American audiences are stupid

Neil Marshall, director of the upcoming SF horror film The Descent, told SCI FI Wire that the film's ending was altered for U.S. audiences from its original U.K. release to make it a bit more upbeat. "The ending that I had when I originally wrote it has been playing in Britain nearly a year now, and they seem to like it just fine," Marshall said in an interview after a screening of the film in Los Angeles last week. "But I had the chance to shoot another ending, so I did, and I think that's fine, too."

The Descent centers on a group of thrill-seeking women who go spelunking in a previously uncharted cave. While inside, they discover some opaque-skinned batlike human-shaped creatures who prey on flesh. When Lionsgate tested the film, the unrelenting dark U.K. ending seemed to irritate Americans, so it was changed. Marshall had time to do it because the release was delayed in the U.S. to avoid the similarly themed The Cave, which was coming out about the same time.

"We had the time to do it, and it gives me as a filmmaker that rare opportunity to have two endings," Marshall said with a laugh. "We never tested both endings with both British and American audiences, so I can't say if one group liked one over the other, but it seems like the American audiences will like the one we're releasing here."

The Descent opens Aug. 4 and stars Shauna Macdonald, Alex Reid and Natalie Mendoza. Which ending does the London-based director prefer? "I prefer the British version," he admitted. The Descent opens wide on Aug. 4.