Alternate Movie History: The 'Jurassic Park' Ending We Never Got To See, Plus: New &#…

Who doesn’t love hearing about alternate endings? It’s like we can imagine another timeline where things went differently in our favorite movies. Today we have some info on the ending we didn’t see in Jurassic Park as well as an extension of the ending of the original Star Wars trilogy, i.e. the ending of Return of the Jedi. 

Return of the Jedi

Let’s start with the earlier movie. Thanks to the latest Star Wars novel, Aftermath: Empire’s End, which takes place after the events of Return of the Jedi and before the Battle of Jakku referenced in The Force Awakens, we are getting an update on what happened to Lando Calrissian. Although more details may be revealed with the book’s publication later this month (has he died and that’s why he’s not in The Force Awakens?), we at least have an early excerpt via io9 telling of Calrissian’s return to Cloud City following the Battle of Endor. Apparently the place wasn’t taken care of while he was gone, under Empire governance. 

“Lobot, we’re home.” Lando lifts a dubious eyebrow as he looks around, exasperated. “Guess the Empire didn’t keep up with house­keeping.”

This is the Casino level. Game machines line the smooth blue alac­tite floors far as the eye can see. Sabacc tables, too. And pazaak. And jubilee wheels. Along the far wall are banks of holoprojectors meant to show the latest swoop race down on the track-tubes piped through Bespin’s toxic Red Zone atmosphere. Once, this was a shining pillar of gambling excess: classy and bright with light coming in through win­dows looking out over the sun-kissed clouds. Now it’s wrecked. Trash drifts and tumbles. Machines have been turned over, their credits cut from inside like food from a beast’s belly. The windows are covered over with metal. The holoprojectors are dark. Lobot steps up alongside Lando. The computer forming a half-moon around the back of the man’s bald head blinks and pulses, and at Lando’s wrist is a communication from his friend and cohort:

I’ll look into rehiring staff immediately.

Wouldn’t that have been a great post-credits scene for Jedi? Read further at io9 and when the novel comes out February 21.

Jurassic Park 

As for Steven Spielberg’s first installment of the Jurassic franchise based on Michael Crichton’s novel, it’s not surprising there was another ending once in mind. After all, the movie veered a lot from the plot of the book, which contained many different scenes and killed off Ian Malcolm and, very violently, Dr. Hammond. As the 1993 blockbuster adaptation went, Grant, Sattler, Lex and Tim were about to be eaten by velociraptors but were saved by the T. rex intervening to attack the smaller dinosaurs. Then the gang and Malcolm and Hammond escape the island via rescue helicopter into the sunset. 

According to newly revealed original storyboards, the gang weren’t totally safe once they got to the chopper. In an unfilmed action sequence, T. rex attacks once again, chasing the characters and biting off part of the helicopter as it lifts off. See the sequence as drawn below posted to the Jurassic Park Facebook page. 

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