Warning: This article discusses topics of suicide and extreme violence.
Alternate movie endings present audiences with a fascinating take on the climax of their favorite titles, but some are better than their original cut. A new and different take on a story’s conclusion has the potential to go either way. Some alternate movie endings thankfully never happen and are completely removed before the film’s release, whereas others are widely considered to be significantly more powerful or fitting.
A film having another ending isn’t a bad thing, however. Some of the best movies of all time have included an alternate conclusion in DVD extras or as part of an anniversary re-release. Even certain TV shows have different or additional final moments for viewers to dwell on. While these alternate movie endings aren’t generally considered canon, they offer a far better resolution than their theatrical cuts.
10 Jim Dies
28 Days Later (2003)
The ending of 28 Days Later is open-ended and leaves Jim’s fate open to interpretation, although it is generally considered to be a relatively hopeful climax. After West shoots Jim in the chest, Selena rushes to perform an emergency surgery on him in the abandoned and empty hospital, where she astonishingly manages to save him. When he wakes, Jim joins Selena and Hannah in holding up a banner to try to catch the attention of the skies, hoping to be rescued from a world plagued by 28 Days Later’s “infected.”
The alternative ending is far more morbid, but it fits the tone of the film much better. Jim dies on the operating table, and Hannah and Selena walk out of the hospital, arm in arm. The two women’s futures are left unclear, and it’s not obvious whether the pair’s exit is implying their survival or if they’re giving up and walking to their deaths. However, this ambiguity matches the theme of the apocalyptic movie beautifully, and the lack of a happy ending makes a lot of sense, but perhaps this is something that the upcoming 28 Years Later will revisit.
9 The Coda Ending
The Godfather Part III (1990)
The 30th anniversary recut of The Godfather Part III by Francis Ford Coppola has several interesting changes, but the most significant is how it ends. In the original version, the final scenes of the movie focus on Michael’s grief over Mary’s death. In a quite heartfelt montage, Michael dances with her, Apollonia, and Kay, which serves as his reflection of the three most important women in his life. Then, while alone, an elderly Michael collapses and dies. However, in Coppola’s third version of the film, entitled The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone, these last few moments are altered.
The Coda cut removes Michael’s death altogether and instead fades to black, with him dancing with only Mary. Although this moment does take away from the profound scene in the original, which also allows audiences to have a better understanding of the deep relationships he has with each woman, it does make Mary’s demise even more impactful. Michael’s heart-wrenching screams over Mary are gripping, and she deserves to receive the viewers’ full attention. The title card that translates “ for long life ” in Sicilian before fading to black is a subtle moment, but it’s even more emotional than the original’s ending.
8 Alex Frames Dan And Commits Suicide
Fatal Attraction (1987)
Fatal Attraction is a 1987 thriller movie that looks at just how disastrous an extra-martial affair can be, and this message plays into the ending massively. In the official ending of Fatal Attraction, Dan returns home to Beth under the assumption that he has killed Alex. However, in a shocking twist, Alex pops up in their apartment, is almost drowned by Dan, and is then finally shot by Beth. While this is an undoubtedly stunning and unexpected ending, especially as it would make more sense for Dan to kill Alex instead, Director Adrian Lyne’s original ending is even more shocking.
Rather than the showdown between the three of them, Alex slits her own throat, and the movie establishes that she frames Dan in a jealous rage and revenge for all the heartbreak he puts her through. However, Beth finds a cassette containing proof that Alex threatened suicide and proves her husband’s innocence. This is a harrowing moment, and while it paints Dan as a victim and Alex as a sociopath, it also doubles down on the film’s premise. It highlights how fragile people’s feelings are and reaffirms Fatal Attraction as one of the best thriller movies of all time.
7 Neville Seeks Out The Survivors
I Am Legend (2007)
Will Smith’s I Am Legend has a notable movie ending that sees the main character sacrifice himself. Neville lets off a grenade that brutally destroys the Darkeekers, but it kills him in the process, leaving Anna and Ethan to deliver the cure to the survivor’s camp. The final moments of I Am Legend are narrated by Anna, who speaks about Neville’s efforts to save the human race. However, the alternate ending to the 2007 film changes this and instead stays true to the original 1954 novel of the same name by Richard Matheson.
I Am Legend’s alternate ending is a far more fitting finale for Neville. The virologist realizes his mistakes and feels guilt for his past experiments, reflecting on how his work has impacted his current situation. Although the outbreak isn’t directly his fault, he acknowledges that his role in his industry plays into it. Neville joins the survivors and faces his responsibilities. Many consider this ending to villainize Neville, but in reality, it shows his character development and growth. The alternate ending is definitely better, and I Am Legend 2 is rumored to follow this narrative, proving this fact even further.
6 Audrey II Takes Over The World
Little Shop Of Horrors (1986)
Little Shop of Horrors is one of the best musicals of all time, so it makes sense that a movie full of engaging and feel-good music and wacky characters has a happy ending. Seymour’s journey throughout the film and his connection with the baffling, carnivorous plant named Audrey II are brilliant. In the original ending, he saves the human Audrey from Audrey II, destroys the alien fauna, and marries his love. However, a small bud of Audrey II lives in their garden, and this ambiguous theatrical ending implies that this new variation of the plant may be safe.
Little Shop of Horrors’ alternate ending is technically the original, as it follows the same events as its source material. Like the stage performance, Audrey II eats her human counterpart and Seymour before successfully taking over the world. Audrey II destroys every inch of humanity, and despite the US Army’s attempts to stop her, she lunges through the screen at audiences, which is the movie’s final image. While Seymour deserves a satisfying conclusion, Audrey II’s conquest of Earth is a better ending, especially as it includes two cut songs from the Little Shop of Horrors soundtrack.
5 Evan Changes History By Killing Himself As A Baby
The Butterfly Effect (2004)
The Butterfly Effect’s Evan Treborn is easily one of Ashton Kutcher’s best movie roles, a man who can slip into his own past and alter his timeline. In the original ending of The Butterfly Effect, Evan makes the ultimate sacrifice by creating a new reality where his friends’ lives pan out in completely different ways. Most importantly, he upsets Kayleigh during their first meeting, which results in the two never growing up together. Evan closes the door on his past for one last time, burns his journals, and carries on with memories of a life that never happened.
However, the director’s cut of The Butterfly Effect is extremely dramatic and far more thought-provoking. Evan travels all the way back to his birth and strangles himself in the womb with his own umbilical cord. Even though he has little impact on his friends in the original version, their lives somehow become even better without Evan’s existence. While this is a very dark alternate ending, it actually makes more sense because it is foreshadowed. Evan knows that he doesn’t “ belong to this world ,” just as the psychic tells him, so his indirect suicide brings the story full circle.
4 Sarah’s Escape Is Just A Dream
The Descent (2005)
Only the North American release of The Descent misses out on the film’s true ending. The Descent focuses on six women trying to escape a convoluted cave system, away from a group of horrifying cannibals who track them consistently. For most viewers in the US and Canada, The Descent ends with Sarah getting out of the cave and spotting Juno, but the rest of the world experiences her harrowing reality.
The alternate ending, at least for some, serves as a reminder that The Descent is a horror movie. The final minute shows that Sarah’s escape is actually a figment of her imagination, and that she is about to succumb to the same awful fate as her friends. The abrupt jump from Sarah being out in the open to her sudden reappearance in the cave, surrounded by crawlers, is disturbing and unexpected, but it also makes a lot more sense as The Descent’s ending. Even though there is a sequel that follows the “original” ending, many prefer the film’s uncut version.
3 Tree Is Murdered By Stephanie Butler
Happy Death Day (2017)
Happy Death Day is a fascinating take on other time loop movies like Groundhog Day, with college student Tree Gelbman taking center stage. Tree’s wild journey to discover who murders her by repeating the same day time and time again reaches its climax at the end of Happy Death Day, where she discovers that her roommate, Lori, is her killer. However, Happy Death Day’s alternate ending is both very similar and different at the same time.
Lori’s motive is that she is jealous of Tree’s affair with their married professor, Gregory Butler, even though she also has a relationship with him. In the alternate ending, Tree is thrown out the window, wakes up in the hospital, and is faced with Butler’s wife, Stephanie. Stephanie injects her with fatal medication, purely out of spite over her husband cheating on her with Tree. Strangely, this is a better ending because it’s so unexpected. After Tree’s tiresome search for the truth, her conclusion is abrupt and brutal, which fits the tone of the film.
2 Peter Returns For Wendy’s Daughter, Jane
Peter Pan (2003)
Peter Pan’s timeless tale follows the titular character and his relationship with Wendy Darling, but at the end of the story, she returns home to grow up. There are many movie adaptations of Peter Pan, which are based on J.M. Barrie’s works, but the alternate ending to P. J. Hogan’s 2003 interpretation stays true to its source material. In the original climax, Wendy never sees Peter again, but she keeps his spirit alive by recounting her adventures with him to her children.
However, in the alternate ending, Peter returns to Wendy’s London house 20 years after he defeats Hook. The pair argue about Wendy growing up, but in a rather profound scene, Peter discovers her daughter, Jane, and bursts into tears. Jane is thrilled to meet Peter, who is nothing but a story to her until this, and Wendy allows her to fly away with him to Neverland. While this ending wouldn’t work nowadays, it is still better than the original, and Wendy finally getting closure on her time with Peter is a satisfying way of wrapping her story up.
1 Jack Forgets Harry Potter
Yesterday (2019)
Yesterday’s alternate ending is very subtle and doesn’t impact the last moments of the film massively, but it does raise several questions. After Jack gives up his singing career, which allows him to share the Beatles’ music with a world that has forgotten them, he returns to his hometown and marries his childhood friend, Ellie. In Yesterday’s original ending, Jack references Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter, but Ellie doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and he realizes that the Beatles aren’t the only thing from pop culture that’s missing.
In the alternate version, however, Ellie is the one to bring up Harry Potter, and Jack forgets. While this doesn’t initially seem to be significant, it’s a huge shift in Yesterday’s narrative. This moment implies that the strange circumstances that caused the Beatles to vanish from existence are more complex than the film establishes, and it makes audiences wonder if other groups oddly remember forgotten books or movies. In theory, Ellie’s memory of Harry Potter is enough to warrant a sequel to Yesterday.
