Why did the ending change in the Fight Club adaptation?
Recently finishing up the book Fight Club after being a fan of the movie for so long. While the movie retains most of the dialogue and several tones of the book, one giant contrast is now present to me.
In the book, the ending goes similar to how the movie occurs. However, one glaring difference is while in the movie, the Narrator shoots himself through the cheek, doing this kills Tyler, and he and Marla stand atop the building, watching the destruction caused by Project Mayhem in a seemingly (while twisted) peaceful ending.
In the book, however,
The Narrator shoots himself, but is then put into a mental health facility until the end of his days. To me, this seems like a heavy contrast and much more depressing ending to the story compared with the movie version. Also in the book, there is more hostility towards the Narrator when he tries to stop Project Mayhem while near the end of the movie, they seem to "forgive" him by bringing Marla to him.
Is there any reason to these changes or documentation stating why Fincher decided to take these turns with the story?
Best Answer
Quoted from Wikipedia:
Fincher considered the novel too infatuated with Tyler Durden and changed the ending to move away from him: "I wanted people to love Tyler, but I also wanted them to be OK with his vanquishing."
Something I learned about Fight Club during an interview with Chuck Palanihuk is that he considers Fight Club a coming-of-age story; the narrator grows up and accepts his role in life by rebelling, discovering a mentor and then transcending the mentor.
After he sees through Tyler, the narrator destroys him and is then ready to choose life, apparently embarking on the kids-and-minivan-in-quiet-suburban-life with Marla. A more depressing ending than the book, from one perspective.
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Why did they change Fight Club ending?
The Chinese streaming platform Tencent Video has restored the original ending to the film Fight Club after it amended the Chinese edition to tell viewers police had \u201crapidly figured out the whole plan and arrested all criminals\u201d, prompting a widespread backlash.What was the original ending of Fight Club?
In Fincher's original film Edward Norton's narrator character kills off his alter ego Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) before watching buildings burst into flame in apparent confirmation that his plan to destroy modern civilization is being executed.Does Fight Club have alternate endings?
What are the alternate endings to Fight Club? In the version that had been available in China, while much of the ending had been kept intact \u2013 for example, the revelation about Durden and his death scene \u2013 there was one major change at the very end.Why has Fight Club changed China?
Tencent Video subscribers in China can now watch the unabridged version of 1999's \u201cFight Club,\u201d after a social media furor erupted over a censored version that replaced its original ending with a line of on-screen text declaring all criminals were brought to justice.Fight Club: How Tyler Durden Changed - Book vs. Film
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