I saw it for the first time Frank Darabont‘adapted into a feature film Stephen Kingof Fog, this test was at the audience screening. I was a huge fan of King’s story and I also loved the 3D audio performance and when the movie ended with that new ending I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. It hurts, but at the same time, I admire Darabont for making such a big swing. I have never felt anything like this while watching a movie until now.
The question is… if that movie was made today, would the ending have been made into a movie? Movie star Thomas Jane they are not sure if they will get away with it. During the previous conversation The diary is deadhe said:
“I know (director) Frank Darabont was offered more money, like double if he changed the ending. And we all said, ‘No, we’re going to take less.’ (…) I don’t know if you can get rid of the “fog” today, it can be very difficult, but we have included it and we are proud of it.
King’s novel concludes with the story’s protagonist, David Drayton, catching a possible word over radio static; then he whispers two words into his son’s ear. King writes, “One is Hartford. The other is hope.”
In the film, Drayton (Jane) shoots his own son and three other survivors to save them from the horrors of being brutally killed by monstrous monsters. Help arrives shortly after Drayton kills them all.
Jane may be right. I think the studio could have tried harder to keep the hopeful ending, and I don’t think the studio would have offered Darabont a bigger budget if they kept the original ending. Whatever happened, whatever was done, they didn’t have to worry about it now. They got their way, and while some liked it, it pissed off a lot of viewers.
Darabont talked before about the film and said he doesn’t regret it:
“Hey, I love a happy ending as much as anybody. It’s satisfying. I get a happy ending, God knows. But I also love Night of the Living Dead. I also love The Thing. I love the audience.” I also like films that dare to be challenged. Sometimes bad things don’t work out, and sometimes you make bad decisions even when you mean well. That’s life.”
King supported Darabont’s new ending, and the director continued:
“When Steve read the script and I said, ‘I can’t do it if you don’t want to,’ he said, ‘We need movies that dare to make people angry. We need movies like this. ‘ We need that ‘Night of the Living Dead’ that doesn’t just get tied up in a bow and has a happy Hallmark bumper sticker to give it that confidence.”
What do you think? Do you think Darabont was able to get away with that ending today?