In Tinseltown, every movie has to go through several rounds of edits and cuts before it makes it to a mass audience. And though, for the most part, this process results in little more than a line or two of deleted dialogue, sometimes, the team behind a major motion picture will reshoot the ending until their art conveys another message entirely. (Just consider, for instance, that Clerks—yes, the comedy—almost ended in one of the main characters getting murdered.)
Curious to find out which of your favorite happy-go-lucky flicks were almost sad stories? Keep reading to learn about some of the alternate movie endings that could've changed movie history as you know it.
1 | Clerks
Image via Wikimedia CommonsOriginally, director Kevin Smith intended for the main character of Clerks, Dante Hicks, to die at the end of the film after a struggle with a robber who held up the convenience store where he worked. But while Smith liked the direction of the film, Brian O'Halloran, who played Hicks, thought that the ending was too out of place in the film.
"I hated that ending. I just thought it was too quick of a twist," O'Halloran told Rolling Stone. As it turns out, this sentiment was felt by many people, prompting Smith to end the film at the point right before Hicks is murdered.
2 | Lethal Weapon
Richard Donner's Lethal Weapon might be an action film, but it really centers around the beautiful friendship between cops Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh. By the end of the film, the two cops realize that they've formed a lifelong bond, and we see a formerly suicidal Riggs spend the holidays with Murtaugh's family in a truly touching ending.
However, Lethal Weapon didn't always end with a happily ever after. In the film's alternate ending, Murtaugh talks about quitting the force, Riggs calls Murtaugh old, and the two acquaintances part ways forever. Yes, the film world was almost robbed of one of the greatest franchises in history—but thankfully, Donner saw the light before it was too late.
3 | Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Image via Wikimedia CommonsButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid's original finale featured a small change that would have left the audience with a slightly darker message. In the known version of the film, Paul Newman and Robert Redford leave the house with a vengeance, and although the audience hears the gunfire and can rightfully assuming that a fight to the death is occurring, they never actually see what is taking place. However, in the original version, the pair test their acting chops in a cinematic and gruesome death scene, leaving nothing to the imagination.
4 | Pretty Woman
What happens when you take away a triumphantly happy ending from a movie that desperately calls for one? Well, for one, you get an incredibly unhappy group of moviegoers. Unsurprisingly, the first viewers of this original ending of Pretty Womanweren't happy about the original ending, which witnessed the two main characters, played by Richard Gere and Julia Roberts, simply completing the transaction—without falling in love or the climbing of any fire escapes.
5 | Heathers
IMDB/New World PicturesFor those of you who may have not been a fan of the original happy ending of Heathers, you can rest assured knowing that director Michael Lehmann didn't originally intend to make the ending all sunshine and rainbows—but instead to capture the more sinister essence that the film was building to since the opening credits. In just one of the alternate endings, the entire school is blown to pieces, and the movie closes with a shot of the prom taking place in heaven.
6 | Dawn of the Dead
In this zombie classic, director George A. Romero originally intended for the ending of Dawn of the Dead to be just a bit more hopeful, with the main characters flying away to an uncertain future amidst a zombie takeover. In the alternate version, however, the three survivors each kill themselves in a series of gory acts before the impending crush of zombies surround them. So, while the original isn't a happy ending exactly, the alternate option would have been even more horrifying.
7 | Dodgeball
Image via Wikimedia CommonsThough it may seem strange to consider a depressing end to this feel-good movie, underdogs are underdogs for a reason—meaning that there will eventually come a time when they are beaten by the true champion. So it should come as no surprise that underdog Peter lost to White in the alternate version of this film—though it was inevitably changed to appeal to the audience of underdogs (aren't we all) that would be contributing to its box office numbers.
8 | True Romance
As it turns out, young writer Quentin Tarantino was overruled by director Tony Scott when it came time to pick which ending they would ultimately use to sum up of the tragic story of the lawless Alabama and Clarence. If Tarantino had gotten his way, the movie would have ended with Clarence succumbing to a gunshot wound and his love, Alabama, hitchhiking to Mexico and wondering about all that could have been if they had both made it out alive.
9 | 28 Days Later
Image via Wikimedia Commons
