Jurassic World Rebirth Almost Had A Completely Different Ending [Exclusive]

Warning: This article contains major spoilers for the ending of "Jurassic World Rebirth."

Not to poke a hole in the mythical allure of the Hollywood blockbuster and let all the air out of the balloon, but big-budget movies tend to be in a constant state of flux. Marvel movies have become notorious for this very thing, oftentimes entering production without a finished screenplay and undergoing all sorts of on-the-fly adjustments even after filming has come to a close. "Star Wars" has encountered something very similar, most infamously with the making of 2016's "Rogue One" and the numerous reports of behind-the-scenes turmoil. This trend has even befallen the "Jurassic" movies before, as the original script for "Jurassic Park III" was essentially thrown out the window weeks before principal photography commenced and overhauled at the last possible minute.

With "Jurassic World Rebirth," the hiring of Gareth Edwards as director brings this full circle. The "Godzilla" and "Rogue One" director knows what it's like to deal with the challenges of an epic-sized project that remains unsettled right up until the moment the final cut is locked. "Rebirth" marked a refreshing change in that regard, however, as writer David Koepp already had his script submitted before Edwards ever joined the film. Still, that's not to say the latest dino flick didn't encounter some forks in the road along the way. One particular choice almost led to a very different ending — one that would've led to the death of a major character. Another brief moment of indecision could've resulted in a possibly more thrilling, but admittedly more familiar conclusion to the big dinosaur threat.

For those who've yet to see "Rebirth," consider this your cue to hightail it out of here as we enter full-blown spoiler territory below.

"Jurassic World Rebirth" may be much heavier on spectacle than character (for more on that, check out my review for /Film here), but one fake-out moment in the last act could've played out very differently. The main thrust of the story follows the ensemble's attempts to survive on this mutant dino-infested island until a rescue party reaches them. But not everyone manages to escape unscathed from the so-called Distortus Rex, the film's final boss. In order to save innocent kids placed in harm's way, mercenary Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali) grabs a flare and heroically leads the D-rex away. He appears to be done for, but his last-minute return helps end the film end on a triumphant note.

That wasn't always the case, as it turns out. In an interview with /Film, director Gareth Edwards opened up about the ending of "Rebirth" and revealed that one possible version of events actually kept Kincaid dead. Referring to this as his "favorite part" of the film, Edwards shed further light on the decision-making process:

"I'll tell you, the bit we did shoot two versions of is Kincaid living and dying. Basically, the version where he dies, you just don't have the other bit [where he reappears]. But because that was how it was written to start with and we filmed it and did everything as if he was going to die, everything felt correct. As an audience you go, 'Oh my God, he's going to actually die, of course he is,' and then he does. Then when he's brought back, I think it is a surprise. Then I felt like, 'Oh no, what if the audience thinks we copped out?' I would remind myself of 'E.T.,' which is the masterpiece version of this, where I never felt that at all in 'E.T.' I felt really sad [laughs] that he had gone, and then euphoric when he was back. It was kind of like a little version of that, where you sort of pray: 'Is the audience going to ...?' And then watching it the other night [at the New York premiere], it got the best reaction in that moment and I was really like, 'Oh my God, thank God we shot that version where he lived because it could have been quite a downer [laughs]."

That explains the human side of the equation, but what about the big, ugly mutant dinosaur of it all? The D-rex was (mostly) kept under wraps throughout the marketing, but this unholy amalgamation of a Rancor and an H.R. Giger drawing mixed with a T-rex finally goes on a rampage in the last action sequence of the film. "Rebirth" immediately stands out from the various other "Jurassic" movies for its choice not to stage some big dino-on-dino fight to wrap things up in a neat and tidy bow. Unlike several of the other sequels, Edwards instead focuses on the plight of the human characters and ultimately keeps the D-rex alive to terrorize the island another day. We asked Edwards about the reasoning that went into this one last swerve from expectations, as opposed to giving in to the temptation and have the T-rex save the day (again). According to the director:

"I thought about — that came up. It didn't come up on the shoot, it came up in post-production where I just suddenly, I guess, I woke up in a cold sweat one night and was like, 'Should we, should we have the T-rex turn up?' [laughs] I went in the next day and brought this up with everybody and I expected everyone to go, 'Yeahhh' [enthusiastically], and it was just a reaction like, 'Really? But all the other ones did that.' It slightly kind of reassured me like, 'Okay, I think that we did the right thing.'

But there's this storytelling thing called [deus] ex machina and it's like Latin, I think, for God basically coming and saving your characters at the end of a story. I think 'Jurassic' has this thing called 'Rex Machina,' where it's like the T-rex comes and saves everyone. I remember [David Vickery], the visual effects supervisor, he was like, 'But that's one of the things I loved about this film, is that it didn't do what the other ones did,' and all this sort of stuff. Yeah, you do juggle these — there's like, what's the right thing here? You try and choose the right path."

For a sequel that's so indebted to the other films, we'd agree this was 100% the right call. And, who knows, maybe this sets up another sequel. 

"Jurassic World Rebirth" is now playing in theaters.