Jurassic World Rebirth spoilers follow.
Jurassic World Rebirth director Gareth Edwards has explained why the film's original ending was changed, and insists that "it's not a cop out".
The seventh entry in the dinosaur franchise swaps out Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard and co for a new cast that includes Bridgerton/Wicked's Jonathan Bailey, Black Widow's Scarlett Johansson, and True Detective's Mahershala Ali.
In the climax of the film, Ali's character Duncan seemingly dies, only for it to be revealed moments later that he didn't meet his maker at the hands of the series' newest, giantest beastie.
In an interview with Variety, Edwards revealed that there was a lot of push-and-pull regarding Duncan's fate, as well as which side of the coin he and Ali were on.
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"It flipped back and forth a couple of times," he explained. "In the draft I first read, he died, and I thought, 'That's great!'
"We started to pursue Mahershala, and for whatever reason, it felt like, well, if we're going to get Mahershala, we've got to keep him alive, right?"
When Ali read the script, he sent back a note asking to be killed, which put the duo on the same page.
However, when it came to filming, studio Universal asked him to film an alternate version where he lives "just to be safe", as there wouldn't be time for pickups or reshoots down the line.
"In my mind, I know how this works; whatever we film will be in the movie, so you've got to be careful. I thought, 'If we can do this, I want it to be the really classy version that I can live with,'" he said.
Related: Jonathan Bailey reveals secret second role in Jurassic World Rebirth
When it came to the edit, he presented his initial cut with Duncan dead and the studio asked to see an edit where he lives. Universal pushed for that version, and test screenings of both versions showed audiences preferred the less tragic ending.
But Edwards admitted that he still wasn't sure about it until a screening in New York, which is where it finally clicked for him.
"The moment where this flare appears revealing that he's lived got this massive applause, and I felt a little tear welling in my eye," he said. "Hats off to the studio. I'm glad they made me shoot that extra little section because I think it's probably the strongest part of the film.
"I just didn't want to feel like I was selling out by bringing him back. But if anything, I had to remind myself that there’s this film called E.T. where E.T. died, and then when he came back. So I kept reassuring myself: 'remember that movie you loved did this, it's not a cop-out'."
Jurassic World Rebirth is out in cinemas now.
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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.
