5 thriller classics whose alternate endings would definitely have been greater hits

The year is ending, and I was thinking of finishing it with some thriller films while being cozy under the blanket. I saw one recently and realized it had an alternate ending, which would be better if the director had made it canon instead of leaving it in the wastebasket.

It made me look for other such films, because the curiosity train wanted to explore some of those alternate endings that might have bettered the film. At one point, this list almost included Avengers: Endgame (2019), but then it didn't count as a thriller film. Sad, because that's one of my favorites, though Infinity War (2018) was better.

Anyway, if you, too, are thinking of watching a thriller film as we kiss goodbye to 2025, you can pick any of these. And don't forget the alternate endings, which is why these were cut here.

Disclaimer: This article contains the writer's opinion. Readers’ discretion is advised

Thriller movies with alternate endings

5. 1408

We have actually covered this one recently. And the most interesting thing about 1408 is that it has not one but three different endings. The original one is a happy one, where the protagonist Mike Enslin (John Cusack) is saved from the burning room, reconciles with his wife, and his paranormal experience is recorded, making everything he went through true.

In the alternate endings, there is one in which he dies and reunites with his daughter in the afterlife. That would have been a better one, as his life would have come to a full circle with this.

4. Alien

Ridley Scott's 1979 hit, where Sigourney Weaver played one of her iconic roles, Ellen Ripley, had an ending that might have ended the franchise there and then. In the original one, she lives on and appears in the latter films.

The director himself wasn't sure if the audience would respond positively to the story. So, he thought of ending the game there and then, where an alternate ending would see a creature catching up to the protagonist and killing her off.

3. I Am Legend

Will Smith, who portrayed a virologist named Robert Neville in the 2007 film I Am Legend, and a dog named Sam walked the earth, where 90% of the population is dead in a pandemic. Smith's character sacrificed himself so humanity could be saved, and the monsters remained the monsters.

However, those monsters, or Darkseekers, were intellectual and just wanted to live a life as living beings and not some kind of experiment for the humans.

2. Hannibal

Mads Mikkelsen's Hannibal Lecter was a delightful watch. But he can never overcome the character's portrayal in films where Anthony Hopkins played and made the cannibalistic serial killer iconic. In the end, we see Clarice (Julianne Moore) handcuffing herself with him as they both kiss.

However, in an alternate ending of this thriller, it becomes more intense as Hannibal is seen running his tongue on her lips and escapes. That's more like Hannibal, I guess.

1. Seven

No matter how old this movie gets, we will never stop asking ourselves that infamous question: What's in the box? Which is just before Brad Pitt's David Mills transfers iron from his gun to John Doe's body. His partner, William Somerset, played by the charming Morgan Freeman, tries to stop him from doing that, but to no avail.

But think if Somerset himself had shot Kevin Spacey's John Doe? Might have been interesting to see. Well, that precisely what happened in the alternate ending of this thriller.