Safety Not Guaranteed’s Original Ending Was Changed At The Last Minute

Taking part in Collider’s Directors on Directing panel for Comic-Con@Home, Trevorrow was asked about decisions that he’s had to fight for in the movies he’s worked on. While he mentioned the name change to Jurassic World, Trevorrow also discussed the ending of Safety Not Guaranteed. The director explained that the film’s conclusion was already completed, but he felt compelled to change it because it didn’t feel right to him. You can read Trevorrow’s quote, in which he explains how the last minute alteration to Safety Not Guaranteed, below.

The other one, I would say, is probably my first movie. We changed the ending of that movie, so that the time machine worked, in Safety Not Guaranteed after we had we were done with the film and we’ve been accepted into Sundance. And, you know, we got what we were after. We’ve been recognized for having made something that worked, and I just had this instinct – I remember walking the streets of New York City and it just didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel like mine and there was just something wrong and I went in and asked everyone: “will you go with me if I fundamentally changed at the end of this movie and the time machine does work?” It had never been discussed up to that point, and this was like two weeks before Sundance and I did it. And it could be argued that it might have changed the trajectory of my career.

As Trevorrow’s comments indicate, the decision to change the ending of Safety Not Guaranteed is a meaningful one. Not simply a case of substituting a somewhat dour finish for a happier one, the final moments between Darius and Kenneth validate the movie’s mission statement. The script doesn’t shy away from the strangeness of what Kenneth aims to accomplish, setting up Jeff (Jake Johnson) to frequently voice his doubts about the protagonist’s claims. It’s clear that Darius is taking a big step by believing in Kenneth, trusting him and opening up about painful moments as the story progresses. By changing the ending to have the time machine conceit pay off, the two main characters are rewarded for having faith in each other. It’s a slight, albeit sentimental, ending that invites viewers to be a little more open and a little more generous. If the time machine hadn’t worked by the end, as Trevorrow originally intended, then the takeaway of Safety Not Guaranteed would have been fundamentally different.

Trevorrow’s late change of heart served Safety Not Guaranteed well. Many reviewers praised the film’s heartfelt story specifically, bolstered by the performances of Plaza and Duplass. The movie has since gone on to acquire an extra layer of significance, for how it acted as a precursor to the trend of directors being selected for big blockbusters based on their successes with popular low-budget projects. While it’s impossible to say with certainty how the trajectory of Trevorrow’s career would have played out if he stuck with his original plans for Safety Not Guaranteed, it does provide another example of how important movie endings can be.