From heartbreaking redemptions to darker twists, these alternate endings could have changed everything! Join us as we explore official alternate movie endings that were filmed but ultimately shelved. These fascinating "what if" scenarios might have actually improved these beloved films!
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00:00So do you want to go to the arcade or whatever?
00:02Well, I don't have any quarters.
00:05I do.
00:08Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're looking at the best alternate movie endings that were
00:13seriously considered, and in some cases shot, but the filmmakers ultimately went in another
00:19direction.
00:20Beware of spoilers.
00:30T2 leaves us on a bittersweet note as Sarah Connor contemplates humanity's future.
00:50In an alternate ending, we see that future, confirming that Judgment Day never came.
00:56John is now a senator and father, while Sarah has found some form of peace.
01:01But the dark future, which never came, still exists for me.
01:06And it always will, like the traces of a dream.
01:09We understand why James Cameron went with the open-ended version, which fits the movie's
01:14bleak yet hopeful tone.
01:16Unfortunately, it also paved the way for several more sequels that repeatedly did Sarah and
01:22John dirty.
01:23We're sure Hollywood would have milked this franchise dry either way, but the alternate
01:28ending gives Sarah and John the happy ending they deserve.
01:31It also preserves Sarah's profound closing words from the theatrical cut.
01:35As far as we're concerned, this is the best timeline.
01:38Because if a machine can learn the value of human life, maybe we can too.
01:47Number 9.
01:48Peter Returns
01:49Peter Pan
01:50Wendy, I have come for you.
01:52Hello, Peter.
01:55There you are.
01:56This 2003 film often gets lost in the shuffle of the other Peter Pan adaptations, although
02:02some consider it to be the best version of J.M.
02:05Barry's source material.
02:06The film ends with Peter saying goodbye to Wendy, who never sees him again.
02:11Taking a page from Barry's epilogue, an alternate ending flash-forwards to Wendy telling her daughter
02:16Jane the story of Peter Pan.
02:18In this version, Peter keeps his promise, but he returns a few years too late.
02:24Oh, Wendy, you shouldn't have.
02:28I couldn't help it, Peter.
02:30Although initially devastated to see Wendy grown up, Peter's heart soars when he learns
02:35Jane is ready for a new adventure.
02:37While the scene was seemingly never scored with the effects incomplete, this ending would
02:42have left the audience on an emotional high.
02:45I'll be back soon, Mama.
02:48With stories.
02:48If Rocky has taught us anything, it's that whether you win or lose, going the distance
03:04is what matters.
03:06As such, we don't mind that Rocky loses in this 2006 film.
03:10Even Rocky is unfazed by the outcome, bringing his story full circle.
03:15However, the alternate ending would have given more development to Rocky's opponent Mason,
03:20the line Dixon.
03:21This version sees the split decision siding with Rocky.
03:24While Dixon is disappointed, he isn't a sore loser.
03:28In an interview, he gives his respect to Rocky.
03:31Yeah, but we're not going to use that as an excuse.
03:33I mean, he was hurt himself.
03:34And fighters, we fight injured all the time.
03:37You know, I take my hat off to him.
03:38He fought his fight tonight.
03:40At the same time, Dixon takes pride in knowing he put up a good fight.
03:44Both versions provide triumphant endings for Rocky, with the theatrical cut admittedly
03:49being more realistic.
03:50But we do miss this humble moment from Dixon.
03:53Yeah, nothing's over till I say it.
03:55Yeah, nothing's over till I say it.
03:597.
04:00An Even Freakier Fate
04:02Freaks
04:03How she got that way will never be known.
04:06The previews for this Precode 1932 film proved so controversial that the studio wouldn't allow
04:13Freaks to be released in its entirety.
04:15Roughly 25 minutes were cut, including much of the ending.
04:19In the censored version, we learned that the so-called Freaks turned the deceitful Cleopatra
04:24into a human duck.
04:26The original 90-minute version would have shown more of the attack, which was supposedly too
04:34grotesque for viewers at the time.
04:36Hercules receives an equally grim ending, singing falsetto after losing his member.
04:41In the world of film restoration, this footage is considered by many to be the holy grail.
04:47Alas, all signs suggest the version test audiences saw is forever lost.
04:53Given how they reacted, maybe that's a blessing.
04:56But we'll always be curious.
04:58Don't hide or cry.
05:03I love you.
05:046.
05:05Back to the Beginning
05:07The Butterfly Effect
05:09After multiple failed attempts to rewrite the past, Evan settles on a future without Kaylee
05:22in his life.
05:23The two cross paths in the final scene, but continue to go their separate ways.
05:28Three other endings were considered.
05:30One would have given us a happy reunion, another would have seen Evan go after Kaylee, and the
05:35third is by far the most depressing.
05:37Guess which one the directors preferred?
05:39In the ending that would be restored for the director's cut, Evan goes back to the moment
05:51his mother is about to give birth.
05:53From inside the womb, Evan ensures that he'll never be born, which will benefit his loved
05:59ones in the long run.
06:00It's unsettling, but definitely leaves more of an impression.
06:03A Tragic Villain
06:17Fatal Attraction
06:18Although Fatal Attraction was an immediate success, some critics felt the ending turned
06:32Alex Forrest into a cliché slasher villain.
06:35The original ending not only would have made Alex more complex, but sympathetic as well.
06:41Instead of breaking into the Gallagher house and being shot dead, Alex takes her own life.
06:46Finding Dan's fingerprints on the weapon, the police arrest him.
06:50Beth uncovers a cassette tape Alex left, which will likely exonerate Dan.
06:54The theatrical cut is more exciting, but the alternate ending cleverly tied several plot
07:00points together.
07:01What's more, this ending suggests that Alex wasn't a monster, but rather a woman overcome
07:07with mental health struggles.
07:08It's the ending Glenn Close preferred, although she acknowledged the new ending likely made the
07:13film a hit.
07:14If this masterpiece of suspense has one downside, it's the ending, or lack thereof.
07:35Surrounded by birds, our heroes get into the car, drive away, and that's it.
07:41We appreciate the ambiguity, but it basically amounts to nothing.
07:45The ending needed something extra, which we almost got.
07:49When screenwriter Evan Hunter saw the finished film, he was surprised that Alfred Hitchcock
07:55scrapped the scripted ending, which would have seen the characters drive through the remnants
07:59of Bodega Bay, narrowly escaping as the birds pursue them.
08:03Hitch also considered an ending where they return to San Francisco, only to find an army of birds
08:09perched on the Golden Gate Bridge.
08:11It would have made for an iconic image, while still leaving the characters' fates up in
08:16the air.
08:17There are some things you can get away with on stage that might not go over so well with
08:38moviegoers.
08:39Frank Oz and Howard Ashman learned this the hard way after millions were spent on the finale
08:44for Little Shop of Horrors.
08:46Like the stage version, the film ended with Audrey 2 devouring the leads and taking over
08:52the world.
08:52All set to the dementedly catchy Don't Feed the Plants.
08:56Off-Broadway, the curtain call at least gave audiences some closure.
09:00Rick Moranis and Ellen Green don't take a bow in the movie, leaving the audience in disbelief
09:05and despair.
09:06The happier resolution was thus shot, although Little Shop purists have come to view the restored
09:12alternate ending as the final curtain.
09:212.
09:22I Am The Monster
09:23I Am Legend
09:24Will Smith's Robert Neville sacrifices himself in one version of I Am Legend, but survives
09:36in the other.
09:37Weirdly enough, the latter is the more downbeat ending.
09:41It's also more book-accurate and effective than what moviegoers got in 2007.
09:46Rather than blowing himself up to save the cure, Neville realizes that the Dark Seekers
09:51aren't merely senseless monsters.
09:54They're capable of love and even reasoning.
09:57Having kidnapped the alpha male's mate, among numerous others, Neville is left to question
10:02who the real monster is.
10:03I'm sorry.
10:05I'm sorry.
10:09While there's still hope that Neville will find salvation, the world he once knew has forever
10:14changed.
10:15Years later, the studio has seemingly relented that the theatrical ending was a mistake.
10:20Planning to canonize the alternate version in a sequel.
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10:46Number 1.
10:49A Broken Heart
10:50The Phantom of the Opera
10:52Is the Phantom a monster?
11:02Or a misunderstood soul?
11:04Whichever you think, the 1925 film gives the Phantom an ending more befitting a beast.
11:10As Raoul shields Christine from harm, an angry mob hunts the Phantom down, killing him.
11:16The original felt closer to the source material, which lacks a climactic chase.
11:21Initially, the Phantom, or Eric, realizes what he's done to the woman he claims to love.
11:26Releasing Christine, Eric retreats to his organ.
11:30The mob arrives, only to find that Eric has died from a broken heart.
11:34It solidifies Eric as a tragic figure, but test audiences wanted something more exciting
11:40and less emotionally nuanced.
11:42So, the studio continually reworked the ending until Eric was left without redemption.
11:57Which alternate ending do you think would have made the movie stronger?
12:01Let us know in the comments!
12:02And I can't spend the rest of my life in Sully's.
12:05If I gotta die, I want you to do it.