Rob Reiner Nearly Made La La Land 27 Years Early

File this under near-misses: When Harry Met Sally almost ended on a down note that would have wrecked many a cozy rewatch. Rob Reiner originally wanted Harry and Sally to go their separate ways, La La Land style. Then life intervened.

Reiner says that, back when he and Nora Ephron were shaping the film, the plan was to let the leads reconnect years later, talk it over, and then walk away. He told CNN it was headed for something pretty stark:

'It was going to be the two of them seeing each other after years, talking and then walking away from each other.'

That approach tracks with where he was emotionally at the time. Reiner had been married to Penny Marshall for a decade, then single for another decade, and he genuinely could not picture settling down again. That headspace helped spark the whole 'can men and women be friends?' premise in the first place.

And then he met Michele Singer during production. They fell for each other, and suddenly the ending he was about to cement felt wrong. Reiner rewrote it so Harry and Sally actually end up together. For the record, he and Michele are still together decades later; in the interview he notes they had been married 35 years.

Honestly, that switch fits the movie. La La Land earns its bittersweet farewell because it is about ambition pulling people in different directions. When Harry Met Sally is about connection and compromise, and the work that goes into showing up for someone. Take away the happy ending and you lose the New Year’s Eve confession that has lived rent-free in a lot of hearts for decades — not because it’s big and theatrical, but because it feels honest. You can feel the director believing in it.

• The original plan: a reunion years later that ends with Harry and Sally splitting up, more in line with Mia and Sebastian’s goodbye in La La Land
• Where that came from: Reiner’s post-divorce skepticism about long-term love after his split from Penny Marshall
• What changed: he met Michele Singer while making the film, fell in love, and rewrote the ending so the leads end up together
• Why it works: the movie is ultimately about choosing partnership; the final speech lands because it’s specific, unflashy, and earned
• Status check: Reiner says he and Michele have been married 35 years and counting

If you want to revisit it, When Harry Met Sally is available to rent on Apple TV in the U.S.