Multiple endings are something that gamers – especially Mass Effect fans – should be familiar with as the interactive medium allows stories to take a multitude of paths. For movies though, it’s not something that is all that common, as they tend to tell linear tales (Editor’s note: Unless we’re talking about 1985 classic Clue! – Kervyn). Sometimes though, for filmmakers to end up with a narrative that works for everybody, they need to try out many different endings to see which lands the best with audiences.
This is the approach that was taken with the Hulu’s recent release Palm Springs. The Groundhog Day-esque comedy, which was a huge viewer hit for the streaming service when it released this weekend past, stars Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti as a couple stuck in a time loop. And while I haven’t seen the movie yet and don’t quite know how it ends, Sandberg has revealed (in an interview with Collider) that they tried out many different versions of the film, including some dark ones, before ending up with the version we ultimately got.
Without saying what the other ones were, we definitely went through many drafts of the ending. Different versions. We even shot a few different versions. We re-edited it a few different ways, and kind of landed on what we had by way of doing like small friends and family screenings and polling people until we got to one where, three screenings in a row after the ending we said, ‘Did everyone like the ending?’ and everyone raised their hand. And we were like, ‘Alright, it might not be perfect, but everyone liked it!’ (laughs)
Palm Springs looks like an absolute blast based on the trailer we got from the movie and even though it’s based on a familiar plot device, it looks fresh in its execution and with how much fun it has with everything. Hopefully, all that effort put into finding the right ending makes it all worth it. The film has now become Hulu’s most-watched new release ever, so it’s likely they did something right.
Last Updated: July 15, 2020
