Because it was Top Secret! You don’t know how far up this conspiracy goes!
Dmcvay, Reshoots are a common thing. Of the reasons I might could think of that would require NDA’s, none of them would apply to a silly romantic comedy from the 80s.
That’s what she said?
As director Penny Marshall told Premiere back in 1989, test audiences wanted Perkins to join Tom Hanks in childhood.
Test audiences said on their comment cards or in the after screening interview that they would have preferred the hypothetical ending, or at least they wished there was a way for them to stay together. That does not mean it was filmed or shown as am alternate.
Marshall was right, the return to their own worlds made for a better film.
So what we know from the comment cards is that a lot of the audience watched the real ending and could imagine and prefer an ending with Susan and Josh together instead. This, all by itself, sounds like an explanation of why people “remember” this alternate ending.
I know movies do terrible things with age ranges(think Edward-Bella in Twilight or Angel-Buffy in Buffy), but even if the lady became a kid again, she’d still be 20(?) years older than him.
She should have been at least somewhat repulsed when she realized that he is a kid. I don’t remember her reaction, but attraction kind of stops once you realize the nice-guy you like is 12.
Becoming 12(well, looking 12) doesn’t really fix that.
14 Going on 30, the made for TV movie with that very ending, had been broadcast in March, two months before Big was released. I’m not sure if that would have been enough time for the test audiences to have seen the earlier film and gotten the idea. But it’s certainly the cause of the Mandela Effect at play here.
Yeah. Anyone who had seen or heard of the TV movie would be primed to expect a similar ending to Big and might easily confuse that expectation with what they saw in the theatre.
Damn, I love this thread! It’s the Kennedy assassination of movie threads. So much to imagine and research - so little to show for it.
Let’s assume everything you say is right - the test audience wanted an ending where Josh and Susan are reunited, the studio shot the different ending, and Penny Marshall, Tom Hanks, and Elizabeth Perkins weren’t involved in it.
Why didn’t the studio USE the alternative ending, since test audiences preferred it? Why was the preferred ending so unacceptable that the only place it was ever seen was in New Zealand? Why hasn’t some genius in the 20th Century Fox marketing department not taken advantage of this ongoing rumor by releasing a special DVD with the alternative ending? Why aren’t there bootleg copies floating around that make their way to YouTube? Has David Moscow (young Josh) - who’s still in the industry - ever said he remembers shooting an extra seen in the classroom?
Quite the opposite (from post 861 in this thread):
which links to:
The conspiracy goes deeper than we thought.
Cover up by Big Big
I just hope the controversy continues for another six months so we can celebrate the 20th anniversary of this thread!
But then, will there be an alternate ending to this thread?
Good evening, I’m glad you could all be here tonight. Tonight we will reveal all the answers to these questions. We will reveal the who, how, and why this clip is not around anymore. We will reveal why most of the copies ended up as far from the Bureau’s jurisdiction as possible. To do that we have to follow the money. By that I mean the dirty money. The money that has to be laundered. None of the proceeds from the movies with the alternate ending ever made it back to Twentieth Century Fox. Any copy that is found is confiscated and incinerated. Now lets start with the who.
In the Eighties organized crime was well established in the movie theater business. Any cash business is a target for skimming by these criminals, and movie ticket sales is one of the biggest that can easily be covered up by altering attendance figures. But they wanted more, if they could infiltrate the movie studio print department they could obtain prints that would be exact copies of the real releases. No way to tell them apart. One movie print of a summer hit would generate ten’s of thousands of dollars in the right market without having to report any attendance figures. After that it could be used to make video tapes. It wouldn’t be that hard to bribe a film technician and a couple of guards either. In LA these people are practically living at the poverty level.
Lets look at how this rare film print came to be. It’s called CYA. You have two first time screenwriters that catch lightening in a bottle. A second time movie director with glowing reviews from rogerebert.com " Under the shaky hand of director Penny Marshall, the story doesn’t even achieve coherence." I meant glowing like in a burning bag of dog poo. And a third time production company if you include it’s TV credits. So when the head of the studio asks the executive that heads up this project of 18 million dollars, if we have the footage of the happy ending that the test audiences preferred, and you reply “No I’m just relying on some first time writers, second time director and third time producer to make the right call.” You either pack you bags or bend over and grab you ankles.
I want to point out that this alternate ending is really an addition scene tacked on to the end of the official movie master. When they send it over to the print shop for some test screening copies they only need this one version to demonstrate both endings. The master then sits in their vault while waiting for the screening results. Usually one to three days. Long enough to make a few copies to smuggle out. But this new movie starring Tom Hanks keeps sitting there. There must be a problem with standards, "I hear a kid uses the “F” word. Better for me, more copies are smuggled out. Really the writers, director, and producer have locked arms against the studio and will not budge. We could use more people like this at the bureau. These smuggled copies have a tell-tale scene in them. It’s like an exploding die pack at the end of the last reel. Anyone that sees it will have an image of a young Susan imprinted on their retinas. She is cuter than a bugs ear, and makes that blond from the carnival that got Josh into this mess yesterday’s news. Finally the order arrives, “take out the last scene and go to printing” Oh F**K
Most of the stolen copies are peddled outside the bureau’s reach. A few go to major markets in the US. People start talking about it with friends and it’s quickly realized two versions are out there. We are called in. Arrests are made, deals are cut to get to the major players. The penalty is up to five years and 250000 dollar fine for each offence and the same for mail fraud in a federal penitentiary where you don’t get the generous good time served like a normal prison. These are bad people, and they are just now getting out. The people involved in making this unintentional trap have chosen to remain anonymous, and we need to let them remain that way.
Aa far as the clip. It was turned over to us as evidence. It will soon be destroyed if no-one claims it. People who find copies of the movie that don’t have the 4 color label with a blue background in the title, a FOX VIDEO Logo in green, FBI warning in black and white, no artwork on the case, or not recorded in the SP mode should turn it in to local authorities. Maybe someday they will make a movie about this.
Finally I have enjoyed reading your thread. Its nice to see people remain civil while having completely opposing opinions. I will not be taking questions. I have to nab the Loch Ness Monster. He stole my identity.
Thank you @EliotNess for your comprehensive explanation of the missing ending. Could you answer one additional question.
Why the f**" didn’t the Bureau publicize the arrests and convictions to deter future video pirates?
Ah yes, the “Bureau”.
Forgot about them. 
Most excellent first post!
I may be whooshed about you being whooshed, but you do realize that was all a joke and a really great first post from our newest Doper(who should stay!) @EliotNess, right?
In the meantime, it is being studied by top men right now.
Top. Men.