The original Rise of the Planet of the Apes ending has been revealed

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

If you’re like me, then you really dug this summer’s surprisingly good RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, although perhaps you felt the ending was a bit too… nice. This is particularly true when you consider the endings of the original APES films from the 60s and 70s; endings that didn’t shy away from being straight-up dark.

But RISE’s finale wasn’t always so uplifting. In a THR report about tight post-production schedules, Fox’s president of post-production Ted Gagliano spills that James Franco’s character was originally killed at the end of the film. Badass Digest’s Devin Faraci expands on that with details from an early RISE screenplay:

“The original ending had Franco’s character being shot to death by armed humans who have chased the apes into the forest. The ape horde descends on the people and tears them to pieces, a reversal of the opening scene where Bright Eyes is captured in the jungle.”

The ending we wound up getting was shot just a month prior to the release of the film, which is incredible considering the amount of CG work that needed to be completed in such a short time frame.

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES’ original ending will apparently be available on the forthcoming home video release.