Changed film endings

With the huge expense involved, you'd be forgiven for thinking that a film's script was so fine tuned before shooting that everyone involved would know exactly how the finished product would turn out.

However, some of Hollywood's biggest movies have been changed completely once initial filming has finished - whether it's due to studio heads having second thoughts about that dark ending they promised the director, test audiences hating the finale or a filmmaker not entirely sure how their movie is going to conclude, shooting several alternative endings.

Below are some movies that had their endings dramatically changed. Warning — massive spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the films…

I Am Legend
The end of Will Smith's apocalyptic blockbuster sees his character Robert Neville sacrificing himself to ensure his companions get the cure for a deadly virus that has plagued the world. As endings go for a Will Smith action blockbuster it's darker than usual and not the feelgood one studio bosses would have preferred to give their audience. However, it's the ending that was suggested after the original denouement received negative feedback at test screenings.

The original climax, aping the message from the classic book that it was based on, had Neville realising at the end that he was in fact the problem. The 'vampires' had been trying to rescue the creature that he had kidnapped earlier in a bid to find a cure. Will Smith as the bad guy. Not very satisfying for his fans.

Dawn of the Dead
Dubbed the suicide ending, George Romero's original conclusion for the zombie classic had one of the main characters killing himself rather than being one of the undead. The climax also saw the female character decapitate herself on the helicopter blades. All very depressing indeed. Instead, the studio decided to go with an altogether happier ending, which sees them escape from the army of undead.

Blade Runner
Ridley Scott's sci-fi noir originally aimed for a bittersweet ending — tempered with the ambiguous idea that Harrison Ford's Rick Deckard was in fact an android. Studio bosses, however, were aghast that their sci-fi blockbuster was devoid of breezy Han Solo type adventure, and decided to retool the film's ending — seeing Deckard ride off into the proverbial sunset with android Rachael (The original had Deckard harbouring the renegade android despite her not having long to live). Bosses also demanded that the star provide a voiceover to paper over confusing parts in the film — prompting a clearly unamused Ford to give one of the blandest voiceovers ever recorded.

Little Shop of Horrors
The wacky musical's 23 minute ending was re-shot after test audiences were horrified to see the main character Seymour, played by Rick Moranis, eaten by his vicious plant — before said plant goes on a rampage across New York. A satirical ending it may have been, but it failed to impress the original audiences. Hence the re-shooting, which climaxed with Seymour killing the plant. Director Frank Oz and Moranis preferred the original, which was the one seen in the off-Broadway play the film was based on.

Clerks
Kevin Smith's cult slacker classic focused on the exploits of convenience store worker Dante. Packed with droll one-liners, 'Star Wars' monologues and sex jokes, 'Clerks' was a low-key indie joy. No surprise then that the original ending of Dante being killed during an armed robbery was quickly jettisoned after it was deemed too miserable.

Fatal Attraction
While audiences in Japan were treated to an ending where Glen Close's bunny boiler character commits suicide in a bid to frame the adulterer played by Michael Douglas, US test audiences ensured we got the alternative one — where Close goes on a psychotic rage in his house before she gets shot in the chest. Close was initially reluctant to shoot the new ending as she believed her character's fragile mental state would have resulted in her committing suicide. Her opinion may have been backed by psychiatrists, but meant little to the film's bosses - eager to appease the popcorn-eating masses.

Dodgeball
As inspired as it was, the original ending was never going to work for a mainstream audience. Instead of the underdog Average Joes proving victorious over Ben Stiller's team, the original ending saw them lose. And in spectacular fashion too as triumphant music blares while Stiller and his evil cohorts are shown enjoying their victory in heroic slow motion. It's a fantastically out there ending (and would probably have been the most original thing in the movie), but it's understandably too jarring — hence the more crowd-pleasing finale instead, much to Vince Vaughn's displeasure.

Pretty Woman
Probably one of the most feelgood endings of all time — Richard Gere's smooth businessman winning back Julia Robert's escort character with a grand dramatic gesture — opera music, roses, you know, the usual.

And there you have it, a feelgood prostitute movie — who would have thought it? However, the original script was far darker, and ended with Robert's prostitute going back to the streets after she is kicked out of the businessman's home. In fact, several versions were filmed, with the 'Cinderella' ending eventually being chosen - and all subsequent drug use references being cut out. Director Gary Marshall remembers, "The dark ending was quite good, but that's not what Disney wanted to make. They brought me in to give it a prettier ending."

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