M3GAN, the viral horror sensation about an AI doll who takes on a life of her own, originally had a slightly different ending that had to be changed for "logistical" reasons. Warning: there are major M3GAN spoilers ahead, so proceed with caution if you haven't seen the movie yet and don't want to know what happens.
"They had this battle with [motion capture robot] Bruce, and there was gonna be one more part of it where they thought they'd got away, and Bruce essentially… They leave the workshop where they had this big battle, and then they hear a 'ka-chunk!' and it's Bruce's head being thrown," director Gerard Johnstone told Variety.
"And then, through the smoke of the doorway, M3GAN emerges just as a disembodied torso, and Bruce is holding her from behind and clomping along the corridor. It was great, and I was really in love with it. But we couldn't do it for a number of practical reasons. We tried to shoot that version, and the physics didn't work out. There were all these logistical things. So that's why we end up doing the version we did. But I love the version we did, even though that was a cool idea. I love the version we got because it made Cady's character so much more interesting."
The movie ends with Cady (Violet McGraw) coming to the rescue of her aunt Gemma (Allison Williams) and helping to destroy M3GAN, being the one to ultimately stab the processing chip with a screwdriver and render her lifeless.
The ending isn't the only part of the film that was changed for the final cut – there's a gorier, uncut version of M3GAN that may be released soon. The version of the movie in theaters is rated PG-13 (or 15 if you're in the UK), but Johnstone thinks it only makes the film better. "It seemed kind of a mistake not to embrace it," he told Total Film. "I even remember thinking early on, 'This could be PG-13, and some of my favorite films like Drag Me to Hell are PG-13.' So we made the decision to go PG-13 and actually reshot a couple of things."
M3GAN is in US theaters now and arrives in the UK on January 13. For more viewing inspiration, check out our guide to the other most exciting movie release dates in 2023.
