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Read The Original Deleted Ending To 'The Shining'

Kirsten Acuna   

Read The Original Deleted Ending To 'The Shining'
EntertainmentEntertainment2 min read

jack nicholson the shining

YouTube screencap

The original deleted ending to "The Shining" would have appeared right after this shot of Jack Nicholson.

If you've seen "The Shining," you know the film (spoiler) ends with Jack Nicholson's demise looming over the haunted Overlook Hotel; however, that wasn't always the way the movie originally ended.

When the film first debuted it included an epilogue in a hospital where both Wendy and Danny went afterward to recover.

Co-screenwriter, Diane Johnson explained the original decision to include the scene:

"Kubrick felt that we should see them in the hospital so we would know that they were all right," said Johnson. "He had a soft spot for Wendy and Danny and thought that, at the end of a horror film, the audience should be reassured that everything was back to normal."

However, after Kubrick showed the film to former publicist for Warner Brothers, Julian Senior, right before its debut he said the original ending didn't work for him.

The scene was then removed right after the films release with all of the copies supposedly being destroyed.

If you're wondering how the scene played out "Toy Story 3" director Lee Unkrich hosts a site dedicated to the film, appropriately titled The Overlook Hotel, where he posted the script from the deleted scene.

Check it out below:

Read the rest of the scene on Unkrich's site, here >

If you need some imagery with your reading, there are also three Polaroids that remain of the scene's existence.

SEE ALSO: Matt Damon hijacking "Jimmy Kimmel Live" last night >

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