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What changed? Not only did test audiences hate the ending but so did Wong, who felt that her character shouldn’t get back together with someone who cheated on her, even if they still end the film on relatively good terms in the theatrical version. Although the alternate version was released on the Blu-ray, the theatrical cut ends (just as the final volume of the comic series did in the same summer as the film hit cinemas) with Scott and Ramona tentatively getting together.

Snake Eyes (1997)

How did it originally end? Nicolas Cage plays a corrupt cop who discovers his conscience while searching for the truth behind a political assassination in this underappreciated Brian De Palma thriller. Set in a single location on a very rainy night in Atlantic City, the film was supposed to end with a tidal wave striking the casino in which it is set, literally washing the bad guys away and nearly finishing Cage off too. However, the Old Testament ending didn’t go down well in previews.

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What changed? De Palma has been fairly open about his opinion that the reshot climax, which sheds the biblical allegory in favor of a slightly more conventional run-around, is less effective than the one he had planned. Observant viewers will notice an uncuttable reference to the deleted sequence in the theatrical cut’s final long-running shot, in which Cage’s character tells Carla Gugino: “I keep dreaming I’m in that tunnel, underwater, only in my dream, I drown.”

Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan (1980)

How did it originally end? In a now-classic twist, Spock heroically plays out his solution to the Kobayashi Maru and dies of radiation poisoning in order to save the crew of the Enterprise. Spoilers got out during production and Star Trek fans embarked upon a letter-writing campaign to Paramount and the filmmakers, urging them to reconsider. This case prefigured the more recent petitions to alter certain other TV shows and movies in line with what the loudest fans want and proved just as pointless then as it invariably does today.

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What changed? When general test audiences found the ending too depressing, producer Harve Bennett made modifications that gave them a little wiggle room to resurrect Spock down the line, including the final shot of his coffin landing on the Genesis planet. Leonard Nimoy reportedly didn’t know about these changes until seeing the film, but would eventually return for several more sequels, as well as the Kelvin universe reboots.

Titanic (1997)

How did it originally end? Widely expected to be an enormous and costly bomb prior to release, the assembly cut of James Cameron’s romantic epic ran for a ass-blistering four hours. Among the scenes that made it into the first assembly cut was a cringe-worthy epiphany for treasure hunter Brock Lovett (Bill Paxton), who witnesses the Heart of the Ocean being thrown overboard and giddily realizes what an idiot he’s been.

What changed? Before the film made it to a proper test audience, Cameron and Paxton agreed upon watching the cut back that this particular character beat felt out of place. As Paxton put it after the scene emerged online in 2018: “If you’re smart and you take the ego and the narcissism out of it, you’ll listen to the film, and the film will tell you what it needs and what it does not need.” Further test screenings brought the film down to a tight 195 minutes.

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

How did it originally end? The widely maligned Thor sequel had a rocky road to theaters, including a late-in-the-day third-act overhaul by creative consultant Joss Whedon. Among the points that caused upset with audiences was the death of Loki (Tom Hiddleston), which was initially played as permanent. Audiences simply didn’t accept this, perhaps because the twist came at the end of an elaborate rescue plan that involved Thor fake-losing his hand when a “Get Help” would probably have done.

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What changed? It doesn’t solve the problem of the audience not believing that this death will have any consequences, but the reshot final scene does hold some intrigue. In a minor cliffhanger, we find out that Loki has not only survived but also cheekily displaced Odin (Anthony Hopkins) on the throne of Asgard. It’s a fun way of kicking the can up the road until Avengers: Infinity War, where Thanos promises “no resurrections this time” after snapping Loki’s neck. Meanwhile, Hiddleston will next be seen as Loki in his own spin-off series on Disney+.

28 Days Later (2002)

How did it originally end? After outrunning a horde of Rage-infected humans, Jim (Cillian Murphy) is shot while helping Selena (Naomie Harris) and Hannah (Megan Burns) escape Major Henry West (Christopher Eccleston) and his men. As his friends try to save him, he lies dying in a hospital bed, reflecting on how he wound up in a coma back at the beginning of the film.

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What changed? Director Danny Boyle shot several endings involving Jim dying, but after test screenings, he chose the slightly more optimistic ending we got, with our surviving heroes holed up in a cottage in the Lake District, waiting for rescue as the infected die off. The original ending was added as a post-credits sting titled “… what if” when the film was first broadcast on Channel 4.

WALL-E (2008)

How did it originally end? The test process is very different for computer animation, so although there was a small but significant change, the final cut of WALL-E isn’t too different from what test audiences got. Our rubbish-clearing hero manages to bring humanity back to Earth and they all take their first steps on the ravaged planet.