Alfonso Cuaron Talks Alternate Ending To 'Gravity,' The Future Of Cinema, Compares 'Her' To 'Annie Hall' & More

Gravity, Cuaron

It seems that every promotional tour these days has to feature a stop at the internet’s front page. Best Director nominee Alfonso Cuarón was the latest to visit Reddit for an AMA where the “Gravity” helmer was given the opportunity to respond to the scientific community’s reactions to his films, give his take on the future of the industry and tease a dark alternate ending to the Best Picture nominee.

Last fall saw many discussions and essays deconstructing the ending of “Gravity” and what exactly happens to Sandra Bullock’s character after she gets inside the Soyuz. After being asked if Dr. Ryan Stone’s fate was ever in flux during production, Cuarón joked—as he has previously—on a different outcome for Ryan Stone. “We had an alternative ending in which after landing on Earth, Ryan will get back on her feet and as she’s walking away Matt Kovalski falls from the sky and crashes her to death. And then cut to black. Create scroll in silence,” he said. We’re sure Warner Bros. would have been just fine with that ending.

When asked his thoughts on the criticism from scientists over the realism in “Gravity,” Cuarón answered humbly saying, “I’m very happy that scientists have taken time to attack or defend ‘Gravity.’ We tried to be as plausible as we could in the frame of our fiction and we worked very hard in honoring the behavior of bodies in micro-gravity and no resistance. But, it’s a movie and that Sandra Bullock is not really an astronaut in real life.”

Having shot digitally for the first time on “Gravity,” Cuarón was asked about his thoughts on the digital format with the “Children Of Men” director fully in support of the new medium, citing the “amazing level of resolution.” But perhaps more intriguing are his thoughts on state of cinema, which has seen VOD coming into view as a respected and lucrative model for distribution, even as “Gravity” makes the case that there are movies that just need to be seen on the big screen.

“There used to be only one paradigm: the experience of going to the theaters. Later on, that paradigm was dual: people would watch movies in the cinema and also on TV. Later on came home video and now we have all these different formats. There used to be only be visuals, then there came sound, and then color. Now we’re making the transition into the digital formats where everybody can have affordable systems in their homes. What I believe is that, because of the new ways of production and distribution, multiple paradigms are going to be created. They are going to co-exist,” the director ruminated. “Each one of these paradigms is going to constantly evolve and go in many different directions. I think all of this is very exciting because it’s going to challenge our current conceptions of cinema in which the format of experience of film and/or the length are going to very diverse.”

Before he signed off for good, Cuarón showered praise on fellow Best Picture nominee “Her,” calling it “the best film about love that speaks directly to an age since ‘Annie Hall.’ It’s a beautiful film that also explores questions about the nature of love and consciousness.” The rub? “I’m torn between ‘Her’ and ‘Bad Grandpa,’” Cuarón admitted. At any rate, both are Oscar nominees.

“Gravity” hits Blu-Ray and DVD next Tuesday.