10 Times Movies Panicked And CHANGED THE ENDING Just Before Release

10. The Empire Strikes Back

Let's kick things off with an especially outrageous example, given that Empire Strikes Back was actually already in a small number of cinemas when George Lucas made some literally last-minute changes to the blockbuster sequel.

Empire opened on limited release on May 21, 1980, and shortly after this, Lucas made the executive call to go back into production to complete additional shots for the ending before it went into wide release less than a month later.

You'll recall that the film ends with Luke (Mark Hamill) and Leia (Carrie Fisher) watching as Lando (Billy Dee Williams) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) depart on the Millennium Falcon to find Han (Harrison Ford).

But the original version of the scene, which was frantically edited to meet that May 21 date, failed to make it clear which ships the various heroes were in.

And so, Lucas called up Industrial Light and Magic to hastily create a number of new effects shots showing the exteriors of the Millennium Falcon and the Rebel fleet, ensuring audiences knew precisely who was where.

Thankfully, this being decades before everybody had the Internet in their pocket, Lucas was able to do this without stirring up discontent amid the fanbase.