The Princess Bride: Here's everything we know about the '80s classic's alternate ending

That fantasy tale told by a grandfather (Peter Falk) in the 1987 cult classic, The Princess Bride, was a real story? Was the grandfather actually Westley, aka the Dread Pirate Roberts (Cary Elwes)? It was all but confirmed when the old man responded with "as you wish" to his grandchild's (Fred Savage) request to tell the tale again.

At least these were the questions until 2014, when the film's director, Rob Reiner, had a chat with The Daily Beast. There, he revealed the film had an alternate ending. An ending that would have confirmed that the tale was real. Perhaps the grandfather was the protagonist of this story. Rob said:

"Now we’ve got this scene we shot and never used it. Peter Falk finishes reading the book and walks out, and the little boy picks up the book and then hears a rustling in the bushes, so he goes and looks out and sees, suspended in the night sky, the four heroes on the four white horses all waving at him."

But then they made Andre the Giant one of the four heroes, and making the 500-pound wrestler on the horse was quite a challenge. So they had to let this one go.

This alternate ending of The Princess Bride doesn't necessarily make things real

If this sequence were added to the film, it would have made things real for The Princess Bride. However, we must consider the fact that children have the best imagination, and they can imagine things more clearly than any adult. Let's not consider artists in this. Artists themselves are kids.

The point is, even if this cut made it to The Princess Bride, it could simply be something the boy imagines after the tale ended. If we consider that the consumers of the story belonged to the kingdom of Florin, then it might have been true. Still, that doesn't eliminate the children's imagination factor here.

No studio would make this film today

Movie director Rob Reiner. (Image via Getty)

This discussion about the alternate ending advanced when Rob was asked if he almost ran with this. To that, he affirmed while also adding a bit about why no studio would make The Princess Bride today. He said:

"We did. But then, we realized that it really had to end when the grandfather says, “As you wish.” But these days, no studio would make The Princess Bride in a million years. There’s no stars, it’s an oddball adventure/love story/satire. No way. In fact, no movie I’ve ever made would get made by a studio today."

Since 1984, Rob Reiner has directed 22 feature films, beginning with This Is Spinal Tap. Interestingly, the sequel to this movie is his latest project, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, which will be released on September 12, 2025.

He co-produced a documentary film in 2024 called God & Country, which he co-produced alongside Michele Singer, Steve Okin, and Dan Partland.

Though many of his films have met with critical failures, the man has given us some of the best films, including When Harry Met Sally (1989), Misery (1990), A Few Good Men (1992), and more.