When Harry Met Sally originally had an unhappy ending – until the director met his wife

Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally
(Image credit: Columbia Pictures)

When Harry Met Sally is one of the best and most beloved rom-coms of all time, but director Rob Reiner recently revealed that the movie could have💝 had a very different ending. 

"The original ending oꦕf the film that we had was that Harry and Sally didn't get together," he told . "Because I had been married ♒for 10 years, I'd been single for 10 years, and I couldn't figure out how I was ever going to be with anybody. And that gave birth to When Harry Met Sally. 

"And I hadn't met anybody, so it was going to be the two of them seeing each other after years, talking, and then walking away from each other. I met my wife Michele, who I’ve been married to now 35 years🥂. I met her while we were making the film, and I changed the ending."

Of course, the movie actually ends with Harry (Billy Crystal) racing through the streets of New♏ York City to meet Sally (Meg Ryan) at a New Year's Eve party before the clock strikes midnight. The pair had fought a few weeks prior after sleeping together for the first time and hadn't spoken since. Breathless, Harry arrives at the party and recites a now-iconic speech detailing the reasons he loves Sally, and they kiss as Auld Lang Syne starts to play. 

The film, first released in 1989 an🏅d written by Nora Ephron, follows the pair's will-they-won't-th♏ey friendship over the course of 10 years, starting with a tense post-grad car share from the University of Chicago to New York and culminating in that New Year's kiss. 

For more rom-coms (and a whole lot more), check out our picks of the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best LGBT romances and the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:best anti-Valentine's Day movies

Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCཧTJ Diploma in Multime📖dia Journalism.