‘Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes’ Director Discusses Alternate Ending

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, almost hit theaters around the globe with a completely different conclusion.

It’s not uncommon for motion pictures to undergo a bevy of narrative alterations before they finally arrive on the big screen. Such is the case of the latest Planet of the Apes flick, a film that saw its ending change prior to raking in a ton of money earlier this month.

During his recent conversation with Slashfilm, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves discussed the ending that almost made it into theaters. Unfortunately, it’s unknown if the general public will ever have a chance to see what the filmmaker put together. Even Reeves isn’t sure if the footage will make its way onto future home video releases. Fingers crossed that we’ll get a look at it on Blu-ray.

Reeves told Peter Sciretta (spoilers ahead):

“[W]hat was different about the ending was that after the ending that you see in the final film, the idea was that the apes went out on a kind of exodus through the city and they gathered on the Golden Gate Bridge in order to look into the distance for the approaching warships. And I felt that it was taking us too far into the next movie. And almost starting the next movie and not letting the emotion of what had just happened, of what Caesar had just achieved and what Caesar had the price that he had paid.”

The filmmaker continued:

“It wasn’t letting that resonate and it wasn’t ending, the final shot with again hopefully not spoiler way, but the final shot was actually in a way the very same final shot. It was actually him on top of the Golden Gate Bridge which was covered in apes, all looking out way, way into the distance and to see this really like messed up armada way in the distance showing up like really like ships in disrepair. And it moved into his eyes as he took in the uncertain future.”

Considering Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is cleaning up at the worldwide box office, chances are fans won’t have to wait too long to see what happens next. When a movie makes $123 million from across the globe in a little over seven days, chances are moviegoers are going to get a follow-up at some point down the road. Unfortunately, it’s unknown when the next installment will hit theaters.

What do you think about the alternate ending to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes? Are you happy with the way the flick wrapped up?

[Lead image via 20th Century Fox]