Could the Original Ending of Kaley Cuoco's Role Play Save It from Failing?

Summary

• Role Play is one of this year's freshest premieres.
• The film has failed to win over the audience.
• Role Play was supposed to have a much more thrilling ending.
• The filmmakers had a change of heart about the ending and opted for a lighter finale for the movie.

2024 has just begun, but it has already seen a number of big and small screen premieres. From the new iteration of Mean Girls continuing to rock theaters around the world to the twelfth season of Chicago Fire airing on NBC, there are plenty of things to watch. The streaming services, in turn, offer lots of new flicks to enjoy as well.

For example, Amazon Prime Video recently released a new movie, Role Play, starring Kaley Cuoco and David Oyelowo. Whatever the title may suggest, the movie follows a married couple who face a dangerous crisis when the husband discovers that the wife is a professional assassin.

While the premise sounds intriguing, Role Play has received mostly negative reviews from critics and audiences, with a shocking 25% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But apparently, the Amazon movie was supposed to have a different ending that might have changed the audience's opinion about it.

Role Play's Original Ending Was Much More Dramatic

'At some point, there was an epilogue in Mexico, and they were in their next life and in a restaurant. A bunch of big guys came in, like Mafia guys. Then, the boss, as soon as he sat down at a table, just had a heart attack and died. The two of them were having a drink at the bar, and David was turning toward her, saying, "Huh? You said you stopped!"' Thomas Vincent, the man who directed Role Play, revealed the initial view on the film's ending.

During filming, however, Role Play's screenwriter, Seth Owen, and the director decided to end the movie on a simpler and arguably lighter note. As a result, they opted for a storyline in which Oyelowo's character survives Cuoco's staged assassination, gets her former bosses off her back, and the two live happily ever after.

The Reasoning Behind the Drastic Change in the Script

'We knew that we wanted to have that balance between comedy and action and make a really sweet film – and a film that was based on these two characters and these two actors – because the chemistry between the two of them was so great. That was gold, and this is really what we wanted to build the film on,' Vincent said in an interview.

Perhaps it was a mistake to simplify Role Play's conclusion, as audiences might have appreciated the film's original, more dramatic finale. Still, it remains uncertain whether this drop in the sea of change could have saved it from failure.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter.