Is there a "final" FINAL screenplay for Highlander?

If you look at Gregory Widen, Peter Bellwood & Larry Ferguson's Highlander screenplay as of 2/6/1985, most of it is nearly 100% identical to the movie (the plot and even the lines).

Everywhere I saw, it was billed as "final".

However, it differs from both US release of the movie, and even the European-release-based Director's cut, in significant ways. Two examples are:

Opening MSG sport was wrestling instead of hockey

Wikipedia mentions that (according to DVD commentary) that was done for a reason.

There was no closing scene where Rachel finds out that MacLeod survives from the fact that Kurgan was listed as the last victim by Moran; and flirts with Moran.

Is there a screenplay version (NOT the novelization) that's "more final" and matches the actual movie?

Answer

The screenplay for Highlander received extensive re-writes between the early drafts by Gregory Widen in June 1981 and the initial shooting script completed in Feb 6th 1985 by Gregory Widen, Peter Bellwood & Larry Ferguson, this being the latest version available on the internet.

There does seem to exist a "final shooting script" that was revised up to June 21, 1985 (e.g. beyond the start of principal filming) but you'll need to pay cashy-money to get hold of it. This booklet was apparently available through the official Highlander mail order catalog.

Comments

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