Julia Roberts And Richard Gere's ‘Pretty Woman’ Originally Had A Dark Ending

romcoms are romantic they're funny and you know they'll end with a happily ever after but one of the iconic romcoms Gary Marshall's pretty woman could have gone very differently in the end the 1990 movie has stood the test of time and even though some tropes were questionable and haven't aged well fans love the undeniable Chemistry Between Julia Roberts and Richard Gear and the promise of a modern-day Cinderella story where she rescues him right back even after dreaming of nights from damsel and distress fairy tales but what if we told you that the original version of Pretty Woman was much darker Julia Roberts gave a brilliant performance as Vivien Ward a sex worker with a heart of gold and gear portrayed Edward Lewis a ruthless corporate Raider who opens up to his one night stand admitting my special gift is impossible relationships he hires her to accompany him to work events and pose as his girlfriend a classic case of Opposites Attract follows but as it turns out the original plan wasn't to bring them together the initial script of the film titled 3000 was worlds away from the the perfect Pretty Woman romance in 3000 viven was supposed to be a hardcore drug addict she would come across as a sex worker hardened by the things she's had to do for survival the film would have introduced her as someone who lives in a world where humiliation is for the shy and fear is for the innocent Edward on the other hand was going to be a borderline sociopath who considers women nothing more than a play thing his wealth and power make him think that all relationships are just transactions Edward saying you and I are such similar creatures Vivian we both screw people for money wouldn't have been a sad reflection of reality but a cocky ego boost for the man Patricia Arquette who also auditioned for the role of Vivian shared her thoughts on the film's initial direction that movie was really dark and the ending was really heavy it really read like a dark gritty art movie so after all the buildup what was going to be the ending Julia Roberts recalled the dark climax Edward threw the money on top of viven as memory serves and just drove away leaving her in some dirty alley Gathering the money Vivien would then take her friend kit played by Laura sanjo to Disneyland and buy her a balloon with ears which she really desired this certainly would have killed any aspiration of a love story which ended with Edward realizing his love for Vivien after she refused his money offer of a home and car she didn't want to be his Dirty Little Secret she wanted to walk by his side with her head held high and the feel-good ending came by on screen when Edward confessed his love for her so how did the story get altered Julia Roberts has openly admitted that she when 3000 was pitched to her she knew she had no business being in a movie like that the script was intense and a far cry from the kind of image the actress was creating for herself but then the script went to Disney changes were made and the revised screenplay for Pretty Woman fell in Julia's lap that's in my wheelhouse than what it originally was Julia accepted looking back it's safe to say that the change was for the best pretty woman went on to rake in 178.6 million dollars at the US box office and is still a favorite for many when they want to curl up and rewatch an old comforting ROM com