9 Last-Minute Changes That Ruined Movies

The Will Smith-fronted adaptation of Richard Matheson's influential horror novella I Am Legend almost had a radically different ending, a more thought-provoking one that was closer to the source material, no less.

In the cinematic cut, Smith's Robert Neville suicide bombs a bunch of infected so Alice Braga's Anna Montez can flee with the cure he has developed. It's supposed to be a heroic sacrifice, but really it's just generic action movie stuff.

This was the conclusion the studio went with after the original finale went down poorly with test audiences. The original plan was to have the protagonist realise the creatures he has been slaying throughout the movie are sentient beings with as much right to life as him. In a shocking twist, he's the movie's only monster.

Not only is this conclusion more in keeping with the themes of the book, it also connects with a dangling plot thread earlier in the film. There's a scene where one of the infected Robert is studying reacts angrily when he takes its mate away, hinting at underlying humanity. This plot thread leads nowhere in the cinematic release.