Making a movie sometimes means making changes to the script. Whether its an adaptation that needs a happier ending or a thriller that needs a dark twist, some of your favorite films had conclusions that wound up on the cutting room floor. Check out these favorite flicks that could have been very different if directors went with the first draft... (Warning: Spoilers ahead!)
Little Shop of Horrors
Seymour has a crush on Audrey, so he names his villainous people eating plant Audrey II. In the end, Audrey II is killed by Seymour, but the original had the roles reversed. Audrey II was supposed to eat Seymour and repopulate across the globe, but test audiences really didn’t like that, so it was reshot and changed.
Dawn of the Dead
This zombie apocalypse film ends with Peter and Francine fleeing in a partly-fueled helicopter. While scary, it’s not the worst ending the film came up with. In one version, Francine and Peter take their own life to escape the wrath of the zombies.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
The movie follows Scott Pilgrim, his teenage girlfriend Knives, and his new crush Romona. He must defeat Ramona’s evil exes in order to date her. Though the final movie shows Scott Pilgrim pursuing Romona with Knives’ blessing, the original script had Scott and Knives ending up together after all! Producers scrapped this idea to stay true to the books.
Pretty in Pink
John Hughes made quite a few classics, Pretty in Pink being one of his most popular. In the film’s conclusion, Andie has to choose between Duckie and Blane. She chooses Blane but was originally supposed to pick Duckie. Instead, she broke his heart, upsetting friend-zoned guys everywhere.
Interstellar
Cooper is trying to save planet Earth from the damaging effects of climate change. In the end, Cooper survives the fifth-dimensional tesseract collapse and tries to go find his elderly daughter on earth. However, the alternate ending has Cooper die in the collapse and his data sent back to his home planet.
Orphan
Once Esther is discovered for not being who she says she is, she attempts to kill the entire family. In a fight with Kate, Esther accidentally drowns in a frozen lake. However, another ending had Kate escaping with her kids, while Esther goes to the police to tell them she’s a missing child. Spooky...
Paranormal Activity
This surprise hit was a big winner at the box office. In the final film, Katie kills her husband and throws him at the camera, but there was a slight difference in the original version. In that, Katie doesn’t toss the body, but instead approaches the camera alone and cuts her throat. Yeah, glad they changed that one…
Seven
A serial killer murders his victims based on which of the seven deadly sins they represent. In the end, the killers put Tracy’s head in a box and David shoots the killer, the perfect plan. The studio pushed for an alternate ending of putting the family dog in the bog instead.
The Shining
In the end, Wendy and Danny escape the hotel of horrors while Jack is left to freeze in the maze. The movie ends with a smiling photo of Jack on the wall, dated 1921. In one version though, the movie continued after this point. Two minutes showed Danny and Wendy in the hospital, but this was seen as overkill and was ultimately cut entirely.
My Best Friend's Wedding
At the end of this film, Julianne’s attempts to wreck the wedding prove futile, and she dances with her friend George at the reception. This conclusion came after complaints came from test audiences. The first ending had her meeting an attractive guest at the wedding, but the audiences didn’t want such a cutesy ending.
Get Out
Jordan Peele’s crazy thriller covered issues like race, social justice, and politics. Though the ending was fairly uplifting, it was originally way different. In the original script, Chris is arrested for the murders inside the family home rather than taking pity on him.
The Birds
At the end of this iconic film, birds swarm into Melanie’s house and dramatically injure her. Mitch wants to take her to the hospital, but they must drive through a bird-filled landscape to reach help. An alternate ending showed the Golden Gate bridge being too overrun with birds to drive over.
Clue
Based on the board game, this murder mystery famously had several possible endings that revealed different killers and victims each time. Audiences never knew which ones the theater would show, but they released three different versions worldwide. They started labeling which ending they’d show once viewers complained about wasting their money.
1408
In this Stephen King adaptation, Mike Enslin stays inside the haunted room in a haunted hotel to prove it’s not haunted. Spoiler alert: it totally is, and he burns the room to the ground and is saved by firefighters. In another version though, Mike died in the fire and joins his deceased daughter in the great beyond.
Donnie Darko
This film follows Donnie Darko’s month-long descent into insanity, ending with the classic “It was all a dream!” shortly before getting killed with a jet engine crashing through his bedroom. If that wasn’t crazy enough, the original cut was even wilder. In that version, Donnie gets fatally impaled with a plane part. It was deemed too graphic and cut.
Fatal Attraction
The film ends when Beth, in an act of self-defense, killing Alex. However, in the first ending, things ended a little differently for the chaotic couple. In the first script, Alex killed herself and framed Dan for her murder. Glenn Close thought this was unlike her character though, and psychologists agreed.
The Lion King
Based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Simba loses his father, moves out, moves back, and defeats his villainous uncle. Scar dies from his hyenas, but in the alternate ending, he is killed by falling into a fire and burning to death. The circle of life used to have a lot more death, yikes...
The Butterfly Effect
In this 2004 classic, Ashton Kutcher goes back in time to help prevent trauma in his life as well as his loved ones. It ends when Kutcher alters his life so he never meets his best friend, saving her from a damaged future. The original script had him going back to kill himself before birth. Dark…
E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial
When an alien named E.T gets stuck on Earth, it’s up to young Elliott to help him get back home. In the end, E.T. says goodbye to his earthling friends before getting onto his spaceship. The original concept included a montage of Elliott’s life after E.T., but this was scrapped.
Titanic
This famous love story follows Jack and Rose falling for each other before the ship sinks. The film ends with jack dying to save Rose (even though they both could have fit on that door!) and an old Rose tossing the necklace into the sea. However, she was supposed to give a long, rambling monologue about the gift of life. Yeah...that got cut.
X-Men: The Last Stand
Two endings to the X-Men made it into the final film (Magneto regaining his powers and Professor X returning), but there were more ideas cut from the film. For instance, Beast joins Storm at the top of the ranks, Rogue returning with powers, and Logan returning to Canada. However, these were all deemed pointless to the plot.
I Am Legend
In this blockbuster, Robert Neville searches for a cure to a mutant disease and searches for apocalypse survivors. In the end, he’s able to give the cure to two survivors but sacrificing himself to the invading mutants. However, one ending had him befriending the mutants and forming a civilized society. Sweet, but nearly as exciting.
Blade Runner
Harrison Ford hated the voiceover for the end of Blade Runner. In the Director’s Cut, the voiceover was removed. Other endings included Gaff chasing Deckard and Rachel as they drive away, Deckard shooting Rachel at her request, and Deckard shooting Rachel because he wanted to. This could have been a very different flick!
National Lampoon's Vacation
The family road trip ends with the team getting to Walley World only to discover that the park is closed. Clark Griswald holds a BB gun to the security guard's face and threatens him to open the park, which he does, and everyone has a blast! In the first version, Clark goes to find Ron Walley instead and threatens him to open the park.
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
In the end, the Death Star explodes, the rebels join the Ewoks in celebration, and Luke sees a vision of spiritual mentors. This ending was unpopular with fans as it was too joyful in comparison to other films in the franchise. The first script might have been better, as it had Han Solo die, with Leia becoming an independent leader.
The Abyss
Alternate endings can shed some more light on a subject, or change everything about a movie. In this James Cameron flick, the aliens take pity once they see Ed Harris sacrifice himself, but the other ending was pretty different. In that rewrite, Ed joins the aliens on the space ship while they lecture him about humanity and say they’ll cure civilization by wiping it out.
A Quiet Place
In this movie, two parents protect their kids from noise predators who track their prey using sound. In the end of the film, Evelyn successfully defeats a monster, ending the terror. Though very scary, Krasinski originally had hoped to have a more violent and gruesome ending, but ultimately decided against it.
Rocky
Rocky Balboa is a Philadelphia legend and the boxing protege of Apollo Creed. In the movie, he survives 15 rounds in the ring. In another version, Rocky accepts a bribe to throw the fight and helps Adrian open a pet store. Cute, but not what the people wanted to see.
Alien
Ellen Ripley escapes Nostromo in a pod but is unaware that an alien had snuck onboard. In the end, she overpowers the alien and returns to earth. In another version, Ellen is killed and the alien mimics her voice to infiltrate earth. Luckily that dark ending was swapped out!
Guardians of the Galaxy
This fun-loving sci-fi comedy ends with the gang dancing to the song “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” after saving the universe. Quill opens a gift from his mother, a new mixtape! In another version, it showed Quill’s grandfather waiting for his grandson’s return. It was deemed too sad, and was cut from the finale.
Heathers
This teen drama concludes with the dreamy and scary Jason Dean (JD) exploding in front of the school as a political statement after his murder spree. Veronica then befriends Martha in the final scene of the movie, but the original was way less heartwarming. Martha would have stabbed Veronica while the protagonist screams “My name isn’t Heather!”
Pretty Woman
Sex worker Vivian Ward woos businessman Edward Lewis after he hires her for a weekend. Though they fall in love, the original script was way more depressing. In that version, Vivian returns to the streets and Edward returns to a lonely life. Rom-com lovers everywhere are grateful for the change!
The Princess Diaries
Mia Thermopolis didn’t ask for the Princess's life, the princess life chose her. In the end, Mia decides to stay in line for the royal throne. However, when the director’s daughter was sad that she never got to see the castle, the movie editors added a shot of the big castle to the final cut. Now that’s royal living!
Dr. Strangelove
Dr. Strangelove regains his ability to walk just nuclear bombs across the globe begin exploding. In one version though, this was replaced with...a pie fight? Everyone in the room, President included, gets pied in the face like a bad comedy. Kubrick cut it, and that was probably the best idea.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
At the finale of this classic, Butch and Sundance leave the home and gunfire is heard offscreen. We never see any death, leaving the ending up in the air. In an extended cut, there were visuals attached to the gunfire, showing a very gruesome death scene. That was too gory for the silver screen.
Terminator 2
In the alternate ending for Terminator 2, Sarah Connor is a grandma and her son is a senator. Everything seems perfect… almost too perfect. The studio cut this ending because it didn’t leave any room for a sequel. Dollar signs beat happy endings every time!
Rambo
Rambo had an alternate ending only for those who bought the 2004 DVD. In this alteration, John Rambo takes his own life. This was only for special viewers because it would have been hard to explain all the sequels with this pretty definitive ending.
Clerks
If you thought Clerks ended in a weird way, you’re not alone. Clerks originally ended with Dante getting shot and killed by a robber. The writer just didn’t have any idea how to end it! Directors decided to end the film right before Dante got shot since it was such a sad conclusion to such a great film.
Thelma and Louise
This was a small change with big consequences. In the finalized version, the girls go off the cliff in their car, and the movie ends. In an alternate ending though, the girls are shown being destroyed after this decision and tumbling across the desert floor. Yeah, that was a little too upsetting for viewers.
Gone With the Wind
In the books, Scarlett O'Hara of Tara has a little more restraint. She declares at the end of the book “After all, tomorrow is another day!” but in the movie, she gets a little desperate after Rhett leaves her. She calls out to him “Rhett! Rhett! You’ll come back! I know you will!” A minor but very important difference.
Salt
This film had two alternate endings that would potentially set up sequels for the upcoming franchise. In the end, Peabody releases Salt to hunt down sleeper agents. A cut sequence had the US President getting killed instead of just knocked out, and revealed him to be a sleeper agent.
Hannibal
In one of the weirder endings, Lecter doesn’t get handcuffed by Clarice Starling. Instead, the two unlikely comrades kiss with Lecter creepily licking Starling’s lips. The two then escape together. Unsurprisingly, this wasn’t very popular with viewers.
2012
The finished picture had a nice, happy ending. Yeah, that’s wasn’t supposed to happen. Instead of sailing into the sunset, the movie ended once with Africa surviving the apocalypse. The world elite build the ark and take over.
Sweet Home Alabama
At the end of this heartwarming Southern rom-com, Reese Witherspoon declares her affection for her first love from the small town and the two kiss. What was in the works before though was Reese’s death, except it was all a joke? The ending didn’t make sense to anyone so it was, thankfully, rewritten.
Dodgeball
Though Dodgeball ended just how we all wanted it to, with the Average Joes taking home the gold, it almost had a much darker twist. In the first script, at the last second, the Globogym guys win thanks to White Goodman. No wrap-up, it cut straight to credits!
The Bourne Identity
Jason Bourne could have had a nice, normal, happy life with his beloved Marie. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened in the final flick. Execs decided to give the guy one more tragedy, sorry Marie! there was also a version that made the whole movie a giant flashback, but this was obviously scrapped. A little too cliche for 2000s audiences, plus it didn't pave the road for any sequels.
Pineapple Express
Pineapple Express ends with the two heroes escaping with their lives and taking down the criminals, but in a filmed alternate ending, things didn’t turn out so well. Seth Rogan and James Franco are sitting on barrels smoking when Seth points off-screen and says “Is that a bad guy?” Then they both get shot multiple times, ending the movie on a downer. Certainly not the ending audiences expected or wanted!
True Romance
Christian Slater is shot in the face in the final showdown. He’s then found by his girlfriend and taken to safety, but that wasn’t the initial version. In Tarantino’s first draft, Slater dies after the shot, but Slater wanted a better ending for his character.
Election
Since this one is based on a novel, it makes sense that things would change from the original plot. In the book, Tracy leaves Nebraska to work in politics, McAllister ends up as a guide at the Museum of Natural History. McAllister also ignores Tracey when she tours the New York City location.
Die Hard With a Vengence
We find out that Simon Gruber is in the deep depths of Hungary, not dead like audiences assumed after the shootout. He would have then forced Simon to play Russian roulette. Bruce Willis would have won, revealed a bulletproof vest, and then killed Simon. Very off from the rest of the franchise.
The Descent
In the finished flick, Sarah escapes, except she doesn’t, because she realizes it’s a hallucination and she’s still underground. In the US version though, Sarah makes it out. This was also made the official ending in Descent 2, so both are technically alternate endings!
28 Days Later
This zombie film almost had a bleak ending. The girls are rescued from the cottage, with Jimmy nowhere to be found. In what is called the “Radical Alternative Ending” the film shoes Frank infected and they never visit the soldier’s house. Instead, they attempt a blood transfusion on Frank and Jim sacrifices himself to the virus.
Brazil
The ending of this Terry Gillam film caused tension between him and studios. In the finale, Sam escapes the Ministry with the power of flight and ending the film on a positive note. In Gillam’s perfect world, the movie would have ended with Sam escaping in a hallucination. He rots in the chair at the Ministry.
Army of Darkness
In the US release, Ash survives the Deadites and returns to S-Mart to kill one more demon. In the international release though, Ash takes a potion that lets him sleep for a century. He accidentally takes too much and wakes up in a world overrun by Deadites. He screams as the screen fades to black.
Internal Affairs
The audience joins the fun in this Hong Kong crime thriller. Andy walks away guilt-free from his crimes of murder and being a mole, leaving the audience to think over their own morals. In a version with censors though, Lau is caught and arrested, so the bad guy doesn’t get off scot-free!
Suspicion
In this Hitchcock favorite, Cary Grant originally was the killer all along. However, agents didn’t want Grant’s perfect hero image to be tainted, so there was a happier ending written without him as the villain. Hitchcock complained about this choice for many years after the release.
Game of Death
Production was tough with this flick, but they did get a few other endings out of these problems. When Bruce Lee died mid-filming, the movie had to be pieced together with what they had. Internationally, Lee defeats Dr. Land and saves Anne. In another conclusion, an ambulance takes away Dr. Land and Lee is arrested.
Boiler Room
The climax of this picture is when the FBI raid Seth’s firm, but he manages to avoid prosecution. He also saves his client and Vin Diesel's character. In another darker ending, Harry plans revenge on the firm, conspiring to shoot Seth in his offices. However, once Seth helps him pick up a dropped item, he spares him.
In the Mood for Love
Chow is heartbroken when she goes to visit Angkor Wat and lay the affair with Su Li-zhen to rest. Their goodbye is unresolved and uncomfortable, truly sad in every way. In a scrapped version, Chow sees Su Li-zhen by accident. This didn’t really add anything to either character though, so it was cut entirely.
Ronin
The original ending shows Sam and Vincent talking in a cafe while listening to a radio announces peace. Sam leaves without Deidre after she stands him up, but the other conclusion had her showing up to meet him. Unfortunately, she’s kidnapped by the IRA before Sam can see her. Spooky…
Tsotsi
The lead ends this film with his hands up, surrendering the kidnapped baby to the police. In another ending, Tsotsi is shot by the police officer and uses the mayhem as a cover to escape. The director wanted the audience to talk a lot about the film and thought an ambiguous ending would garner more attention and conversation.