13 Movie Adaptations whose ending took a different turn than expected by book readers

Every year, more and more film adaptations of novels are produced. And, of course, it’s no secret that the story of many of them ends up following different paths from the original plot. In some cases, however, the writers themselves take responsibility for the different ending on the big screen, such as Gillian Flynn, bestselling author of Gone Girl. However, on the other hand, the film may end up benefiting from such changes, by generating discussions for those who have already read the book.

We, from awesome.club, we love to read books and watch movies. Therefore, we decided to put together a list of 13 film adaptations that ended in a completely different way than the novels that inspired them. Check out!

Writer Gillian Flynn wrote the screenplay for the adaptation of his own novel🇧🇷 And this is very noticeable throughout the film: everything is organized as logically as in the book, completely preserving the atmosphere. The only “but” is that the ending is a little different from the bestseller.

So in the end, Amy goes back to Nick, forced to take his wife back. The film shows Ben Affleck’s character’s complete acceptance of his fate as he strokes his wife’s hair and just thinks about a difficult future. In the book, however, nick expresses openly express their displeasure with the situation🇧🇷 “I’m sorry you wake up every morning and be you,” he tells his wife at the end of the work.

In the adaptation of the work O Véu Pintado, a little more romance was added to the plot. Contrary to the events depicted in the book, Kitty fell in love with her husband shortly before the tragic events. Also, in the end, Neomi Watts’ heroine was presented in a better way.

In the film, while buying flowers, she meets Charlie Townsend in London, but refuses his proposal. In the book, Kitty accepts the invitation to visit him. and goes back to her ex-boyfriendalthough she feels guilty about getting back together.

As the protagonist of the film said: “The most important part of the story is the end”. And the director, as Johnny Depp’s character said, rewrote the end of the story🇧🇷 The film ends with Mort Rainey roasting an ear of corn while being questioned by the sheriff about Amy’s disappearance and her new suitor.

In the book, it’s just the opposite. Amy is rescued at the last minute by an accidentally arriving insurance agent.🇧🇷 And Mort, then, is remembered only in the past.

Among the many adaptations of the novel Little Women, the 2019 version stands out. Writer-director Greta Gerwig had an interesting goal: “I wanted to make a special film, with an ending that would definitely please the author of the book — Louisa May Alcott,” says Greta.

As we know, the protagonist Jo March is inspired by Louisa May Alcott herself. She was indeed a successful writer, but she never ended up marrying. In the book, Jo got married to please readers at the time.🇧🇷 However, in the film, the heroine remains single after publishing her novel and creating an orphanage.

The famous movie scene The illuminated, in which Jack Nicholson appears frozen, does not exist in the book🇧🇷 The author of the novel, Stephen King, ended the story on a much more positive note. The main character manages to successfully fight the supernatural influence that haunts the hotel, and because he loves his son, he lets him go with his wife. Then the Overlook hotel explodes due to a faulty boiler. By the way, in the book, chef Dick Hallorann is still alive.

For director Stanley Kubrick this ending was not very memorable. In the movie, Jack remains the villain until the end., but his son manages to deceive him, causing him to be cornered in the maze and ends up freezing to death. Meanwhile, the hotel remains safe and sound.

Robert Zemeckis’ cult film Forrest Gump is inspired by Winston Groom’s novel of the same name. But, naturally, the story was reworked for the big screen. For example, in the film there was no mention of the fact that Forrest participating in the world chess championship, flying into space and being friends with a monkey🇧🇷 On the other hand, the cross-country race scene was created from scratch.

The ending was also changed. In the film, Tom Hanks’ character raises his son alone after his wife passes away.🇧🇷 However, in the book, Jenny remains alive — she just dumps Forrest for another man.

The action movie Edge of Tomorrow is inspired by a Japanese fantasy book with lots of dialogue and manga-style drawings. The protagonist played by Tom Cruise successfully escapes the time loop, saves the planet and again meets with Sergeant Rita Vrataski.

In the book, the ending is not so happy.🇧🇷 Cage has to sacrifice Rita in order to save Earth, and the saddest thing is that she knows everything about her fate from the beginning.

Neil Burger, the director of the film Limitless, inspired by the eponymous novel, created a completely new story for the film version. On the big screen, the main character also takes an experimental drug that increases brain efficiency. However, many details, characters and events, described in the book, were changed in the film version.

The film ended in a much more positive way: Bradley Cooper’s hero ends up making grandiose plans, surpassing everyone and changing the drug. In the book, the ending is quite sad: Eddie ends up hiding from the authorities, taking the last two pills in the compound, and writing a book about his recent adventures.

This is an excellent example of when the movie has a totally ending opposite to that of the book. The plot tells the story of Anna Fitzgerald, an 11-year-old girl, forced to be a permanent donor for her sick sister, Kate. Anna is fed up with her situation and turns to a lawyer to resolve the issue.

In the movie, viewers saw a sad but expected ending🇧🇷 Kate passes away shortly after the trial, and her family, in the face of tragedy, ends up united. The end of the book is much more surprising. Anna is in a car accident and becomes ill, while Kate receives her sister’s kidney and recovers.

Daphne Du Maurier’s book Rebecca is on the list of the best detective novels of all time. The most recent adaptation was released in 2020, and unlike many others, it was pretty accurate. However, without the author’s perspective, director Ben Wheatley decided to continue the story a little beyond the end of the book.

The novel ends with the de Winter family watching the fire on their property from the hill. Given the previous events, the future of the couple ends uncertain. In the film, there is a sequel to the facts, in which Mrs. de Winter helps to get people out of the property and solve the cause of the tragedy. In the end, the couple lives happily in sunny Cairo.

The cinematographic adaptation of the book Vanity Fairs, by William Makepeace Thackeray, was worked on for 10 years. And the writers agreed that the ending should be softened so that Reese Witherspoon’s character doesn’t end up so badly. The film ends with images of Becky and Joseph Sedley moving to India and starting a new life.

The end of the book, however, is different: Becky is abandoned and her son cannot forgive his mother for her betrayal.

When Hannibal was published, author Thomas Harris’ work met with a mountain of criticism. During the reading, readers believed that Clarice Starling hated Hannibal Lecter, however, the heroine ended up having an affair with him. In the end, the couple still went to live together in Argentina. By the way, the direction of the book’s conclusion was one of the main reasons why Jodie Foster, who played Clarice in The Silence of the Lambs, turned down the role in the adaptation of the work for the big screen.

The scriptwriters were expected to change the ending🇧🇷 Thus, Agent Starling fails the mission and Hannibal Lecter once again escapes. In the last scene, we see the doctor’s mysterious smile on a plane going somewhere.

The series O Gambito da Rainha is inspired by the homonymous book by Walter Tevis, written in 1983. Interestingly, the novel reflects some details of the writer’s life. For example, his love for chess, life in a rehab hospital and treatment to kick addiction. Many of the moments directed by Scott Frank are quite accurate in relation to the work, but some were insufficient.

In the book, the heroine barely remembered her mother and only used tranquilizers to sleep, unlike the adaptation. The series even showed that Beth is completely in love with D.L. Townes, and that Thomas Brodie-Sangster’s character Benny is just a friend. In the novel, the opposite happens: in Moscow she wants Benny to be the only one to accompany her.🇧🇷 It turns out that their relationship is just beginning at this point, as per the author’s point of view.

In your opinion, should directors and screenwriters be faithful to the endings of the books or can they innovate by creating an alternative conclusion to the story in film adaptations? Tell us in the comments section.