Unseen Endings: 40 Films That Almost Had Different Conclusions

In an alternate ending of "The Nightmare Before Christmas," Oogie Boogie was revealed to be Dr. Finklestein in disguise.

27. There is an alternate ending to "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" that takes place in the year 2029, where an elderly Sarah Connor watches her son, Senator John Connor, play with her granddaughter.

28. There is an alternate ending to Kevin Smith's movie Clerks," in which a man robs the Quick Stop and kills Dante.

29. There was an alternate ending to "The Legend of Zorro," in which a grown-up Joaquin puts on his father's Zorro costume and rides off into the sunset, while the elderly Alejandro and Eléna watch proudly. However, this ending was changed to allow for potential future sequels.

30. In Kevin Smith's movie "Red State," the original ending was intended to feature a special effects-heavy sequence depicting the beginning of the apocalypse.

In "The Karate Kid" (2010), there was actually an alternate ending where Jackie Chan's character engaged in an epic Kung Fu battle with the enemy coach.

32. The original ending of "Mean Girls" involved Mrs. Norbury confiscating drugs from Kevin G and getting caught due to the Burn Book.

33. The original ending of "Pretty Woman" didn't have Vivian riding off with Edward. Instead, she gets on a bus with Kit, anticipating a fun day financed by Vivian's week with Edward, while Vivian "stares out emptily ahead."

34. There was an alternate ending for the "Masters of the Universe" movie, where it is revealed that the United States landed on Eternia (He-Man's home planet) during a NASA mission.

35. In an earlier version of "The Long Kiss Goodnight," Samuel L. Jackson's character was killed off, but it was rewritten after a member of the test audience shouted, "You can't kill Sam Jackson!"

The scene depicting the serial killer's death in Peter Jackson's "The Lovely Bones" was reshot to be more gruesome because test audiences felt that the character's death was not violent enough and wanted to see the character in more pain.

37. The 2004 remake of "Dawn of the Dead" by Zack Snyder featured only short one-to-two close-ups of the undead compared to the original. Advances in special effects and makeup made test audiences uncomfortable with zombies that looked too "human."

38. The ending of the 1949 British film "Kind Hearts and Coronets" had to be changed for the American release due to the U.S. Production Code, which stipulated that crime could not be seen to be rewarded.

39. Originally, the peddler from the beginning of "Aladdin" was supposed to be revealed as the Genie at the end of the movie. However, this idea was cut as the story changed.

40. The 1986 film "Little Shop of Horrors" had an original ending true to the play it was based on, which resulted in the two main characters being killed off. However, audiences disliked this ending, prompting a rewrite. The director believed that movies don't have encores where people can see the characters alive, which influenced the decision.