The New Halloween Was Supposed to Have a Much Darker Ending

​David Gordon Green's Halloween—the sequel to John Carpenter's classic 1977 horror film, which brought back the iconic Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode and saw the return of Michael Myers after a nine-year break in the franchise—was a bona fide hit when it arrived in theaters last month. But the film that made $77.5 million in its opening weekend in North America looks a little different than its makers originally intended. According to ​Bloody Disgusting, an early draft of the script saw Laurie ultimately meeting her fate at the hands of Michael.

The May 2017 version of the script includes Laurie leaving Karen (named Jamie in this script) and Allyson, her daughter and granddaughter, in hiding after she runs out of shells in her shotgun. There is then a callback to the original Halloween, as Michael seemingly traps Laurie in a closet ... only to discover that she has tricked him and isn't really there. Laurie then appears and stabs him repeatedly with a screwdriver, but Michael is able to overtake Laurie and strangle her.

Karen then appears and is able to push Michael out a window, but he vanishes into the night—again, similar to what happened in the original film. Karen and Allyson go find Laurie, only to discover her lying lifeless on the floor.

It's interesting to see such a flip in the film's script not too far back. The change in ending definitely left audiences with a more hopeful feeling, as although Michael seemingly made it out alive, the three generations of women were made closer than ever.

The choice to keep Laurie alive might be a way to set up a sequel, should Green continue with the franchise. Based on the film's box office tally, we're sure those conversations are already taking place.