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The end of Alfonso Cuarón's 'Gravity' was almost very different indeed

Sandra Bullock in Gravity (Credit: Warner Bros)
Sandra Bullock in Gravity (Credit: Warner Bros)

The conclusion of Alfonso Cuarón’s heart-stopping Gravity saw an exhausted, traumatised Sandra Bullock crash landing on Earth against all the odds.

It was a singular cinematic moment, with Bullock’s astronaut Dr Ryan Stone standing on her own two feet after landing in a lake and somehow finding the strength to drag herself to the surface.

But according to Cuarón’s pal Guillermo Del Toro, the studio behind the multi-Oscar winner, Warner Bros, wanted the actress to be ‘rescued’ at the end.

Alfonso Cuarón (Credit: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
Alfonso Cuarón (Credit: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

But Cuarón refused repeated notes from executives, who gradually toned down their requests from helicopters in the distance, to a crackling assistance on the radio.

Instead, he kept Bullock’s moment all about her. And it’s kind of the point of the film.

Del Toro revealed the back and forth between the studio in an exchange on Twitter.

The movie, as Cuarón envisaged it, ended up being nominated for 10 Oscars, with the Mexican helmsman winning for Best Director.

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