from Universal.” Post-production on the film lasted 18 months.

One male executive hated the film so much that he insisted on an extensive recut of not just the whole fillm, but also the “disgusting” ending. The problem was that Fargeat's contract had her getting final cut. Prior to its Cannes debut, MUBI acquired worldwide rights to the film for $12.5 million.

“The Substance” went on to win a prize at Cannes, critical acclaim, and has earned an impressive $70M worldwide. It might even get Moore, and potentially the film, Oscar nominated. Universal clearly made the wrong decision.