Tim Curry's death has reignited interest in one of his most beloved roles, and a secret from behind the scenes that fans are now hoping finally gets a proper release: the fourth ending to Clue that was filmed but never shown to audiences.
A film with three famous endings
Released in 1985, Clue starred Curry as Wadsworth, the butler managing a chaotic dinner party at a remote mansion where guests begin turning up dead. The film became known for its gimmick of three different endings, each revealing a different killer, originally shown in different cinemas so audiences couldn't be sure which version they were watching. Home releases later included all three, framed as "How It Could Have Happened," "How About This?," and "Here's What Really Happened."
The ending that never made the cut
What most audiences don't know is that a fourth ending was actually filmed, in which Wadsworth himself snaps and is revealed to have killed everyone. Curry described the scene simply in a past interview, recalling that his character ran around the house killing everybody. Director Jonathan Lynn ultimately cut it from the film, explaining that it didn't feel funny or surprising enough, and risked ending the film on an anti-climax rather than a punchline.
Despite being cut, it was reportedly Curry's favourite of the film's possible endings.
Why it was such a demanding scene to film
Curry has spoken about how physically exhausting shooting Clue's ending sequences actually was, given how much running and physical comedy was required to demonstrate each possible murder scenario to the rest of the cast. In his 2025 memoir, Vagabond, Curry revealed he experienced dangerously high blood pressure during filming and had to be seen by the production's on-set nurse. Academy archive records later confirmed the same incident, noting he'd been taken to hospital at wrap on the day those scenes were shot, with a doctor attributing it to high blood pressure.
Why fans want it released
Since Curry's death, fans have been circulating the story of the missing fourth ending, hoping the unused footage still exists somewhere and could eventually be released. Whether it does, and whether it would ever see daylight given Lynn's own reasoning for cutting it, remains unclear. For now, it stays one of the more intriguing pieces of "what could have been" in the film's now 40-year history.
