Focus Group Ending

If you think movies are art, we're going to have to disappoint you, especially if you're a film maker. Movies are products to be sold to consumers for the purpose of making a profit - at least, that's how studios see them. Therefore, studios are going to try to make their movies as appealing as possible to as broad an audience as possible.

Enter the Focus Group. In film, they are called test audiences. The studio will call together a group of random strangers, screen the film and monitor their response. If the test audience isn't happy, then the studio will do whatever is necessary to make them happy. You can either blame them for ruining a lot of would-have-been-good movies, or improving would-have-been-crap movies.

This trope is closely related to Executive Meddling.

Subtrope of Revised Ending. See also Democracy Is Bad and Too Many Cooks Spoil the Soup.

As an Ending Trope, Spoilers ahead may be unmarked. Beware.

Examples of Focus Group Ending include:

Examples in fiction:

Parodied in Robert Altman's The Player. One minor subplot features the main character taking a movie pitch from an Auteur screenwriter about a wrongfully accused woman dying in the gas chamber. The screenwriter insists "no stars, just talent" and emphasizes that he refuses to change the Downer Ending because "That's reality". By the end of the movie, not only are the leads in this film being played by Bruce Willis and Julia Roberts, but the downer ending has been completely changed. The Screenwriter's justification? Test audiences hated it.
The Simpsons:
- Parodied to the extreme by having Mel Gibson take Homer's suggestions for his remake of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, in spite of everyone else in the focus screening giving praise. Not surprisingly, the Homer'd up version doesn't do so well (though, in a deleted scene available on the season 11 DVD set, Apu and his brother, Sanjay, tell Homer that extremely violent American action movies are popular in India and that they actually liked it).
- Another episode has Bart and Lisa go digging for buried treasure and uncover an film can containing a Happy Ending for Casablanca where Rick and Elsa stay together. One of the retirement home residents says that he worked for the studio and they tried and failed to sell the happy ending. When Lisa says it should be in a museum, the old man offers her some money to rebury it—and the It's a Wonderful Life Killing Spree Ending.
The Critic:
- Parodied in an episode where he reviews a remake of Pride of the Yankees. After Lou Gehrig delivers his famous speech, he is approached by the Yankees coach. Apparently, he and the boys have developed "Lou Gehrig's oil"—curing him instantly. Not only that, but a paperboy appears to announce, "Great Depression over! And Bill Cosby born!", whose comedy Lou Gehrig says he will look forward to watching. When Jay attempts to set the record straight, his show is pre-empted.
- Also parodied with Phillips' Vision, a means that Duke invents because "some artsy director ruins a classic movie with a Downer Ending." Duke intends to put it back "the way God intended" - allowing Spartacus to escape with his family and friend, and have Elsa return to Rick at the end of Casablanca (with Sam there, too!).

Real-life examples:

Film

A rare positive example with Misery. Focus groups were extremely unhappy with Paul walking normally at the end of the film, so the ending was re-shot with Paul needing a cane to walk. The result was a harsher Bittersweet Ending that fitted the film's tone better.
I Am Legend changed the original ending, which was closer to Richard Matheson's novella, to Neville's Last Stand. The DVD even boasts that it includes the "controversial" alternate ending. Apparently making peace with one's enemies is more controversial than a suicide bombing. Possibly because in the focus group ending he's committing a Heroic Sacrifice, but in the original ending he has a Heel Realization.
In What Dreams May Come, the original ending was the main character loses himself in his wife's personal hell. Test audiences didn't like it, so it was replaced with a more upbeat ending (closer to the one in the original book) where he saves her.
The 2002 film version of The Count of Monte Cristo: Villefort is in the wagon and about to go to prison for life. The guard tells him that the gun on the seat was placed there as a "courtesy for a gentleman." The original version had the gun loaded, and he kills himself. The focus group didn't like that, feeling that the gun should've been loaded with a blank and Villefort should've spent the rest of his life in that awful prison. The creators were taken aback, but they had the alternate take with the empty gun, so all it took was a simple substitution to make the movie better.
A Muppet Christmas Carol had the "When Love is Gone" number cut out of the theatrical release after negative audience response. They put it back in for the video release, then they got rid of it again for one of the DVD releases.
Blade Runner: The original theatrical release featured Deckard and Rachael driving a car to happiness and freedom through lush green hills. This ending is a jarring non sequitur: implausible and theme-negating in a dystopian future-noir film. It's the direct product of a test audience screening. Oddly, the sequence is unused footage from the start of The Shining.
Brazil: The omission of the original ending, in which Lowry's escape was revealed to be a delusion after he broke under torture.
The movie version of the musical Little Shop of Horrors originally retained the Downer Ending in which Audrey and Seymour are killed and Audrey II begins its spectacular conquest of Earth to the tune of the song "Don't Feed the Plants". This went over so badly with test audiences that much of the final section of the film—from Audrey II trying to eat her onward—was reshot and recut to change things to a happier ending; the original finale had to be jettisoned altogether. This ending was restored in the "Director's Cut" for the BluRay release.
Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness had its original ending (where Ash oversleeps after taking a sleeping potion and awakens in a post-apocalyptic future) changed after negative test audience reaction. A new ending was reshot and used for the theatrical release. Fortunately the new ending was just as silly and awesome as the rest of the movie.
- Army of Darkness could actually be considered an inversion; the original ending is a jarring Downer Ending, whereas the theatrical ending is closer in tone to the rest of the movie and generally fits better. The fact that this was the last movie in the series and gives Ash a relatively happy ending surely helps.
Fatal Attraction originally ended with Alex (Glenn Close) committing suicide and making it look like Dan (Michael Douglas) murdered her. American test audiences thought this wasn't a good enough punishment for the antagonist, so the ending was changed to Dan killing Alex by drowning her in the tub, but Alex doesn't stay dead -- at least until Dan's wife shoots her. The original suicide ending has been shown in Japan.
Pretty in Pink's female lead wound up with a different guy than the producers intended because test audiences favored the bad boy over the childhood friend--although cast members assert this happened because they complained the childhood friend came off as too Ambiguously Gay. Some Kind of Wonderful, by the same writer and producers, came out the next year and essentially followed the original plot and ending with the genders reversed (and was arguably a better movie, though less popular).
Iranian film Taste of Cherry by Abbas Kiarostami ends with an idyllic scene featuring the production crew and some assorted others relaxing on a flowery hillside. It's lovely, but the footage seemed thrown in for no readily apparent reason. Test groups responded to it negatively and it was taken out of some theatrical runs, but restored for the DVD release. The director says he put it in there to remind us all that it's just a movie, and after the movie's depressing events he thought the audience deserved a break.
The 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead had extra footage shot and interspersed with the credits after test audiences complained about the original abrupt ending.
Snake Eyes: Before the focus groups got their hands (er, eyes) on it, De Palma had an chase through a flooded tunnel and the bad guy getting run over by a globe which has been lying on the ground since the start of the movie. When it came to theaters, the chase doesn't go through a flooded tunnel (thus at odds with Nic Cage's reference to it in the epilogue), the globe gets washed off by a wave, and the bad guy kills himself.
Star Trek Generations: Kirk's trope-naming ignoble death was actually an improvement over him getting unceremoniously shot in the back.
In Deep Blue Sea, test audiences so despised the female scientist heroine (to the point of loudly screaming "Die, Bitch!" throughout the film), as well as the killing of LL Cool J's character, that the final ending was changed so that the Black Dude lives while the scientist lady gets munched on by a shark at the very end.
The 1925 silent film of The Phantom of the Opera originally had an ending more in line with the original novel (where Christine kisses Erik (the Phantom) on the forehead and he dies in peace). Test audiences weren't pleased. In the replacement ending, he's chased down by an angry mob and drowned.
In the film version of The Saint starring Val Kilmer, Elizabeth Shue's character originally was going to die but the test screening didn't like it.
Originally Flight of the Intruder featured a court martial scene where Ed O'Neill played a JAG prosecutor. The test audience laughed at the sight of him and yelled "Al Bundy!", the character he was currently playing on the sitcom Married... with Children. The scene had to be reshot with Fred Thompson playing the part.
The original ending of Final Destination featured a somewhat happy ending. The hero sleeps with his love interest, gets her pregnant, then dies. The movie closes on the 2 survivors standing by his grave a year later. Test audiences hated it and said they wanted more Rube Goldberg deathtraps. Ironically, the second film revolved around that plot point, just with different players involved.
My Best Friend's Wedding originally ending with Julia Roberts' character hooking up with a random guy at the wedding reception, which audiences complained was an Ass Pull happy ending, so instead the ending was changed so that her gay friend George appears at the reception instead to comfort her.
The original ending to the film of 1408 featured the main character dying and becoming a ghost. The writers continue to consider this the "true" ending and restored it for the DVD release.
Jaws the Revenge: The original theatrical ending had Jake be eaten by the shark and the shark killed by impalement on the boat's prow. However, test audiences were very disturbed by Jake's death, so he (somehow) survives. They also changed the shark's death to massively exploding for no reason whatsoever when it's impaled. The former is ridiculous, but Word of God has it that while the studio demanded changes, they didn't give production appropriate money to re-shoot. (The original intent was the shark to be impaled, die and sink - taking much of the boat with it.)
The Fly (1986): Fans were upset with the endings in which Veronica ended up with Stanis Boranz.
Sweet Home Alabama originally had an ending that extended the Meaningful Echo of Melanie and Jake's kiss in the middle of the thunderstorm and had them zapped by lightning again. Cut to everyone waiting in Stella's bar, where Jake, cradling a limp Melanie in his arms, walks in and announces, "Melanie Carmichael is dead." We see the news start to sink in among the community, including Melanie's parents, before Jake adds, "Long live 'Felony Melanie!'" Melanie then drops the act, and everyone cheers for the happy couple and the rebirth of their hometown sweetheart. Test audiences cried, "Dude, Not Funny," and the ending changed to have the couple playfully handcuffed together and escorted into the bar by their sheriff friend.
Next Stop Wonderland had an extra scene tacked on to its ending when test audiences reacted badly to Erin not running off to Brazil with Andre. A scene was added in which Andre, once he realizes that Erin isn't coming, hits on the woman sitting next to him on the plane. Thus the audience can write him off as a womanizer and be happy that Erin meets Alan at the end.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was another positive example - the original ending to the film had Scott ending up with Knives as Ramona left on her own. After exposing it to test audiences, the ending was changed to its current form. Edgar Wright, Bryan Lee O'Malley, and most of the actors have all testified to being more satisfied with the new ending. Part of the reasons why the film has a happier ending was that the original author was writing the final volume of the comic during the film's pre-production; when he decided that he was going to give the story a happier ending than originally planned, they changed the film's one to match.
According to Lillian Gish's memoir, D.W. Griffith may be the Trope Codifier. She wrote that he went on the road and spoke to audiences when Intolerance made its premiere in several cities. He then took notes on which scenes got tepid responses and edited them out before going on the next city. That's why the Babylonian and modern stories are longer than the Jesus and Huguenot sections. (All four stories were originally roughly the same length.) In 1919, he released a new movie fashioned out of all the footage from the Babylon section with newly shot scenes that give the Mountain Girl a happy ending.
The original ending for Eve's Bayou (and the one used for the Director's Edition) left ambiguous who started the infamous kiss between Louis and his daughter Cecily. When test audiences disliked this, the ending was changed to reveal a more definitive version of events.
National Treasure's ending was changed, but not because the test audience disliked it; apparently the audience took for a Sequel Hook what the producers intended to be a "And the Adventure Continues..." ending.
The people of Sony Picture intended for Layer Cake to end with the protagonist driving into the sunset with his new girlfriend. The director didn't like much that plan, so he secretly filmed the scene when he is shot by Sydney and his fate is left ambiguous to show it to the test screenings. The second finale was the one used, as the audiences unanimously voted for it on account of not being a Typical American film ending.
Terminator 2 originally had a coda showing that the Judgement Day had been prevented. James Cameron was apparently very attached to this one, and only relented when both the produces and the test audiences reacted badly to it, replacing it with a more open and less whiplashy ending.
Test audiences found a cameo of Tom Hiddleton as Loki in Avengers: Age of Ultron extremely confusing, so it was promptly cut.

Live Action TV

When the pilot for Justified was shown to focus groups, they loved the character of Boyd Crowder as portrayed by Walton Goggins and hated that he is killed at the end of the episode. Despite the fact that they tried to be very faithful to the Elmore Leonard short story the show is based on, a decision was made to reshoot the ending of the pilot and keep the character alive. The complicated relationship between the show's hero Raylan Givens and Boyd Crowder has since become the keystone of the show and is responsible for much of its popularity and critical acclaim.
Unlike most things in this page, ER had a focus group beginning. In the pilot, Nurse Carol Hathaway was going to commit suicide by drug overdose, but the test audiences liked her so much and were so intrigued with the hints on her relationship with Dr. Doug Ross, the producers quickly wrote her recovering miraculously and Hathaway became one of the long lasting more beloved heroines of the show.

Theatre

For an after-the-fact non-movie version, look at A Chorus Line. The original ending featured the girl not getting the part because she was over-qualified. This more realistic version was jettisoned a few weeks into the run in exchange for a happier ending; ticket sales increased dramatically.
Ayn Rand's play The Night of January 16th, a courtroom drama, subverts this trope by having the jury in the play empaneled from members of the audience. It's written with two different endings for both verdicts; they both express a value judgement of the jury.

Video Games

While technically done after release, Fallout 3's Downer Ending was replaced by a continued storyline in DLC, complete with destruction of the remaining Enclave base after widespread disappointment at the original.

Western Animation

Pocahontas lost its love duet "If I Never Knew You" (save for an end credits version) because kids found it too boring; it was later animated and reinserted into the film for its 10th anniversary DVD. Several critics felt it significantly improved the film. Ironically "If I Never Knew You" was reinserted because so many Disney fans fell in love with it and called it one of Disney's very best love songs.
According to insider Jim Hill, Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame lost its own love song "Someday" for the same reason, even though its accompanying scene cemented Phoebus and Esmeralda's love, as well as Quasimodo's acceptance that she would never be his and willingness to accept the union.
Similarly, "Part of Your World" was almost cut from The Little Mermaid, but the composers fought for it.
Averted in How to Train Your Dragon. The producers were concerned how audiences would react to the idea of Hiccup losing a foot in the battle against the Red Death dragon, but test audiences went up to them on their own account saying that they loved this powerful and daring twist for a family film and asked them to keep it.
In WALL-E, the scene where the titular robot gets electrocuted and dropped down a garbage chute by the film's Big Bad originally saw EVE in WALL-E's place, with WALL-E saving her from being jettisoned into space and managing to repair her, after which they set off to bring humanity back to Earth. In a variant of this trope, it was the filmmakers who complained about the scene as they felt it brought the whole film to an abrupt stop. They changed it to WALL-E getting damaged (and only able to be fixed by his spare parts on Earth), which they felt better glued all the little plot points to the movie's climax, gave an even stronger reason for the characters to return to Earth, increased the tension of the moment, and made WALL-E seem more heroic.
- They also added a some scenes showing the Earth's recovery to the ending and the credits, to make their intended ending more clear after test audiences expressed preoccupation for how the spaceship character probably wouldn't survive returning to the garbage-filled okaner.