When mistakes just… become part of the plot.
No movie is perfect and no movie is free of mistakes, because the sheer scale of any Hollywood production makes it impossible for a movie to be released without minor issues related to continuity, etc.
And that’s fine: all but the most glaring errors are ignored or glossed over entirely, and then some are subtly incorporated into the tapestry of the film itself, to the point where they’re functionally canon despite not having been the initial intention.
And so, as a continuation of our previous article on the same topic, here are 10 more movie mistakes that ended up becoming canon.
These 10 mistakes presented some potential problems for the filmmaker steering the ship, but thanks to a little quick thinking, either on set or in post-production, they were able to easily turn a potential negative into a positive.
All of these mistakes went from being foolproof material on the editing room floor to becoming a memorable part of the film, and perhaps even one of its most iconic moments.
If it’s not clear in any way, this list actually just reinforces that filmmaking is, above all, an exercise in high-level problem-solving…
10. The Crowd Becomes Peaceful – A Knight’s Tale
At the beginning of A Knight’s Tale, after William (Heath Ledger) wins his first battle under the guise of the knight “Sir Ulrich,” Geoffrey Chaucer (Paul Bettany) raises his hand in victory and sings his praises, all while the assembled masses fail to react, as, absolutely.
Given that the crowd was booing and cheering throughout the entire fight moments before, it really doesn’t make sense that they suddenly showed no emotion for the winner.
And this is a cleverly concealed mistake. A Knight’s Tale was shot entirely in Prague, Czech Republic, so most of the extras were local Czechs without much knowledge of English.
And so when Paul Bettany was saying his lines, most of the extras had no idea what he was saying, hence their complete lack of reaction.
It was only when Mark Addy, who plays his friend Roland, started cheering loudly out of nowhere that the crowd joined in.
Impressively, it flows completely organically into the final scene, demonstrating how a combination of clever editing and actors thinking on their feet can disguise a sure mistake.
