Studio Head Reveals Original Ending to Drug-Thriller Sicario
Basil Iwanyk, who left Warner Bros. in 2006 to start his own production company (Thunder Road Pictures), recently spoke with THR about Sicario's initial ending, and how the film came about.
"...At the end of the day, that last 30 percent leap is all your gut, or your trust in the filmmaker," Iwanyk said of running the numbers and getting successful films out to the market. "I respect people who say they have a formula, although it would shock me if that formula actually exists."
On trusting the filmmaker, he said, "I mean, Sicario had a totally different ending. In the original script, Benicio del Toro has his discussion with the drug lord, then he shoots the drug lord and turns to the mother and says, "Get your kids out of here."
"But a week before shooting, we changed it [to having his family killed]. At our first screening in New Jersey, I told people, "Listen, as those kids are killed, there's going to be a big chunk of the audience that's going to reject the movie."
"But that was the highest-testing scene in the movie. I would never of though of that, but my job was to take that leap with Benicio and [director Denis Villeneuve]."
The final decision seems very much in character for both the film and for del Toro's character. Filmmakers need to be able to rely on the trust of their producers and studios, and thankfully here it worked out.
Source: THR
