Hello. This is for the pros out there. I have a thriller with a female protagonist who overcomes obstacles, kills the antagonist, but still dies in the end. Personally, I want her to die, because her tragic story (inspired by real life cases), doesn’t always have a happy ending and I envision discussions after one watches this kind of film. However, I do have an alternate ending where she survives. I’m remembering the movie, “Buried”, and a lot of people weren’t happy with the way it ended, but his ending made sense to me.
I don’t mind sharing an alternate ending if I’m pitching directly to a producer, elevator pitches, etc., but do you think I should include an alternate ending when competing in contests? It’s only three more action lines. Would love to hear from folks who are either professional script readers, contest pros, or in “the business”. Thanks.
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Stick to your guns. If the ending is a tragic death, so be it, as long as it makes sense. I wouldn't recommend an alternate ending ON THE SCRIPT, it just makes us think that you are doubting yourself on how to end your story. A viable alternative is to leave the ending ambiguous, making the reader and the viewer wonder if she survived or not.
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I agree with the other commenters who say to finish it the way you think it should finish. "Pretty Woman" originally was more of a drama with a very sad ending where they break up and such. If the producers and director decide they need to change it up to bring up the ending, they can do it - and hopefully they'll pay you to rewrite it.
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Write it how you want. What gets through is how well you wrote the characters and if you have an intriguing story. The emotion you show is what they'll remember. Are there twists and turns, stakes, etc.? Are there a-ha moments? No matter what the ending is if it's well written it won't matter.
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Kill her.
In my script Amy she dies willingly. She knows that her death makes life better for others. She has killed people, betrayed her friends and sells out her partner.
A producer asked if it could have a happy ending. I said “buy it and do what you want”. I couldn’t see it with a happy ending. The entire idea is that her inability to change, her insane drive to achieve and be seen as big time leads to her death. Having a happy ending undoes the entire story.
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the money is in the rewrites, so why share an “idea” for free? Get paid for changes. That’s the game we all have to master if we want to be career screenwriters.