6 Best Movies with Alternate Endings

Get Out is a psychological thriller that revolves around racism created by Jordan Peele. The horror movie follows a young black man who uncovers shocking secrets when he goes to meet the family of his white girlfriend. But it’s not just the center of the movie that is terrifying. Even at the end, there is a side of the story that most missed. 

This horror film is one of the best movies with alternate endings. One is what most of us have seen, where Chris Washington is rescued by his best friend, Rod Williams. However, the alternate ending is a devastating ending where Rod isn’t the one that shows up, but instead a police officer, who arrests Chris for the murder of Rose Armitage. 

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Pineapple Express is yet another one of the best movies with alternate endings. The 2008 buddy stoner action comedy film stars Seth Rogan and James Franco. The movie follows two friends, a process server and a marijuana dealer, who are forced to flee from hitmen and a corrupt police officer after witnessing them commit a murder.

And of course, the ending most of us have seen and enjoy shows Dale Denton, Saul Silver, and Red sitting in a diner discussing everything that went down with them. However, the alternate ending to the action comedy is much more violent than what is seen in theaters. The ending shows Dale and Saul getting found by the men hunting them, and die holding hands. 

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Pride and Prejudice is a 2005 romantic drama that is one of the best and most beloved movies with alternate endings. But unlike the last two examples, this has to do with country theater release variations rather than special cuts and releases. The movie is based on the 1813 novel sharing the same name, focusing on the relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. 

The original ending released in the U.S. is different than the one in the UK, which was cut shorter. The U.S. version showed Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth perched on a boat professing their love in a dramatic, happily-ever-after moment. But in the UK version, this is entirely cut out, and the film ends when Mr. Bennet gives his blessing to Darcy and Elizabeth to be married, a more lackluster ending to a beautiful story.

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Blade Runner is a cult classic science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott. It’s also one of the best movies with alternate endings. The movie stars Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young, based on the 1968 novel. The dystopian film focuses on synthetic humans and bounty hunters and has one of the most interesting endings. 

The film ends originally with Deckard and his lover, Rachel the Replicant, driving to freedom and, presumably, their future. However, the Director’s Cut of the film brings a new, alternative ending, and is a hit for fans. It shows Deckard being a Replicant himself, bringing up more questions than answers for many fans.  

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I Am Legend is another of many brilliant movies with alternate endings that leave fans guessing. This post-apocalyptic action thriller stars Will Smith who plays a US Army virologist and the last human on earth when a virus turned everyone else into nocturnal mutants. While he works on surviving, alongside his best friend, he works on a cure. The movie is loosely based on the 1954 novel sharing the same name with Richard Matheson. 

The benefit of the alternate ending is that it provides a lot more context for this overall story than the version that was seen in theaters. In the alternative ending, Robert Neville discovers that the Alpha Male Hemocyte was trying to save his mate the whole time and that the creatures see the human as their boogeyman. This completely changes the way viewers see the creatures, while still giving a happier ending by keeping the humans alive.

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The best example of a movie with alternate endings is the movie Clue, a comedy-mystery film that is based on the board game sharing the same name. It stars an ensemble cast playing the various roles of the board game, and similar to the game, it has three possible endings that you can see.

The first one is based on ending A, with a title card of “How It Might Have Happened,” revealing Ms. Scarlet as the killer. In ending B, “How About This?,” Ms. Peacock is revealed to be the killer. And lastly, in ending C, “Here’s What Really Happened,” viewers realize that everyone is guilty. Not only does it create a riveting experience for viewers, but the work they did to recreate the board game should be applauded.