Warner Bros.
- Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson told Rolling Stone that he thought the original ending to his new film "Rampage" was too sad.
- Johnson fought for a different ending and threatened to quit the movie unless it was changed.
- Johnson said he had "built a trust" with his worldwide audience and they come to his movies to feel good.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson hated the original ending to his new movie "Rampage" so much that he was going to quit unless it was changed.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Johnson said he doesn't like sad endings because "life brings that s--- - I don't want it in my movies. When the credits roll, I want to feel great."
In the film's original ending (spoiler alert), George - a mutated giant ape with a close bond to Johnson's character - dies after sacrificing himself to stop the other infected monsters. In the finished version, George survives.
"He sacrifices himself like a brave soldier," Johnson told Rolling Stone when describing how others tried to sell him on the original ending. "OK. But this is a movie! There's a crocodile the size of a football stadium - we're not making Saving Private Ryan."
Johnson said that George's fate became the "number one topic of discussion" with the director and producers, and that if George didn't survive, he would have walked away from the movie.
"My problem is I have a relationship with an audience around the world," he said. "For years I've built a trust with them that they're gonna come to my movies and feel good. So every once in a while, you have to drop this card, which is: You're gonna have to find another actor. We need to figure something out, otherwise I'm not gonna do the movie."
"Rampage" debuted to a huge $55 million in its opening weekend in China (and $35.7 million in the US), proving that he's one of the most recognizable actors in the world, and one of the few who can still bring people to the theater no matter where his movie is showing.
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