‘Gone Girl’ Movie's New Ending Not So Different From Gillian Flynn Book After All

“Gone Girl” author and screenwriter Gillian Flynn previously hinted that the ending to the highly anticipated film adaptation would differ greatly from her 2012 best-seller’s conclusion. But less than a month before the film’s Oct. 3 wide release, rumors of the thriller’s alternative third act have been officially put to rest.

In an excerpt from a New York Times' interview with the film’s star, Ben Affleck, journalist Cara Buckley revealed that a preview screening of the David Fincher-directed film contained an ending similar to the controversial conclusion in Flynn’s novel. “Mr. Fincher granted the New York Times a private screening at his office,” reads an excerpt from the piece. “Contrary to early speculation, the film hews closely to the book.”

Buckley’s report directly contradicts Fincher’s statement to Entertainment Weekly in January in which he claimed Affleck was “shocked” by Flynn’s decision to write a new ending for the film. “He would say, ‘This is a whole new third act!” said Fincher. “She literally threw that act out and started from scratch!” Flynn also fueled rumors after discussing her process for adapting her novel to the screen. “There was something trilling about taking this piece of work that I’d spent about two years painstakingly putting together with all its 8 million Lego pieces and take a hammer to it and bash it apart and reassemble it into a movie,” Flynn told EW.

Following the buzz of a potential new “Gone Girl” ending, an idea welcomed by many readers disappointed with the book’s conclusion, Flynn called the reports of an entirely new third act “greatly exaggerated.” “Of course the script has to be different from the book in some ways … But the mood, tone and spirit of the book are very much intact,” Flynn said during a Reddit AMA in April. “I’ve been very involved in the film and loved it.”

“Gone Girl” stars Affleck as journalist Nick Dunne on a nationwide search for his missing wife, Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike). The film hits theaters Oct. 3.