Filmmakers love to tinker with their movies until the last possible second. A nip here, a tweak there, change the sound, the levels, etc. But, eventually, the studios need a finished movie so it can be sent to theaters, screened for press, etc. This week’s new horror film, I Know What You Did Last Summer, had tinkering too, but it was even closer to release and more impactful to the story than most other movies. In fact, the entire ending of the movie flipped on its head mere weeks before coming to theaters.
Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, star Madelyn Cline revealed she was asked to come back in June to shoot new scenes that changed the ending.
In the film, Cline’s character, Danica, and her best friend, Ava (Chase Sui Wonders), attempt to escape the killer on a boat. Of course, they soon realize the killer is on that boat in the person of their friend Stevie (Sarah Pidgeon). Stevie appears to kill Danica, who falls into the water, at which point Ava flags down Ray (Freddie Prinze Jr.), who “shoots” Stevie before coming back to shore, and, well, you know the rest.
After that, though, we see Danica wash up on the beach and get taken to a hospital, where she and Ava reunite to bask in the glory of survival. But, it seems, that scene on the beach as well as the hospital scenes were shot after test screenings made it clear they didn’t want Danica to die.
“I only got the news that I was coming back about two-and-a-half weeks ago,” Cline told the trade on June 28. “Yeah, we shot all those very, very end scenes about two weeks ago.”
Having seen the movie, it certainly feels added on. Danica surviving doesn’t make a ton of sense, and the speed with which she and Ava reunite and haphazardly throw around the revelation that Stevie was not killed by Ray, which basically means they are still in danger, is unexplored and tacked on. But also, Danica is an awesome character, so if we do get to come back to this story, it’s nice that she’ll be there again.
For more on these reshoots, including how an additional scene was shot to set up the film’s big second act cameo (here’s a hint: that’s a photo of it at the top of this article), head over to the Hollywood Reporter.