Post-apocalyptic stories have always held a special place in the hearts of film enthusiasts. There is just something about seeing what would happen if a zombie apocalypse was somehow going to become a reality. After all, these films can be pretty helpful in giving notes on how to survive. Cillian Murphy’s 28 Days Later is one such post-apocalyptic horror film that received positive reviews from critics.
Released in 2002, 28 Days Later follows the story of Cillian Murphy’s Jim, who gets caught in the middle of an outbreak of a highly contagious and rage-inducing virus that puts society in a vulnerable state. While the film ended more or less on a good note for Jim, it had 3 alternate endings planned and filmed where things did not end well for the character.
’28 Days Later’ Had Three Alternate Endings
Before we get into what could’ve been, let’s recall what actually happened in the film. Frank (Brendan Gleeson) and his daughter Hannah (Megan Burns) are united with Cillian Murphy’s Jim and Naomie Harris’ Selena and the group travels to a blockade in Manchester together. When they arrive at their destination, they realize that the blockade has been destroyed and Frank ends up getting infected by a drop of blood that falls into his eye.
Much to Hannah’s and others’ dismay, soldiers arrive on the scene and fatally shoot Frank. The three of them are then taken to Major Henry West (Christopher Eccleston) by the soldiers who promised them safety but it was indeed all a ruse. West basically wanted to kill off Jim and push Hannah and Selena into s-xual slavery to repopulate the world. The three somehow escape the grasp of West in Frank’s cab but Jim is shot by West in the process.
After finally escaping West for good, the two girls bring Jim to an abandoned hospital where they somehow save him. The three are then seen at a remote cottage where they spell out “HELLO” with a cloth to signal a plane that flies by.
Now for the alternate endings. In the film’s DVD extras, and on YouTube, we can see that 28 Days Later had 3 different ways the film could have ended. While the endings were different, one thing was common: Jim’s death.
In the first alternate ending, while Selena and Hannah bring a wounded Jim to the abandoned hospital, they are unable to save him. Devastated, the girls have no other option but to leave their friend behind and walk out of the hospital room with the camera mimicking Jim’s vision as he sees the girls walking away and then closes his eyes for the last time.
In another version of this ending, we get to take a look at Hannah and Selena’s life at the cottage, which they share with a chicken. As Selena makes a joke about fertilizing the chicken, Hannah comes in to tell her that the plane is on its way. They then spell out “HELLO” with pieces of cloth just like in the real ending, except that Jim isn’t there with them.
The Third Alternate Ending was Completely Different
This ending, unlike the other two, was never filmed and was just an idea on paper. In the DVD extras, director Danny Boyle reads it out loud, and let’s just say that this ending would have been underwhelming if made a reality.
In this iteration, West and his soldiers do not exist at all and Frank’s story does not end after he gets infected. Instead, Jim knocks the guy out, ties him up, and the four of them travel to a research facility. There, he finds no one but a man hiding with basic survival supplies who reveals that while there is a cure for the infection, there is a catch.
After a series of underwhelming scenes, Jim finally gets the mysterious man to confess that the cure is a full-body blood transfusion. Meaning, that one life had to be sacrificed in order to save another. This ending doesn’t fare well for Jim either as he volunteers to go through a blood transfusion for Frank. The film ends with Hannah, Selena, and Frank walking out of the hospital together as Jim gets left behind.
While reading the script in the DVD extras, Boyle revealed the biggest problem with the ending,
We’d established that one drop in the eye will infect someone. Then how the flying f-ck are we going to sell the idea that this blood transfusion idea is going to work? What do you do? Clean out every capillary and vein with bleach before making the transfusion?
While Jim kept getting the short end of the stick in every alternate ending, we are glad the man got to live in the final version. After all, he was always the one hopeful for a future.
Rent/buy 28 Days Later on Prime Video.
