10 Movies Where The Hero Originally Died At The End

After the success of Lethal Weapon, the studio was obviously keen on getting a sequel moving, and hired original screenwriter Shane Black to pen it. Despite calling the script the best thing he’s ever written the producers rejected it, saying it was too dark and bloody.

They wanted more humour. Oh, and hated the ending where Riggs dies, simply because it ruled out more sequels. In Black’s original script the final showdown had Riggs fighting the villain during a large bush fire, and eventually dying from stab wounds he received. The last scene would see Murtaugh watching a video Riggs had made before the battle, saying goodbye to his old friend.

The script was completely re-written, though director Richard Donner still shot a version where Riggs dies, but the happy one tested better. In fact, the last shot comes from the sad ending, where Murtaugh is holding Riggs' lifeless body; some ADR dialogue makes it sound like they're having a great time instead.