28 DAYS LATER: Available in its Original Theatrical Edit? (1 Viewer)

[Travis Brashear]

When I went to theaters a few years back to see 28 DAYS LATER, I had read beforehand that I should wait until after the credits for a little surprise. Sure enough, I was treated to a much darker alternate ending (prefaced cryptically by the words “What If…”) that I far preferred to the sunnier “official” ending. When the movie came to DVD, I had hoped it would retain the structure I saw (which made it appear that the happy ending was only a dream rendered horribly moot by the post-credit scene) but, alas, now the darker ending was not incorporated into the film at all, pre- or post-credits—it was only available as a separate menu selection on its own. Which brings us to the hi-def now—does anyone own, or know of, an import Blu-ray version of 28 DAYS LATER that retains the film in the edit I originally saw, or does the scene with Jim dying on a gurney and the two women moving on to fight the infected populace alone
exist only as a separate special feature now in all Blu-ray releases worldwide?

 

[Jesse Blacklow]

I don't believe that the alternate ending was ever the true "original theatrical" cut. A quick check of Wikipedia and IMDb seems to verify this, as preview audience reaction convinced Boyle to cut his preferred ending from the film before it hit theaters. It was added to the theatrical run (US only apparently) for marketing purposes a month after release. That being said, I don't know of Blu-ray release (or DVD for that matter) that has the "original" ending as anything but an extra.

 

[Michael Reuben]

I can confirm that, when the film was first released in the U.S., it did not have the darker ending at the conclusion of the credits. I saw it on opening weekend.

I also remember the ad campaign for the later version that added the alternate ending. Since I expected it would be included on the DVD, it wasn't enough to get me back into the theater, but I thought it was an interesting marketing ploy -- sort of the "dark" version of Pixar's adding new "bloopers" to A Bug's Life.

M.