John Krasinski Teared Up From A Heartfelt Line Change, And 14 Other Times Script Changes Either Helped Or Hurt A Film

I volunteer to be part of a test audience!

There are so many moving pieces behind-the-scenes of our favourite media that help it get from just being an idea to a thing on our screens — from test audiences to studios having the final say over the directors, it's a lot.

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Just about every film goes through rewrites and editing cut downs for a variety of reasons, but in honour of ~spooky season~ let's take a look at 15 creepy classics that either needed an edit or deserved to have the original script see the light of day!

1. Get Out

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I think we can all appreciate the lighthearted and hopeful ending of this film that made it to the big screen when compared to the ending from the original script that did not go over well with test audiences. 

In what is now considered the "alternate ending", thanks to the scene being featured on the Blu-ray/DVD, we see the film conclude with the gut-punching sequence of Chris ending up in prison for the murder of Rose and her family — despite his actions being purely self-defence. 

This original ending came from Peele's need to address that we're not living in a post-racial world, telling BuzzFeed, "The ending in that era was meant to say, 'Look, you think race isn’t an issue? Well at the end, we all know this is how this movie would end right here.’"

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However, as America started to talk about race more realistically in the wake of multiple racially-motivated tragedies, Peele felt that the story needed "a hero" and the audience needed "an escape", and we got the cheer-worthy finale we now love Get Out for.

2. The Evil Dead (1981)

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Depending on where in the world you first saw this game-changing slasher film, your experience with the violence in the flick may differ from other viewers. 

There have been many alternate versions of this film with longer or shorter runtimes, largely due to the amount of gore and violence. In the UK, a minute's worth of gore-filled scenes was either shortened or removed entirely upon the film's initial release; and other countries followed suit with cuts being made to lessen the amount of violence on screen. 

Now, not only can the fully uncut version be seen on DVD copies of the film, but fans of gore can also just watch the much bloodier and more realistic-looking 2013 remake.

3. Jaws (1975)

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One of the many scrapped ideas that were floating around for the finale of the first summer blockbuster was to conclude the battle between man and shark with ~more sharks~. 

The original ending of the film, borrowed from the novel, featured Bruce the shark descending back into the water after being harpooned and leaving Brody alone on the boat. This wasn't seen as crowd-pleasing as the more definite and explosive death of Bruce that we know, and neither was the extra idea that Spielberg felt would be a more climactic end to the film.

He wanted the true ending to be Brody seeing multiple shark fins heading in his direction after the fatal shooting of Bruce, thus ending the film on a much darker and, honestly, inconsistent note. 

Watch the ~iconic~ ending we all know and love:

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4. Don't Worry Darling

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The film that created more buzz about its on-set drama than its actual plot (which didn't receive shining reviews might I add), actually could've gone in an entirely different direction.

The original script, written by Carey and Shane Van Dyke (Dick Van Dyke's grandchildren!!), had a much more fleshed-out story and answers to the loose ends of the plot that left viewers of the final product wanting. When Olivia Wilde picked up the script, her rewrites included more focus on the supposed autonomy of the women characters and idealised 1950s vibes that were great for world-building but awful for plot consistency.

Honestly, I did enjoy the movie... [it definitely felt like a movie], but one glance at what the original script entailed and I feel a bit cheated out of the full story of Don't Worry Darling. 

Watch the trailer:

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5. Fatal Attraction

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Test audiences for this film hated Glenn Close's character, Alex, so emphatically that the original ending for the film had to be scrapped.

The initial ending saw Alex slit her throat with a knife that had Dan's fingerprints on it, framing him for her death, yet casting herself in a sympathetic light. After backlash from the test screenings, the filmmakers immediately went to planning reshoots with a new script that offered more catharsis for the viewer — creating what we now know as the famous demise of Alex. 

Glenn Close was initially totally against the reshoots for what the murder of her character would signify for the perception of mental illness, but later speaking with the Oxford Union she said, "I don’t think it would have become the phenomenon it became if they hadn’t changed the ending... a hope that somehow the family unit would survive the nightmare." 

[Content Warning: Self-harm] Watch the alternate ending:

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6. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers

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Not only is this not one of the more celebrated films in the franchise, but the production of the film seemed to be riddled with its own curses — including having to reshoot a good chunk of the film's ending at the last minute. 

Director, Joe Chappelle, wanted the original ending to act as a bridge between the other films in the franchise by showing the cult curse pass to another character. Test screenings for the film did not go over well, because the audience really disliked that conclusion.

Along with having to scrape together a new ending a year after initial filming took place, the replacement of two major cast members and other production mishaps led to the inconsistent final product the film ended up being. Funny enough, fans of the franchise enjoy the "Producer's Cut" more now, which features more of the original plot.

7. Death Becomes Her

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The alternate ending for what is one of my absolute favourite dark comedies was surprisingly happy in comparison to the dark yet campy ending that made it to the screen.

In the other option for the ending, Bruce Willis' character fakes his own death and manages to live a long life away from Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn's immortally vain characters. The cut finale featured Tracy Ullman as a bartender turned lover of Willis' character with the two running away to Europe together to live out their lives until being spotted by the miserable immortals. 

The rewrites of the script actually saw Ullman's character cut out entirely to accommodate for the new direction the writers decided to go in for the ending.

Watch the deleted scenes:

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8. Edward Scissorhands

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It's a little hard to imagine, but in contrast to the 150 total words the titular character speaks (seen above), Edward was way more conversational in the original script.

Johnny Depp explained in a 2020 interview at the Zurich Film Festival, that he actually cut around "85% of dialogue" that Edward would've had. He felt that due to the isolation of the character, it made more sense that his "vocabulary would be limited".

In my opinion, this change really added to the depth of Edward, and I can't imagine the version of the film where he speaks 85% more.

9. The Crow: City of Angels

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This sequel to the loved 1994 original was expected to be an absolute hit yet due to studio meddling, it was met with very poor reviews. 

Despite the original cut for the film doing very well in its test screenings and gaining a lot of excitement for the film, studio executives at Miramax ordered the film to be re-edited to match the structure of The Crow more closely. When the writers refused, the studio reworked the film anyway and removed an estimated 30-40 minutes of scenes. 

The director's cut of the film featured on the DVD, unfortunately, only lengthens the film by five minutes, and still does not feature the story that the writers and director wanted to tell.

10. The Descent

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In a mirrored situation to what happened with The Evil Dead, this film is actually longer in the UK and shorter in the US.

The alternate ending featured in the US release of the film slightly veers off from the original conclusion shown in the UK by ending the story with a jump scare of Juno's "ghost" after Sarah escapes — whereas, in the UK version, we see Sarah waking up back in the caves after that jump scare because *spoiler* she never actually made it out. 

Although both endings are very grim, the US version presents a small win in an otherwise violent and emotionally bleak horror, due to the fact that Lionsgate wanted to "lighten things up" a bit for the main character.

11. Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

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This film was an adaption from an off-Broadway show that was an adaption from a film, so clearly it would have faced some key script changes during its journey.

The musical film would've stayed true to its off-Broadway source material if not for the complaints of test audiences, who ~hated~ the first ending. In the original conclusion, Seymour fails to save Audrey from Audrey II in time, and they are both devoured by the giant venus fly trap. After their deaths, a business executive finds Audrey II's seeds and sells the alien plants everywhere, which eventually all grow into mean and giant alien fly traps that take over the Earth. 

Who knows? Maybe if this story gets another adaption, the original dark ending will get to meet the big screen.

Watch the alternate ending:

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12. Escape Room (2019)

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The original ending to this film absolutely tanked with test audiences, leading to the panic-inducing ending that paves the way for the successful sequel. 

The movie was originally set to end rather simplistically, with Zoey finding a clue in one of her books that suggests the horror games are going to start again. After the failed test screening, director Adam Robitel had said "One of the things that became clear out of that test screening was [what] the audience wanted. So I had this challenge of how do I make them proactive? How do I do this game of a checkmate?"

With the reworked ending that Robitel came up with, the film was an international hit, grossing $155 million in the theatres.

13. Bird Box

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Along with (thankfully) changing the clip used for a news story in the film from a real-life recorded tragedy to something from a TV show, the original ending for the film was also notably changed.

In the original ending, much like in the final result, the three main characters make it to a refugee community inside a school for the blind, where no one has to worry about seeing whatever is hunting them all. However, in the original ending, it is discovered quickly that the refugee community has made themselves, including their children, blind on purpose in order to survive.

Susanne Bier, the film's director, has stated that this change was made because "I would not have wanted to do an apocalyptic movie that didn’t have a hopeful ending. I’m not particularly interested for the audience to leave, from the cinema or their own screen, with a kind of the completely bleak point of view."

14. Happy Death Day

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Test audiences for the original cut of the film not only disliked the way the director wanted to end it at first — they were ~livid~.

The original ending had Tree dying one last time (at the hands of the wife of the professor she was having an affair with, no less), implying that the time loop would remain forever. The director, Christopher Landon, stated "They were so pissed off because they felt betrayed. They were like, 'Wait, she did all this hard work... and then you kill her again?!'"

In what is now the ending, Tree discovers her killer and finally closes the time loop — to be fair I agree with the test audiences, she earned it!

Watch the alternate ending:

Universal Pictures / Via youtube.com

15. A Quiet Place

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Such a small script change can make a moment between two characters that much more impactful, and the change in John Krasinski's character's last words in this film proves that. 

His character, who would use sign language to communicate, was written to just sign "I love you" before sacrificing himself. However, because of a suggestion from co-star Millicent Simmonds, Krasinski's character signs "I've always loved you" as his final words instead, signifying his love throughout everything. 

My heart is breaking, brb. 

Is there a film that you'd like to see the original version of? Let us know in the comments!