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movie - Wasn't there going to be a different ending to Total Recall originally?


I once heard that Total Recall was going to have a different ending in which the lead character awoke - the whole story was not real but created by Rekall.


Is that correct?



Answer



The film spent so long in "development hell", and so many versions of the screenplay and script were produced before the film was made, it's highly likely that that ending was considered at some point.



Also, if you'll allow me to quote the wikipedia page:



The film was novelized by Piers Anthony. The novel and film correspond fairly well, although Anthony was evidently working from an earlier script than the one used for the film, and was criticized for the ending of his book which removed the ambiguity whether the events of Total Recall are real or a dream.



This strongly hints that you're right in your assumption that earlier versions of the script had a non-ambiguous ending.


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