Hooray!!! Father Geek here... One of Harry and my only problems with 28 DAYS LATER has been the ending of the film currently in release stateside... Hope this does the trick. I loved it anyway but the end just didn't do it for me, and it really bugged Harry. As to the claim to firsties on a re-edit while in release I'm afraid that simply isnt so... its been done several times over the years to play with running times, to remove bad or objectional material, to change ratings, etc... In the 60's and early 70's films would change from a "X" rating to a "R" and sometimes even the reverse of that during its release. Any way here's the LA Times story on the changes to this film...
Extra ending is tacked on to `28 Days Later'
Extra ending is tacked on to `28 Days Later'
Los Angeles Times... Published July 17, 2003
In an unusual marketing move to pump up the buzz surrounding its horror hit "28 Days Later," Fox Searchlight will attach the film's original, rather downbeat ending to all 1,400 prints now playing in theaters.
Although outtakes, filmmaker narration and alternate endings have become an expected part of DVD movie packages, Fox Searchlight said Wednesday it is aware of no other instance in which alternate scenes were added to a film still in theatrical release.
The ending now in theaters was the film's original scripted ending but was ditched by screenwriter Alex Garland and director Danny Boyle during production in favor of a darker coda. That grim ending was included in the first cut of the film and tested with preview audiences in theaters. But Boyle and his filmmaking team ultimately rejected the scene, set in a hospital, as simply too bleak.
The darker ending will appear beginning July 25 at the conclusion of the credits.
