10 Alternative Opening Movie Scenes You Never Saw

Palm Springs was one of 2020's breakout hits - a deliriously entertaining sci-fi rom-com in which a pair of star-crossed lovers, Nyles (Andy Samberg) and Sarah (Cristin Milioti), attempt to find their way out of a time loop.

One of the film's editors, Matt Friedman, has spoken extensively about how much the editorial department wrestled with the movie's opening section, originally structuring the first act so that audiences were left in the dark about the time loop twist a little longer. Friedman said:

"In the version that is ultimately in the film, there's a comic scene with Nyles and his girlfriend in their hotel room. So you get permission to laugh. And then you understand a little bit about who he is before he gives a crazy wedding speech that night...But the other version started the movie off in a more vague way, in terms of the tone. We delayed the understanding that it was a time loop movie longer, about six minutes longer.

In this version, Niles does not wake up in bed with his girlfriend. There's an earthquake, Nyles is wandering in the desert, and then we see him giving the speech at the wedding. That's the first time we actually meet him. In this version, the movie starts off strangely and you do not know what's going on. We tested both versions and we found was that audience weren't really bothered by being asked to hang in there a bit longer, but ultimately after months of discussion, we opted to go with the version that was released."

Given the endearing weirdness of the film's first act and its generally snappy pace, they clearly could've gotten away with those six extra minutes. Either way, though, it's a great movie.