Editing Men in Black (1997 film) (section)

===Filming===
[[File:Brooklyn battery tunnel building.jpg|thumb|right|The Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel ventilation building in New York, which was used as the setting for MIB headquarters]]
[[Principal photography]] began in March 1996. Many last-minute changes ensued during production. First, the scene where James Edwards was chasing a disguised alien was to be filmed at [[Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts|Lincoln Center]], but the [[New York Philharmonic]] decided to charge the filmmakers for using their buildings, prompting Sonnenfeld to film the scene at the [[Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum]] instead. Then, five months into the shoot, Sonnenfeld decided that the original ending, with a humorous [[Existentialism|existential]] debate between Agent J and the Bug, was unexciting and lacking the action that the rest of the film had.<ref name=met>"Metamorphosis of 'Men in Black'", ''Men in Black'' Blu-ray</ref> Five potential replacements were discussed. One of these had Laurel Weaver being neuralyzed and K remaining an agent.<ref name=hughes/> Eventually it boiled down to the Bug eating K and fighting J, replacing the [[animatronic]] Bug [[Rick Baker (makeup artist)|Rick Baker]]'s crew had developed with a [[Computer-generated imagery|computer-generated]] Bug with an appearance closer to a cockroach. The whole action sequence cost an extra $4.5 million to the filmmakers.<ref name=met/>

Further changes were made during post-production to simplify the plotline involving the possession of the tiny galaxy. The Arquillians would hand over the galaxy to the Baltians, ending a long war. The Bugs need to feed on the casualties and steal the galaxy in order to continue the war. Through changing of subtitles, the images on M.I.B.'s main computer and Frank the Pug's dialogue, the Baltians were eliminated from the plot. Earth goes from being potentially destroyed in the crossfire between the two races into being possibly destroyed by the Arquillians themselves to prevent the Bugs from getting the galaxy.<ref name=hughes/> These changes to the plot were carried out when only two weeks remained in the film's post-production, but the film's novelization still contains the Baltians.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aintitcool.com/node/55992|title=Things Get A Bit Heated Between The Infamous Billy The Kidd And Director Barry Sonnenfeld When They Talk MEN IN BLACK 3|author=Donnelly, Billy|website=[[Ain't It Cool News]]|date=May 25, 2012|access-date=May 25, 2012|archive-date=May 27, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527125445/http://www.aintitcool.com/node/55992|url-status=live}}</ref>