Alternate ending

An alternate ending (or alternative ending) is an ending of a story that was considered, or even written or produced, but ultimately discarded in favour of another resolution. Generally, alternative endings are considered to have no bearing on the canonical narrative.

Examples in literature

* Charles Dickens' novel '' Great Expectations'' originally had a bleaker conclusion, with Pip meeting Estella, but after she remarried. In a letter, Dickens stated that he had been persuaded by Edward Bulwer-Lytton to change it prior to publication.
* Ernest Hemingway struggled with the ending of ''A Farewell to Arms''. By his count, he wrote 39 of them "before I was satisfied." However, a 2012 edition of the book included 47 alternative endings.
* Robert A. Heinlein originally killed off the protagonist of '' Podkayne of Mars'', but grudgingly let her live in response to his publisher's objections.
* John Green tied one of the characters to railway tracks in his second draft of '' The Fault in Our Stars'' to explore the trolley problem. He also wrote an ending in which Hazel and Van Houten die in a shootout with a drug lord.
* Felix Salten’s ''The Hound of Florence'' differs greatly in the original German language (''Der Hund von Florenz'') and in the English translation. The German-language version ends in tragedy: the archduke stabs the dog to death, killing Lukas, and his body is disposed of. In the English translation, a wholly new ending of six more pages has been written: Lukas survives, gets medication and is united with the courtesan. Currently it is not known if the alternative ending is authorized.

Examples in movies

Alternative endings are often filmed before being scrapped, and may be subsequently included as a special feature in the film's DVD release. These alternative endings are a special type of deleted scene. In other cases, ideas that were presented but discarded early on are alluded to by the production team in commentary or interviews.

Some movies also present the alternative ending on International releases as well as their international Home media release, with its original region release only showing the alternative ending on certain TV channels.

The following are examples of known alternative endings to movies:
*'' Harikrishnans'': In the 1998 Indian Malayalam Film Harikrishnans, the director used two climaxes to please the fans of both the lead actors, Mammootty and Mohanlal.
*'' 1408'': An alternative ending is present on the director's cut disc (much like ''The Butterfly Effect'', with a few deleted scenes reinserted) Mike Enslin dies in the fire he causes. At his burial, his wife is approached by the hotel manager, offering his personal belongings. She refuses, and he lets her know that her husband did not die in vain. Back in his vehicle he listens to the tape recorder, and screams in fear as he sees Enslin's burned deformed body in his back seat for only a moment. The film closes with an apparition of Mike Enslin still in 1408, muttering to himself, hears his daughter's voice, and finally exiting the room with her.
*'' 28 Days Later'': Several darker alternative endings (filmed, available on the DVD release). The first has Jim gravely injured near the end of the film and he is taken to a hospital, but he dies before he can be given medical attention, and his body is left behind (completing a cycle in the movie; he woke up alone in a hospital and has now died there). Some versions also involve him dreaming of the accident that put him in the hospital at the beginning of the film. Another unfilmed ending picks up after Frank has been infected, where they take him to a research complex and Jim sacrifices his own life to give him a total blood transfusion to restore him, and he is once again left alone in a hospital bed. This was discarded for being too unbelievable.
*''3 Ninjas'': The American cut originally showed that the boys had won the basketball challenge and effortlessly won Emily's bike back. In an extended international version of this movie, they lose the basketball challenge along with their own bikes, so a scene ends the international version of the film in which they fight the bullies to get them back, as an alternative ending. In the United States, this alternative ending can only be seen on certain television channels such as '' Starz'', Showtime and Showtime MAX; international DVDs have this version, as well.
*''Army of Darkness'': In an alternative ending after Ash drinks the potion that would make him sleep long enough to wake up in his own time, he inadvertently drinks too much and wakes up in the future in a ruined city. Realizing that the world is a post-apocalyptic wasteland, Ash screams "I slept too long!"
*'' The Astronaut's Wife'': When Spencer is killed, Jillian is not possessed by the alien. Instead, she moves out to the country. Sitting beneath a tree, looking up at the stars, she tunes her radio to the same signals Spencer was receiving while possessed by the alien - her twin babies controlling her movements from inside the womb, listening - and waiting...
*'' Blade: Trinity'': The original ending is far more ambiguous with Dracula and Blade's fates not as determined. The ending only appears in the unrated DVD and was intended by the director David S. Goyer. Another alternative ending was seen showing Hannibal King and Abigail Whistler confront a werewolf.
*'' The Bourne Identity'': An alternative ending on the DVD has Jason Bourne collapsing during the search for Marie, waking up with Abbot standing over him, and getting an offer to return to the CIA. The ending was filmed after the studio became concerned that the film's treatment of American foreign policy and the intelligence community would be perceived as anti-American following the September 11 attacks.
*'' The Butterfly Effect'': Evan watches a home video of his mother pregnant with him and returns to the memory of himself as a fetus. Convinced that his very existence has ruined the lives of those around him, he strangles himself with his umbilical cord and dies, stillborn. This " Director's Cut" ending is much darker than the theatrical ending, where he simply stops himself from becoming friends with Kayleigh.
*'' Cats & Dogs'': Mr. Tinkles has been taken to her sisters by Sophie the Maid.
*'' Child's Play 2'': An extended ending reveals that a chunk of Chucky's skin after his head exploded got mixed in with the Good Guy doll making plaster. A machine is then seen making a new Good Guy Doll head, which then forms a sinister smile.
*'' Clash of the Titans'': After defeating the Kraken and Hades, Andromeda falls into the sea and Perseus dives in to save her. When he reaches her, he embraces her with a passionate kiss, indicating that he fell in love with her, and she with him. After reaching the shore and regaining consciousness, Andromeda asks Perseus if he will stay and he says there is someone he needs to talk to, before kissing her again, indicating that he will come back. Getting on Pegasus, he flies to Mount Olympus (although the special effects are incomplete) where he confronts Zeus, stating that he does not wish to be one of them and that any conflict between them has just started. After slamming his sword into the gods' map and shattering the models of every living person, he leaves and is seen flying on Pegasus over the sea, presumably back to Argos (although the special effects are incomplete).
*'' Clerks'': Dante is still inside the Quick Stop after it closes. A customer enters and, without saying a word, shoots Dante after he tells him they are closed, and empties the cash register. The credits then roll, and when they are over a customer comes in and steals cigarettes without noticing Dante's body on the ground behind the counter.
*'' Clue'' had four different endings, and each one distributed to theatres had one of ''three'' of them. The video and DVD version had all of these three endings on it. The fourth one has not been included because the director did not approve of it.
*'' Die Hard with a Vengeance'': In an alternative ending found on the special edition DVD it is presumed that Simon's robbery of the Federal Reserve succeeds, with Simon smuggling the gold out of the country disguised as Empire State Building statuettes and McClane taking the blame for the failure to stop the robbery. McClane locates Gruber months later in a bar in Hungary, and invites to play a game called "McClane Says". This involves a form of Russian Roulette with a small Chinese rocket launcher with the sights removed, meaning it cannot be determined which end is which. McClane then asks Gruber some riddles similar to the ones he played in New York. When Gruber gets a riddle wrong, McClane forces him at gunpoint to fire the launcher, which blows Gruber to bits. This ending is in the novelization, only McClane fools Gruber into thinking the tube-like launcher is pointed at McClane. Gruber guesses the trick question and shoots himself.
*'' Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story'': The Average Joes lose the game when White Goodman hits Peter with the ball. According to the DVD commentary, this was the writer's original intention for the movie, but the studio insisted it be changed - hence the "real" ending - when test audiences reacted poorly to the unhappy ending. (The antagonist references this right at the end of the movie, by mocking the audience for wanting a happy ending and saying, "You happy now?")
*''Ella Enchanted

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