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Movie production is a complex process that often takes years of planning and shooting. Afterward, the editing stage begins, where scenes may be cut or reworked to create the final version. At times, the original ending is discarded, altering the entire storyline and how the audience perceives the film.
Here are 10 films that feature endings that were dramatically altered. All of these alternate conclusions were filmed, and we’ve linked to their YouTube clips. One notable exception is The Lion King, where only the storyboard and voice-over are available. Some viewers even argue that these alternate endings improve upon the original, but we’ll let you be the judge.
Warning: Spoilers ahead. We’ll be revealing the endings of all the movies discussed.
10. Titanic (1997)
Titanic tells the story of the tragic sinking of the RMS Titanic. Years later, Rose, a former passenger, recounts her memories to the crew of a salvage ship searching for the ‘Heart of the Ocean,’ a diamond necklace believed to have been on board when the Titanic went down. In the end, it is revealed that Rose had kept the necklace all along, and we witness her throwing it into the sea before going to sleep.
In the original ending, Brock, the captain of the salvage ship, and Elizabeth, Rose's daughter, spot Rose as she attempts to discard the jewel into the ocean. They mistakenly think she intends to leap into the water, and try to stop her. Rose reveals the necklace to their shock and explains that she joined the mission just to return the ‘Heart of the Ocean’ to where it belongs.
As she casts the necklace into the sea, a crew member, frustrated and irritated, exclaims, “That really sucks, lady.” Meanwhile, Brock chuckles and asks Elizabeth if she wants to dance.
9. The Lion King (1994)
In the Disney classic The Lion King, the climax sees Simba battling his treacherous uncle, Scar, atop a flaming rock, vying for control of the jungle. Simba defeats Scar, sparing his life, only for Scar to be killed by his own hyena allies, who are furious at him for misleading them and claiming that they were the true enemies, not Scar.
The movie's ending is quite different from an earlier version where Scar triumphs by throwing Simba off the cliff. Before their confrontation, Scar delivers the line, “Good night, sweet prince,” a reference to Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Simba almost throws Scar over the edge, but Scar begs for mercy, asking for forgiveness, acknowledging Simba’s superiority.
Scar ultimately betrays Simba, tricking him into being thrown off the cliff. However, Scar grows complacent, not realizing the devastating fire raging behind him. The blaze eventually overtakes and kills him.
8. The Terminator 1984
The Terminator marks the beginning of a multi-film and TV series franchise. The story follows the Terminator, a cyborg assassin from the future, known as T-800, who is sent back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, the mother of John Connor, the future leader of the Resistance against a machine-led apocalypse that will unfold in 2029.
Following the Terminator, a human named Kyle Reese, who is sent by John Connor to rescue his mother, enters the scene. The plot unfolds in a puzzling manner when Kyle ends up getting Sarah pregnant, ultimately becoming the father of John, the very person who had sent Kyle back in time to protect Sarah.
In a paradoxical twist, the machines dispatch a cyborg to kill the mother of their adversary, while John Connor sends a man—unaware that he is his father—to defend her. After safeguarding Sarah, the man unintentionally impregnates her, thereby becoming John’s father.
The film becomes even more perplexing when a chip retrieved from the destroyed T-800 is reverse-engineered by Cyberdyne Systems, leading to the creation of Skynet, the very machines responsible for the apocalypse and the original reason the T-800 was sent to the past. In essence, the machines orchestrate their own creation by sending a machine to the past.
The Terminator concludes with Sarah and Kyle managing to destroy the T-800 in a factory. However, a deleted scene shows Sarah being taken away in an ambulance while engineers at the factory uncover the chip, which they later reverse-engineer to create Skynet. A close-up of the factory exterior reveals it is owned by Cyberdyne Systems.
7. First Blood 1982
First Blood marks the beginning of the Rambo series, introducing the troubled character of John Rambo. A war veteran returning from Vietnam, he finds himself homeless and struggling to reintegrate into civilian life. He travels to the hometown of his old friend, Delmar, a fellow Vietnam veteran, only to learn that Delmar has died.
Sheriff Teasle, the local lawman, doesn't want Rambo staying in town and arrests him, subjecting him to brutal treatment. The ordeal brings back painful memories of Vietnam, pushing Rambo into a violent outburst against his captors. As he escapes, Sheriff Teasle vows to capture him, and during the pursuit, one of Teasle's officers falls from a helicopter and dies. Teasle, enraged, holds Rambo responsible and becomes determined to hunt him down.
The film concludes with Rambo cornered in a police station, where his former commander, Colonel Trautman, tries to convince him to surrender. Rambo opens up about the challenges he faces adjusting to civilian life before ultimately giving in, being arrested and taken away.
In an alternative version of the ending, Rambo pleads with Colonel Trautman to end his life. However, the colonel refuses. Rambo then places the gun in his commander's hand and aims it at himself. As the colonel attempts to avert the weapon, it goes off accidentally, with Rambo seemingly ready to meet his end.
This alternate ending was conceived by Sylvester Stallone, who both starred as Rambo and co-wrote the screenplay. After test screenings, audiences expressed their empathy for Rambo, not wanting to see him die. As a result, the filmmakers chose to use the more hopeful ending in which Rambo is arrested and taken away instead.
6. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day serves as the follow-up to The Terminator. In this sequel, the T-800, the same machine that attempted to kill John in the first film, is reprogrammed for a new mission. This time, it is sent from the future to safeguard 10-year-old John from the deadly T-1000, a more advanced machine sent to eliminate him.
The film concludes with Judgment Day delayed. In the following sequel, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, the machines initiate the long-foretold apocalypse.
In the initial planned ending for Terminator 2, the anticipated Judgment Day, originally set to occur in 1997, is permanently prevented. The film wraps up in 2027, where John has become a senator and now has a daughter.
A now elderly Sarah reflects on her life, recording a message that explains how humanity remains blissfully unaware of the averted catastrophe. People go about their daily lives, laughing, complaining, and loving. Although she wished to urge them to cherish every moment, she admits to getting drunk instead.
5. Clerks (1994)
Clerks, the indie film from 1994 that made waves with its black-and-white aesthetic, tells the story of Dante and Randal, two young men working at neighboring shops. Dante, who enjoys interacting with customers, finds his focus divided by his troubled relationship with his girlfriend Veronica and his unresolved feelings toward an ex, Caitlyn. Randal, in contrast, despises his job and is quick to abandon his duties whenever possible.
The film concludes with Dante and Randal locking up their stores, with Dante deciding to reconcile with Veronica the next day. However, an alternative ending that almost made the cut features a robber entering the store, shooting Dante, and robbing the cash register before fleeing.
This dark ending was met with criticism, as it seemed out of place with the light-hearted, comedic tone of the rest of the film. Clerks was never meant to conclude with a shocking murder, given its focus on the mundane lives of regular people.
Brian O'Halloran, the actor who portrayed Dante, openly disliked this ending, feeling it disrupted the film's tone. Director Kevin Smith initially planned this violent conclusion due to uncertainty about how to wrap up the story, but after receiving negative feedback, he chose to revise it.
4. Fatal Attraction (1987)
Fatal Attraction centers on Alex Forrest, a woman who becomes dangerously infatuated with Dan Gallagher, a married man with a young daughter, Ellen, and a wife, Beth. After an affair during a business trip while Beth and Ellen visit Beth’s parents, Alex falls for Dan, but he does not feel the same. Her obsession grows, leading her to stalk, threaten, and confront him aggressively.
The film concludes in a tragic confrontation, where Alex appears in the Gallagher home and tries to kill Beth in the bathroom. Dan intervenes, drowning Alex in the bathtub. But, as she rises from the water, seemingly alive, Beth shoots her dead. This dramatic and suspenseful ending was not the original conclusion planned for the film.
In the film's original ending, Alex dies by suicide, slitting her throat with a knife. Dan’s fingerprints are left on the weapon after he had previously handled it, leading to suspicion that he may be the one responsible for her death, which was Alex's twisted plan all along.
Dan is arrested and faces fingerprinting, but the truth may be uncovered when Beth finds an audio recording in Dan's drawer in which Alex threatens to take her own life. The recording likely would have cleared Dan, but the test audience disliked this resolution, prompting a reshoot of the film’s finale.
The bunny, however, wasn't as fortunate. It met its end in both versions.
3. Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995)
Die Hard with a Vengeance is the third installment in the Die Hard franchise. The antagonist, Simon, forces NYPD Lieutenant John McClane to undertake perilous missions by threatening to blow up bombs in populated locations unless McClane follows his orders.
As the authorities, including the FBI, eventually discover, Simon’s true goal is to keep them occupied with his bomb threats while he executes a heist to steal gold bullion from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The film concludes with McClane tracking Simon down and killing him in a helicopter crash as Simon attempts to flee.
In an alternate ending, McClane corners Simon in a European village, placing a Chinese rocket launcher on a table between them. He forces Simon to answer riddles, with the launcher positioned in such a way that neither man can tell which end is aimed at whom. The directional arrows and sights have been removed, making it impossible to know which way the weapon will fire.
McClane then forces Simon into a deadly game of Russian roulette. During the tense game, Simon shifts the position of the rocket launcher while answering the riddles.
Simon answers the final riddle incorrectly, and McClane, now holding him at gunpoint, compels Simon to pull the trigger on the launcher. Unfortunately for Simon, the projectile pierces through his chest. Had the launcher been aimed the other way, the missile would have been fired toward McClane, though he likely would have survived, thanks to his flak jacket.
2. 2012 (2009)
2012 portrays the fictional end-of-world scenario set for December 2012, based on the ancient Maya prophecy. The story follows two men, Adrian and Jackson, who each realize that the world is about to end. Jackson strives to protect his family from the impending disaster, while Adrian alerts the White House, only to learn that the US and other G8 nations were already aware of the situation.
In reality, the G8 had made secret arrangements with China to build nine enormous arks, each capable of housing 100,000 people. The arks are meant to save the G8 members and the wealthy elite who can afford the billion-euro tickets. Meanwhile, the general public remains unaware of the catastrophe, and anyone who tries to warn them—including government officials and scientists—ends up dead under mysterious circumstances.
By the end of the film, the global landscape has drastically shifted. Mount Everest is no longer the tallest mountain on Earth, and all continents except for Africa are submerged beneath the ocean. The calendar has also been reset to the year 0001.
In the original ending, Adrian is aboard an ark when he receives a call from his father, Harry. It turns out that Harry, along with some others, survived the massive tsunami and is stranded on an island. However, director Roland Emmerich decided to cut this scene, deeming it too unrealistic.
1. I Am Legend (2007)
I Am Legend revolves around a man-made virus that mutates and turns infected humans into strange, monster-like creatures that perish when exposed to sunlight. Will Smith portrays Dr. Robert Neville, who remains uninfected and seeks a cure while defending himself from the mutants who either want to infect him or kill him.
Along his journey, Neville captures an infected woman in an attempt to find a cure. This leads the leader of the creatures—desperate to reclaim the female at any cost—to target Neville in a final confrontation.
In the final moments of the movie, Neville, unaware that the mutant leader is solely interested in the female, is joined by two others—a woman named Anna and her son, Ethan. Both of them have also survived the virus and are heading toward a safe haven for the uninfected.
The creatures have managed to invade Neville’s laboratory, where the infected female is being kept. The leader of the mutants keeps slamming himself against the reinforced glass door, attempting to break through.
Neville takes a blood sample from the mutant female, who is beginning to resemble a more human form, and gives it to Anna, claiming that it is the cure. He then locks Anna and Ethan in a coal chute and grabs a grenade.
Just as the mutant leader breaks through, Neville detonates the grenade, killing himself, the leader, and all the other mutants in the area. The final shot shows Anna and Ethan reaching the uninfected colony, where she hands the vial to a person believed to be a scientist.
In the original ending, which was not made public, the leader of the infected fails to break in. In response, he draws a butterfly on the glass. Neville inspects the captured female and notices she has a butterfly tattoo.
Neville comes to the realization that the mutant leader is only interested in the infected female, not him. He instructs Anna to unlock the door, allowing him to wheel the female toward her leader, who then takes her away. The movie concludes with Neville, Alice, and Ethan leaving the town together.
